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Spoilers
Published: 6/29/2007 2:02 PM
Last Modified: 6/29/2007 2:02 PM

A woman e-mailed me today to chide me for giving away the whole story of the newest “Die Hard” film, and I had to laugh at the comment, and then at myself.

Bad guys do bad things, stuff blows up, Bruce Willis saves everyone. Oops, sorry, did it again.

But I know what she means. I didn’t watch the recent American Film Institute update of the 100 greatest films ever made for the very reason that they spoiled the fun of movies for me when they first presented this list on CBS a decade ago.

Care to know what Rosebud means? Guess who Ilsa goes off with at the end of “Casablanca.” No, don’t bother. The AFI can tell you.

Over the course of three hours in 1997, the AFI showed clips of the top 100 and proceeded to give away key plot points and the endings to many of the classics. I was beside myself.

I’m always so jealous when someone tells me they’ve never seen “The Bridge on the River Kwai” or “On the Waterfront,” thinking of my own experience at seeing these masterpieces the first time around, and wondering what it would be like to see them again, with no knowledge of what’s to come.

Then there’s the thought that perhaps someone decides that, thanks to the AFI, they know what happens in these old films, so why bother checking them out. Again, beside myself.

I couldn’t contain my boyhood excitement at the conclusion of “Rocky” in 1976. Would it have been the same if someone had told me that the Italian Stallion…

Forget it. I’m not going there.

Again, I didn’t see the AFI presentation this time around, but I can only hope they didn’t tell you anything about Bruce Willis and his film “The Sixth Sense” or other major spoilers.

Note to the AFI: Just intimate that Rosebud is a symbol of one man’s lost innocence and let people figure out what that means. The result will something we call an epiphany, which still occasionally happens at the cinema.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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