Top Ten: Movies my wife sat me down and made me watch...Part One

Again with the Top Tens...

Mrs Adorkification and I have been married since October, 1995, but have been together since fall of 1989. In all that time, despite her not being the movie aficionado I am, she has requested...and at times threatened...that we sit together through some of the movies that meant a lot to her when she was young. Some I liked. Some I hated. Some I'd already seen...not that it mattered.

My criteria: these movies were available on VHS at the time she made me see we saw them. Movies that she dragged me to a theater to see for the first time don't count. Also, these are films we saw as a couple. Movies I sat through with our daughter as a family...

 ...do...not...count.

 If you're sick of lists like these, stop now or forever hold your peace.

10)

I never was a fan of Disney films until Beauty and the Beast, which we saw together when it came out, but The Jungle Book was her favorite growing up. Apparently, she had the soundtrack on vinyl and played the hell out of it. We saw it, and I thought it was okay. But it obviously meant a lot to her, so much so that I went to the local mall's Disney Store (remember those?) and bought her a small stuffed Baloo. Yeah, I got points for that.

9)

This, I'd already seen back when my family had "VHS Movie Night". I thought it was okay, but all I remembered was the truck, the helicopter, the blonde, the kid from Land of the Lost and all that running people over. I had no idea it was a sequel until Beyond Thunderdome (which I saw), and I never saw Mad Max until Mrs. Adorkification sat me down and watched it.

What?

Why isn't Mad Max here instead?

Two reasons: 1) She sat me down to watch all three films...like over the course of a day...because we talked about The Road Warrior. 2) We talked about The Road Warrior because she had this exact poster on her dorm room wall. I can't tell you where it is now, but I'm pretty sure it's in the basement somewhere.

8) 

One of the first things I told my future wife about myself is that I hate musicals. Shows on Broadway are a different story. Broadway should have musicals. Not exclusively, but that's where musicals thrive. I also understand that not everyone can get to Broadway, so making films based on musical plays makes sense. 

But that doesn't mean I have to see them.

Unfortunately, she disagreed. Sweet Charity was one of several I had to sit through. There were some good things in it though - Sammy Davis Jr., Ricardo Montalban, Ben Vereen Cheeta Rivera (who I saw on Broadway in Merlin)...and Forrester from Legal Eagles. It also has that song in it: "Big Spender". 

But the film had more going against it - Shirley MacLaine, the over the top 1960's love thing, Shirley MacLaine, the terrible ending...and Shirley MacLaine.

7) 

Told you there'd be musicals...

I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no reason Walter Matthau should be in this film. My first Mattau experience was The Bad News Bears, and seeing that guy trying to "get it on" with Barbara Wah-wah just made no sense. Yes, Ms. Streisand is extremely talented, but did I need to see any of her films? 

Okay - it has Louis Armstrong in it. It has Tommy Tune (who I saw on Broadway with Twiggy in My One and Only, and not by choice), and Michael Crawford (yeah...Phantom of the Opera which was amazing). But they were secondary characters in a story I just didn't care much about. 

6) 

Oh boy...

Again - I'd seen this film already...mostly. A female high school friend of mine attempted to sit me down and watch this, but I had to get home roughly halfway through. (I had no idea the message she was trying to send, which is a discussion for another time.) I knew the gist of the film, and I certainly knew the music of the film (it was played at every. school. dance.), but Mrs. Adorkification made me see it from beginning to end. Why this film is so high on this list is because we both made fun of it. She knew it was hokey going in, and we had a great time. Plus - it has Cynthia Rhodes and the guy from Law and Order and Beauty and the Beast in it so...points!