My Dad's Favorite Movies

I wrote this three years ago, and each time I've thought about writing something different or new for Father's Day I keep coming back to this. I hope it makes you smile-

I sat down to write something about Father's Day - this being my first without him - and inevitably it turned sappy and sad. My dad could be sappy at times especially with my mom (especially in public, to the horror of my sister and me when we were young) but he was never sad.

I started thinking about ways I could share him with you all. Maybe it's the beginning of the summer blockbuster season or a lull in the sports year, but talking about his favorite movies is a good way to bring him around on Father's Day and hopefully smile a bit at the same time.

There are some stereotypical dad movies on here. There's also a movie he never saw (it'll make sense) and a surprising-but-not-all-that-surprising-if-you-know-him entry at the top of the list. Here we go...

#10: A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men is a great movie that combines my dad's love for something with a decently woven mystery element without any time travel or flashbacks. There was no quicker way to lose his interest in a movie than to add in some dream sequence that didn't fall in time order with the rest of the movie. Momento was his personal movie hell. This film also features Demi Moore, which could only score it points in his book. Probably a bit low at #10, but I could never replace any of the films above it.

#9: Clueless

My parents bought Clueless for my sister when she was far too young to get most of the jokes and I'm 99% sure my dad actually bought it for him. Maybe it was growing up in rural Minnesota that made him long for a Bronson Alcott experience, but he loved this movie. My parents also bought my sister Home Alone on VHS, and she watched it so much that it wore out the tape. At some point, she got another copy and my parents ended up hiding it or throwing it away or something.

(Aside: there is a disturbing lack of Clueless clips on Youtube)

#8: Legally Blonde

Dad would've fit in perfectly with the bands of LawTwitter who look at Legally Blonde as something resembling a documentary. I think there was a similar effect here as Clueless: Dad didn't have any educational experiences like this one until he was much older; he earned his Bachelor's in his 50s and was working on his Master's. He also would've made a great sassy blonde lawyer. Plus he was a Reese Witherspoon fan (more on that later). I also heard him say on more than one occasion "What, like it's hard?" about something he'd just done with grown man strength.

#7: The Rock

The prototypical dad movie: things blowing up, people yelling, dramatic music, Nic Cage, Ed Harris, and Sean Connery. Straightforward drama, no flashbacks, and a relatively happy ending was always a good formula for him. Dad didn't like anything where the relationships got too complex or he had too much to remember. "Did they date?" was a classic movie clarification line for him (usually, they had not). Plus that scene where Nic Cage shoves the green thing in that guy's mouth and his face melts off? How can you not like that?!

#6: Airplane!

I feel like this is a movie my dad always tried to quote but never quite got the quote exactly right. It's not unlike my mom who constantly sings songs she knows only about 15% of and ends up half humming the melody for the remainder. She nails the chorus EVERY TIME, though. I remember talking about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once and I'm pretty sure Dad forgot he was in this movie at all.

#5: The Hunt for Red October/Crimson Tide

These share a position because they're both submarine movies and it always took him five or so minutes to figure out which one he was watching. My dad saw each of these movies probably 15 times, but he was always shocked when something crazy happened.
"Wait, hold on a second."
"DAD THE TORPEDO TURNS AROUND AND HITS THEM. WE KNOW. LET'S GO."
[3 minutes later]
"Okay is everyone ready?"
[Claire is changing outfit so Dad turns back on and finishes movie]

#4: Caddyshack

It's a requirement that any Midwestern dad alive when Caddyshack was released must have a terrible Carl Spackler imitation. My dad could recite both the Cinderella scene above and the famous Dalai Lama scene from memory, although in typical dad style the quotes were approximately 50% accurate. He really FELT it though. He did the droopy lip and everything.

#3: Jurassic Park

So let me tell you a story. Jurassic Park was released to much fanfare in June 1993. The special effects were said to be incredible. The dinosaurs so big and lifelike, moviegoers would feel like they were transported millions of years back in time. My dad was so excited to see it. He talked about it for weeks before it was released. But when the day came, no one would/could go with him. He probably didn't think anything of it. He could find someone to go with him at some point. But for whatever reason, Jurassic Park was only shown for a few weeks in our movie theater. When it was released on VHS, we went to Blockbuster (you know, that square building that Verizon has taken over now) and picked it up. But his reaction when we brought it home was less than enthusiastic.

"Dad, we rented Jurassic Park."
"I'm not going to watch it."
"Why? You said you wanted to see it?"
"I'm only watching it in a theater! I can't watch Jurassic Park on a TV at HOME."

It was re-released in theaters in 2013, but he didn't see it then either.

How can a movie he never saw be #3? BECAUSE HE NEVER ONCE LET US FORGET THAT NO ONE WOULD SEE IT WITH HIM. Every ad, every billboard, every anything to do with dinosaurs was an opportunity to bring up how he never saw Jurassic Park in theaters and refused to watch it at home. It bordered on obsession.

#2: Silence of the Lambs

If you asked my dad what his favorite movie was, this would be his answer. It's a movie that dads should like. It's straightforward and suspenseful. It's a very good movie. And Dad's insistence that it was his favorite is what puts it so high on this list. But like that friend who tells you all about their favorite cool, hip, cutting edge music and then jams to Ke$ha on the way home, we all knew better.

#1: Sweet Home Alabama

The one movie that my dad would stop whatever he was doing and watch, no matter what. Maybe it was the play of North vs South (even though my dad grew up in Minnesota and gave my Virginian mother hell about the flag, he was probably more a Southerner than he'd ever be a Yankee again) or maybe rich vs poor or maybe it was just Reese Witherspoon's hold on him. He'd talk about Silence of the Lambs and Caddyshack and Airplane but literally EVERYONE KNEW WHAT HIS FAVORITE MOVIE WAS. He would also work "Does this mean I can kiss you ANYTAHM I WAOONNT?" into conversations wherever he could force it.

So there you have it - my dad's 10 favorite movies. Watch one or a few this weekend, hug or call your dad, and try not to judge his terrible movie choices.