The other day, I came home to, once again, find one of my children’s high school friends sitting in my living room, eating my food and watching the Tee Vee. To my annoyance. During the summer, finding such a person camped out in our living room is not an unusual thing. Though our youngest, our daughter, left for college nearly two years ago, and both of our kids this summer are off in places known pursuing their lives, we have always had an open house with an extra dinner plate or two, welcomed our children’s friends to eat and hang out, and many of whom became ‘family’ of sorts. So, if they still live in the area, or happen to be in town during summer, they continue to drop by. All that is quite nice, very well and good. No, the thing that irritates me is what the young man watched:
Total Recall (2012). He said he wanted to learn more about films and “the classics.”
I was, as you can now see, rightfully and justly annoyed. I told him, “The 1980s one with Schwarzenegger is the classic.” And proceeded to launch a string of insult and invective that would shame a sailor.
That last part is not true. I told him, that I wanted to “proceed with a string of…shame a sailor,” but, since I am such as nice guy, how about we talk a bit about classic American movies. Which we did, and had a grand ol’ time.
That got me thinking, what “classic films” do you think people under the age of 25 would enjoy/be the better to have seen? I was born in 1968, and when I was a 20-year old, “the classics” were the pictures of the 60s, and early 70s, with a smattering of old black an white films.
Anyways, these are what I came up with in that conversation with the young man just starting his exploration of American cinema:
Action/Adventure
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Die Hard, Enter the Dragon, The Road Warrior, anything by Buster Keaton (and Jackie Chan)
Drama
The Shawshank Redemption, Forest Gump,
Musical
Cabaret
Comedy
My Cousin Vinny, The Princess Bride, La Cage aux Folles (1978), Airplane! (He’s seen all the Monty Python films)
Gangster
Goodfellas, The Godfather I and II, The Sting
Rom Com
When Harry Met Sally, It Happened One Night (1934)
Historical Drama
Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan
Sci Fi
The Thing, Alien and Aliens, 2001, The Matrix
Fantasy
LOTR
So, there it is. Sure, it depends on who the younger than 25 person is and what are their interests, but, in general, what are “classic films” you recommend to people under the age of 25 and why?
The floor is yours