#15 Stop Making Sense

January 15, 2021
Stop Making Sense (1984) ****
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So, on Friday I was not feeling well. I had an upset tummy, and I thought maybe I had a fever, but when I took my temperature it turned out actually my temperature was too low! So that was new. And with all that happening, I figured I had better just put on a movie that I know really well, that doesn’t have a plot, and then if I happened to fall asleep while watching it it’s okay because I know the movie by heart.

Stop Making Sense fits all those criteria. I was at NYU when it came out, and it was playing in a movie theater around the corner. Theatre 80? St. Marks? I don’t remember, dinosaurs were roaming the earth back then. Maybe the Waverly? Someone will know, I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Anyway, I saw that movie like eight or ten times, including every screening on the day it closed. So it doesn’t really matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen it, it is gouged into my consciousness.

So there I was, not feeling very well, ready to pass out, and the second that movie started I felt immediately better and watched the whole thing with great joy. There is no better tonic than Talking Heads in 1984. They were such babies!

Don’t wait until you don’t feel well, watch it now, it is everything.

Edited to add: I remembered! It was the wonderful 8th Street Playhouse where I saw this movie multiple times. You are much missed, 8th Street Playhouse. Pouring one out for you, and by one, I mean a large soda.