Inconceivable

On this day in 1987, The Princess Bride premiered. Twenty-five years ago today.

We also would have accepted "Holy shit."

Random thoughts: In 1987, gas was under a buck a gallon. A pound of ground chuck cost $1.63. A head of lettuce went for fifty-nine cents. You could buy a new car for less than $10,000. And we thought ALF was awesome.

Crazy freaking times.
(I just noticed the similarity between Vizzini and ALF. Small world.)

Anyway, The Princess Bride is just about the best movie ever made. It's nearly perfect in every way. I love, love, love this movie.

The fact that Peter Falk is only the eleventh most wonderful
thing about the movie is simply incredible.

I'll bet a lot of people are remembering the first time they saw The Princess Bride today. Here's my story:

In 1987, I was a junior in college. I had just transferred to a new school (in itself a long story, but that's for another day). Shortly after the semester started, I had met a guy who was in a couple of my classes. We were smitten. He was, like, artsy and stuff. He was into me, in that way that a guy will be into you when he realizes that you're into him and are willing to tell him so whenever he needs his ego stroked. Only I was pretty naive at that point in my life and didn't know about that, so I thought it was true love. Or, you know, twue wuv.

Anyway, we both really liked movies. OK, I really liked movies; if I remember correctly, he "appreciated films." Yeah, should have been a big red flag, but again: me = naive.

We didn't have the term "derpina" in the 80s,
but I could have been the poster child.

We were both really excited to see The Princess Bride. By this time Rob Reiner had established himself as a director who was making really good movies, and the trailer had looked amazing, and everyone was looking forward to it. Artsy Dude and I talked about seeing it opening weekend. We couldn't wait. It was going to be fabulous and romantic.

Well, it opened on Friday, and we didn't see each other on Friday. So I called Artsy Dude on Saturday to find out what time he wanted to go to The Princess Bride. His response: "Oh, I already saw it last night."

You...? Oh...OK.

So, yeah. We talked about seeing The Princess Bride, but apparently I was the only one talking about seeing it together. As it turned out, I was the only one really invested in us doing anything together. And pretty soon after that, we weren't together. Except for the mono he gave me. That stayed with me until almost Christmas.

But before the mono laid me low, I saw The Princess Bride. By myself. Then as now, I loathe going to the movies alone. But it was totally worth it.

And now it's been 25 years. My memories of the film are almost all about watching it on video with Beloved Spouse (whom I met very shortly after Artsy Dude and I parted ways) and later with Precocious Daughter. And I love it even more because they both love it. I love it so much that I don't even mind - much - that it's now been 25 years and that makes me feel pretty damn old. It's not The Princess Bride's fault. These days, lots of things make me feel old, including the mirror.

All I have to say is, you should totally watch The Princess Bride with someone you love. And if someone you love asks to watch it with you, you must of course reply:

As you wish.