It would have been 1986 or '87, when at the time, one of my best friends Jason really opened my eyes to what a great movie is. I can remember being like any normal teenager, watching the Porky's movies and the Cannonball Run series, trying to see a little naked breast whenever possible and fitting in a little Pink Panther and Inspector Clouseau. But, the day Jason started introducing me to big time directors like Oliver Stone and musical scores by Ennio Morricone, my movie watching changed forever. Those of course were only examples of big names at the time, but it really showed something when someone was highly interested in these directors, producers and especially composers instead of just the actors or seeing some side boob. Jason was this 'someone'.
We were still in the VHS era, had entered a small Laserdisc phase (those crazy big CD's) and would quickly find that DVD's were going to be the new rage. Jason started buying Empire magazine and would read up on all the latest news, then rent as many movies as possible on the week-end so our sleepovers weren't all about girl talk or complaining about our parents. I vividly remember watching the Kevin Costner thriller 'No Way Out' with Jason. We loved this movie at the time and I can still see Jason's face at the ending. His shock and amazement is still ingrained in my mind as the 'look' that one should have after seeing a great movie.
The odd time early on we would get to the theatre and that was out of this world. We would hit Park Lane in Halifax as it was the newest at that time. On one occasion, I believe it might have been Oscar week or something, I can recall us both being completely fooled by a live mannequin (off topic I know). It was crazy, both of us going up to her and when she blinked on purpose because she thought we were going to reach out and touch her. We saw a lot of movies there in a short period of time once Jay got his license. It was only fitting that a screening of his first hit movie was played there to a packed house 20+ yrs later.
Jason had a vision of what his future was going to be, but didn't quite convey it to us early on. Well, we didn't catch the drift I should say. He would later state quite frequently that he would be a big time director some day and I, like many others, would scoff or laugh it off to some degree. It's a great feeling for us (his old teenage buddies) to know that he has indeed made the big time now and that following him and remembering back to those days is inspirational.
The movie that he is winning awards for as his directorial debut is called 'Blackbird' and I encourage you to look it up as well as Jason Buxton, just a regular dude from Chester, Nova Scotia. Well, not regular anymore.
