Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – March 20, 2004
The Movies
Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – March 20, 2004 – I love the movies – I could go every day! What better way to be entertained, educated and transported away from my life and into the lives, times and events of interesting characters. I cry whenever I go to the movies. This isn’t necessarily a sign that it’s a sad film – I cry during Fleecy commercials – so I always need to have a hanky in hand to ward off the sniffles.
I first went to Saturday matinees as a child with my parents. I’d sit there, wide-eyed, feet not touching the floor and absorb the sights and sounds of the film. Movies invited me to daydream. I was mesmerized by The Wizard Of Oz, crushed by the sadness of Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka and Old Yeller. I daydreamed about the horses in every western movie I ever saw and pretended to be Sophia Loren in El Cid.
I can count on one hand the movies I’ve gone to that I haven’t liked and I think I may have walked out of only one or two films during my lifetime. If I could have escaped from “Run Lola Run”, I would have done so in a second and My Dinner With Andre wasn’t right up there amongst my favourites, but out of a lifetime of loving film, there have been few disappointments.
I’m a bit selective about what I see, and I read, but am not unduly influenced by the critics. No doubt, they have a job to do, but they’re wrong on many occasions. Better to chat with friends whose opinions I trust than to listen to the critics. Given the choice between a boring dinner party with serious folk or a movie – I’m at the theatre in a minute.
I’ve seen hundreds of films over the years and going to the movies remains one of my preferred pastimes. I like comedies, drama, biographies, black comedy, documentaries, historical film, war stories, murder and psychological thrillers, who dunnits, epic big budget films, action films and small independent productions a la Sundance Film Festival.
I don’t like to chose my films by category or theme – I prefer to have an open mind at the movies, and most times I’m not let down. I certainly prefer some over others and there are films that I’d never see again. In no particular order, these are some of my all time movie picks. If you haven’t done anything wonderful for yourself lately, then steal an afternoon and go to the theatre or pick up one of these movies up at the video store and enjoy.
A couple of hours spent at the movies is never a waste of time! A film can make us think, plan, daydream and make changes in our lives. It can motivate us, introduce us to new ideas, educate, entertain and prompt us to open our eyes to the wonders of life. What a gift – this world of film.
Breaker Morant.
Gallipoli.
The Man From Snowy River.
Smash Palace.
Gone With The Wind.
The Shawshank Redemption.
Mystic River.
The Sixth Sense.
The Black Stallion.
Jagged Edge.
To Kill A Mockingbird.
Raging Bull.
Good Fellas.
Heat.
The Lord Of The Rings – Trilogy.
Gladiator.
The Ten Commandments.
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.
E.T.
Bonnie & Clyde.
The Dirty Harry Movies & Clint’s “Spaghetti Westerns”.
The Die Hard Movies.
The Magus.
Seabiscuit.
Straw Dogs.
Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil.
Driving Miss Daisy.
The Name Of The Rose.
Casino.
The Sting.
Fatal Attraction.
Philadelphia.
The Usual Suspects.
The Electric Horseman.
Beaches.
The Silence Of The Lambs.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Body Heat.
The Pink Panther Movies.
Pretty Woman.
Raising Arizona.
Thelma & Louise.
My Cousin Vinny.
Mona Lisa.
A Fish Called Wanda.
The Colour Purple.
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.
In The Heat Of The Night.
Lawrence Of Arabia.
Get Shorty.
Fargo.
Cold Mountain.
The Missing.
The Piano.
The Last Samurai.
Forrest Gump.
And last but not least “Four Weddings and A Funeral” – which was a lovely, light comedy – not for the film, although I enjoyed it – but for my discovery of this beautiful poem
by W.H. Auden
Funeral Blues
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policeman wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
