Movies We Love to Watch Again and Again

We like movies. We love to go to a nice air-conditioned theater in the summer, hold hands, and get lost in the world on the screen. We also have a small home theater where we can watch the movies we enjoy the most. A little homemade popcorn candy or a mini-Snickers brings everything into focus. We'd like to share a few of our favorites with you. Tell us what you think.

Leila can't get enough of Pride and Prejudice and has three different versions she'll watch at the drop of a hat. It might be just a little obvious, but we also have five daughters. On a bad day, Neal may resemble Mr. Bennet, but Leila has been mistaken for Elizabeth on multiple occasions! With good reason. Besides, Elizabeth Bennet has never been too witty nor Mr. Darcy too aloof for her taste. She gushes with enthusiasm whenever someone mentions the title. She is not quite so certain about Pemberley. Maybe. If there really were enough servants. But she'd have to be allowed to bake.



Anne of Green Gables comes in behind P&P, but only by the slightest of margins. Anne is the quintessential movie heroine. She's too smart by half, a dreamer of BIG dreams, one who easily returns love and kindness rendered to her by others, a seeker of adventure in everyday life, and just about the very best friend a girl could have. You could easily find Leila on a sick day under a blanket, lost up north on Prince Edward Island with the impetuous redhead.



Leila is a big fan of Sandra Bullock. Both of us really enjoyed The Blind Side. ButWhile You Were Sleeping is the one Leila likes the most. It doesn't hurt that the movie is set in Chicago, where we used to live. With the backdrop of the city and the accident of true love, this is a movie to put a little romance in your comedy. It simply makes you happy.



Leila's next recommendation is a big favorite for her and for Neal. It's You've Got Mail. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are the perfect movie couple for these times. Nora Ephron's whole approach to romance speaks to our hearts. And, of course, this movie is about books and bookstores. If we see that this is on television, even if it's two-thirds of the way over, we immediately change the station and settle in. Isn't it nice to think that your truest feelings could still get past extreme obstacles just by writing them down? If you like to read, like we do, and you're in love, like we are, you have to watch this movie.



For pure escape, you can't beat Superman II. The film answers two cosmic questions and raises another: 1) Can't she tell that Superman and Clark Kent are the same guy? 2)Has there ever been a better name for an evil villain than General Zod? and 3) Is the President really wearing a toupe? Clark and Lois go undercover to research a story for the Daily Planet about newlyweds at Niagara Falls. Being in the very close proximity of a honeymoon suite awakens Lois's curiosity. The man of steel cannot resist. Before we know it, they have flown off together to the Fortress of Solitude while Zod and his minions try to destroy the world. If he stays with Lois, who will save the world? We all should be able to have it both ways, shouldn't we? Lots of popcorn for this one.



Neal has five favorites, too. He still remembers the first full length feature film he ever saw. It was in the first grade at William Penn Elementary School. The Adventures of Robin Hood has just about everything you could want in a movie. Beautiful color, evil villains, a dazzling couple (Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland!), idealism, the most swashbuckling sword fight ever filmed, and poetic justice. There is nothing like Flynn as Robin Hood standing on a gigantic tree limb looking down on Sir Guy and Lady Marian: "Welcome to Sherwood." You can feel the goosebumps just thinking about it.



Neal's second recommendation has been voted the greatest movie ever. He can't disagree. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains. Nazis. Rick's Cafe Americain. True love sacrificed for the greater good. Perfect lighting on Ingrid Bergman's face as she weeps the cruelest tears ever. Le Marseillaise. As that plane taxis down the runway and takes off into the night, you know you have to go back to Casablanca.



Next comes the dazzling partnership of Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner, and Howard Hawks. It really can't get much better than this. The Big Sleep is a murder mystery. Everything gets so tangled up in this mess that some believe it really has no plot. Humphrey Bogart is Philip Marlowe. Called into the very strange world of the Sternwood family, he tries to discover what happened to the missing family chauffeur. He meets 2 sisters. Both are spectacularly beautiful. They both live very dangerously. Suddenly Bogie and Bacall (the older sister) light up the screen. Their attraction is heightened by danger at every turn. Their witty and intelligent dialogue screams love affair. You can't take your eyes or ears off the screen.



In the pantheon of great directors, John Ford stands supreme. He won four academy awards for best director and could have won many more. His onscreen collaborations with Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and especially John Wayne are spectacular. Neal's favorite did not win an Oscar or even a nomination for Ford, but it is the greatest western ever made. In The Searchers, John Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a hardened, bitter man filled with hatred for Comanches. After the brutal murder of his only remaining family, Ethan embarks on a long journey to try to find his niece who may have survived the massacre, but has almost certainly been molested and assimilated by her captors. His skills as a tracker and killer finally lead him to her. Should he kill the girl who he believes has been contaminated and polluted by subhuman Comanches? Should he return her to the settled civilization of the white farmers with whom has has next to nothing in common? And what about him? Does he have any home at all? You must see this masterpiece.



Who are the greatest onscreen couple of all time? Neal's answer is simple: Cary Grant and you fill in the blank. Katharine Hepburn; Ingrid Bergman; Grace Kelly; Sophia Loren; Marilyn Monroe; Audrey Hepburn; Eva Marie Saint. No wonder he never won an academy award. The audience was always looking at his co-star. Neal chooses Eva Marie Saint and Hitchcock's North by Northwest. This spine tingling thriller has foreign agents, microfilm, the United Nations, a great Mercedes Benz, fine art, Mount Rushmore, double agents, Greyhound buses, mistaken identities, and crop dusters. Who else but Hitchcock could combine them all into such a wonderful mixture of comedy, suspense, and unlikely romance. Can the lovers survive the cliffs, the wind, gunshots, treacherous footing, and the nose of Thomas Jefferson? Watch carefully for the matchbook. You must see it again.



What list could be complete without a couple of guilty pleasures?

For Leila, it has to Bride and Prejudice. The Bollywood spoof on P&P (see above) is filled with music, pretty girls, very handsome men (for the most part), an outstanding Mr. Collins (the exception), and elephants. Who could ask for more?



For Neal, hands down, guilt and pleasure come together in Flash Gordon. A pro football player, a mad scientist, and an entertainment reporter make up the noble triumvirate of pure goodness (Go, Flash, go!). Ming the Magnificent, Emperor of Mongo, seeks to destroy the world with burning hail. With a great camp performance by Max von Sydow and a musical score by Queen ( Flash, ah, ah. He'll save everyone of us), who can resist?

Summer Fun

Summer outings in our backyard include all the children and grandchildren when we're lucky. If you think fun involves grilling, swimming, playing games, jumping on a trampoline and lots of conversation, then you are like us.




These two candid shots taken by Megan caught us both having lots of fun at the annual Fourth of July water balloon fight. No holds barred in this competition. Neal is standing next to Max, our newest grandson. Leila's smile reveals just a little of the fun she had, highlighted by a sneak attack and drenching of her beloved husband. The grandkids love filling the balloons almost as much as they enjoy spattering an adult!


To include everyone, we have had a small inflatable pool for kids worried about the deeper water. Slam dunks are much more difficult than they look!


This is Ella's first day swimming in the big pool. Her dad's hand gives you an idea of how tiny she was.

Everybody loves the water. And we love it when they come. There's nothing quite like a beautiful summer day, high temperatures, clear skies, and a swimming pool.

We Love Waterfalls

When we are out and about, we love to look for waterfalls. We're hardly intrepid about it, but a short hike can sometimes result in some spectacular scenery. The photo above was taken along Henry's Fork of the Snake River near the overlook of Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. Unfortunately, the photographer did not realize the shutter was sticking. Hope you can make out the gorgeous falls in the center of the "frame."

Here is a similarly framed view of the lower falls. The location provides great memories for Neal, who floated the river with his father, uncle and cousin in the early 1960's. Note the rainbow.

Here is a shot of the river flowing away from the falls, where the raft trip began. The amateur photographer managed to make it look like the river is flowing up! Note the high canyon walls, the rockfall, and the lodgepole pine forest.


Can you guess who this enthusiastic former rafter might be?

This is a video of Cave Falls in Yellowstone. Listen carefully for the children and the old man.



This is world famous Tower Falls in Yellowstone. The view from an overlook just a few minutes down the trail left us breathless. In Neal's case, the hike may have been the culprit.


Along the trail down the mountainside toward the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone, we caught this glimpse of the Upper Falls in the distance. This was as close as we got.

The Yellowstone River rushing past the overlook and crashing over the cliffs over three hundred feet into the valley below. The site brings back memories of Neal's family's trip to Yellowstone because this is the spot his younger brother climbed over a protective railing to get closer to the water. A very quick father saved the day, yanking the little boy to safety. Today, as you can see, the railing has been replaced with a taller chain link fence.


The next video gives a sense of the Yellowstone River flying over the precipice of the Lower Falls, plummeting into the canyon below, and rushing on through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.



This is lovely Waimea Falls on the north shore of Oahu. It's just a short hike through a tropical nature preserve to get there. Peaceful, serene, and very lovely.

We hope you enjoyed some of our waterfalls. We treasure the memories of these visits and hope to make many more.