The other day, Sir Monkeypants and I were talking about The Princess Bride. We were wondering how old Fred Savage’s character is in that movie, because once the Captain gets to be the same age, we are tying him down to the couch and forcing him to watch it. Possibly several times over. You can’t be a Turtlehead and not be able to quote copiously from that film.
So I’ve been thinking of other movies that I would love to share with my kids. Number one on that list was Star Wars, and hey, mission accomplished! The Captain is a total convert. I also wanted to show them Mary Poppins and The Sound Of Music, both of which they’ve seen now. Both movies were a little long for their powers of concentration, but at least they loved the music and now we can listen to the soundtracks with shared joy.
After The Princess Bride, I think I’d like to get a copy of Ladyhawke, which was a movie we watched over and over and over again as kids. I think Ghostbusters is fun for the whole family, and probably suitable for about the same age group as Ladyhawke. At last, the kids will understand why I say, “Nice tootin’, Tex!” every time they break wind. And this probably goes without saying, but once they stop believing in Santa, I’ll be pulling out A Christmas Story to help them laugh away the tragic disappointment.
On the flip side, I remember being a tad obsessed with The Dark Crystal as a child — FameThrowa and I used to play Dark Crystal for hours. I think it’s really, really sad though. Better save that one until they’re old enough to not be permanently scarred.
Another one on my must-share list is Romancing The Stone, which I could probably quote verbatim from start to finish. Unfortunately, some swear words in it and implied sex means its a PG-13 as far as I’m concerned, so I’ll be waiting on that one for a while. Also in the PG arena is Speed, a movie I quote from so often that it’ll probably come as a shock to my kids that I did not, in fact, write that screenplay.
Now that my niece is fifteen, I’m finding it really hard to stop myself from running out and getting her copies of Dirty Dancing (SUCH a classic) and The Cutting Edge (SUCH a classic guilty pleasure). Both were beloved by me as a teenager, and I’d love to share them with the next generation.
Speaking of being a teenager, one of the seminal movies of my teenaged years was A Room With A View. I saw it in the theatre at age 15 with my grandparents. There was some sort of mix up with the timing and when we got there, the film had already been playing for half an hour. So we decided to just sit in the lobby of the theatre with some snacks and chit chat for two hours while waiting for the next show.
Yes, I was the kind of teen who went to the movies with her grandparents, then sat around chatting with them. I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out how many dates I went on in high school.
Anyway, about 2/3 of the way through the movie, the theatre exploded with crazy hooting and laughter. We couldn’t wait to get inside and see just what was so funny. And once inside…well, that scene certainly did not disappoint. Some respectable ladies come across three men skinny dipping in a water hole. Not only was it hilarious, it featured my first full-frontal view of a naked man — growing up in a house full of only females meant that I’d never actually seen a penis in real life. Talk about EYE OPENING.
And sharing that moment with my grandparents was totally not awkward at all!
Anyway, I’ll think I’ll leave A Room With A View off of the list, to save my kids the humiliation of actually watching it with me.
What movies from your youth do you want to share with your children?
TurtleHead 
Huh, so I wasn’t the only one with an awkward moment at the movies with Nana and Papa! They took me to see Pretty Woman (awkward moment = seduction scene on the piano) and Dances with Wolves (can’t remember exact awkward moment, but I do believe there is nudity in there somewhere).
For kids movies, what about The Secret of NIMH?
Other big classics from my childhood:
The Goonies
Mr. Mom
Adventures in Babysitting
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Clue
Back to the Future
Don’t forget that IMDB has the awesome feature of listing the questionable content of movies. It’ll help you decide if the kids are ready for a flick.
I have a video tape of the Dark Crystal (I worked in a video store as a teen ager) and the Secret of Nihm. Loved those. My 7 year old caught Princess Bride on TV once but he started watching it around the time Wesley starts fighting the giant rat. He found it scary so i haven’t brought it up again. But it is also one of my favourites.
Oooh…I’d forgot all about Ladyhawke.
Hana’s already seen The Princess Bride and likes it…ditto Mary Poppins, though it’s mainly the cartoon-ish bit that she likes to watch. I’d like them to see Sound of Music, but probably it’ll be a couple years till it’ll interest them. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is another fun one.
The original three Star Wars movies are on my list. Also Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And Labyrinth, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Superman. there are a bunch…
FameThrowa — All good choices! I remember we watched The Secret of NIMH like, a hundred times. I just bought the book it was based on for AvidReader last year. I think I should probably add Back To The Future and Goonies to the list for sure, as well. They were never my personal favourites but I think there is enough general passion for them that the kids will probably love them.
Chantal — Working in a video store is a secret dream of mine! I’d have the hugest collection of videos EVAH. I’m envious of your Dark Crystal tape — I’m not even sure you can get it on DVD. I have to check it out. If not, you should have yours transferred to DVD so it can be treasured forever!
Mary Lynn — Awesome about The Princess Bride and Hana! Maybe we will break it out soon. I looked it up and Fred Savage was 8 when that movie was made, and the Captain will be 6 in a month, so sounds like we are definitely getting close. And sad to say, I have never actually seen all of Seven Brides. I KNOW. I should get on that!
In the original book, The Princess Bride, the Fred Savage character is 10.
I recommend reading the book out loud over seeing the movie. You get much more detail on Fezzik and Inigo that way.
We’ve watched The Princess Bride, but my daughter was a little meh about it. She loved the Wizard of Oz.
I cannot wait for her to see Grease. She loves music and is singing all the time. I know she’d love it. Oh and Dirty Dancing.
It’s still a few years before Max will be able to sit down and really watch a movie, but I hope to instill the same fantasy fiction passion I had and still have. So Ladyahwk, Dark Crystal and Labrynth will be there fore sure. Princess Bride, a must. Star Wars (the original three for starters, if he likes them maybe we will de the other 3). And the Harry Potter movies, which I hope to read the books with him. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. If I had a girl it would have been Grease, Printy in Pink, 16 Candles, Breakfast Club, etc… along will all of the sci-fi stuff!
David — I own the book too! I love that book. I totally agree, it’s well worth the read even if you love the movie.
Shan — Grease! Excellent idea!
SmotherMother — Love the idea of the Harry Potter movies — I am embarrassed to admit that I like most of them better than the books. And I see you’re a Labyrinth fan too — I admit I have never seen it! I’ll have to check it out someday.