On weekends at my home we have a family movie night. We try to rent a movie that entertains our young daughters and mom and I. I'd like opinions on what you consider they best family type movie.
We were doing it monthly with my teenage daughters, but the older one (15.5 going on 22) seems to be home less and less. Recent features were "Seabiscuit", "Bend It Like Beckham", "Best of Show" & "Finding Nemo". I bought the "Spellbound" DVD about a month ago for the next one, but haven't gotten an evening where we're all together and awake at the same time yet.
My girls usually can't agree, so one will go play a DVD on the computer while another will go watch something on the TV. Usually though, on weekend mornings after breakfast, we'll either watch Spongebob on DVD, or our latest kick, the Bugs Bunny disc from the recent Looney Tunes collection. I now have a 5-year-old going around the house saying all those classic lines to me. "Stop steamin' up my tail!! Whattaya tryin' to do, wrinkle it?" They usually don't sit still through an entire move though, since there are a lot of things for them to do around here.
This is sortta off topic but funny. I seen Major League on network TV and laughed my butt off. About a month later my church going Aunt Betty and Aunt Eunice come down from up North. I says "Aunt Betty have you ever seen Major League?" she says "No" I rent Major League, toss it in the player and wait for the laughs. Well you know the rest... At least it wasn't the Big Lebosky.
We've done that since my boys were little. Now 16 and 14 but we still have a movie night. Usually it's a B (as in bad) or a MST3K. Tonight it was The Magic Sword with Basil Rathbone, a real stinker.
What's really sad is that (IMO) there just aren't that many movies out there to rent/buy and be able to sit down as a family and enjoy! My dream has always been wanting to put together a nice surround system in my home and be able to share it with my wife and 2 daughters. Well, the surround system part of it worked out nice but there's only been a handful of times that the family has enjoyed it together! I think Finding Nemo was the last DVD we all watched together and it was a lot of fun! TimW
Whale Rider would be an excellent choice for a family movie night. I'd also recommend the remake of Freaky Friday which was sweet and funny without any gross-out humor.
When I was in high school, my parents started doing this with us, but they always chose the movie. At the time, I hated it, but now I'm glad they did it. They wanted us to see movies they enjoyed when they were children, so we watched things like: American Graffiti The African Queen Wait Until Dark Bye Bye Birdie To Sir, With Love There are a lot of great, older movies out there that kids these days just don't get exposed to. A family movie night could be a great way to introduce kids to the classics.
Some classics are hysterical--beats any of the typical crotch-and-booger humor that ruins just about all the so-called "family" movies today. Once my girls are old enough, I know they'll get a kick out of "Arsenic and Old Lace". They already ask me to watch the Looney Tunes cartoons over the other kid stuff on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.
Groundhog Day is a great family movie. Not a sour word in it. Funny too. The Odd Couple although it's somewhat dialog based. Still it's funny as all heck-fire. The Music Man used to entertain me when I was younger (still does ) That first song on the train is hilarious and should engage their attention. Most of those Chris Guest movies are great (Best In Show, Guffman, etc...) Fierce Creatures is also great. How about a Marx Brothers flick? Monkey business anyone?
Heh...haven't seen Odd Couple in a few years. I like a lot of Jack Lemmon's earlier movies. I wouldn't exactly have the kids watch "Avalon", or "Days of Wine and Roses" (at least not until they're teens and can understand alcoholism's curse), but if I could get them to sit through a movie, they'd probably like the Pink Panther films as well, and other silly Sellers flicks like "After The Fox" or "The Party." Especially my 5-year-old, who is bugging me to take her to "Karate chop class". The Sound of Music might appeal to kids also.
Besides the obvious Disney animated fare, here are a few suggestions: The Iron Giant The Thief of Bagdad The Secret of Roan Inish Singin' in the Rain Meet Me in St. Louis Spirited Away My Neighbor Totoro Kiki's Delivery Service Adventures of Robin Hood Modern Times "The Gold Rush" (the Chaplin re-edit with narration works well for kids who don't yet read) Raising Arizona The Ghost Breakers, The Paleface, Road to Morocco, or other Bob Hope films The Muppet Movie Sons of the Desert (or most other classic Laurel & Hardy) The Man from Snowy River National Velvet The Point The Princess Bride 2001: A Space Odyssey Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers" ("The Four Musketeers" also if they are not too young) Wallace & Grommit films Matilda (the 1996 Danny Devito Roald Dahl film, not the 1978 boxing kangaroo film) The Sandlot Breaking Away ..and don't forget some of the Disney live-action fare that is now available on DVD such as: Treasure Island 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Old Yeller Pollyanna Swiss Family Robinson The Absent Minded Professor The Parent Trap (Both Versions) The Love Bug The Apple Dumpling Gang Escape to Witch Mountain ...or, more recently: The Rookie Holes If they are older than 10, then they may also like "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "The Witches" (Nicolas Roeg film from 1990). Regards,
I do not know the age bracket you are talking about, but these should entertain most anyone old enough to understand a movie. Second Hand Lions The Princess Bride (great movie) Raiders of the Lost Ark (first movie only) The Quiet Man The Great Escape (a bit heavy in subject, but still kid worthy) The Never Ending Story (sappy, corny, but kid fun) The Labrynth (sappy, corny, kid fun) Jason and the Argonaughts (claymation effects fun, but maybe scary for the real little ones) Maybe, Three O'clock High, (you watch first, but if the kids are school age then it will be good) Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Star Wars (all of them, but the first is still the best) Any Disney Classic, and the newer animated shows are not too bad either. The Wizard of OZ Crocodile Dundee (only the first version) King Kong (the original version only)
Actually, I was just thinking that the two Beatles movies, "Hard Day's Night" and "Help", are fun in their own way. I'll second the Star Wars recommendation also. (I won't be so fussy as to which version I play either. ) Did anyone mention the recent Disney movie, "Country Bears"? If you can stand that whiney type of female singing on two of the songs, the rest is pretty good. Even has a cameo by the Brian Sezter Trio, and my kids like that song.
