Last weekend, Josie wanted to watch Ironman, so we popped it into the dvd player in the tv room and nothing came up.

Nothing.

The tv was indignant.  "What? A dvd player?" it said.  "I have no relationship with such an appliance!"

Confused, we looked into the a/v cupboard and sure enough, the back of the dvd player was clear of any and all cords, plugged, or unplugged into the tv set.  Apparently they had broken up and neglected to tell the rest of us.

"What the He--" I yelled.

"Mom, it's not like we don't have another one." Josie reminded me.  So we went downstairs to watch.

I really haven't watched a movie down there since Zack moved into the basement.  I don't like to be in the middle of one and have him come down and say he wants to go to bed.  Sure, he's got a curtain between his "bedroom" and the "movie room" but it's only fabric, it's not soundproof.

But it was early on a Saturday night and Zack wasn't home and I really wanted Tony Stark on a big screen, so we watched down there.

The basement is where we put our first really large flat screen.  We set the room up with chairs and movie posters and the bose sound system.  Back then, no one was using the basement as a bedroom; it was an office/guest room.  Zack decided he wanted more privacy and so he moved in.  Last winter we remodeled the upstairs family room so we could fit an equally large flat screen up there.  It's a lovely room, but not as perfect for movies as the basement.

I had forgotten how nice it is to watch down there.  The room is small and the chairs are positioned the perfect distance from the screen.  There's only room for two chairs but usually that's all we need.  We can squeeze more down there but since we have a big screen upstairs too, we never do that anymore.  I love it.

Then, last night, I wanted to watch Braveheart.  Josie'd never seen it and I thought it was high time she did.  She's not squeamish about battle scenes.  She's the one who suggested we watch downstairs, so we did.

It was great!  I don't know how many times I've seen that movie, but  it's been a few years.  I'd forgotten quite a bit. 

"He looks like a  lion." Josie commented when Mel showed up on screen.  "Look at that red mane."

"Yeah, he does.  He pretty much turns into one."

A half an hour later Josie yelled "She dies?  That sucks!"

"That's what happened.  That much is true."

"Why do those English guys rattle when they move?" she asked.

"They're wearing mail. See?  They think it will protect them."

It didn't.

She laughed when poor Phillip was thrown out the window.  I told her not to be homophobic.

"Come on, Mom!  It's funny when anyone gets thrown out a window!"

Well that's true; defenestration is always good for a laugh.  As long as it's not discriminatory.

She didn't believe me when I told her that Hamish was played by Mad-Eye Moody.

I've seen Braveheart at least ten times (someday I hope to watch the cavalry charge at Sterling without closing my eyes) and every time I notice something new.

This time it was the father/son relationships in the movie.  Three very important such threads.  First are the two noble families; Robert the Bruce and his leper father and Edward the Longshanks and his sodomite son.  The Bruce starts out following his father's orders until he gains the strength to break with his father and do the right thing.  The Prince of England starts out hating his father but is too weak to stand against Longshanks and winds up a willing acolyte.  The only happy father/son duo is Hamish and his Dad, who are nobodies and own nothing yet stand together, believe in the same things, fight together and bleed together.  When the tough old Scot dies, his last words are to tell Hamish how proud he is of the man his son has become.  He was the only successful dad in the story.

I cried.

 

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