EmilyU

Inappropriate baby outfit, ca. 1979

Patrick Swayze's film debut as Ace, the leader of a roller skate gang you shouldn't mess with. Also starring Scott Baio and Maureen McCormick. Short on plot, long on silliness, and featuring some enviable roller disco skills.

Late to the party, but I thought I'd share my Titanic experience. When the movie was released, I was 18 and living abroad in a small city in Italy. I don't know if the film was received with the same level of mania in the States, but it seemed like the entire country of Italy collectively lost its shit. They went bananas. Shops started selling flags with DiCaprio's face on them, which people actually flew out their apartment windows, and the club remix of "My Heart Will Go On" was inescapable. I heard a rumor, which I never bothered to confirm, that the town where DiCaprio's ancestors lived renamed their town square "Piazza DiCaprio." My friend was obsessed and carried around a binder with film-related images from magazines. We attempted to make her a Rose dress for Carnival, but given that neither of us knew how to sew, it didn't go well. Personally, I enjoyed the movie, but I don't LOVE it, although I did enjoy the movie-going experience. At the theater in the town I lived in (one theater, one screen), you could buy one ticket and stay as long as you wanted. I had missed the first few minutes, so I was able to stay and see the parts I had missed. They also added an intermission to every film, no matter how long, so everyone could go into the hall and smoke. So very Italian.