I don’t care who you are. Everyone has a list of music, movies and/or books that they clutch near and dear to them and to which they ascribe great personal meaning. Here’s the thing. That list is extremely personal, not personal meaning private, personal meaning “unless you are ME, and you are NOT ME, you will NEVER UNDERSTAND the awesomeness that is (fill in the blank), and the enduring effect it has had upon me”. Despite knowing this, we, as human beings with a need to connect to other human beings, constantly feel a pull to share what is meaningful to us with other human beings. I mean, isn’t that what the creation of art is really all about, the need to share what speaks to us with someone else, even just one other person?
Some things are harder to share than others. Books are HARD. High effort for the sharee. So much of the reading experience takes place in your own head, that while a book may move two people, it can’t possibly move them in the exact same way. Music is easier. Music can be entirely passive. It doesn’t really require rapt attention to enjoy or to endure while not enjoying. Food is a crap shoot. ( Pun not intended, but duly noted. ) Unless a particular food is inherently repulsive to the other person, they will likely indulge your need to make them sample it, but what can you do if your very favorite food is pickled herring or sushi (shut up I hate it) or haggis? You might have a hard time finding a willing participant in your sharing party. I don’t have this problem, since it is all about Taylor Ham for me, but I’m sure you can imagine. Movies are sort of inbetween. They can be an easy sell, or if the sharee is like me, they can be picky and full of actor aversions and hard to make sit still and therefore a MUCH HARDER SELL. So, the question is, what do you do when you have that unbending, unabated need to share a movie with someone who may not be terribly anxious to sit through…say…anything even remotely related to Kirsten Dunst? What we do at our house is hold a “Movie Hostage Weekend”.
The gist of Movie Hostage Weekend is that each of you pick out one or two OMG MUST SEE movies that the other person is then made to watch like, well, like a hostage. Our first Movie Hostage Weekend went a little something like this.
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Picks courtesy of Aaron:
Moulin Rouge – It’s a musical. Right now, if you know me even a little, you should picture a disbelieving and blank, glassy eyed stare. I do not love musicals. @aaronh LOVES musicals. He’s got something like ten of them on his ipod, not ten musical numbers, ten full musical scores. I’ll give you that this movie was entertaining, mostly for the stylized world in which it takes place, but I’m one of those people that are a total stickler for singing the right words to songs, and I do not do well when folks mix it up with new melodies to go with some of my old favorites. Elton John’s “Your Song” should just be Elton John’s, and I’m sorry but as doorbell as Ewan McGregor is, he AIN’T ELTON.
The Hudsucker Proxy - You know, for kids. Enjoyable. I actually never guessed we were talking hula hoops. You certainly can’t beat the cast, and a number of lines have lingered in our repertoire of “movie lines I will pull out and use whenever possible” much to the chagrin of those around me. I think I spent a couple hours walking around imitating Jennifer Jason Leigh afterwards. Saturday Night Fever - I make no apologies. This movie is iconic. I first saw it with a fourth grade friend and her family. We saw the PG version, rather than the R version. That’s right, the movie was so culturally relevant at the time it was released, that they released a lite version to engulf more of the population in its disco tsunami. I love this movie. It is one of my top five, certainly. I also have the soundtrack and firmly believe that if you can listen to “More than a Woman” and not get completely lost in a delicious 70′s fog, you are DEAD INSIDE. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Yeah…I’m going to have to make some apologies. I have always had the fondest recollection of this movie. My aunt took me to see this movie in the theater. Twice. She loved loved loved Peter Frampton and I was 8. That’s my excuse. What is fascinating to me is that in rewatching this movie, I suddenly realized the genesis of my strange fascination with Steven Tyler. It all made sense. He was one of the villains in the movie, supposed to be dangerous and desireable and bad news. Clearly, I was highly impressionable. Who knows what bad teenage decisions were based on my imprinting on Steven Tyler in this movie. Hey, the Bee Gees were in this one too. You win some, you really really lose some.
I got off pretty easy for a hostage. Both of these movies were well received and not terrible to watch, even under duress. @aaronh did not get off so easily.
Picks from Me:
I’m going to have to think long and hard to come up with movies to make up for the last go round.
What would your hostage have to watch? 
‘harold and maude’, tickles my funny bone, breaks my heart, causes me to re-live my huge crush on cat stevens… but you guys picked two, so my other would have to be, quite similar to yours, ‘the yellow submarine’ -first movie i ever viewed in a theatre. as a back up, i’d have to pick saturday night fever.. epic. jt is friggin HOT
Well how weird is that? My very favorite movie . . . Harold and Maude. For so many reasons that I can’t even begin to tell you. My other favorite is Everything is Illuminated. Funny, genius, heartbreaking. I guess I like movies that make me flip between belly laugh and bawling.
Casablanca, Bringing Up Baby, Silver Streak, North By Northwest. After the second movie, Stockholm Syndrome sets in.
“Tank Girl” Seriously stupid movie that RAWKED MY WORLD. I often imitate Lori Petty imitating Mohammed Ali.
this is an easy list for me because i attempt to put all b.f.f. candidates and lovers through this wringer. the further down the list they get, the happier we shall live ever after. no one has made it past #4 yet:
1. local hero
2. mystery train
3. dogs in space
4. tank girl
5. buckaroo banzai
6. near dark
7. night of the comet
8. desk set
9. rashomon
10. firemen’s ball
this list is not to be confused with my absolute all-time favorite movie list, though there is some cross-posting and if anyone applying for either above-said status has somehow missed seeing one of the more obvious (like “silence of the lambs” or “fight club”) then they will be forced to watch those FIRST before this list comes into play.
This is similar to one of my questions-to-ask-a-potential-sig-other, “What 3 movies would you show me that mean something to you?”
1. What Dreams May Come
2. An Officer and a Gentleman
…and #3 always changes between Garden State, Meet Joe Black, Into The Wild, Elizabethtown, Addicted to Love, Stardust and Flash Gordon.
The hostage movies in our home is Annie and Sound of Music. My wife has politely sat through these movies and that’s why I love her.
The movies you MUST love in order to be a member of our family are PEE WEE’s Big Adventure and Elf.
@V & Amber – I have never seen Harold and Maude, but it always seems to come up on lists like this. Might have to add it to the queue.
@Yourprotagonist – I have seen none of those. I totally fail.
@Vendetta – I don’t know what it is, but Lori Petty totally bugs me! I liked her in A League of Their Own, but I almost felt like she went crazy after Tank Girl and never recovered. Weird.
@kipod – Night of the Comet is the only one I’ve seen and I LOVED THAT MOVIE. Also, totally agree that this is not reflective of a favorite movie list at all. Totally different thing.
@bigbadbob – I think the fact that I am TOTALLY DISTRACTED by Richard Gere’s birthmark in An Officer and a Gentlemen is reflective of my overall immaturity.
@steve – I have NEVER SEEN Sound of Music and am threatened with a hostage viewing frequently. Totally with you on Pee Wee and Elf. Two total favorites. Especially Elf. “Did Crumpet put you up to this?”
What a wonderful post. I have forced Mr vPetrin to watch 80′s humor film “American Dreamer”, both for its dream shopping trip sequence in Paris, as for it’s other parts, that well, held an importance in my family growing up- quotes at the dinner table, etc. It’s entirely stupid in the best way, but watching will help one understand me better.
Another favorite is “horror flick” “AprilFoolsDay”, which for some reason I love but is not especially scary. Alas, I also forced Mr. vPetrin to watch “Girls Just want to Fun” with young Miss Helen Hunt & Sarah Jessica Parker. It’s a teen dance flick- my favorite kind of guilty pleasure. All Great HOSTAGE type films. They’re probably better with the pillow case & cattle prod.
It’s all about…Ham? Seriously? Meat that they had cure? I prefer my meat never to have been sick in the first place.