Even this generation of students like "old movies."

Something that surprised me this week is how well my kids responded to the "Back to the Future," movies. One of the activities I do during my film and scriptwriting unit is show the kids the "Back to the Future" movies. I believe those two movies are two of the most beautifully directed movies of all-time. Before I showed the movie some of the kids asked me "When was this movie made?" (1985) When they found out how old the movie is I heard some grumbles so I thought "Uh Oh this probably isn't going to go well." However once the movie got started and we had discussions throughout the movie, my students said..."Oh this isn't that bad!" One thing that I noticed about my students is they were amazed at the amount of thought that went into the storyline, the special effects, and the acting which is good. Although the students were amazed with the movies, some were afraid that my expectations were too high and that they couldn't make a movie or short story that were good (which I understand). However I reassured them that although Steven Spielberg is a professional director and producer, even the best at their profession make mistakes. After we completed the two movies, I showed them the 30 plus directing mistakes that were in the movie. That eliminated some of the self-doubt from my students. It was a pretty quiet week for the most part but how my students really like the movies surprised me. It shows that we as teachers have to be patient and to remember that sometimes we just have to mix the old with the new!