The wonderful Caz over at Let’s Go to the Movies is putting on a great blogathon this weekend: the Childhood Films Blogathon. I’ve talked many many times about the films I enjoyed and watched over and over in a time referred to as “my childhood.” So far, I’ve already reviewed Aladdin and Jurassic Park and before the end of the month, I will have posted reviews for Toy Story and Ocean’s Eleven. So instead of reviewing another childhood favorite, for his blogathon I’ve compiled a list: a list of the films I regularly popped into my VCR (DVD player in the case of Ocean’s Eleven) when I was growing up. Here are my fave five(-ish) films from my childhood.
5) The Mummy
I remember the birthday I received The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. I didn’t ask for them but one of my relatives got them for me anyway. I’m sure glad they did. I watched them so many times. Going on an adventure with Rick O’Connell and Evey into the desert to find the treasure and end up awakening the cursed Egyptian priest Imhotep, eventually needing to defeat him is simply a fun and wild ride. The Mummy Returns was great, too. I especially liked the pygmys in the oasis but The Mummy takes the cake in my book. This and its sequel are also the only two films I have on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray (for now).
4) Ocean’s Eleven / Wild Wild West
I’ve paired Ocean’s Eleven and Wild Wild West together because these are the two movies that my best friend and I would watch all. The. Time. Seriously, between the two of us, we could quote both of these movies in their entirety. Ocean’s Eleven is my favorite heist movie (spoiler alert for my heist fave five list whenever that happens). George Clooney and Brad Pitt are perfect together and the entire team, the rest of the eleven if you will, are just a blast. Wild Wild West tends to not be favorable with most viewers but I find it hilarious. Will Smith and Kevin Kline make a great comedy pair and I laugh every time I watch it.
3) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Don’t laugh, hear me out. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in its nature, is a farce. It’s meant to be ridiculous and not to be taken seriously. For the longest time, I hadn’t seen any of the other two TMNT movies, only The Secret of the Ooze. But you know what, that’s all I needed. I can guarantee that any dude who grew up in the late 80s to early 90s watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and had at least a few of the action figures. The Secret of the Ooze had humor, action, and Vanilla Ice’s Ninja Rap. Seriously, how can you not enjoy that?
2) Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park has a well deserved place on IMDB’s Top 250 movie list. Not only does it have a great story, developed characters, a moving score (thank you John Williams), and dinosaurs, but it was a huge milestone in visual effects. But let’s be honest, the dinosaurs were enough to draw in my attention. The special effects looked so real that sometimes it is hard to believe that this is a film and not some documentary. Steven Spielberg knew how to make things suspenseful while still being light. Although this has a PG-13 rating, I’d say it’s a mild PG-13, which was one of the reasons my parents let me watch it when I was much younger than that.
1) Aladdin / Toy Story
“Another twofer? Drew, you are cheating” I can hear you say. But you know what? I don’t care. I could probably trace my love of movies back to these two great classics. I am honestly surprised I didn’t wear out the VHS tape on either of these from watching them repeatedly. Aladdin‘s message about being yourself and Toy Story’s about friendship are just as powerful today as they were over 20 years ago. My cousin and I enjoyed Aladdin so much that we dressed as Aladdin and Jasmine for one Halloween (she was Jasmine, of course). I can’t say enough positive things about these two films. They will always be a part of me at my core and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Check out the rest of the entries in the Childhood Films Blogathon here.
Drew's Movie Reviews 