I am so unoriginal, I keep seeing other peoples great ideas for posts and going "why didn't I think of that?"
This post is inspired by a cute little piece from jane brocket
Who you watch stuff with can be just as important as what you watch. Your viewing companion can also impact on the experience ...
Watching with a parent can be either an uplifting, fun confirmation of who you are, both together and as individuals, or completely squirmworthy.
Take my lovely parents - here we have two very different movie companions:
Mum and I were great movie amigos, watching everything and anything really. We watched all the musicals and sang along, we loved historical dramas, comedy and the current movies of the day. Mum might not have enjoyed some of the things I liked (Star Wars springs to mind) I didn't always like her favourites - Pretty woman, and she adored Ryan's Daughter. But we relished the shared experiences and we watched on together, regardless - and often had some good discussions afterwards. This could be one small corner of our top 100 (there's no way we could select just 10!!) in no particular order:
Oklahoma, Gigi, Mrs Miniver, Now Voyager, A Fish called Wanda, Out of Africa, Roman Holiday, North by Northwest, The King and I, Going my way?, Desk Set ....
Watching movies with Dad, however, is a different kettle of fish. He is not really what I would call a movie buff. Although he enjoys seeing fil-ums and he has clear likes and dislikes, he finds many celluloid pieces silly, distasteful or just time wasters (he would much rather be watching the footy!). But we have a few firm favourites and good shared memories over the years - watching all the Pink Panther movies together and laughing til we cried, James Bond and Indiana Jones adventures, movies all 3 of us loved like Local Hero, Chariots of Fire, Brassed Off and mostly anything from the 30s, 40s and 50s, particularly those with Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. We sat up and watched a Bill Collins offering recently (I can't remember the name) It was a melodramatic black and white costume drama and we loved every minute of it, cursing the villain, and loving how over the top it was.
UV and I, on the other hand, love most genres and many of the same films - anything scifi for one. A tiny selection of movies we liked: No Country for old men, The Godfather 1 & 2, Amelie, Dead Man (Johnny Dep). But we have lots of our own faves too - he loves b graders and Steven Seagall movies for a good laugh. Unlike him, I can watch and rewatch things like Lord of the Rings, Love Actually, Room with a View, old musicals and the odd girlie flick - but I do have definite likes and dislikes there - hate Pretty Woman, love Notting Hill for example. I love movies that baffle me - The Draughtsman's Contract, 2001, Donnie Darko. I love World Movies from all over the big wide world. I love Jacque Tati movies (introduced by another movie companion of complex tastes, my brother.) Some I've loved include Nosferatu, Gone with the Wind, Bladerunner, Fargo, Pulp Fiction, Pan's Labyrinth, Gosford Park, Hellboy, Fantasia, The Graduate, The Sting, Gladiator, Rebecca, Lost in translation ...
Now, when it comes to my niece and I, we have funny tastes in movies - I was 10 when she was born so we have a shared history growing up. Our dvd sessions these days largely figure the movies that made us laugh then and still do, but sometimes now for very different reasons.
This might be our top 10:
Grease :: we sing all the songs, laugh at how bad an actor a certain star is, google how old they all were when they made it and now agree that Stockard Channing and her character are the best things about this film!
Point Break :: what more can I say - pirouette sky diving!!!
Dirty Dancing :: we watched this again only the other day - what a cliched script but how funny it all is, and the inevitable quote was yelled at the top of our voices - "noone puts baby in a corner!!!")
Sound of Music :: just a great singalong, we know all the words and ring each other up whenever it comes on the tellie
Xanadu :: ELO songs to singalong to, crazy rollerskating muses, 80s fashion, unbelievably abyssmal story idea and worse script - what could be more fun!
The 'burbs :: we first saw this at the movies when my neice lived right there, in the burbs! always makes us laugh
Ghost :: Patrick Swayze is figuring large in this list! - more pirouette moves by Patrick throughout to keep us entertained
Saturday Night Fever :: how can you not love Travolta and the mad 70s scene
The Lost Boys :: both of us drooled over Jason Patrick then, now we chortle about Keifer the blonde vampire .. and we love the wool-uf! (the husky dog that belongs to the brothers)
Groundhog Day :: this is one that we just adore - do I need to explain this one? Bill Murray says it all
Having different people you watch movies with in your life gives you a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the relationship you have with them. And it also gives you permission to be anything you like, whether its being a silly teenager again or a serious movie buff. For me, when it comes down to it, it's really the people around me that make the movies.
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