Mappin' "Anchor's Aweigh!"

photo courtesy of tripod.com

The beauties of Netflix are many, among them is the opportunity to expose the kids to some classic movies (one of Leslie's plusses is the ability to watch Gene Kelly again, and again, and again, and...) Recently we viewed Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh" and it remains a wonderful movie. It was an easy one to put in the DVD since both girls, especially Jenna, love "Singin' In The Rain" and this one does not disappoint. Seeing a very young Frank Sinatra crooning and playing the dumb rube from Brooklyn, Gene Kelly performing amazing dance after amazing dance and a great love story plot made for a great MAPN (pronounced "Mappin' " for MovieAndPizzaNight).

Every Friday when we are home we have MAPN and rotate who gets to pick the movie. We started this a couple of years ago and it has become a great routine/tradition for us on Friday nights. We all start to think ahead when it is our week to pick a movie we enjoy. Netflix has really opened up to variety we watch, for some reason it is so much easier to browse and pick on-line than it was to cruise the aisles of Blockbuster. We have seen a lot of the old Disney movies from the Sixties (Appledumpling Gang, the original Flubber, Ugly Daschund...), plus the musicals and movies from the '40s and '50s.

As an added variable we also rotate which local pizzaria to enjoy the different offerings and pies (Dad has a rule: no Dominos! tastes like cardboard!). So while keeping a routine we add some variables to keep it from being a rut.

I envision the time far in the future when the kids are back from college, or visiting over a holiday and we all gather for Mappin', we will have to, it's Friday night!

"Anchors Aweigh" gets a solid: Comfy on the couch

(See below for rating system).

Start your own Mappin' with your family!

If you are like Leslie and a big Gene Kelly fan here is a site of pictures