1988

By 1988, it had been three years since I had seen a film of "Spielbergian" proportions, something rousing like "Raiders" or "E.T." or "Star Wars", for that matter.

I wasn't quite old enough or ambitious enough to try to get into R-rated movies, so I missed out on the top moneymaker of the year, "Rain Man" as well as the Eddie Murphy comedy, "Coming to America".

I did see a fair amount of movies that year, however. I enjoyed Tom Hanks in "Big", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" which was the number 2 movie of the year, "The Naked Gun", Beetlejuice", Bill Murray in "Scrooged", "Dundee 2", and "Biloxi Blues".

My vote this year, however, goes to a movie that though nowhere near as good as "Raiders" or "Star Wars", did provide quite a few thrills. Written and produced by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard, it's a Lord of the Rings-type fantasy movie. I went to it at least seven times that summer, including a couple at the good ol' Crossroads theatre in Waterloo, Iowa (where I had caught a sneak preview of "E.T." six summers prior).

I did eventually tire of the movie, though. One sunny afternoon, I was watching it yet again at the Cine 4 in Winona and partway through the screening, decided I'd had enough and left the theatre (something I almost never do). Still, it was the best thing I saw that year. My fave of 1988:



Note: My mom had her twin girls just a few months before this movie opened.