Movie nights this summer

You all know about the international student ministry I started with my church. Well, on a whim, one night my mom and I decided to invite some of the students to come over to watch a DVD with us. It was such a success that almost every week or two, we've had another movie night. We've watched mostly Disney movies from the 70s or older movies, such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. We decided to focus on these for two reasons. First, these are movies that the students probably wouldn't have watched already. And second, because of our particular audience and the fact that we were technically sponsored by my church, we had to make sure to have "clean" movies. And frankly, I just enjoy going back and watching some of the movies that I loved when I was a kid.

We watched No Deposit, No Return with David Niven, Darren McGavin, and Don Knotts. That's about a pair of rich kids who talk these two safecrackers into kidnapping them and is hilarious! We also watched North Avenue Irregulars, which is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen (and most people agree with me on that one too). It has several big names from the 70's, but the one I love the most is Cloris Leachmann. She takes the cake in this movie, about a group of "dingaling dames" who try to crack a big-league mob gambling ring. And we watched A Princess Bride, the defining movie of my high school years. That was the movie that we all quote to each other and all bonded over.

Saturday night we got to watch a movie I hadn't seen before. An older woman in our group suggested that we should introduce them to the classic American musical and therefore should watch Singin in the Rain. I wasn't sure how the students would go for that, since it is such a different style, but everyone loved it! And they understood it well too. One thing I have noticed is that humor is very cultural. That is why I always used sitcoms when I was teaching to help students understand American culture as well as English. But even to Americans, many of the older comedies have lost their fun. Just listen to some of the old-time radio shows to notice that.

But anyway, we have had a lot of fun with these nights. We always have dinner together first. A student who just arrived from China two weeks ago had his very first barbecued hamburger! I have come to see how much we are still able to socialize and help students practice their English with Americans while we still enjoy movies together. So this is something I'm going to add periodically during the school year.

Our next movie in two weeks will probably be an Agatha Christie night. We've done comedies so much that this time I'd like to show a good fun mystery. Not the most recent Murder on the Orient Express with David Suchet that was just on this summer. That RUINED the book! But something like The ABC Murders or Death on the Nile.

Sounds like a fun time, Vicki. Don't forget the Apple Dumpling Gang.

Brenda, that is so funny because I just ordered The Apple Dumpling Gang. It's been years since I saw that movie.