In honor of Father’s Day and my enduring love for my husband this came into my head:
His movie tastes run from the sentimental to the sublime
But give him a little blood and guts and you’ve got him every time.
Okay, it’s a work in progress. But you get the gist. You see, I was looking for the top 10 Movies for Dads in honor of my man’s Father’s Day, and frankly, they left me a little uninspired.
See, they were actually Top 10 Movie Lists about dads and honestly, does any dad want to spend Father’s Day watching other dads cry at their daughters’ weddings or struggle over whether they are a good parent or not when a marriage goes south? I don’t think so. Not today.
Not my manly man. Today, I devised a list of movies just for him. Something entertaining, where he doesn’t have to think too much. Or maybe think just a little.
Let him put his feet up, eat a piece of red meat, and sip a frosty cold one. Let him control the remote. For the whole damned day.
It’s a list for the Big Daddy in all of us:
1. Fight Club
The first rule about Fight Club is : “You don’t talk about Fight Club”. The second rule about Fight Club is : “You don’t talk about Fight Club.” Guys pounding each other into hamburger and going back for seconds. You gotta love it.
2. Blade Runner: The Final Cut Hat’s off to Graeme Roy for this satisfying description: “In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specializes in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when six replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth.”
3. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly The best spaghetti western ever. Seriously, what big poppa can resist an afternoon with Clint Eastwood — the man with no name?
4. North Dallas Forty “They pay you and they pay you well. On one condition. You play the game their way, even if you’re forced to break every bone in your body.” — I’m throwing a football movie in here because you just have to have one on a guy’s list. This semi-fictional account of the Dallas Cowboys is often forgotten and in my opinion, underrated. Nick Nolte and Mac Davis are great as two beat-up, hard-playing, hard-partying pros.
5. Dune I think I ruined this for hubby the first time around, but it’s a movie most guys love. With a tagline: “A spectacular journey through the wonders of space and the mysteries of time, from the boundaries of the incredible to the borders of the impossible.” it almost makes me forget how much I hated it. But today, it’s not about me.
6. The Wild Bunch The link is to Roger Ebert’s review – great writing Rog. The story is about an aging group of outlaws looking for one last big score as the “traditional” American West is disappearing around them. Bloody, wild, good.
7. Unforgiven Another western that takes place in a moment in time when the old west is becoming new. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman are just perfect.
Some lighter fare:
8. Groundhog Day – Because hubby loves this movie — that’s why. And he’ll probably forget he’s seen it about 12 times.
9. Field of Dreams - Okay, I promised not to make Big Poppa get sappy on Father’s Day but this one makes the cut. “All his life, Ray Kinsella was searching for his dreams. Then one day, his dreams came looking for him.” I feel myself welling up already.
10. Iron Man – If you have to go see one superhero movie — this is the one. Robert Downey Jr.’s acting is better than all the special effects in it. Kudos to Jeff Bridges too and Jon Favreau for his directorial skills.
Okay, it’s an eclectic list but here’s to you, Men of America. Thank you for being great fathers. And hubby, kick your feet up — it’s going to be a fab day.
