Let Freedom Entertain!

3 Jul

Last year I wrote a brief post about spending the fourth of July- Independence Day here in the United States- watching the “classic” Dean Devlin film, Independence Day. Had some trouble coming up with a topic for this year, but in the end I decided to make a list of some of the best things to watch on this holiday. This is totally biased to my tastes- I’d love to hear what you think!

Jaws

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucMLFO6TsFM]

Though… I still have issues with the ocean. And sometimes the pool.

Apollo 13

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEl0NsYn1fU]

I recall seeing this on the 4th when it came out. And bawling throughout. I was a kid when it came out and it was one of the sources for a lot of my education about a) the time period and b) the Apollo space program (stupid U.S. education system doesn’t cover much about this era until college)

I have issues adding Born on the Fourth of July and The Patriot to my list because I think the leads are crazy and that bugs me. However, both are good films and thus if you don’t know them… give ’em a watch.

1776

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3TGbKfkwGA]

While I prefer the stage projection- in particular the Broadway revival with Brent Spiner– the film is quite good too.

I can’t think of or find any holiday specific episodes other than a few of the cartoon shows, like The Simpsons. At least, there aren’t any episodes coming to mind- which means none of the shows I lean to have an ep.

Personally, I think you can’t go wrong with the Boston Pops (not airing on television this year, apparently) or A Capitol Fourth, which is a favorite of mine.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iUkDxJZFqI]

What’ll you be watching? Or doing? I’ll be heading out to the country to park on the side of a road and watch multiple fireworks shows. 🙂