Cinema Sunday: Forgotten Cinema

Today's Cinema Sunday will not be about a particular movie. 

It was going to be. I gave myself a challenge to write about a science fiction movie that I had seen that was NOT part of a franchise. 

Which knocked all the Star Wars movies, every Star Trek feature film and anything in the Marvel cinematic universe. 

I thought I might write about 2001: A Space Odyssey but then I remembered there was a sequel, 2010 so I guess that sort of disqualifies it from the "NOT part of a franchise" criteria. 

Then I came across a cable listing for the movie Contact, a standalone sci-fi film starring Jodie Foster about making first contact with intelligent alien life. I had seen that movie. I could write about that.

Except...

I don't remember one damn thing about it. 

Of the movies I have written about for Cinema Sunday, I've done some research for some factual data and fill in some gaps of some things my memory was a bit hazy on.  But I still not only remembered seeing the movie but remembered the movie itself.

But not Contact starring Jodie Foster. 

I am reasonably sure I sat in a theater and watched Contact starring Jodie Foster. 

But the movie itself is completely deleted from my memory.  

Which concerns me. 

There's a thing I've seen in crime noir thrillers from the 1940s that goes something like this.

Cop: All right, Johnny! Where were you on Tuesday night when Miss McCallister was murdered? 

Johnny: Tuesday night? I was at the movies

Cop: The movies, eh? 

Johnny: Yeah, right. The movies. 

Cop: What movie did you see? 

Johnny: I don't remember.

Cop: You don't remember, eh? 

OK, let me call bullshit on that. Johnny couldn't just come up with something like, "it was a Western, you know, the new one with John Wayne".  If you're going to lie, put some effort into it. "I don't remember"? Who would ever believe that? 

Well, maybe it's not so incredulous now? 

I could've moved on and picked a different movie but my mind went even further down the rabbit hole of wondering what else has been deleted from brain and why other things have not been deleted.

"Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" is still there in my head. Why, God, why? 

My apologies to Jodie Foster who is an amazing talent and a consummate professional who I am sure turned in a wonderful performance in Contact.  

Stay safe and remember to be to good to one another.