For some of us, moviegoing is an occasional pleasure. Kevin Murphy made it his obsession, and he did it for you. Mr. Murphy, known to legions of fans as Tom Servo on the legendary TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, went to the movies every day for a year. That's every single day, people. For a whole fricken' year. And not only did he endure, he prevailed -- for this is the hilarious, poignant, fascinating journal of his adventures: the first book about the movies from the audience's point of view. Kevin went to the multiplex, sure. But he didn't stop there. He found the world's smallest commercial movie theater. Another one made completely of ice. Checked out flicks in a tin-roofed hut in the South Pacific. Tooled across the desert from drive-in to drive-in in a groovy convertible. Lived for a week solely on theater food. Took six different women to the same date movie. Dressed up as a nun for the Sing-Along Sound of Music in London. Sneaked into the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. Smuggled an entire Thanksgiving dinner into a movie theater. And saw hundreds of films, from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, from the sublime to the unspeakable. Come along on a joyous global celebration of the cinema with a man on a mission -- to spend A Year at the Movies. For some of us, moviegoing is an occasional pleasure. Kevin Murphy made it his obsession, and he did it for you. Mr. Murphy, known to legions of fans as Tom Servo on the legendary TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, went to the movies every day for a year. That's every single day, people. For a whole fricken' year. And not only did he endure, he prevailed -- for this is the hilarious, poignant, fascinating journal of his adventures: the first book about the movies from the audience's point of view. Kevin went to the multiplex, sure. But he didn't stop there. He found the world's smallest commercial movie theater. Another one made completely of ice. Checked out flicks in a tin-roofed hut in the South Pacific. Tooled across the desert from drive-in to drive-in in a groovy convertible. Lived for a week solely on theater food. Took six different women to the same date movie. Dressed up as a nun for the Sing-Along Sound of Music in London. Sneaked into the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. Smuggled an entire Thanksgiving dinner into a movie theater. And saw hundreds of films, from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, from the sublime to the unspeakable. Come along on a joyous global celebration of the cinema with a man on a mission -- to spend A Year at the Movies. Kevin Murphy spent ten years as a writer, producer, and performer on the Peabody Award-winning series Mystery Science Theater 3000. He is coauthor of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. He lives in Minnesota with his long-suffering, movie-tolerant wife, Jane. A Year at the Movies One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey By Murphy, Kevin HarperEntertainment Copyright © 2004 Kevin Murphy All right reserved. ISBN: 0060937866 Chapter One Week 1, January 1-7 General Cinema Centennial Lakes 8, Edina - Vertical Limit General Cinema Centennial Lakes 8, Edina - Cast Away Mann St. Louis Park Cinema 6 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas Mann Hopkins Theater 6 - Red Planet General Cinema Mall of America 14 - Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000 Muller Family Theaters Lakeville 18 - Chocolat Imation IMAX Theater, Minnesota Zoo - Dolphins/Galapagos 3-0 (Double feature) My Eyes! My Spine! Aaagh! Sitting in the Front Row I am blasting right out of the gate with a test of physical endurance and agility: I'm watching seven films from the front row of the theater. My first thought was that it might somehow bring me "closer" to the filmgoing, or even filmmaking, process. I was so wrong. Sitting in the front row hurts. I don't care how young or old you are, it's too close in most theaters and downright physically taxing in others. I saw ten-year-olds rubbing their necks and pivoting their backs like JFK on a bad day. And these weren't all pillowy little suburban Pugsleys, either. A brace of seemingly fit teenage girls in track suits were compelled to move from the front row of Cast Away before the movie even started. So why are these seats here? For one, kids love them. Especially for action or space films. I noted kids running for the first row for the latest Star Wars movie. Poor, stupid kids. Many of them moved back and several seemed damaged by the ear-splitting THX sound, but I understand the sentiment. Somehow the front row promises to pull you right into the fantasy world "up there." If it fills your whole field of vision, how can you not become part of it? Well, you don't. You remain behind the glass, looking in. At a live performance, with actors or musicians, the front row affords immediacy to the action on the stage, which occasionally is so profound you can find yourself feeling you are actually part of the performance. Wh