PIEN HUANG, HOST:
Watching movies with my parents was a huge treat for me growing up. Every summer, on the hottest days, we would have these movie marathons in the cool of the basement, queuing up movies so long that they were spread across two VHS cassettes, like The Sound Of Music...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE SOUND OF MUSIC")
JULIE ANDREWS: (As Maria, singing) The hills are alive with the sound of music.
HUANG: ...And "Anne Of Green Gables."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ANNE OF AVONLEA")
JONATHAN CROMBIE: (As Gilbert Blythe) What are you thinking about?
MEGAN FOLLOWS: (As Anne Shirley) I'm afraid to speak or move for fear that all this wonderful beauty will just vanish.
HUANG: These watch parties kept us cool on summer days and gave me insight into the lives that my parents imagined for us as immigrants working to make it in the U.S. As a grown-up now, I keep these movies and others that they shared with me close to my heart. So for Father's Day, I wanted to talk with two NPR dads who love movies to see how they might try to pass that passion on to their kids. Joining me to discuss are two of NPR's biggest movie fans and both fathers, transportation correspondent Joel Rose and voting correspondent Miles Parks. Hey, guys.
MILES PARKS, BYLINE: Hi. Happy to be here.
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Yeah, thanks for having us.
HUANG: All right, so some movies are special to us because we shared them with our parents or they were passed down to us. I'm wondering for each of you, what were some of the films that got passed down to you from your parents?
ROSE: Yeah, I have this distinct memory of going to see "Return Of The Jedi" in the theater with my dad.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI")
MARK HAMILL: (As Luke Skywalker) You failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.
ROSE: I was, I think, 6 years old, totally into "Star Wars," had watched the first two movies...
HUANG: By 6? Wow (laughter).
ROSE: ...Approximately a thousand times. Yes. And so that day had, like, this feeling of a really big event, and, you know, more than any particular film, I just remember that feeling of being really excited to go into the theater and sit in the dark and watch the movie. And I think, in general, his tastes are kind of more to the classics than mine, but there are a couple of movies that we have in common. We love "Casablanca"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CASABLANCA")
HUMPHREY BOGART: (As Rick Blaine) Here's looking at you, kid.
ROSE: ..."The Graduate"...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE GRADUATE")
DUSTIN HOFFMAN: (As Ben Braddock) Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me.
ROSE: ..."Dr. Strangelove."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB")
PETER SELLERS: (As President Merkin Muffley) Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room.
ROSE: Those are, like, definitely on the list.
HUANG: Those are classic, classic Dad films. Miles, what about you?
PARKS: Yeah, I feel like my dad skewed more towards, like, Dad Movie - capital D, capital M, Dad Movie - in terms of, like...
HUANG: (Laughter).
PARKS: ...We, like - it's mostly action movies, honestly. We watched, like, a lot of action movies growing up. I mean, the biggest one that I remember is, at some point, we just decided we're going to watch the Bond movies from start to finish...
HUANG: Yeah.
PARKS: ...Like, in chronological order.
HUANG: All of them - OK.
PARKS: We watched - went through all of them, right?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOLDFINGER")
SEAN CONNERY: (As James Bond) Do you expect me to talk?
GERT FROBE: (As Auric Goldfinger) No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.
PARKS: The one I was thinking about in terms of when I think about watching a movie with my dad, 1997 movie "Grosse Pointe Blank," which is this John Cusack movie where he's an assassin.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GROSSE POINTE BLANK")
MINNIE DRIVER: (As Debi Newberry) You're a psychopath.
JOHN CUSACK: (As Martin Q. Blank) No, no, no, a psychopath kills for no reason. I kill for money. It's a job. That didn't sound right.
PARKS: But then he kind of gets some strange feelings about becoming an assassin, decides he's going to go back to his 10-year high school reunion where no one knows what he does for a living.
HUANG: (Laughter).
PARKS: And he kind of reconnects with his high school sweetheart, who's played by Minnie Driver. I feel like it's just, like, this perfect blend of, like, is this a comedy? Is this an action movie? Is this an excuse to watch Dan Aykroyd do Dan Aykroyd stuff? It's, like, everything.
HUANG: It's all of those, right. Yeah. How would you guys define what a dad movie is?
ROSE: It's a pretty loose category and could be any kind of, like, action movie. I think, like, people put war movies in this category a lot. I don't know. And I would say, like, anything with Harrison Ford is in this category.
(LAUGHTER)
PARKS: I feel like Harrison Ford, Denzel Washington, I agree - war movies, historical fiction movies a lot of times. And I was, like, thinking about, what is the thing that connects a lot of these movies that I think of as dad movies? One of the things is actually, like, the simplicity of the narrative, I think, a lot of the times. It's, like, usually there's a good guy and a bad guy, or it's very clear who you're supposed to root for. I was thinking, like, one of the dad movies I think about is "Apollo 13"...
HUANG: Yeah.
PARKS: ...You know, classic 1995, Ron Howard movie.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "APOLLO 13")
BRETT CULLEN: (As Jack Lousma/CAPCOM 1) This is Houston. Say again, please.
TOM HANKS: (As Jim Lovell) Houston, we have a problem.
PARKS: Guys are in space, and we got to get them back. And it's like, there's no gray area here in terms of, like...
HUANG: Right.
PARKS: ...Who are you rooting for or what you're rooting for in this movie.
HUANG: The mission is very clear.
PARKS: Exactly. And I think when you think about a war movie, action movies, sports movies a lot of time, fit into this...
ROSE: Yeah.
PARKS: ...Where it's just like, I am rooting for that team, you know?
ROSE: Right. It's not driven by necessarily emotional nuance. If you look at the way dads are portrayed in films, there's a lot of, like, black and white, kind of. Like, simple dads are, like, bumbling but lovable. That is a big theme. You see that all the time, like sort of the good-natured buffoon who means well but screws things up. And that's, like, any dad from a "National Lampoon" movie, right?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION")
CHEVY CHASE: (As Clark Griswold) Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no, we're all in this together. This is a full-blown...
ROSE: There's this darker set of movies where the fathers are really the villain. They're, like, these demanding, power hungry or even insane dads. And I think the recent "Frankenstein" by Guillermo del Toro is a really good example of this.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FRANKENSTEIN")
OSCAR ISAAC: (As Victor Frankenstein) Never again will I make something like you - wicked.
ROSE: Also, like reaching back to, like, "Chinatown" or "The Shining" for, like...
HUANG: Yeah.
ROSE: ...Other evil dad examples.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE SHINING")
DANNY LLOYD: (As Danny) Dad?
JACK NICHOLSON: (As Jack Torrance) What?
LLOYD: (As Danny) You would never hurt Mommy and me, would you?
HUANG: Miles, you are a recent father, relatively recent father. I'm wondering, what are some films that you cannot wait to share with your daughter?
PARKS: You know, the one I was thinking about the most is 2019 movie "Little Women," Greta Gerwig's adaptation of "Little Women."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LITTLE WOMEN")
SAOIRSE RONAN: (As Jo March) I just feel like women - they have minds and they have souls, as well as just hearts.
PARKS: I have avoided rewatching this movie because I cried so much the first time I saw it.
HUANG: Yeah.
PARKS: And I, like - I'm like, I need an excuse to watch this movie, again. I thought, in my opinion, that was the best movie that came out in 2019. I got into a lot of arguments with a lot of dads who said "1917," and I was like, no, it's Greta Gerwig's "Little Women."
HUANG: (Laughter) It's "Little Women."
PARKS: I will ride and die for this movie. And the biggest thing about it when I think about showing it to my daughter is the richness and the warmth of the portrayal of family in that movie, that it is - it's not that it's uncomplicated, but it is warm, and it's pure. And I just remember just the warmth that was protruding from the screen just, like, hit me in a very deep way.
HUANG: Right. Yeah. And, Joel, you are not a recent father. I think your kids are a little bit older. I'm wondering what your experience has been of sharing your favorite films with them?
ROSE: Yeah, my kids are now 12 and 10, and I tried to recreate the excitement for them that I felt about "Star Wars" when I was young. And so a couple years ago, I figured it was time. I decided to start with the original "Star Wars" movie, tried to make a big deal out of it. I made popcorn. I turned off the lights, fired up the movie. And they hate it.
HUANG: No (laughter).
ROSE: They totally detest it. They don't understand what's happening in that opening scene, you know, when the Stormtroopers are boarding the rebel ship. They don't care about Darth Vader or Princess Leia.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE")
CARRIE FISHER: (As Princess Leia Organa) I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan.
JAMES EARL JONES: (As Darth Vader) You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away.
ROSE: And then when the action shifts down to Tatooine, they're like, this is too slow. We're bored. And it is kind of slower than I remembered.
PARKS: It is.
ROSE: (Inaudible) forget about it (ph).
PARKS: I feel like when you rewatch it again with - you bring that sort of sensibility from watching action movies of now...
ROSE: Yeah
PARKS: ...Especially, if - anyone who has watched, like, a Marvel movie, try to watch a "Star Wars" movie and compare it to the pace, and it is a completely different thing.
ROSE: OK, so major fail.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSE: But there have been a couple of wins too, and I think the best example is I've gotten them to watch some of the films of Miyazaki, who's this very celebrated Japanese director, makes beautiful animated films that are, like, very human, super weird, but very alive. And it was really delightful to see my kids, like, getting into them, and "Spirited Away," "Kiki's Delivery Service" were, like...
HUANG: That's such a good one.
ROSE: ...Favorites. But "My Neighbor Totoro," they, like, totally loved.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO")
CHIKA SAKAMOTO: (As Mei) Totoro, is that what your name is? Totoro?
HITOSHI TAKAGI: (As Totoro) Totoro.
SAKAMOTO: (As Mei) Yep, that's your name, all right.
ROSE: And I want to say, I have a ton of admiration for the father in "Totoro" because he - he's, like, working a lot. He's supporting this family, caring for two young girls while his wife is recuperating in the hospital. He's, like, very attentive. He is sweet. He's present with his kids. He's curious about their world. And when they tell him about these forest spirits that are living in the woods around their house, he is not dismissive. He's, like, totally encouraging.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO")
SAKAMOTO: (As Mei) It's not a lie, Dad.
SHIGESATO ITOI: (As Tatsuo Kusakabe) Don't worry, Mei. Satsuki and I believe you. And I bet you I know what happened. You must have met one of the spirits of the forest. That means you're a very lucky girl.
ROSE: And he supports them, and he just lets them be kids and good dad goals for me.
HUANG: Yeah.
PARKS: I mean, it honestly makes me wonder about whether this, like, dad movie trope is going to shift over the next few years. I was like, I like to believe that we're a little bit more emotionally available than maybe the dads of previous generation, right, Joel? I mean, we aspire to that, and I guess I wonder if the movies at some point are going to start kind of moving in that direction.
ROSE: We can aspire. That's all we can do.
(LAUGHTER)
HUANG: All right, that was NPR's Miles Parks and Joel Rose. Thanks so much for joining us, and happy Father's Day, guys.
PARKS: Thank you.
ROSE: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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