Sumit's Inkwell

One night, while aimlessly scrolling through the endless options on the various streaming platforms, I found myself struggling to land on something worth watching. Admittedly, I’m pretty picky when it comes to movies, always looking up the Rotten Tomatoes rating before pressing play. And on this particular night, everything that seemed to catch my eye had a shitty rating. Rotten Tomatoes can be a bit harsh sometimes, but they’re often spot on.

For some reason, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure kept popping up in my recommendations. I didn’t think much of it at first – I’d seen it plenty of times and always enjoyed it every time I watched it. But after circling back to it a few times, I figured, why the hell not? So, I hit play.

As expected, it was just as fun and offbeat as I remember. Even though I knew exactly how it would play out, I was completely entertained.

But when the credits rolled, I was hit with a wave of bittersweet nostalgia. I suddenly remembered watching that movie with my cousin after a day at the flea market, both of us clutching our bootleg Pokémon cards, wondering if Pee Wee will find his bike at the Alamo.  

That moment got me thinking: There are certain movies that hold this specific kind of feeling. The ones we watched as kids, when the world was still wide open and so new. Often, it’s not the purely the movies themselves – but where we were in life when we saw it. The memories are all tied together.

So, I started reflecting on the films that bring back those feelings for me. I narrowed it down to three, and if you’re in your 30s, I’d bet you’ll recognize every title. They just might bring back a few memories of your own.

1. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1986)

Directed by Tim Burton and starring Paul Reubens as the eccentric and childlike Pee Wee Herman. The movies follow Pee Wee on a cross-country journey to get back his beloved bicycle that was stolen from him. Along the way he encounters all kinds of offbeat characters and wild situations.

I first saw this movie on the Disney Channel when I was in third grade. Back then, Disney would air a different movie every Friday and Saturday night, and one evening Pee Wee’s Big Adventure happened to be on. What immediately grabbed by attention as a kid was the opening scene – Pee Wee’s house coming to life, running like clockwork to wake him up, get him dressed, and cook him breakfast.

At the time, we were living in a small house in a not-so-great neighborhood. I struggled to make friends, and my parents didn’t have the means to provide all the shiny new things other kids seemed to have. I used to daydream about living in a nicer neighborhood, riding my bike to a friend’s house, and having a room of my own filled with cool gadgets.

Pee Wee, in my young mind, had it all – a fun house full of contraptions, an awesome bicycle, and friends to support him. This made the movie very appealing to me.

Of course, if you’ve seen the movie, you know it’s not exactly smooth sailing for Pee Wee. He definitely finds himself in some bizarre predicaments looking for his stolen bike. But that’s what made it more hilarious – a grown man with the mind of a child thrown into a wild adventure. Coming from a household with strict, no-nonsense parents, it was the kind of silly freedom I rarely saw at home.

I never missed Pee Wee’s Big Adventure whenever it aired. To this day, it’s still one of my top favorites!

• Hocus Pocus (1993)

Starring Bet Midler and directed by Kenny Ortega. Hocus Pocus is about three evil witches, the Sanderson sisters, who were executed during the Salem witch trials. Years later a new to town teenager named Max accidentally resurrects the sisters and must stop the witches from stealing the souls of young children, with the help of his sister Dani and friend Allison.

I must’ve been around nine years old the first time I saw Hocus Pocus. I’ve always been a fan of Halloween themed movies; it was my favorite time of year. Starting mid – September, just as the school year kicked off, Disney would begin teasing its month-long lineup of spooky movies for October. Every Friday night there was something different, and Hocus Pocus was in the lineup one fall weekend.

I don’t remember any specific scene grabbing me right away, but I connected with the main character, Max. He was new to town and struggling to make friends – something I knew all too well. We moved a lot back then because of my parents’ jobs, and just when I’d started to settle in and make friends, we’d pack up and move again. Watching characters navigate that same feeling was something that always grabbed my attention.

Of course, the movie isn’t about being the new kid, it’s about witches! Like I said, I was obsessed with all things Halloween. I had a strange fascination with headstones, and cemeteries, which made the whole movie setting even more intriguing.

My folks were very protective and rarely let me out of the house except for school. Trick – or – treating with friends or going to school dances wasn’t really on the table. So, Halloween movies were my escape. They let me live out those experiences in my imagination in a strict household. Even to this day, Hocus Pocus remains a top tier favorite, forever tied to those 90s fall weekend nights.

3. The Sandlot (1993)

Directed by David Mickey Evans, The Sandlot is a coming-of-age sports comedy that takes place in California during summer in the early 60s. It follows a kid named Scotty Smalls who moves to a new town and befriends a group of scruffy boys who spend most of their days playing baseball in a rundown sandlot. The biggest adventure of their summer kicks off when a priceless baseball signed by Babe Ruth ends up in the yard of a legendary beast dog.

Another one of those classic Disney Friday night lineups. I remember starting this movie and not really liking it at first, mostly because it was about baseball. As a kid, I wasn’t exactly athletic, so anything sports related was usually a turn off.

But what did catch my attention was the “new kid” story aspect told from the perspective of the main character. He was the awkward new kid, not great at sports, and totally out of place. There’s a moment in the movie where he gets made fun of for wearing a cap with a bill that’s way too big, and it instantly took me back to getting made fun of for wearing striped tube socks with shorts when I was the new kid in the neighborhood.

Smalls goes through a real transformation in the movie. After befriending a group of boys who spend their days playing baseball, he slowly becomes one of them. He goes from being a loner to having friends, from clumsy unsure to surprisingly good at the game. His quiet, sheltered “Leave it to Beaver”, style life gets flipped upside down, and in the best way.

That kind of story was a dream for me growing up. Like I mentioned before, my parents were overly protective, I wasn’t allowed to go over to a friend’s house because of my mother’s irrational fears. So, the idea of spending the whole day outside playing with friends, riding bikes, going to the carnival, and getting into harmless trouble felt like pure fantasy.

The Sandlot wasn’t just a movie, it was a window into the kind of childhood I wished I had. That made it a must – watch every single time it aired.

When I watched these movies as a kid, there was always a dream tucked inside each one, wondering about what life could be like. I imagined myself as the kid on screen, living that story, having those adventures. Sure, the characters’ lives weren’t always perfect, but I would’ve given anything to have a summer like the one in The Sandlot.

Now, watching these same movies as an adult the dream isn’t about living that life anymore. Instead, it’s a bittersweet reflection on everything that’s come and gone. That little 8-year-old who watched Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Hocus Pocus, or The Sandlot, got to live out all those dreams in his own way.

No, I didn’t have a house that magically made breakfast every morning, but we did move into a bigger, more beautiful home in a neighborhood that felt something out of a movie. My parents became much more relaxed in their ways and felt safe with me leaving the house.  

I didn’t bring back witches from the dead, but I did go trick or treating with friends’ year after year, and got to enjoy the fun of Halloween through school dances, and other events.

And of course I didn’t lose my dad’s precious signed baseball, but I spent entire summers playing sports with friends, swimming until the chlorine burned our eyes, and lying on the grass long after the sun went down, watching the stars blink awake.

Maybe for you it wasn’t Pee Wee or Hocus Pocus, but there’s a movie out there that takes you back – back to your childhood home on a Friday night with your favorite snack and your siblings fighting over the remote. We all have that one film that holds a piece of our story. If one came to mind while reading this, hold onto it. Revisit it this coming weekend. And if you’re up for it – tell me about it. I’d love to hear what movies shaped your world.

What are you watching?

• Sumit Randhawa