Summer Date Nights with my Husband

by Alison DeLuca

Raising children takes a lot of energy. Just the logistics of getting the kid to practice, to school, and to the dinner table is exhausting.



As a result, over the past 15 years my husband and I spent nights apart, as one ferried the child about and the other cooked dinner or caught up on work.

When our daughter started to spend more time with friends, suddenly he and I had more time together. That meant date nights, something we had nearly forgotten about.

I had no desire to go sit in snooty restaurants wearing an uncomfortable frock drinking expensive champagne. Instead, our date nights this summer were spent on our patio, sitting under a pavilion as the sun went down and fireflies flickered in the woods. We listened to music, ate sushi, and when it grew dark, went inside to watch Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Here are some of our favorite date night movies from this summer:

Bohemian Rhapsody

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I'm old enough to remember when Queen released their ground-breaking single. This biopic is an excellent exploration of Freddie Mercury's genius and complex sexuality, as well as the other members of the band like Roger Taylor and Brian May.

We loved the continuing romance (maybe the word is 'bromance') between Mercury and Mary Austin. Rami Malek is luminous as the high-energy frontman who forced a bar band to become musical legends.

The Dirt

Another biopic about a completely different type of band, The Dirt explores the gritty, dirty rise of Motley Crue. Be careful, the band members wanted to (in their own words) drink all the alcohol, do all the drugs, and sleep all the girls. Nikki Sixx developed an insidious heroin habit.  Mick Mars suffered with spondilitis, a terrible form of degenerative arthritis. Tommy Lee had to be handcuffed to his bed each night by a long-suffering manager.

And yet they all come off as likable lads, a group of friends who loved to create music and perform.

This movie is not for the faint of heart, showcasing drug use and casual sexuality. Still, my husband and I watched it - on our anniversary, no less - and thoroughly enjoyed the film.

Chernobyl

Jared Harris playing the role of a lifetime in Chernobyl

This fascinating series hooked us from the start. We chose to watch it not as a political statement but rather as an exploration of science and humanity. A disaster of this magnitude is unlikely to ever happen again. Yet watching the scientists rush in to save millions of people from a possible megaton explosion and suffer huge pushback from politicians was incredible.

We didn't just watch this series - we lived it.

Ready Player One

This isn't my dude's usual fare, but Ready Player One's simple and exciting premise (massive fortune hidden inside a video game) captured him from the start. I loved the book as well, but if you like 1980's movies and music, this is a really fun family movie.

Alison DeLuca is the author of several steampunk and urban fantasy books.  She was born in Arizona and has also lived in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mexico, Ireland, and Spain. Currently, she wrestles words and laundry in New Jersey.

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