The Cinema Firmament

I am a sucker for the movie montage. I never cease to be enthralled by classic film clips taped together to the accompaniment of a cresendo of violin music. In fact, I don't even mind watching previews or film trailers. I get goose bumps. I do. Of course I'm only thinking about these things becuase of the Oscars last night and no, I don't want to talk about who won or who didn't or what they were wearing or who they were wearing, but I am all for talking nostalgia. I watch the Osacrs now more out of obligation than actual interest, out of hope rather than genuine faith. I watch them on the chance that I might come away infused with some of that good old movie magic, that tingly feeling that means something wonderful has happened. I made it my mission a few years ago to watch all of the films on the American Film Institute's Top 100 list just so that I could catch all of the references, all of the lines, the glances, the subtle nuances of the numerous movie montages dedicated to classic films. And what it comes down to is the instant pay off you get when you boil down a classic to one scene, one moment, one orchestra blaring up over the backdrop of Georgia sunset, one look across the room, one flick of the hair, one dress. I've never minded much the way our emotions are manipulated by those kinds do things, the way we're forced to feel a certain way because the music tells us to. I've always thought it rather wodnerful that we have the ability to be molded that way. Yes, rather wonderful that I can still know something of magic, of make-believe, of Hollywood.