"E.T." On the Big Screen

The good news is, weeping over an alien puppet in a dark room full of strangers is probably the therapeutic experience I have needed since I was a child. Plus, I have been long overdue for a really humiliating public cry.

But seriously.

One of the things that's so memorable about E.T. is that it's an emotional shocker. You're laughing one minute and you're crying the next. There are few films that get away with such major changes in the story tone and weight, and even fewer that make those exhausting demands upon an audience actually worth going through.

This is one of those films. Key point: E.T. is just worth it.

One major thing that got me to TCM's anniversary screening last weekend was because I was dying to hear that legendary score by John Williams in full cinematic sound. As a cinephile, it has always been my dream to see E.T. in theaters for this reason alone.

actual footage of me finding out E.T. was coming back into theaters

You know, I just think about the E.T. score from time to time. I have so many questions. (Did John Williams really just compose it? Or was it woven into being from a fabric of stardust and pure childlike wonder???)

LET'S JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO LISTEN TO THE SOUND I WILL HEAR WHEN I ENTER HEAVEN:

Now that you've heard it, I'm about to make an outrageous claim... but I think this is my favorite John Williams score of all time. And, like, I'm saying that including the first three Harry Potter movies. I mean, it's THAT INCREDIBLE.

And whenever there was a moment with this sweeping music started playing in the theater, it brought me right to tears (I had to break into the emergency pack of tissues in my bag). It was a beautiful mess.

Because this is a score that takes you right to the moon. Or Mars. Or wherever E.T. is from. IT'S A CINEMATIC SPACE ODYSSEY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

last time i burned my finger cooking, this gif was all i could think of

I could go on and on about the music in this movie, but also about the casting, too. Every time I see little Henry Thomas leading the cast as Elliott, I'm just stunned by how natural and wonderful he was in this movie. Of all the performances by a child, this one is really unbelievable to me.

One of the great treasures about this experience is that we were able to get people together who had either never seen E.T., or who hadn't seen it in long enough that they might as well have been seeing it for the first time. This, to me, is what loving movies is all about: getting to share them with others.

Speaking of the audience, another thing I'm happy to report is that the audience seemed as invested in the movie as ever. Although it's 35 years old, it really proves itself as a true classic when you go to see it in theaters so many years later and everyone around you is laughing or crying at the same moments they were meant to when it was originally made.

One family int he row in front of us had brought their little daughter to see the movie for the first time and at every major development, she would turn to her mom and ask if E.T. was okay, if Elliott was okay, ask what everything meant. She was just as invested in the movie as a child as I was. There are so many ways this film proves itself over and over as timeless.

Okay. Last thing. You know those movies you watch and you just HAVE to eat a certain food while you're watching them?

Every time I see the scene of Elliott using the Reese's Pieces as bait for E.T., I always wish I had Reeses of my own. So this time we came prepared. My group all got bags of Reese's beforehand so that when Elliott walks around with the candy, there was a group of adult women in that theater who got out our own bags of peanut-buttery goodness to snack on. Like actual five year olds.

But that's probably my favorite thing about E.T. It's all from the perspective of a child and it's a reminder not to lose a child's sense of fun and wonder. What's not to love?

If you haven't seen E.T. yet, catch it while it's streaming on Netflix this month! And don't forget your Reese's pieces.

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