Are you the type of person that listens to records, and you all of a sudden are taken back to a time a place. That you remember what you were doing, where you first listened to it, and why that album works on you.
I’m that way about movies. Certain movies just have that emotional connection, and I’m briefly taken back to when I saw them.
With San Diego Comic Con approaching, I realize there are a few movies that I started associating with that show. Movies I try to watch before the convention to get me in that San Diego Comic Con mood. Movies I remember watching around the time of the show (or even DURING the show). I may not remember what songs I was listening to back then…but I remember what movies I watched.
So here I present to you my SDCC movie playlist.
Clerks 2
Mallrats
Captain America: The First Avenger
Step Brothers
Anchorman
It’s a VERY VERY VERY personal list. It will look a little odd when you see them, but hear me out while I explain.
The ONE superhero film:
Seems weird, I know. Why JUST one superhero movie? This movie means a lot to me for a bunch a reasons. It’s one of my personal favorite superhero films, and…I saw it the weekend of comic con.
Captain America: The First Avenger was the one I was the most nervous about, simply because Cap was my favorite.
The Green Lantern movie wound was still fresh, and I just really wanted to love the Cap film.
I remember seeing it at the first showing on the Friday at the show. Me and Agent Nate went to the mall near the convention center.
We loved it.
As we headed back to the Con, some parents saw us and asked how the Convention was going. (as we CLEARLY had our badges and giant sized bags with us.)
We told them it was going well and that we just saw Captain America.
“Was that better than Green Lantern? We did not like that one” they asked.
Me and Nate immediately told them “Dear god yes.”
It was almost like we apologized for Green Lantern and told them Cap was worth their time.
Not every superhero movies are gonna be good, but I’m very passionate about the first Cap film. Cap’s still my go to character in the MCU and his movies consistently are my favorites, and watching the first one during SDCC was a real nice treat.
The Adam Mckay Side:
Adam McKay movies may not seem like SDCC films at first…and that’s clearly because they’re not. Yet, these two Adam McKay directed films somehow always draw me to SDCC memories.
Step Brothers is, much like Captain America, a movie I saw during Comic Con. Similar memories to the Cap experience, except this time I was watching the movie to kill time since I didn’t have a pass for Friday that year.
Anchorman…that makes a ton more sense.
The film came out in early July of 2004. Anchorman took place in San Diego (though truthfully it was mostly filmed in Long Beach, CA) but that didn’t matter.
Anchorman talked about San Diego all the time.
It’s a movie that I love so much that it’s almost required for me and my friends to quote the damn thing whenever we go to SDCC.
We talk about going to the Whale’s Vagina. We talk about Saint Diego. We talk about pants parties. We talk about “GO FUCK YOURSELF SAN DIEGO.” We talk about yazz flute. We talk about staying classy. We talk about how Brick killed a guy with a trident.
Anchorman is still the most quotable movie in the last 13 years. And the best place to quote Anchorman is in beautiful San Diego.
And finally….The Kevin Smith factor:
I understand that opinions on Kevin Smith nowadays is divisive, but for a good long time, Smith was a huge deal at the show. The infamous Hall H used to be packed with JUST his fans. Sadly, his fan base has dwindled quite a bit (if I’m not mistaken, this is the first year he DOESN’T have a panel at the show.) but I still have a soft spot for the man. Smith was a big introduction to me for many things, but his two movies I have on this list have special meaning.
Mallrats is considered the gateway film to Kevin Smith fans. It was the the most commercially appealing of this first three movies. I remember seeing the tv spots and was shocked to see a movie with Stan Lee in it. I was 11 when the flick came out, and I begged my brother to see it…but it was rated R and was full of naughty rated R content. I finally saw it years later in my teens, and loved it when I was 15.
For me, Mallrats just represents me getting into comics into the ‘90s. When I watch the movie now, it just reminds me of the time that comics and fans of comics were rare in the media and pop culture. The ‘90s is when I grew up, and is when I became an obsessive comic book fan.
So, Mallrats makes sense….so why Clerks 2 which has very LITTLE comic book fan bait?
Let me take you back….
It was SDCC 2006, me and my fellow future Agents of GUARD were setting up our plans for the weekend at the show. It was me, Agent Nate, Agent Bobby, Agent Jamal, Agent Bobby’s girlfriend and future wife Gina and our friend …..Kevin. (Not an Agent but a good dude.)
We already decided to go to the Saturday Hall H presentations which ended with a Kevin Smith Panel. We’re all fans of Kevin Smith, so we decided that since Clerks 2 is opening Friday, we were going to see it Friday night so that we could avoid any potential spoilers on the panel. We found a theater nearby, and we all saw it together. It was good times.
The following day, we enjoyed a full day of movie previews (we saw the now famous 300 teaser that blew the roof off.) yes, it ended with us watching Kevin Smith’s Panel. Hell, a young baby faced Agent Nate even had the guts to ask him a question….
It was a great day. I probably rewatched Clerks 2 more than any other Kevin Smith film. Even rewatching it this weekend, I was taken back to that day 11 years ago.
Comic Con brings up good memories, and rewatching these movies is helps me get in the mood to remind myself that is why I love going to comic con. To make new fun memories.