Watching the Classics With Fresh Eyes
My son, who is a film buff, has recently been working his way through the AFI Top 100 Films List. That fact had our family spending a recent Friday night watching the truly fabulous To Kill A Mockingbird. This is a film my husband and I rarely pull out. We love the movie – it is kept in the cabinet simply because it packs such a punch a single viewing stays with you a long time.
It was incredible watching the impact the film had on our teenager though. He was completely engrossed the entire time it was on, anxious to discuss it once it was over. He now understands why Atticus Finch topped AFI’s Top 100 Heroes List. Between Mockingbird and the Godfather AFI has impressed him with just how many great older films are out there. This has been wonderful for us as a family. While I love a great super hero or sci fi film as much as the next geek, a steady diet of them can be like living on candy. Delicious but not really filling or healthy. It has been nice to spend our rare family time together sharing films we love with our children and it has been so nice to finally have them at an age where we can share adult themes with them. For those concerned with the moral impact Hollywood has on our kids (I don’t think on it too much but I know many do) it has been good to be able to share the film and talk about it with them while I still have some influence over what kind of ideas they walk away from it with.
My son has also influenced how I see the films. Being with someone who is viewing something for the first time really does help you see the movie with fresh eyes. It reminds you of the things you first loved about it but also helps you pick up on things you never noticed before. In many ways, it becomes, to borrow the Disney tag line – seeing it again for the first time. It combines the experience of the new with the experience of the familiar and creates something wholly different. How great is that?
I’ve watched about forty of the top 100 films. My eldest has seen about ten. My husband roughly fifty (his love of violence really helped out here). What about you? Do you ever watch the classics? Looking over the list, how many of the top 100 have you seen?
– Maggie AAR
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I can’t wait to see this new super hero movie Jesus Christ vs The Fallen Angel starring actor Tom Truong.
I love “The Blind Side” and I agree – I think it will pass the test of time. Another that I find equally good is the movie “Gran Torino”. Lovely story.
My votes for recent classics are “The Blind Side” and “Finding Forrester.” I think both will withstand the test of time.
I love class movies too. Many of my favorites didn’t make the AFI list but I still think they are wonderful such as:
Bob Hope My favorite Brunette
Marlene Deitrich Witness for the Prosecution
David Niven and Ginger Rogers Bachelor Mother
The last is my absolute favorite black and white comedy.
maggie b.
I was telling a friend the other day that the only time I had been to a theater to see a movie alone was for “Red Riding Hood”. I reviewed the book here at AAR and it didn’t have an ending. I went to the movie so I could get the ending and get the full affect.
Maggie
Maggie,
I associate watching movies as a group activity or social event, like your family movie night so I rarely watch them. I read when I am alone, and watch movies with company.
I haven’t watched this movie in years, and don’t know if I could right now. But it a wonderful movie. And how great for you – being able to watch it with your son as he sees it for the first time.
I’ll have to go through the list later but I love classic movies. I know it’s weird, but it seems like the oldies (40s-50s) were never “movies” but real life because they were so seamless. More recent movies (not all but a LOT) tend to take one outside “real life” with product placement, special effects and knowing all the funny bits beforehand by watching the previews online or on tv.