Film families find a place in our media driven hearts

By Matthew Barrett and Christopher Cousino

Daily Arts Writers

A man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.

This pearl of family wisdom comes courtesy of Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, a film that takes a hard look at the importance of family and respecting that blood bond above all. Let's be honest, we all wished we had Santino as a brother looking for us on the school playground. But, sadly, Santino caught his comeuppance on the causeway. And so instead of wallowing in Carlo's one big hit against the Corleones, we'll take a look at some of our other family favorites from the world of cinema.

Every family needs a mother, the sweet angel matriarch of the house and no one can hold a candle to Mrs. Bates when it comes to this category. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) told the tale of what can go wrong when mothers meddle and let their sons catch them in the act with someone other than Dad. Showers have never been the same. And don't mind mother, "She's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds."

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we find Mrs. Robinson, the sultry, sexy mother in Mike Nichol's The Graduate (1967). We never find out her first name, but we do know she might very well be the most renowned MILF in the history of cinema. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

Like the Robinsons, all American nuclear families have your defined father-knows-best role, and no where was this part skewered quite as fiercely as in Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998). His take-no-prisoners approach wailed on everyone, including suburbanite daddy Bill Maplewood (Dylan Baker). Warning: Baseball dads aren't always what they seem, so watch out for the tuna sandwiches and HI-C drinks.

Oscar has been particularly kind to those films that embody the story of the traditional dysfunctional family. In 1980, Robert Redford's Ordinary People took home multiple Academy Awards for its look into the lives of a family, troubled by the tragic loss of their son. Mary Tyler Moore breaks from her TV persona to play a wicked mother who refuses to forgive her surviving son.

Last Spring, several statuettes went to Sam Mendes' American Beauty, a closer look at the troubled lives of your everyday American family. Lester Burnham becomes the archetype for angry fathers in desk jobs everywhere who've found their Angela in the form of MTV vixen Britney Spears.

Finally, we can't leave out the ultimate family melodrama, Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955). In a legendary starmaking performance by James Dean, his performance as Jim Stark defines the prototypical teen angst rebel, fighting against his passive father and his overbearing mother.

So take it from Will Smith, "Parents just don't understand." But maybe, just maybe if you curl up with your mom and dad with one of these classics, you'll be a little closer in seeing eye to eye.

father-knows-best role, and no where was this part skewered quite as fiercely as in Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998). His take-no-prisoners approach wailed on everyone, including suburbanite daddy Bill Maplewood (Dylan Baker). Warning: Baseball dads aren't always what they seem, so watch out for the tuna sandwiches and HI-C drinks.

Oscar has been particularly kind to those films that embody the story of the traditional dysfunctional family. In 1980, Robert Redford's Ordinary People took home multiple Academy Awards for its look into the lives of a family, troubled by the tragic loss of their son. Mary Tyler Moore breaks from her TV persona to play a wicked mother who refuses to forgive her surviving son.

Last spring, several statuettes went to Sam Mendes' American Beauty, a closer look at the troubled lives of your everyday American family in Suburbia. Kevin Spacey's Lester Burnham becomes the archetype for angry fathers in desk jobs everywhere who've found their Angela in the form of MTV vixen Britney Spears.

Finally, we can't leave out the ultimate family melodrama, Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955). In a legendary starmaking performance by James Dean, his performance as Jim Stark defines the prototypical teen angst rebel, fighting against his passive father and his overbearing mother.

So take it from Will Smith, "Parents just don't understand." But maybe, just maybe if you curl up with your mom and dad with one of these classics, you'll be a little closer in seeing eye to eye.

Courtesy of Dreamworks