September 16, 2011

There’s a lot of stuff I can’t wait to show Ariel and Jasmine when they’re older. I’m not talking about when they’re MUCH older, when of course they need to see The Godfather, Schindler’s List, the West Wing, the Wire, and lots of other all-time greats from movies and TV. I’m talking when they’re still kids, but can appreciate some of the classics of my youth, the ones that haven’t become too dated to still entertain. I’m not including The Wizard of Oz, which is of course one of my favorite movies, just because the joy of watching it with them the first time will be severely hampered by the worry that the scene with the flying monkeys will scare the holy be-jezus out of them and ruin the whole evening. But we’ll jump off that bridge when we get there… Anyway, here’s my top-3, at least as of today…

1) Bad News Bears – it’s staggering how inappropriate this movie would be considered today. Forget the fact that the manager drinks and drives continuously. Forget that the kids curse like nobody’s business, every imaginable slur is used freely and without hesitation, the good guys (the Bears) play dirty when it suits them (you cant see Tanner, the SS, tripping a guy running between 2nd and 3rd without laughing). The true beauty of this film is the fantastic ending, which teaches the invaluable lesson that bad sportsmanship and hostility bordering on unprovoked violence is entirely warranted and acceptable (even commendable, really) as long as it’s directed at an evil team like the Yankees. Just outstanding.

2) Schoolhouse Rock – To be honest, I’m not sure how I’ll handle it if my kids don’t like Schoolhouse Rock. These videos/songs from Saturday morning TV of the 70’s are so brilliant, so well written, and so enjoyable, that it will just break my heart if for some reason they don’t grab my kids like they grabbed me. I can honestly say I know how a bill becomes a law and the entire preamble to the US Constitution because of Schoolhouse Rock, and we all know how necessary those are to achieving day-to-day success in business as well as life in general. Among the very best of Schoolhouse Rock are Interjections (“They’re generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong”), Rufus Xavier Sasparilla (pronouns) and Fireworks (about the 4th of July). Go back and watch them on Youtube if you haven’t seen them in a long time (or God forbid have never seen them), I guarantee many smiles.

3) The Muppet Movie – It’s possible this will end up being a BIT dated (I haven’t seen it in years), if only because the cast is an impressive collection of 70’s icons who my wife may not recognize, let alone my daughters. Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, Orson Wells, Bob Hope, Dom Deloise, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, it goes on and on. But what makes it brilliant is the combination of the humor (“Prepare the standard Rich and Famous contracts…”) and the music, from the Rainbow Connection to Movin’ Right Along. If you watch the ending “Life’s like a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep pretending, we’ve done just what we set out to do…thanks to the Lovers, the Dreamers, and you!” and don’t get goose-bumps, well, I cant help you.

I’ll have the blu-ray player (or whatever fabulous contraption has made that obsolete) ready to go on September 18, 2017, when Jasmine turns 7. Ariel will be 11. Perfect.