Family Traditions…

Since my maternal grandparents were married nearly 55 years ago, our family has had a tradition of Friday night pizza.  Somewhere along the way, a movie with our pizza also became tradition.  We enjoy watching movies together almost as much as we love watching Dodger baseball games together!  My Mom’s oldest brother along with his wife and her daughter have joined us many times as well, especially around Christmastime.  We have an annual watching of The Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition movies each December/January (and often a few times throughout the year).  In fact, knowledge of what movies we enjoy watching prompted my uncle to discuss some of his favorite movies with me and my siblings.

Last summer, August 2019, I drove with my two siblings to Frost, Texas to visit our Uncle, Aunt, and Grandmother.  While there, we had a conversation about classic movies that everyone should watch.  The entire immediate family agrees on a few films in particular such as The Music Man, The Princess Bride, and Fiddler on the Roof as being the classics of all classics.  Quotable movies such as these regularly enter conversation in our home!

The conversation quickly turned to some of our Uncle’s favorite movies other than the ones we already knew about.  He was shocked – or shall I say, appalled? – at our lack of exposure to his favorite movies.  He speculated that if his nieces and nephew were mature enough to enjoy The Lord of the Rings, we could certainly appreciate other classics, such as his favorites.  This inspired him to “enlighten” us.  He quickly made a list of what he believes are some of the greatest movies ever made.

We have already started in on The List, and I must say that we have found some of the greatest movies ever made.  We gave a standing ovation for one of these movies, laughed over and over again during another, leapt for joy and cried bucket loads in another, and sat on the edges of our seats for the entirety of yet another!  All that to say, The List has made our Friday nights quite interesting.

The List

1. The Sting with Robert Redford

2. Overboard (1987) with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell

3. Overboard (2018) 

4. Amadeus

5. The Greatest Story Ever Told

6. Lawrence of Arabia with Peter O’Toole and Alec Guinness

7. Mr. Holmes

8. Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. 

9. True Grit (1969)

10. True Grit (2010)

11. 12 Angry Men

12. La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful, 1997)

13. Rear Window

14. Forrest Gump

15. The Godfather Series

16. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

17. Das Boot (The Boat, 1981)

On With The Show!
As of my last count, we have finished 7 of the movies on The List so far.  Do any of the films listed sound familiar?  If you’ve seen any, comment below and let me know what you thought!  Stay tuned for a series of reviews and summaries of each of these movies in the near future.