I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you.

Today is the 29th anniversary of the release of “Star Wars,” probably the most influential movie to hit the mainstream cinema over the past 50 years. Sure, “Jaws” was the first summer blockbuster, but Star Wars took that whole experience to another level and created (influenced?) a following that is as passionate as the original Trekkies (Trekkers?).

The day the movie opened, I was six years old. I remember it being a normal day like any other- getting up for school, etc. I also remember getting home early, since it was a half-day. My mother had told me that my oldest brother (then 20 years old and also my Godfather) was going to take me somewhere as a surprise. I ate my afternoon snack (cream cheese and saltines) as my brother got ready to go and seemed like he was rushing us out the door. We drove into D.C., which was always a treat for me and I recall, getting into a long line at this huge movie theatre, which turned out to be the Uptown Theatre. They let us in, we got seated and then we waited until the curtains parted. And I was transported and transfixed by the adventures of a boy, a princess and a scoundrel.

It’s funny that I don’t remember much of the day after leaving the movie theater, but I vividly remember everything leading up to it. I do recall going to school the next day and talking about it with my friends, and they didn’t know what I was talking about, since the movie hadn’t opened wide yet, but the following school year, they were all asking me to draw Star Wars spaceships and stuff.

I ended up seeing Star Wars (a remarkable) seven times that year and each time getting that familiar rush. The last time I saw the original Star Wars in the cinema was in 1979, before “Empire Strikes Back” opened and there was a teaser for it, just to get people excited.

This is why I treasure the Uptown so much and also why I made the dedication of seeing each Star Wars film up there. I even started the tradition of taking my eldest nephew to see the Star Wars movies there.

Good times.