As I may have previously mentioned, my entire family loves movies. It would be a typical day at home for us all to sit together, curled up on couches with blankets, and simply watch movie after movie. My dad is having some surgery today, so I decided to write about some of his favorite movies that he made me watch as a kid, and that subsequently became some of my favorites, too. My dad's type of movie usually center around a real bad-ass being tough, or comedic genius of former SNL fame. They certainly are "movies for guys who like movies", but I like them, too, so I hope that you enjoy some of Dr. G's pics:
1) Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), starring Mel Gibson, back in the days of his Australian accent. The best thing about this flick is Tina Turner, who plays a tough survivor of post-apocalyptic society, and who also, coincidentally, sings the main theme music. I can't tell you how many mornings I awoke to the sweet strains of, "We Don't Need Another Hero", as my dad performed his morning weight-training:)
2) The Jerk (1979), directed by Carl Reiner, and starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. My uncle took my dad to see this one for his bachelor party:) It is hilarious, and Steve Martin has some amazing lines in this one. Pure 1970's-SNL-Martin Schtick:)
3) Caddyshack (1980), directed by Harold Ramis (aka. Egon), and starring the incomparable Bill Murray and Chevy Chase. I know that you have all seen this one, and that most of you love it, so I will just tell you that I always enjoy that gopher ("I'm all right, don't nobody worry 'bout me!"), and that I have always wanted to master zen-golf:)
4) Conan the Barbarian (1982)/ Conan the Destroyer (1984), starring Herr Arnold Schwarzenegger, right smack-dab in his hey-day of pumping steel. My dad loved the books that these films were based on, written by Robert E. Howard, but I know that it didn't hurt that the flicks also starred Herr Arnold. These films are classic, complete with a deity named "Krom", and James Earl Jones turning into a snake. I think that is a real crowd pleaser, and certainly appropriate for 5-year-old girls (we might have been even younger than that, when first exposed to Herr Arnold:)
5) Ben-Hur (1959), directed by William Wyler, and starring Chuck Heston:) This one is truly remarkable, and won 11 Academy Awards, so it isn't just me. The chariot race alone is really a cinematic feat-of-strength, and the story is so epic... I mean, it is Charlton that we are talking about here. Another crazy moment for little girls... Ben-Hur rowing in the galleys of a prison ship for years, while his fellow prisoners die off around him ("Ramming speed!"). Very intense, Dad. Thanks for that one:)
6) A Fistful of Dollars (1964)/ For A Few Dollars More (1965)/ The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), directed by Sergio Leone, and starring the ever-studly Clint Eastwood. My dad enjoys a good western, as do I, and the famous spaghetti-westerns that were inspired by the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa are true grit. A Fistful of Dollars copies the storyline of Yojimbo (1961), the Kurosawa film about a wandering samurai that settles a long- standing dispute while passing through a town. Like Eastwood, Yojimbo settles the dispute by being tougher than everyone else:) The short cigar, the long gun, the poncho, and the man with no name were the perfect recipe for cool.
Thanks for the education, Dad:) I hope that you enjoy some good movies while you recuperate!!
