This list is a little different. Obviously I cannot call my dad up and say “hey man, what are your top ten favorite movies?” Instead, this is a list of the ten movies connected to me via Dad. Before we get the top ten, here are some different honorable mentions.
Theater Trips!
My dad rarely went to the movies. The trips were so infrequent that I can honestly remember each time we went to the Rowland to see a movie. There were four movies that he took us to see: Batman, Hocus Pocus, and Jurassic Park. I think I drove him crazy about going to see Batman and he ended up really liking it. I think he wanted to see Jurassic Park as much as we did. And honestly, I have no clue why he took us to see Hocus Pocus. It was just Adam, Dad, and myself. Maybe Mom was having a girls night out? And I thought it was dumb that we were going to see that movie (I would have been 12 or 13 when it came out), but Adam wanted to see it.
Westerns!
I love Westerns and that is something I inherited from Dad. He would watch John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies, which he would allow me to watch them as well. There are two movies that make the top ten, but two others that we watched many times: True Grit and High Planes Drifter.
Modern Movie
When Dad stayed with me in Pittsburgh for a few weeks, I discovered that he was a fan of one of my favorite movies: Garden State. We watched it at least twice while living together. It is cool that we found a movie to bond over as adults, instead of just movies we watched when I was a kid.
10. Back to the Future
Aunt Lori introduced our family to the Michael J. Fox classic. I remember Dad loving it. I think he watched it a few times when it came out. I think he loved the attention to little details and he definitely enjoyed pointing those little things out (Twin Pines Mall to Lone Pine Mall).
9. Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke
Dad loved Cheech & Chong. He would quote so many of their comedy lines (“I roll really big joints” or “Begins with a B, ends with a B…ten seconds Bob” and “Dave’s not here, man!” Eventually after telling me about them (Dad had a fantastic memory for comedy albums and could recite whole skits almost verbatim), he decided it was time for me to watch Up in Smoke. I thought it was one of the funniest movies ever and I probably understood about half the jokes.
8. Gettysburg
This is the other movie we went to the Rowland Theater to see. Dad read the book this movie was based on and he loved it. He was also a huge Civil War buff (I know, that is such a dad thing). It is a 4.5 hour movie (so long that they had an intermission) and Dad did not fall asleep. That is when you know a movie is great. Dad was definitely fond of saying “the high ground” in his best Sam Elliot voice.
7. Blazing Saddles
I watched this with Dad when I was a little young. I should probably mention that my parents never really thought ratings meant much. I definitely watched movies at a younger age than most of my friends. Blazing Saddles is definitely one of those movies. I was probably the only kid in fourth grade who watched this movie regularly.
6. Die Hard
Yeah, my dad loved this movie. I am pretty sure he was saying “come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs” before it was considered a classic Christmas movie.
5. McLintock!
I know there are better John Wayne movies. But, Dad loved this one. “Somebody outta belt you in the mouth! But I won’t, I won’t, the hell I won’t.” He would say last part of that quote all the time “the hell I won’t!”
4. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I remember watching a few Clint Eastwood movies with Dad and when he saw that I liked them, he was like “we have to rent The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.” I think this was probably one of the first movies I watched that I noticed cinematic qualities (the long shots and just the very distinct shots of the landscape).
3. Young Frankenstein
I will never forget how I watched this one. Dad saw that it was coming on TV and he was like “do you want to stay up and watch this movie? It’s great, one of the funniest movies ever.” It was a school night and the movie would not be over until well past my bedtime. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It also helped that it was hilarious.
2. It’s a Wonderful Life
I cannot think of a movie that my dad watched more. He definitely watched it all the time during Christmas. It made him cry every time. It was also another one of those quotable movies “you’re screwy” or “they’re not there either…Zuzu’s petals.” Dad definitely enjoyed doing a Jimmy Stewart voice (who doesn’t though?).
1. The Princess Bride
I am fairly certain that Dad is at least 5% responsible for The Princess Bride reaching cult status. After he saw it, I think he told (or forced) almost everyone he met or knew to watch it. The movie came out in 1987. As I said in another post, he would say “have fun stormin’ the castle” everyday when we to school. He started that when I was in third grade, which would have been 1989-1990. I cannot think of any other movie that Dad could probably quote from beginning to end. Honestly, he could bust out a quote from this movie for basically any situation. I loved watching it with him.
I could probably post clips from the entire movie…
