flip the record, a nerdy fanblog

everybody! get. in. line.

Emerging from the darkness to update you that indeed, I did go see Stop Making Sense during its A24 2023 theatrical release and indeed, it was as glorious as ever, and indeed, I will probably go see it again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rjMwSTeVeo

And, because the list is getting quite long but I want to keep track, here are all of the times I've seen this film in a public space:

The Independent, early 2015 - My inaugural viewing and probably best possible way to see the film for the first time: at an actual music venue, standing with drink in hand, everybody dancing.

The New Parkway Theater, fall 2015 - In which Alex and I kicked back on a funky couch while enthusiastic attendees ran around the room for Life During Wartime and sang-screamed along to Once in a Lifetime.

The Balboa Theatre, summer 2018 - A solo viewing back when we lived in the Outer Richmond and the Balboa was a five minute walk away. I took a tincture with a slightly higher THC ratio than usual and sat there absolutely vibing in our little neighborhood theater on a foggy summer night.

Fort Mason drive-in, early 2021 - Pandemic screening. Alex and I were in the CR-V, listening via radio. It rained for most of the show, so we mostly just enjoyed the music and occasionally ran the windshield wiper to make the faraway screen a little clearer.

Alamo Drafthouse, fall 2023 - Preceded by 4 Vieux Carrés from Bear vs. Bull (to clarify, there were 4 of us, not that I had 4 cocktails by myself) and some pre-show Talking Heads music videos. Despite it being a "rowdy" screening, the crowd was pretty mild, but people in the side rows were dancing, and that TMBTP > OIAL combo always hits.

The best part of the A24 release has been all the extra goodies that have come along with it, like a promo featuring 2023 DB in his big suit, the 4K restoration, and most notably, this completely silent 25-minute video of DB rehearsing dance moves in his apartment in 1983. Some highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXFLbp6mGrc

I never realized how Chaplinesque some of his dancing is: light-footed, bendy, butt-wiggling, athletic weirdness. Also, doesn't elder David look, from afar, like elder Charlie?

Anyway, if you haven't yet seen Stop Making Sense, I urge you to see it IN THEATERS, WHILE IT'S STILL PLAYING, NOW! It might just change your life.