As part of our intern duties, Nikki Blanks and I were teamed up once a week to go on campus and run a “contact table” where we would try and meet new students on campus, engage in conversation, and invite them to various Chi Alpha events. During these times we would talk to a lot of people. Over the course of a few weeks, we started to get to know some of the people who would come by on a regular basis. Of note, we met Mike, who really loved bad B movies. Somewhat coincidentally, Nikki and I also loved B movies. A few of my personal favorites were The Brain that Wouldn’t Die and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Nikki in particular was fond of The Killer Shrews and Xanadu.
Nikki and I were talking about this one evening at the Chi Alpha house with a few of the students. We decided that we would start going over to the café after hours on Monday nights and begin watching some of these movies together during our “off” time. Some of these students included Mike, Luke Mula, Ken Taylor, Molly D’Avy, and a several others.
Over the course of that year, many students decided to join us. Most of those students came just once, would politely watch the movie that evening, and then never return again. But there was a core of about 8-10 of us that were there weekly.
We watched a ton of great movies that year, such as Plan 9 from Outerspace, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, Hercules in New York, and Gamera the Flying Turtle (not the actual name of the movie). The event was, of course, inclusive of our own running commentaries and line quotations. After each movie was over, we took time to rate the movie and give our own personal synopses and thoughts.
At the end of the year we decided to take a Saturday and make a marathon of it. We ordered some pizzas, brought in some soft drinks, and voted on about 5 or 6 movies that would make the list for the day.
Of all the things I did and was involved in during that internship year, Monday Movie Madness (or Mx3 as we so affectionately referred to it) was one of the most successful and fun. I’m not sure what that means in terms of the things I was actually “supposed” to be doing that year, but it was genuinely fun and was a great way to connect with some people I wouldn’t have normally. When I think back on that year, those who came regularly to Mx3 were some of my best friends and among the people with whom I grew closest.
Cont….
Ramblings from That Guy 