31 Days of Oscar on TCM

If anyone is looking for some TV time wastin' activities, you might want to check out the Turner Classic Movies channel (TCM) this month. It's playing its annual "31 days of Oscar", non stop movie marathon of Oscar Winners. Depending on the day, it plays Oscar winners from a certain decade. (ex. movies from the 1950's on Wed. , 1980's on Sat., etc.).

It's been interesting to watch old movies from as early as the 1920's. I've seen more recently filmed remakes of many of these originals (i.e. Farewell to Arms, Tale of Two Cities, Tom Sawyer, 3 Musketeers, etc.) but it's interesting to watch the originals (okay some of these stories were made as silent pictures even earlier in the 1900's but these are the original "talkies"). Even if some of these movies can put you to sleep, it's interesting to watch them as a window into the past, especially if the movie is set during the time it was filmed. And most of these movies being Oscar winners, are pretty darn good (not that there haven't been Oscar winners that many people thought were duds). The ending of A Tale of Two Cities was surprisingly eerie as you watched Aristocrats lined up to be beheaded. And when the mob stormed the Bastille--you just don't see movies with that many live extras on film anymore!

As I watched some of these movies that I'm sure my grandparents or parents enjoyed growing up, I began to wonder what Zoe will think of the critically acclaimed movies that I have watched while growing up. I look forward to the day of watching E.T. with her, but will she be more interested in what's new at the box office, even at a young age?

Will she look at movies that I grew up with and see them as so......so 20th Century? Will she be unimpressed by outdated special effects? Annoyed by the popular film techniques of my day (i.e. “shaky camera" cinematography)? Find comedians of my day old news or not edgy enough? (I HOPE NOT!) Laugh at movies I thought were scary as a kid? Roll her eyes at movies made during my childhood that were set in the future, but completely off the mark of how the future turned out?

Well, maybe she'll love to read rather than watch movies, and then I won't be able to complain.