THE VHS SHELF

Year: 1988 Director: Ron Howard Nostalgia Meter: 5/5 Most Recent Watch: A couple years ago, I guess? I have watched Willow as an adult, but it's also been awhile. And although I wouldn't quite put it on my top ten movies list, it's just as much of a nostalgia trip as The Dark Crystal . Unlike The Dark Crystal , however, I have a fun childhood story to go along with this one. Willow was the first time I was introduced to the concept of people with dwarfism. If you're not familiar with the movie, the titular character is played by Warwick Davis, who was probably the most well-know actor with dwarfism before Peter Dinklage. You probably know Davis best as Wicket the Ewok from Return of the Jedi and Professor Flitwick (and the goblin Griphook) from the Harry Potter movies. Anyway, in Willow , little people are referred to as "Nelwyns," and they're basically halflings in the standard language of the high fantasy genre. Now, my mom explained to me v...

Year: 1995  Director: Alfonso Cuarón Nostalgia Meter: 1.75/5 Most recent watch: Very long ago.  A Little Princess is a movie that I remember, but just barely. I happened to stumble across it on Netflix, and thought it'd be fun to rewatch something that I don't have much nostalgia for at all. So, what did I remember about A Little Princess ? Not much besides the plot being about a little girl and her dad and India (for some reason). While she's at a horrible boarding school, he goes to war and ends up blind. He forgets she exists, but somehow ends up remembering her and then they're reunited and happy.  At the time when I last saw A Little Princess , my knowledge of WWI probably went as far as knowing that it was the one without Nazis. It is no longer so mysterious that Sara's father goes blind and forgets her. I guess as a kid I thought he just went blind from stress or something. I didn't understand that it was from being exposed to mustard gas. I al...

Year: 1982, Directors: Jim Henson & Frank Oz, Nostalgia Score: 5/5, Most Recent Watch: At least once a year, for as long as I can remember.  It's hard for me to express how much I love The Dark Crystal . It has been one of my favorite movies for as long as I can remember, and I think it's an absolute masterpiece. When I sit down and hear the opening musical score it immediately brings a smile to face. Admittedly, the plot and dialogue are nothing special, but I don't really think The Dark Crystal is about narrative anyway. It's about building and exploring another world. There's just so much creative talent packed into every little on-screen detail, it's mind-boggling. My primary emotion while watching this movie is utter delight, and if my memory serves me correctly, that was pretty much always the case. It's not just that everything looks cool. It's knowing that people intentionally designed and made all of these cool looking t...