Off to See the Wizard

I took the day off yesterday. It was a cold, cloudy day with nothing going on so we watched some movies.

First off was The Wizard of Oz (1939). I didn't know if the older boys would hang in there or not but, to my surprise, all four(!) watched it start to finish. They were transfixed! Shannon and I hadn't watched Dorothy and Toto since we were kids and it was great fun sharing that with the boys.

Next we watched Sergeant York (1941). Shannon hadn't seen the classic Gary Cooper film before and it's a remarkably touching movie. Based on a true story, it's really a movie more about values and conscience than about war. The boys were in and out during this movie, it just didn't hold on to them like Oz.

I also watched the last hour of Ratatouille (2007), which my boys have watched many times over. We actually went to the theater to see this and I ended up standing in the lobby for an hour while Graham toddled around yelling at nothing in particular. So the whole family had seen the movie and I'd missed it. When we bought the DVD, once again I was interrupted about half an hour in and had to leave the movie unfinished. Finally, last night, I saw that elusive last hour.

Finally, before drifting off to sleep I started the first hour of The Young Lions (1958). A World War 2 film with Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Dean Martin, it looks good and I'm eager to finish it perhaps tonight or tomorrow night.

Eventually I'll post a list of war movies I'd recommend. A lot of war movies follow the fighting men into action, but many use it as a dramatic backdrop, like Mrs. Miniver (1942 - the home front in England) or The Best Years of Our Lives (1946 - the return home of veterans from war).