Feature Presentation...MONDAY MOVIE MEME
This meme is hosted by Molly and Andy at The Bumbles !
This week's movie topic is all about Dads inspired by a visit to Molly's dad for his birthday. These movies all feature Fathers - funny, sad, inspiring, scary and demanding ones. Share on your blog movies featuring Dads and then link back here at The Bumbles. And don't forget to visit your fellow participants!
The Great Santini (1979) starring Robert Duvall. He plays a successful Marine officer and a not so successful husband and a father. The film focuses on the love and conflict he has with his family and, in particular, his eldest son (played by Michael O'Keefe whom the father expects will follow in his footsteps while the son is not so sure he wants to. The father is also in conflict with himself and relieves all of these stresses with heavy drinking.
Robert Duvall and Michael O'Keefe received Academy Award nominations for their roles. The Movie also stars
This is one of the few films I have ever seen that I thought was as good as the book written by Pat Conroy.
The Father of the Bride (1950 & 1991)
The 1950 version starred Spencer Tracy with Joan Bennett as his wife and Elizabeth Taylor as his daughter.
The 1991 version starred Steve Martin with Diane Keaton as his wife and Kimberly Williams as his daughter.
Both movies are about a Father going through the aggravation and enjoyment of his only daughter's expensive wedding from the day he meets the groom and his parents to the last guest leaving the reception. While the 1950 version relies more on sophisticated humor, the 1991 version is more the physical humor Steve Martin is known for. Both are sweet and funny. The earlier version moves at a slower pace and is more thoughtful while the more recent version is livelier.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) Starring Spencer Tracy with Katherine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier and Katherine Houghton. Spencer Tracy's daughter brings home an African American "beau" and her parents who have always professed to be very liberal discover that maybe they aren't as liberal as they thought or acted! When the beau's parents arrive for the dinner, they have a similar negative response to the couple being together. This is a wonderful movie, it's intense, very witty and extremely well-written and acted. I don't want to give the ending away but if you haven't seen this movie, it's wonderful.
Kramer v. Kramer (1979) Starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. The father of a small boy arrives home to find that his wife is leaving him and their young son. Suddenly he has to be the mommy and the daddy when he was barely functioning as the daddy. A year and a half later she returns for a divorce and for her son. A custody battle ensues.
This movie won the Academy Award for Best picture. This movie made me laugh, cry, shout and cheer. It's pretty amazing!
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Dustin Hoffman created such a wonderful image of a father in that film, didn't he? I always loved the scene with the two of them fixing breakfast together, with the little boy popping the bread into the skillet for French toast - they're such a great team.
ReplyDeleteOoh! a film post, I'm in dear:
ReplyDeleterecommending:
On Golden Pond - a beautiful Fonda/Fonda exercise
La Grande Illusion - a surrogate/adopted father of sorts, amazing film.
Sabrina - just because I thought the father in that was ideal and LOVELY.
I like all your recommendations, except for Santini which I haven't watched.
I TOTALLY forgot about The Great Santini. Dysfunctional father numero uno (or maybe in the top 10 at least!). See, this is why is pays to do the post later in the day, versus 5am!
ReplyDeleteGuess Who's Coming To Dinner - what a great movie that was. Excellent list!
ReplyDelete(To solve your spacing troubles, are you familiar with any HTML editing? Sounds like you need to add a < p > (without the spaces between the brackets and the letter - I did that so the code won't be read here in the comments section) between each section and then at the end of your post close that tag with the < /p > (again, without the internal spaces). That should do it.
Is Spencer Tracy the greatest dad ever? I mean he was so funny in Father of the Bride and so, so cool in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner!
ReplyDeleteJLS: I love that scene. Hoffman had a lot to learn about being a father in the fil. It was great when he and the little boy bonded!
ReplyDeleteClarity: How could I forget Sabrina, one of my favorite films! Loved her dad so much! On Golden Pond is such a lovely film, too, and so sad. I don't know La Grand Illusion and will have to watch it, thank you! And you reminded me that I forgot to list "My Father's Glory" a fantastic foreign film about a boy growing up and his love of film.
Can you email me so I can give the information about books and ARCs?
Sandy:Yep, he was a very dysfunctional father. You make a good point about posting later on in the day. Thank you! I was feeling guilty about getting here so late!
The Bumbles: It's a wonderful movie! Thank you for the info about spacing! I really appreciate it! I don't know html at all but I think I can do this. We'll see!
Lisa: You like Spencer Tracy, too and know those movies! Yay! Have you seen Adam's Rib?
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner...good one! My list is HERE
ReplyDeleteGreat picks! I loved Kramer vs Kramer.
ReplyDeleteI love any movie with both Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in it. They are sooooo good together.
ReplyDeleteOhh, you have me reminiscing of my days when I had a DVD player and watched lots of great films. I really have to invest in one soon!
ReplyDeleteI love the Father Of The Bride movies. I'm a little more partial to the newer version, probably because I'm a Steve Martin fan!
ReplyDeleteAmy - if you have any trouble or questions on the HTML just shoot me an e-mail. Happy to help. It looks very daunting but really it isn't that scary once someone tells you what the little symbols mean. I've got a cheat sheet I can send you.
ReplyDeleteI have been seeing these lists pop up yesterday and today and the dad that you all have selected have been a lot of fun and all ones that I had forgotten about! I loved Kramer vs. Kramer.
ReplyDeleteGreat list, Amy! I hadn't realized that Father of the Bride was a remake! I'll have to go rent the original.
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