Every year the kids and I do a movie marathon on July 4: Classic movies they haven’t seen yet, back to back to back, all day. We started when they were tiny, and it’s one of my favorite things.
This year we’re camping on July 4, so it’s today. First up: WHITE NIGHTS!
(I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.)
My phone got confiscated, so no livetweeting, but god, it was glorious. The kids both fell in love with Hines and Baryshnikov, and Casey loved it both ironically and unironically as much as I do.
Currently in negotiations on what comes next after breakfast. Elvis is threatening to block consensus on Wait Until Dark.
Since folks are asking, I'll update occasionally with previous years' lineups. (We started in 2011, when the kids were eight and four.)
2011: The Fly (1958), The Incredible Shrinking Man, ET.
2012: Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Next up: Wait Until Dark!
The eleven-year-old rated Wait Until Dark a 20 out of 10 on both scariness and awesomeness. The fifteen-year-old just spent ten minutes yelling at me that it was more tense than scary, but still rated it 10/10 for awesome.
2013: Casablanca, Bad News Bears, Groundhog Day, The General. (That was an excellent year.)
Moving directly into our next movie . . . Norma Rae!
In 2014 we added an extra marathon in midwinter: What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Princess Bride, Duck Soup.
July 4, 2014: 9 to 5, Star Wars, Raising Arizona.
Norma Rae was well-liked in our house this afternoon, though it's hard to match the thrill ride of the first two. A bit of a cool-down movie.
Next movie chosen. Smile!
Huge success. (I sent them out of the room for the obvious two or three minutes, but other than that, it was very well received.)
Where'd I get up to in the list? Ah, 2015, another excellent one: Paper Moon, Caddyshack, Philadelphia Story, Big, Charade, Independence Day.
(Elvis is still mad at me for how scary Charade was. Though in fairness, I may have made a hook-hand out of a clothes hanger after it ended.)
2016: The Long Kiss Goodnight, Mean Girls, Desperately Seeking Susan, Dave.
2017: The Breakfast Club, Dr. Strangelove, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Robin and Marian, Amelie, Bull Durham.
And now we're about to start our last movie of the night, last movie of this year's marathon. It's been a bit ... intense this year, so we're ending on a light note.
Elvis: “Why are those her clothes?”
Me: “Because there’s not a hundred thousand antisexist movies in the world, and we already watched Wait Until Dark, Norma Rae, and Thelma and Louise today. Sorry.”
Me: “Because there’s not a hundred thousand antisexist movies in the world, and we already watched Wait Until Dark, Norma Rae, and Thelma and Louise today. Sorry.”
Other very well received movies from recent non-marathon showings include Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Cabaret, and All the President’s Men.
Marathon done! Debrief done! Final rankings coming up...
Elvis, 11: Wait Until Dark, Norma Rae/Thelma and Louise (tie), White Nights, Fifth Element.
Casey, 15: Wait Until Dark, White Nights, Thelma and Louise, Norma Rae, Fifth Element.
All in all, a very successful day. Super fun. Yay! Goodnight!
