Good movies, part 2

Here are a few movies we've enjoyed lately:

The Pride of the Yankees (1942) - I don't watch a lot of sports movies, but I enjoyed this one. It's the story of Lou Gehrig, his family life, his famous career, and his illness that forced him to leave baseball. It's refreshing to see a story that praises decency and hard work.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - I don't watch a lot of war movies, either, but again, I enjoyed this one. Maybe because it was more about personalities and psychology than about shooting and fighting. Alec Guinness plays a British officer who is taken prisoner with his men in Burma. As they build a bridge for their captors, pride and loyalties get confused.

Captains Courageous (1937) - Based on the Rudyard Kipling book, the movie stars Spencer Tracy, one of my favorite actors (even if his accent in this one is fairly unbelievable). He plays the fisherman who rescues Harvey, a spoiled, snotty rich boy who falls off a passing ship. For the next three months Harvey learns to work aboard the fishing boat. (We may make our kids watch it the next time they complain about doing dishes.)

Mission: Impossible (1966-1973 TV series) - We've been getting the DVDs of the old TV series from the library, and now our kids are hooked on them. We especially like the seasons where Leonard Nimoy was a regular (right after the original Star Trek series ended). The plots are tricky and detailed, there's a lot of action and suspense, but without the language and inappropriate scenes that you'd see on a similar series today.

Good movies, part 1

Soon I hope to get back to listing the good books our family reads, but first I have to get back in the habit of keeping track of them throughout the month! Last October, though, we got a book from the library with Leonard Maltin's reviews of movies from the 1920s onward. We wrote down some that sounded good, as well as some we'd seen before but wanted to see again, and we've been watching one or two a week. Here are some of the best ones we've discovered or re-discovered in the past few months:

Cheaper by the Dozen (the 1950 version) - comedy about a large family with parents who are efficiency experts.

Belles on Their Toes (1952) - comedy, the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen. I had read the book but never knew they'd made a movie of this one.

Born Yesterday (1950) - comedy/drama about a clueless girl whose shady-business-dealing boyfriend hires a reporter to educate her. Judy Holliday does a great job.

The Circus (1928) - silent Charlie Chaplin comedy where he competes with a trapeze artist for a girl's affection. We had to rewind and re-watch the scene where Chaplin is walking the tightrope with monkeys attacking him!

Easter Parade (1948) - musical with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire.

Heartland (1979) - drama about a woman who goes to Wyoming in the early 1900s to keep house for a rancher, but what she really wants is to homestead her own land.

Hondo (1953) - Western based on a Louis L'Amour book and starring John Wayne.

Singin' in the Rain (1952) - musical with Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, and Donald O'Connor, a classic that our kids had never seen and got to enjoy for the first time. They loved it!

Ushpizin (2004) - drama, an Israeli film (with English subtitles) about a couple who pray for a miracle and get it, but also get guests who cause them problems. A very interesting movie.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005) - documentary about a man who studied and befriended a wild parrot flock in San Francisco. Gorgeous to watch, funny and interesting.

Happy New Year!

Mike and I went out to dinner, then came home and watched movies with the kids till midnight: Support Your Local Sheriff, Galaxy Quest, and an episode of Star Trek to finish things off. I hope you had as much fun as we did!