Gunn Family Movies

Amy and I are about to celebrate six years of marriage next month. As I've been reflecting on our history together a lot of good warm feelings (and other feelings of a more complicated nature) have come back to me. There are certain movies that conjure up those feelings every time. Amy and I love watching movies, and the ones we like we tend to watch repeatedly. We both like a lot of movies, but there are certain titles that have a special place in our hearts: "our" movies.

We thought it would be fun to post those titles and talk about what we like about them in case you're stumped as to what to add to your Netflix queue or reserve at the library. Here's our top 10 in no particular order.

Joe Vs The Volcano

This lesser-known Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks romantic comedy is a farce, but don't let that label fool you. There's nothing sarcastic, crass, or cynical about this movie. The title character has a crappy job and worst of all, he's dying of a mysterious illness. A rich business owner needs his help saving a tiny island in the south pacific and offers Joe a chance to die a hero. All he has to do is hurl himself into an errupting volcano.

The tone is light, sweet, and purely fun. It reflects our odd-ball sense of humor and our generally optimistic outlook on life.

Soup-bone Quote: "Clothes make the man. I believe that. Now you ask me what clothes you should buy and to me that's like asking me who you are. I don't know who you are. I've spent my entire life trying to figure out who I am and I am tired, you understand?"

The Incredibles

Some of you may know that our favorite term of endearment for each other is "boss." Here's the story behind that. When Amy and I were engaged we went to go see The Incredibles. Sitting in front of us was a young family with little kids. One of the kids was anxious for the film to start. When the titles for the short began he asked one of his parents "Is this the 'credibles, boss?" We thought that was hillarious and cute and somehow the term "boss" worked its way into our vocabulary. The family of super heros has been making us laugh, cry, and cheer ever since. It also reflects our mutual love of animation and the hopes and dreams we had for our future family in the days before our marriage.

Soup-bone Quote:

Mr Incredible: "Your mother and I are always united against . . ."

Mrs. Incredible: "Pig-headedness?"

Mr. Incredible: "I don't know. I was going to to say 'evil' or something."

Up

If The Incredibles reflects our past, Up reflects our present, and possibly our future. Within a few minutes of the curtain going up in this movie, Amy and I were in tears. While it touches on the subject of infertility, it also beautifully portrays the love and friendship between a married couple, even after one of them has passed away. Amy and I are each other's best friends, and we definitely relate.

Soup-bone Quote:

"MY NAME IS DOUG AND WE HAVE JUST MET AND I LOVE YOU."

Gentleman Broncos

Benji is a teenage sci-fi writer who's novella, Yeast Lords, is disgraced with a terrible movie adaptation and plagiarized by his hero. The writers of this movie torture this character so much it wouldn't be worth the time if the pay-off wasn't so satisfying, bizarre, and flat-out hillarious.

Soup-bone Quote:

"And finally we have a young-ling trying to penetrate the secrets of the human mind. You won't do it like that young-ling... You must use friendship. "

The Terminal

Amy and I watched this movie from the jacuzzi tub in a presidential suite at the Bellvue doubletree on the morning of Thanksgiving day 2004. It was our honeymoon. This story of a man (Tom Hanks) stuck in a foreign airport always reminds me of that day: one of the happiest of our life together.

Soup-bone Quote:

"You told me you were delayed. You never said it was for nine months!"

School of Rock

Dewey Finn (Jack Black) is a failed would-be rock star who sees an opportunity to live his dreams by posing as his friend, a substitute teacher at a prep school. On our second date Amy and I watched this movie together, at least most of it. Amy fell asleep wrapped up in a blanket cuddled up against me. I remember thinking "I could get used to this."

Soup-bone Quote:

Dewey: I've always believed that children are our future. And you can teach them well, but brother, you have got to let them lead the way. Let the childrens laughter remind us how we used to be. That's what I decided long ago.

Gabe: Isn't that a song?

Dewey: No. No it isn't.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

I don't know where to begin describing this. Arthur Dent is having a bad day that begins with his home planet, Earth, being destroyed by aliens. You wouldn't expect most comedies to start this way, but this one has always kept us smiling. I especially love the two-headed, three-armed Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox played by Sam Rockwell. He's a combination of Elvis, Bill Clinton, and Patrick Swayze with a little dash of George W. Bush for good measure: a thoroughly watchable and entertaining character. This one reflects our love of sci-fi, quirky humor, and both of those things with a slightly british flavor.

Soup-bone Quote:

"All time is an illusion. Lunch-time, doubly, so."

Return to Me

This is one of the few romantic comedies that I find a)genuinely funny, and b) irresistably charming. I find most so-called romantic comedies to be either romantic, funny, or neither. This one is pitch-perfect and impossible not to like. Any plot synopsis would just ruin it. The acting is awesome, Bonnie Hunt and Jim Belushi are hillarious, and the old guys are a crack up. Just see it. Women, prepare to cry. Men, make sure you have a hankerchief handy for her.

Soup-bone Quote:

Kid: Awe, hell!

Jim Belushi: Did you teach him 'hell'? You taught him to say 'hell'!

Bonnie Hunt: I never say hell, you son of a bitch!

Meet The Robinsons

Amy and I saw this one to celebrate her 27th birthday. Lewis is a brilliant orphan inventor who encounters a time-traveler. They team up to stop an inept villian from destroying the future. Along the way he stumbles into a tyranasaurus rex, a neurotic robot, a pizza delivery man who thinks he's a super-hero, his destiny as an inventor, and the family he always wanted. There's something about this movie's motto "Keep moving forward" that just makes it feel like a love letter to Walt Disney, which for us is emphatically a good thing. It helps us have courage through tough times and reminds Amy and I how much we are each-other's dream come true.

Soup-bone Quote: "Then, um, I didn't choose that one because it was gonna give me pimples so I choosed, um, another scary one cause for, um, all those years that I went for halloween I wasn't scary at all... I love baseball. It's my destiny to play that game. And I don't really care about winning. Well, like, now i do, cause, like, we've lost every game and I've gotten tired of it! I'm working like so hard, all the balls are getting thrown to me, I'm trying to catch, like, every one. All of the people in the out field are all looking around, and, c'mon, lets play some baseball, ok? Not the lazy game."

Stranger Than Fiction

IRS auditor Harold Crick's life turns upside-down when a narrator's voice in his head convinces him that a) he's soon going to die and b) that he's a character in someone else's novel. This one has natural appeal to us because we're both aspiring fiction writers. It also happened to coincide with a crucial do-or-die moment in our marriage. This movie helped us choose "do" when it wasn't so easy.

Soup-bone Quote:

Harold Crick: Dave, can I pose a somewhat abstract, purely hypothetical question?

Dave: Sure

Harold Crick: If you knew you were gonna die, possibly soon, what would you do?

Dave: Wow, I don't know. Am I the richest man in the world?

Harold Crick: No, you're you.

Dave: Do I have a superpower?

Harold Crick: No, you're *you*.

Dave: I know I'm me, but do I have a superpower?

Harold Crick: No. Why would you have a superpower?

Dave: I don't know. You said it was hypothetical.

Harold Crick: Fine. Yes, you're really good at math.

Dave: That's not a power, that's a skill.

Harold Crick: Okay, you're good at math and you're invisible. And you know you're gonna die.

Dave: Okay, okay. That's easy. I'd go to space camp.

Harold Crick: Space Camp?

Dave: Yeah, it's in Alabama. It's where kids go to learn how to become astronauts. I've always wanted to go since I was nine.

Harold Crick: You're invisible and you want to go to space camp?

Dave: I didn't pick invisible. You picked invisible.

Harold Crick: Aren't you too old to go to space camp?

Dave: You're never too old to go to space camp, dude.

Does your family have special movies that everyone agrees are awesome, or have some special meaning for you?

Tanner's Visit

28 August 2010

We've had a lot of excitement lately, with Amy's brother Tanner coming into town. The occasion of the visit is worth mentioning.

Most of the rest of Amy's family paid us a visit last spring. Tanner couldn't go, however, because one of his teachers wouldn't let him because her choir class more important. This would seem unjust, even if his self-important ego-driven choir teacher hadn't been the one behind it.

Anyway, since Tanner has a job he managed to save his sheckles and fly up to make up for his lost spring break opportunity.

And boy did we make up for it.

We did everything with Tanner that we had done with the rest of the family, and then some.

The centerpiece of our activities was a visit to the museum of flight. It's really amazing how much stuff there is to see there. We spent maybe three hours with Amy's family last spring and only really got an introduction to their vast collection. This time Tanner and I spent about five hours there and saw a lot more. Even after all that time, we left two entire wings of the museum untouched. Tanner especially had an interest in the space collection, which had a lot more going for it than I remembered. They have a Mars rover replica, a full-size, high fidelity replica of a module from the International Space Station, a full-size replica of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), a replica of Sputnik, a LEM simulator, and that's just a sample of what they had.

This time we made a point of not missing the actual Concord, the first 747, and the original Air Force One. We also got another good look at the WWI exhibit. I'm an aviation fanboy, I know, but if you find yourself anywhere near Seattle and can take a day, the Boeing Museum of Flight is well worth the price of admission. Their collection is as inspiring as it is complete.

I think the highlight for Tanner was probably the ferry ride in Seattle. I think he enjoyed getting a good view of the city and Amy and I enjoyed being along for the ride. Maybe one of these days we'll actually drive our car onto the ferry and see what's over there on Bainbridge.

It was a fun surprise when Devin came through town on his way to the Canadian border (again). He joined us for our activities on Sunday and left Monday.

We had a great Sunday afternoon up at Discovery Park. I was surprised how clear the traffic in Seattle was. I don't think I've ever been up there on a Sunday, but I think we might just do that again on our own.

Our trip to Seattle on Monday happened to coincide with Amy's doctor appointment up there, so we would have gone up anyway. (by the way, it looks like she has Minear's disease and the doctor prescribed a diarhettic). We spent some time on the waterfront, but most of the day we wandered Pike Place Market. We visited a cool little book store in the "down under" area run by a big gregarious Russian. He joked with customers, called all the ladies and kids "darlingks," and dispensed advice to the tourists.

Tanner walked away with a small gift for his girlfriend and Amy walked away with a new bouquet of fresh flowers from me. Every time we go up there we pledge to shop there more often.

It was a pleasure to have Tanner as our guest and get one last shot at some fun this summer. I hope we can do it again soon.

-Tom

Eugene Gunn Fawcett

Note: This post is old. Months old. I wrote it at the time, though. Just don't let that confuse you.

Yesterday I attended the funeral for my grandfather, Eugene Gunn Fawcett. I wanted to take this opportunity to record and share some of my thoughts and memories of him. He was born in 1931 in Hoytsville, Utah to Leo Fawcett and Clairene Gunn Fawcett. He was educated at Utah State University and was sealed to his wife Lois Renee Palmer in the Logan temple.

He was a Boeing engineer and father of four, including my mother Janet. He loved his work and his family and is easily the best example of manhood I’ve had in the course of my life.

Most of what I know about him I know second-hand or from pure example. When his children were young, I’m told, he was the one who could be there when they got home from school. He always took his responsibilities as a father most seriously. He was quiet and rarely got angry except when his sons needed scolding, or when any of the children had disrespected their mother.

My personal memories of him go back to his wood shop. His degree was in industrial arts education and his love for creating things followed him to the end of his life. Even now there are projects on his work bench left unfinished.

I remember vividly the smell of the sawdust, the well-worn work stools, the mind-bending array of tools hanging on peg board, and the old wood-burning stove he used to have in there. Most of all I remember the big chest freezer that always had popsicles, vanilla ice cream, and chips ahoy cookies.

My grandfather used to say “Life is too short. Eat dessert first.”

In that shop he made beautiful things, from small toys to major pieces of furniture. Their home is filled with his creations, and each of his children have more than one item that passed through his shop. The toys he made for us were well-finished, intricately made, and always entertaining. A few that stand out in my mind are the rubber-band guns, a dinosaur bank, and a dog that walks its hind legs and sniffs the ground as you pull it along. One of my most prized posessions is a cylindrical box he made for me out of the wood from an ancient plum tree that I loved to climb and swing on as a kid.

He absolutely loved his work as a Boeing engineer, and always had an enthusiasm for aviation. He was a kid during World War II. At the funeral I learned that he hung models of fighter planes from the ceiling of his room--something I can identify with since I was hanging spaceships from my ceiling when I was the same age.

He was the first to take me to the Boeing museum of flight, one of the many experiences that’s made me fond of aviation to this day. Later this year I plan on becoming a member of the Museum of Flight so I can go as much as I want.

He loved history, particularly World War II, the Civil War, and the American revolution. I got a fascination for these subjects myself, maybe through pure osmosis. I was always amazed at the number of history books he had, and the collection of National Geographics he had collected over the years. Perusing these as a kid fueled my appetite for learning and stoked my curiosity about the world around me.

Since he was a young man he carried a handkerchief in his pocket, a practice I’ve tried to keep myself since my missionary days.

I remember his truck. It was Ford Ranger from the late 70s or early 80s. There’s something distinctive about a vehicle when a man puts personal time and effort into maintaining it. I think a bit of his personality can’t help but get into it. That truck helped neighbors in times of need, took us on rides at the beach, went on camping trips, and even served as a loaner vehicle when I was a young adult and my car was in the shop.

That truck inspired me to want a truck of my own. I once thought I wanted a Ranger like my grandpa, but since then I’ve found that my personal taste tends toward the Jeep Wrangler. I haven’t got it yet, but hardly a day goes by that I don’t look forward owning it and putting it to as much good use as grandpa did with his truck. I plan on doing as much of the maintenance myself as I possibly can.

Camping was something approaching religion in his family. In the Pacific Northwest camping means Man vs. Rain. He fabricated his own tarps back before plastic tarps were commercially available. He used army surplus and things he scrounged together to keep out the rain and keep everyone comfortable. In many ways he was “MacGyvering” stuff long before the term was invented.

He grew up in the midst of the great depression. He truly lived by the old Mormon pioneer maxim “Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” I’ve been learning the hard way the need to do this myself.

Another thing that helped me identify with my grandfather was his leg problems. His hip was injured when he was a boy and it impacted his health and mobility throughout his life. For most of my life he used a cane, something I joined him in off and on through my teens since I had serious leg injuries of my own.

My grandfather was one of the primary influences that showed me what it is to be a good man. I was fortunate to have been able to move up here to Seattle almost exactly a year before he died. Towards the end, when Amy I would stop by to visit, he almost never failed to tell us that our apartment building was built on the site of the old Boeing mock-up building, which was dedicated to building wood mock-ups of aircraft before computer aided drafting made that method obsolete. He loved local history and passed on things that he thought I would be interested in learning about. I love the fact that I live so close to the home he raised his kids in, and in which I had so many good memories of my own.

Shortly after I turned 18 years old I changed my last name from Higginson to Gunn. My mother was against it because she thought I was just lashing out at my dad. I had a lot of reasons for changing my name, and one of them was that I wanted to follow my grandfather’s example in my life.

On the day I wanted to go to the courthouse my car was in the shop, so my grandfather drove me. At the funeral my mother reminded me of that and told me that he defended my decision to her whenever the subject came up.

“Why not?” he said. “It’s a good name!”

I agree.

Now that he’s gone and I have a chance to review what he meant to me, I see how much he’s quietly influenced my life. He’s set a high standard for me to reach for. And while the challenge to live up to his example is daunting, I’m encouraged by the fact that he and I had so much in common. I’m proud to carry a name from his family, and I’ll try to think of him every time I speak it.

-Tom