Movie Recommendations of the Week

Happy Thursday!

For all you working folks out there, one more day until freedom. For those of us who stay at home with munchkins and who's husbands work a really screwed up schedule, we don't know half the time what day it is. Could be Sunday. Could be two weeks from Tuesday. Who the heck knows. As you can probably tell I can't wait for school to start, if for no other reason than to bring some sense of time structure and scheduling into my life.

Well.....anyway.....Every Thursday, I will be giving some movie recommendations. Why Thursdays you maybe asking. Well I was a projectionist for about 6 years, and Thursdays were the build and tear downs for the theater. That would mean I got to stay up till all hours of the morning screening movies to make sure that I built them correctly. Every once in a while there would be a disaster, but most of the times, Thursday night/Friday morning were spent watching some good movies and also some really horrible ones (The Stupids. It lived up to its name, let me tell you.) I love movies. I loved working at the theater and being in the booth. And I can be a little bit of a movie snob at times. But I also appreciate all different kinds of film.

Last summer my husband (whom I met after I hired him as a projectionist) found a wonderful deal on a home projection system. Because it is so expensive to see movies in the theater now, not to mention that people have no consideration when watching a film in public, we wait for the movies to come out on DVD. Not a long wait anymore, but there is some lag time. Because of this we are going back and revisiting old favorites and discovering new gems. It has been great being able to show our kids special films from the past.

So that being said, every Thursday, I will be giving recommendations for movie nights. I'll break it down into age groups for everyone. I hope that they are helpful and maybe you will get reacquainted with some great films that have been forgotten.

For the whole family:

"The Music Man"
1962

This classic musical stars Robert Preston, Shirley Jones and Buddy Hackett. The songs are catchy, the story funny. This is a personal favorite of mine and my son Dylan. He started watching this when he was 3 and could quickly sing all the song and has started to copy the dancing. We recently went to Disneyland and on Mainstreet USA, they were playing "The Wells Fargo Wagon", and it made me feel like I was transported to River City, Iowa. Remember parents, go into it with an open mind if you've never seen it. As I tell my kids, just because it is old or black and white doesn't mean it isn't great. Usually those things are better.

For 10 years old +:

"The Goonies"

1985

Set in a small coast town in Oregon, this story of adventure, friendship and acceptance is wonderful entertainment for kids. And if parents are around my age, it might just bring back some great memories. My kids have already seen this, but there are a few adult references, (most went right over their heads) and there is some violence.


For 15 years old + :

"The Poseidon Adventure"
1972

Many have call this the ultimate disaster movie. Why shouldn't it be. Made in the hayday of the genre, this all star cast includes Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine and Roddy McDowell. While the remake was ok, there is nothing like the original. Teenagers will be probably more mortified at the fashion than the boat capsizing, and the special effects are nothing compared to what they have now, but this movie as a whole is wonderful and just a great popcorn flick.

For the Grown Ups:

"The Best Years of Our Lives"
1946

I recently saw this movie for the first time and it has become one of my all time favorites. It is the story of what happens to soliders after they come home from war. Their families have learned to go on without them, and now they have to try to fit back into a world that they don't know anymore and at the same time move past the hell that they just came out of. Though it is set in the time following WWII, it is still so relevant today. This movie has stayed with me and I am so glad that I took the time and saw this execeptional film.


I hope that you will take these suggestions and consider them on your next trip to the video store or when making requests online. Let me know what you think of these films. I would love to have any and all feed back. Have fun and eat some popcorn for me!

Thursday, August 21, 2008