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As for the redo on my past? I made the trek up to Seattle to take part in a contestant search for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Nearly ten years after I earned my way on to the ABC nighttime edition, and got as close as humanly possible to the Hot Seat without an actual meeting of ass and cushion, I dared to broach a second chance. I flubbed the general knowledge test but qualified for the Netflix-sponsored Movie Week edition that airs around Oscar time.

I chatted nicely with one of the production staff in the interview that followed, got to do a brief on-camera Q & A, and two weeks later received word that I was in the contestant pool. So I possibly might be possibly chosen. Possibly. My eligibility is good for this season and the next two, so it’s all over but the waiting. I keep my cell phone charged up at all times. The funny thing is, with the revamp of the show this season, there is no Hot Seat anymore. And so it goes…

And so, it was an eventful and prolific summer on many fronts, but not for movie going. Loyal readers may recall my (nothing but the best) intentions put forth at the end of my last column to see Iron Man 2 and Sex and the City 2, and catch up with New Moon. None of those viewings happened. This is why I am boarding the Wayback Machine and flashing back to July 2009 by focusing on a pair of high profile releases from the beginning of the summer - at least on the Hollywood calendar - that had made their way into second-run theaters by this point.

I never tire of singing the praises of Portland’s discount movie theaters, namely because they have managed to keep their prices so incredibly low ($2 to $4) for nigh on ten years now, each while filling their own particular niche and (most of them) providing reasonably priced beer, nosh and candy. The one exception is the Avalon, which since it is an arcade, sticks strictly to the candy, and pop/corn. Where I once organized my movie habits around opening weekend, I now count down the time from when a film travels the first-run circuit to the moment it can be viewed with a tasty beverage, hot slice of ‘za, and a cookie or two for up to 80% less what I would have paid months earlier (90% if concession items are figured in.)

But last summer, neither the price nor the food was the major draw. It was the blast of AC and the promise of respite from a grueling and uncharacteristically extended heat wave in Portland. Six months prior, the winter of 2008-2009 saw Portland blanketed with the heaviest December and January snowfall dump in more than 50 years. When compared to Chicago, Washington, D.C. or New York City, the 24 inches received is perhaps scoff-worthy, but my back certainly didn’t think so as I kept shoveling out my friend’s sidewalk and driveway.

In contrast, the summer temps were record-setters across the board for my fair town. From late July into early August, we had ten consecutive days of 90 degrees and above with three of those hitting triple digits and two days at 106 degrees (one degree away from tying Portland’s hottest day ever). Overall, there were 24 days above 90 degrees, and they stretched all the way into September.

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