May the Force Be With You

One of the things that the family has been doing more of lately is having family movie night. We pick a flick that we think everyone will enjoy, which is no easy task when you’re talking about serving the taste of two kids under 10. The odd thing is, it’s been pretty fun trying to come up with movies the kids will enjoy (and find something that’s suitable for kids).

Some of the early winners have been Sand Lot, The Goonies, and Gremlins. These are all favorites of mine because they remind me so much of my youth. Sand Lot may as well have been the story of my youth. Boy spends the summer playing baseball with his buddies, turning simple events into childhood adventures.

Gremlins, or “Grmeb-a-lins” as Ry Ry says, is still a riot. If you haven’t seen it in a while, I highly recommend it. How can you go wrong with mischievous mini-monsters who take over a small town and reek havoc on Phoebe Cates (yes, the Phoebe Cates of the high school classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

Last weekend, I decided it was time to unveil the greatest movie series of all time…In a galaxy far far away….

Yes, Star Wars.

“Which one are we watching first?” Karsyn asks.

“The 4th episode, A New Beginning,” I said

“Why don’t we watch the first episode?”

“Because, the 4th episode was the first movie.”

“Huh? Why isn’t the first episode, the first movie?”

“Well, that’s how they released them…and that’s how we’re going to watch them. Because that’s how we watched them.”

She looked at me like I was an idiot. Reminds me of that look I often get from her mother. But I digress.

We decided to start it after 8pm on Saturday night, which was a mistake. Ry fell asleep 5 minutes into the movie. Karsyn found it so-so. I question her loyalty to the family. How could she openly criticize one of my favorite movies. She’s been on a Harry Potter kick and found it less interesting than the Potter movies. What does she know.

Ry wanted a second crack at it, so he watched it on Sunday. It was a huge success with him.

It was a film tailor made for a 3 year-old boy however. Lasers, sword (light saber) fights, space creatures, space ships, heroes and villains. What else could you ask for? Oh, I know. Explosions!

Ry was talking about JaJas (Jawas) and Luke Skywalker for hours after watching the movie. I let him on the fact that there are 5 more movies in the series, and his eyes lit up.

“Can we watch them now?” he says.

“Uh, no. We’ll watch the next movie during the next family movie night,” I replied.

“But, can we watch it now?”

“No buddy, sorry. You can’t ruin it by watching them all at once,” I weakly countered. I knew how he felt though. It’s one of those things that you just can’t get enough of.