Me And My Dad: Movies

Me and My Dad:

 

2: Movies

 

Like a lot of people my Dad and I share a love of movies. From being a child up until now we still watch movies together on a regular basis and I have great memories of watching movies with him.

In this post I am going to share my memories of 5 movies that we watched together and why they have stuck with me. Here goes...

1: The Rescuers Down Under

I love animated movies - always have done and always will. Growing up my Mam was not a huge fan of cartoons so we very rarely watched cartoon movies as a family and watched live action movies instead. From an early age I was introduced to some absolute classics such as "Gremlins", "The Goonies", "Private Benjamin", "Overboard", "Big Business", "Indiana Jones" and a whole load more. But my Dad and I would watch animated movies together on a regular basis. The very first movie I went to see at the cinema was with my Dad and we went to see "The Rescuers Down Under". I loved it and so did my Dad and, to this day, I still think it is one of Disney's most underrated movies.

2: Halloween

My Dad is a huge horror movie fan and has been since he was a kid so, naturally, he was always going to introduce me to horror movies. Throughout my childhood we watched some of the best horror movies made including "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Friday the 13th", "The Fog", "Psycho", "Don't Look Now" and "Rosemary's Baby". But the one that sticks with me more than anything is the original "Halloween" movie by John Carpenter. I was probably about 9 or 10 when I first watched it with my Dad and it absolutely scared the s**t out of me, made me hide behind a cushion and haunted me for days....and I totally loved it! The simple story, The music, the atmosphere, the tension, the jump scares...all of it was brilliant and to this day it is still my 2nd Favourite Movie Of All Time (behind Jurassic Park) and a one that I regularly watch.

3: The Iron Giant

"The Iron Giant" is hands down the best animated movie ever made and one of the most unappreciated and underrated movies of all time! I love it and to this day it is still my 3rd Favourite Movie Of All Time (see above). I love everything about it and my twins love it too. But my memory of watching this with my Dad is a great one. In the early 00's I was at college and my Dad had retired from teaching and was working in PC World part time. Because of this we would quite regularly be off together during the day and so we would spend that time watching movies. I introduced him to The Iron Giant and he was blown away by how amazing it is.
 
4: Donnie Darko and Ringu

I am kind of cheating here and including two movies as my number 4 choice. As a follow on from number 3, another movie we watched together in the early 00's was "Donnie Darko". If you have seen "Donnie Darko" you will know it is a pretty weird film about time travel and alternate realities and a whole bunch of other sci-fi stuff. We watched this movie together on a whim one day and as soon as it was finished we spent hours discussing it and trying to break it down. We both had so many theories and ideas and thoughts that we watched it again the next day to try and piece it together. To this day it is still a movie we regularly talk about and enjoy. Another movie we watched in the early 00's was "Ringu". This is the original Japanese version of "The Ring" and, in my opinion, it is far superior to the American remake. My best mate, Richy, rented this on VHS from Blockbuster and brought it to my house. We ended up playing "Mario Kart" instead and didn't watch it and he forgot to take it home. So later that night at around midnight my Dad and I were having a cigarette (back in the day when we smoked) before we went to bed and I was telling him about "Ringu" and how it sounded unusual. We ended up putting it on and staying up to watch it. And, man, it was brilliant! I think because we knew absolutely nothing about it made it so much better as we were both genuinely scared, intrigued and fascinated by it. Another movie that we still talk about today.

5: The Martian

A lot happened in the late 00's. I met Kate, moved out of my parent's house, we had the twins, got engaged and got married and created our own family unit. I was teaching in adult education and my Dad was still in retail a few days a week. Our dynamic had changed and we rarely watched movies together unless it was something with the twins. Then my Dad retired and I was made redundant from my job and changed careers completely. I am now a support worker for people with social and learning needs within independent living. Because of that I now work shifts instead of 9-5 and I am now off on a regular basis during the day. A few years ago the movie version of "The Martian" was released. My Dad and I had both read and enjoyed the book so we decided to go and see this one afternoon as we were both off. This was the first time we had been to the cinema together in 10 years! The last movie we had watched at the cinema was "Sin City". We both thought "The Martian" was OK (not as good as the book...are they ever?) but that trip to the cinema rekindled our love of watching movies together. We now go to the cinema all the time! Sometimes we go 2 or 3 times a week and we will watch absolutely anything (within reason). Every winter we make a point of seeing every movie that is nominated for "Best Picture" at the Oscars and the Golden Globes meaning lately we have seen some utter bumph (looking at you "Moonlight" and "La La Land") but some absolute gems (hello "Lion" and "Hacksaw Ridge"). I love my cinema trips with my Dad as I love spending the time with him and I think it is good for him to just sit and relax for a couple of hours and get lost in a movie. I hope this continues for years to come.

And on that note I will sign off

Until next time...

The Twiglet's Dad