Happy Father's Day!

I love making lists. Top ten this, top ten that. I was going to try and come up with a list of the top ten father's in movies to celebrate father's day, but I cannot even begin to start as there are just so many. Instead, I'm going to share a few of my favorites, in no particular order.

George Banks (Steve Martin), Father of the Bride (1991)

I remember watching this movie for the first time when I was really sick. I remember my dad actually went out to the library to get me stuff to watch, and I liked this one so much I had him get me the sequel. The movie is a little sappier than I normally like, but it was also funny. On top of that, the father, George Banks, is believable as a man who just wants to do right by his family and protect those he loves.

Marlin (Albert Brooks), Finding Nemo (2003)

I cannot get through a post lately without mentioning a Pixar movie, but this one most certainly deserves a place on any collection of great movie dads. Marlin is an overprotective father who doesn't want to let Nemo out of this site. When Nemo is fish-napped, Marlin goes outside of his comfort zone to track down his missing son. For a movie about fish, it's surprisingly effective.

George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

My favorite movie of all time has one of the most memorable father figures of them all. George Bailey is the type of guy who only wants to be successful, both in business and at home. When calamity strikes at the workplace, he takes his stress out on the kids, which in part leads to his classic utterance that he wishes he'd never been born. If you haven't seen how things play out, you should.

Man (Viggo Mortensen), The Road (2009)

The fact that Mortensen's character in The Road is merely named 'man' who appears most of the time opposite a character named 'boy' says it all. This is the ultimate father/son story, and it's based on one of my favorite novels of all time. The movie is nowhere near as good as the book, but it's still very good. The story of devotion and sacrifice for a loved one is still moving in movie form. Many have compared The Road to the more popular The Book of Eli, and my verdict is The Road should win that battle any day of the week.

Ashoke (Irrfan Khan), The Namesake (2006)

I remember when the trailers for this movie were released - they annoyed me. It looked like the ad was showing everything, and I hate that. Why should I pay to see something in theaters when you've just told me the whole story?! Well, I went to see the movie anyways and was blown away. One of the reasons was because of the father character, Ashoke, who inspires his son to go on a journey to learn the meaning of his Indian name to which he has become ashamed of. It's really great.

All right, those are just a few that come to mind! Who are your favorites?