"Bonding Through DVD"

A very nice article from USA TODAY on the pleasure of sharing great movies with family and friends.

"Nine years after DVD arrived in stores, the format...also is helping people pass their movie memories along to family and friends. And studios are packaging more classic fare that allows them to do it."

As readers here may have gathered, we are a multi-generational movie-loving family. :) Sharing beloved movies with our children has been and continues to be a special experience.

Having grown up in the pre-VCR era where the only resources for classic movies were revival theaters in Los Angeles (trips our family made on a regular basis) or heavily edited, commercial filled TV airings, I am still continually amazed and grateful that I can watch any of my favorite movies, any time I want, on a lovely flat-screen TV. And I love the ease with which I can try new-to-me films, such as my recent exposure to film noir. It's wonderful that so many titles are being released on DVD.

I also appreciate that, thanks to DVD, my children have plenty of quality television to watch, though they rarely watch any programs currently in production. My 11-year-old, for example, is just the age I was when THE WALTONS first aired, and she loves it with the same intensity that I did. My boys are crazy for EMERGENCY!, another childhood favorite which has held up surprisingly well -- and which provides them with wonderful role models of people in "helping" professions, in addition to being entertaining.

The article touches on a variety of topics, including using movies as teaching tools and the ease of sharing DVDs. (Our neighbors are borrowing our copy of UNITED 93 this week...)