“Up” — View date 29 May 2009

“Up” (29 May 2009) - dir. Pete Docter and Bob Peterson

• View Date: 29 May 2009

• Format: Standard

• Location: Tustin Marketplace

What are feelings? (cc: opening montage)

It’s likely that I saw this first with my family after coming home for the summer break. I was pretty excited to see what Pixar had in store after “Wall•E” and “Ratatouille” from the previous years, and while I was elated, deep down I couldn’t help but feel that Pixar might have a few years of “just about right but nothing revolutionary.”

Unknown but likely “The Dark Knight” or “Wall•E” circa 2008

Unknown, but likely “The Dark Knight” (18 Jul 2008), dir. Christopher Nolan or “WALL•E” (27 Jun 2008), dir. Andrew Stanton

• View Date: Unknown, likely Fall Semester 2008

• Format: Unknown, likely standard

• Location: Wheeler Auditorium at UC Berkeley, presented by SUPERB (Campus Student Group)

It’s more than likely that I saw this sometime in August, September or the first two weeks of October 2008, and that it was probably “The Dark Knight” or “Wall•E” that was projected in Wheeler Auditorium. I probably went by myself, but there’s also the possibility that I went with a dorm mate from Towle Hall; that, or we both went to the same viewing but didn’t set next to each other, only to later corroborate our “oh snap you were there too?” in the hallway.

“The Dark Knight” — view date 29 Jul 2008

“The Dark Knight” [18 Jul 2008] - dir. Christopher Nolan

• View date: 29 Jul 2008

• Format: IMAX

• Location: Irvine Spectrum

• Documented: 30 Dec 2017

I don’t know which viewing this was, but I suspect it may have been one of the first viewings in what likely became an eventual 6-7x over the course of 2008.

While “The Dark Knight” has understandably fallen off my top 10 lists over the past decade, I still vividly remember the awe and haunting feeling left by Heath Ledger’s uncompromising performance. Every time he came on screen, it was like the breath was yanked out of your lungs; all you could do was stare at evil incarnate, laughing at your demise.

I rewatched “The Dark Knight” both to revisit the thrill of that unabashed terror, and to learn from Nolan’sfilmmaking style. I will say this movie was one of the first times I would revisit and rewatch movies in the theatre multiple times, for various reasons at the time. In the case of ten years ago, it was likely the sensation and realization that gravitas of my own meaning and making could be inferred and assigned to whatever I was watching, entertainment notwithstanding.