For some reason I've been watching a bunch of mid-to-late 70's movies lately. I watched "the Deep", which did nothing except make me miss Robert Shaw, the apotheosis of pushy bastard. And Nick Nolte was once considered sexy! Imagine that! Okay, don't. It makes me nauseated too. Jon and I watched "Animal House" last night - sometimes movies just become trite because they were copied one too many times. Still, it's kind of a classic.

"Rollerball" was on - we flipped by that one. I haven't seen the remake and from what I understand I haven't missed anything. It all looks so dated now! The best part about that movie is the Bach soundtrack.

Lastly we watched "Superman II". You know, I don't remember it being that lame but hoo-ya what a lame movie! The special effects were atrocious! Hard to believe it was made a year after "Star Wars". Oddly enough, the best thing about this movie is Christopher Reeve. He handled the duality of Superman/Clark Kent quite effectively, even though everything/everybody else was hilariously, well, comical. Even Gene Hackman. Tsk tsk tsk. Although I still love it when Terence Stamp commands "Kneel before ZOD!" but who doesn't? I want to see the new Superman movie even though no one else seemed to want to. I set up TiVo to record the first movie, to see if it was as good as I remembered, or simply a lame movie I liked when I was a teenager.

I'm compiling a new top 10 list: Top 10 pre-1990 Movies I want to watch with Brenden (when he gets old enough) that aren't Star Wars or Indiana Jones movies (because of course he'll watch all those):

1)The Terminator: The original. Because it's a frickin kewl movie, that's why! And James Cameron set a standard with this low-budget action/love story.

2)Jaws: a 70's movie that didn't date. Even with the 70's hair and clothes styles, it looks like it was filmed yesterday. Plus you know, it has Robert Shaw being a pushy bastard. This movie didn't become trite even though other movies copied it again and again and again, because all those movies missed the point about what "Jaws" was trying to say. It's a movie about what it means to be a man and if you don't believe me watch it again!

3)Ghostbusters: Bill Murray! Dan Ackroyd! Sigourney Weaver making out with Rick Moranis! Because it's a classic comedy, that's why! I bet you have that song stuck in your head now.

4)The Road Warrior: Hyper action movies before Michael Bay infected the world with shaky-cam ruled. Mad Max is a pretty good low-budget item and Beyond Thunderdome is only so-so, but RW is a monumental post-apocalypse movie that no one seems to remember.

5)The Princess Bride: Like the young boy being read to, it will be interesting to see if Brenden appreciates this sardonic/romantic tale.

6)Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Will MP's offbeat humor translate to another generation? Knee!

7)Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: Did you notice this movie never garnered a sequel? Imagine that! I loved it when it came out. Speaking of, I wonder if I'll be able to find unexpurgated versions of the Looney Tunes I grew up with. It just ain't a Daffy/Elmer cartoon without Daffy getting his beak blown off on-screen.

I'm still working on this list. Missing noticeably is my favorite movie of all-time, "Aliens". And flesh-eating zombie movies. And Clint Eastwood westerns, gangster movies, and James Bond movies. Of course he'll get to watch those! Although it might be a while before I show him "Dawn of the Dead".