Now here's a day I hardly get a chance to share words regarding. Aside from the fact that it tends to land on Sundays, making it a little trickier than normal to get anything posted, it's also a challenge to find a novel angle from which to take it. So I've just decided that it should really be all about simplicity, and just share some paternal movie memories. A means to perhaps illustrate where all of this madness began in the first place seems perfect, actually. Because when everything is said & done, the nucleus of my love of myths & larger than life characters belong to those days that came every two weeks, when visitation times with my dad took place.
And like so many, the moviegoing ritual was a constant. In many ways, it rivaled church. There were even the rites one had to perform in order to have the ideal "movie watching with dad" experience. More often than not, this would include the occasional arriving late, only to stay for the next showing to catch up on the film's early portions. Thankfully, this never hurt too terribly as my young, impressionable brain saw it not unlike serialized TV. There was also the rite of splitting up the snack bar orders, where I mastered the ability to carry off a ridiculous haul alongside him, a pair of junk food pack mules. That was us. Going to the movies was like The World Series, every time. So when it came to the titles I remember seeing for the first time this way, it only makes these memories that much more powerful:
Here Are A Few:
The original Star Wars Trilogy (will especially never forget Jedi-that was an immense experience)
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
The Road Warrior (R-rated fare was no big deal to my father, so as long as the story seemed to justify what we saw on screen. We had many talks. Then again, some films he chose simply because he was himself a classic action movie junkie)
Superman II
The Thing
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
E.T. The Extraterrestrial
Rocky III
Conan The Barbarian
TRON
The Big Chill (Hey...my dad didn't know what it was about, and it was a Sneak Preview after Strange Invaders!)
Gremlins
Ghostbusters
The Neverending Story
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
The Terminator (This was a significant moment, because it was the first movie where we had a full on talk about not only how cool it was, but of the story & the ideas it was presenting. Much more than an action film.)
The Goonies
(Every Bond film throughout this era Roger Moore - Timothy Dalton)
Top Gun
Robocop (Took that Terminator discussion, and took it even further.)
Some of the more ::AHEM:: unusual pics from this amazing time period-
Laserblast (SERIOUSLY.)
Inchon
The Soldier
Sharky's Machine (Possibly one of the least responsible picks of the bunch. Man, oh man..that finger chopping. I'm sure Dad felt a little twinge with that in that darkened auditorium.)
Sudden Impact (O.K., not terribly unexpected - but as a kid watching Sondra Locke shoot guys in the crotch? Talk about impressions.)
Six Pack (whyyyy?)
The Pirate Movie (I'm certain to this day that I had done something terribly wrong the visit before. And to this day, he has yet to fess up. It had to be a punishment. It just had to be.)
Krull
The Sword & The Sorcerer
Treasure Of The Four Crowns(IN 3D!!!!)
Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared Syn (also in 3D!!!)
Rambo: First Blood Part II
And the list goes ever on. Of course, we also spent many a trip out and about, tending to bonding through classical means (fishing, hiking, traveling, etc.). But there was a true sense of comraderie that came among us once we would catch wind of a title that would inspire us to bee-line it straight to one of Palm Spring's finer movie houses. And even when we weren't able too, this was also a time of rampant movies shown on TV. This is where a great deal of my love for particularly asian cinema began to crystallize. We won't even get started on those great Godzilla marathons that would play during special weekends. Mix this with his own love of model kit making, and admiration for all things military otaku, I could still see him venturing out within his own Otaku No Video kick, hunting for the latest and most detailed gun & war machine replicas. It certainly goes a long way toward explaining a lot of the things that imbue me. If I had to think of a cinematic version of the man, I'd earnestly pick Kanbei Shimada from Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. He's that cool.
And yet, it always came back to the most important elements - respect for the dreams & intelligence of the progeny, unwavering commitment towards being a father regardless of the situation, and of course, love unconditional. So for the day, I raise a glass to all the dads out there, be them biological, adoptive, or surrogate. You are a most precious resource. Thanks to you all!
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