Technology can’t top mystique of seeing a film on the big screen

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Going to the movies in the ’70s was quite an eye-opening experience. The operatic direction of violence in “The Godfather” would set the standard and be copied by various filmmakers in the years to come. “Jaws” would make audiences scream. It also (raked in so much money) marks the birth of the summer “event” movie. “Star Wars” – which I saw at the age of 5 in the old Music Makers Theatres in Brick Town – was a phenomenon unto itself. It was the film that ultimately started my love of the cinema. Nearly 32 years later, I still smile thinking of my younger self. I can hear myself cheering when Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star on that big screen.

I was fortunate enough to have been a panelist and attend the first annual Ocean County Library film festival. It was priceless watching the faces of new filmmakers observing their work on the big screen and listening to the crowd of 250 react.

I can’t help thinking this generation doesn’t really appreciate the power of seeing a film on the big screen for the first time like mine could. Today we have illegal downloads, fast-selling DVDs and the Internet constantly giving away upcoming film secrets. Thankfully, the Middlebrook Galleria in Ocean Township showed movie classics within the last two years. I’ve just recently seen “Casablanca,” and it was amazing on the big screen. It’s also nice seeing movies before the age of CGI [computer-generated imagery] and advance graphics. These films were truly classics.

Watching films on the big screen first helped me to dream. Dreaming has helped me to create. Creating has led me to teaching. Teaching has helped others to dream. I’ll never underestimate the power of the big screen where my dreams were born and many have been fully realized.