Since May 19, 1995, life for Tommy Dickie just hasn't been the same.
On this day, "Die Hard: With a Vengeance" was released nationally. The movie's preview, which he had seen several months earlier, was one of few to include the film's release date. Dickie looked forward to May 19 for months and by the time May had rolled around, he had memorized the release dates of the eight major films being released that month.
From then on, he paid close attention to when movies came out. A decade later, he knows the release dates of about 900 movies that have come out since May 1995.
Dickie can't retrieve the information instantly. The memory system that he uses relies on other movie release dates as points of reference.
When asked to name a movie for June 2, for example, Dickie thinks of other movies that came out around that time.
"Nothing hits me immediately, so I jump to June 9," he said. "June 9 was 'Congo' in 1995, and I visualize 'Congo' and 'The Bridges of Madison County' as connected. 'The Bridges of Madison County' was June 2 in 1995."
And he doesn't stop there.
"I know that 1996 and 2000 were leap years, so if June 2 was a Friday in 1995, it was also a Friday in 2000. After thinking for a minute I know that Big Momma's House with Martin Lawrence opened June 2, 2000," Dickie said.
Other times, Dickie finds himself in a bind. If a date was a Friday in 1994, then that date has not been a Friday since 1994 because of the two leap years that have occurred. Because one-seventh of all the days in 1994 were Fridays, Dickie cannot use talent one out of seven times he is asked.
As time passes, Dickie continues to memorize the release date of movies, but he now uses more discretion when paying attention to them.
"I know that April 17, 1998 was 'Barney's Great Adventure' and 'Polly,' that movie about a talking parrot. I would definitely not bother to memorize those today," Dickie said.
However, Dickie says his memory isn't universally good. He remembers phone numbers and past experiences, but that's about it.
"I'm good at remembering what I did, with who, when. But remembering to put my shoes on ... a lot of everyday things slip my mind."
Dickie's talent comes in handy -- especially when it comes to remembering friends' birthdays. He looks at a friend, thinks about when his or her birthday might be, and then visualizes a movie.
"I have this friend, Liz Schwartz '06, whose birthday is April 16, so 'American Psycho' from 2000 jumps to mind. It's ironic, because she's not an American psycho, but I look at her and go 'American Psycho' -- that's your birthday," he said.
Dickie first shared his talent on the bus ride to the College for his Dartmouth Outing Club trip. He mentioned his ability to the person sitting next to him, and within 15 minutes he had half of the bus drilling him with dates.
"It's a good conversation starter," he said.
Timidly, Dickie explained that he doesn't think he's ever been wrong. "Sometimes I give the New York release date and the person wanted the Boston release date, but that's not fair," he said. However, for many films, Dickie does know both the New York and the nationwide release dates, so stumping him is harder than it may seem.
People in Dickie's life are often thinking of ways for him to capitalize on his talent, but he doesn't think the outlook is promising. "I don't think we can have movie-release Jeopardy -- I don't think I'd have any competitors," he said.
Dickie, in addition to being a theatre major and a member of Dartmouth's Ulitmate Frisbee team, is a member of the Dartmouth Film Society. He considers himself to be "a big movie buff."
