Family Movie Night
Family movie nights are something we always enjoy. In the winter, with it being cold and dark outside long before the children are ready for bed, family movie nights are regular events. Thanks to the free Redbox codes that Amy provides, our family movie nights have settled into a fairly regular Monday night event.
Sometimes we lay a picnic blanket out and eat dinner while we watch the movie. Other times we all snuggle up on the couch. "Snuggle" is literal here with all six of us on one couch. The hardest part about family movie night is picking the movie.
It can be quite a challenge to pick a movie that all the children ranging from 10 to 2 will enjoy. The ten year old boy wants action, sci-fi, and nothing to do with anything that might appear to be kids movie. The six year old girl wants Barbie movies with princesses and flowers. Of course, the four year old and two year old must be able to enjoy the movie, and not be scared by it. It sometimes seems an impossible task, and I haven't even mentioned that the movie has to meet the standards of Tim and me.
I am of the opinion that ratings mean just about nil when choosing a movie for the family. Alright I'll concede that they are a beginning point, but there is so much more to consider than the obvious graphic sex, language, and violence content. What does the movie imply even if it does not actually show the deed? What message does the movie send?
We are especially careful about movies that imply that adults are idiots, kids have everything all figured out, and it is funny when they are disrespectful to adults. Don't my children do that well enough on their own without a movie to reinforce it?!
I'll get down off my soap box now.
It is my pleasure to share with you the trailer for a movie that will make into our family movie night line up; All Roads Lead Home The Movie It will soon be out on DVD. The trailer had me choking up a bit. You've been warned.
What are some of your favorite movies for family movie night? I'm always on the look out for wholesome and entertaining flicks.
Labels:
kids,
vacation and entertainment
12 comments:
We've been watching the old Macgyver TV series on DVD lately - our kids range from 11 down to a baby (who doesn't voice an opinion - yet!), and everyone seems to enjoy them.
I'd really love to see a list of some of your family's favourites! :o)
I absolutely loved "Saving Sarah Cain". Elliot Gould was a bit stilted, but excellent movie all around. "Treasures in the Snow" is another wonderful family movie, though you won't find it in redbox. "Expelled" was awesome. "Becoming Jane" was great too, but be forewarned that there was one scene where two guys run off to jump in a river and you see two naked backsides. If you have the money to buy them, Franklin Springs has a 10 pack of movies that we have watched and rewatched and rewatched. They can be found at http://www.franklinsprings.com/films/tenpack/. I hope this helps!
Charity,
Watching old TV favorites is a great idea. And I have a feeling that a list of our family favorites will be here soon! :)
Karen,
Thanks! Those are all new to me titles. I wonder if our library has them?
Facing the Giants is an awesome movie though you may lose the littlest one. The one movie that will hold everyone's attention is Space Jam, though I doubt if you'll find it in Redbox. It's cartoon-y enough for the little ones, basketball-y enough for Kellen, and funny enough for the adults. If you still have a VHS player, you can borrow our tape.
We seem to watch Transformers a lot! Most be all the testosterone in my house! I did talk them in to watching Matilda the other night! I love that movie!
Kristina
We seem to watch Transformers a lot! Most be all the testosterone in my house! I did talk them in to watching Matilda the other night! I love that movie!
Kristina
Awwh, it's got Peter Boyle in it! I loved Peter Boyle, God rest his soul.
I'll second Matilda. One of my favorites.
All Roads Lead to Home looks so good! I definitely want to see that now.
I just watched Wall-E with Brandon. I'm not sure if you guys have seen that yet but I thought it was the cutest thing in the world for almost any age. I laughed the whole time and thought it was very cute.
Mary,
I think we still have Space Jam on VHS somewhere. I'll have to dig and see if it there. We don't watch the videos much anymore b/c our VCR is finicky.
Crystal,
I'm not sure we've seen Matilda, though I do remember hearing of it before. I'll look for it.
Martha,
I love that you two see kids movies together! The kids saw that with Tim's family, but we haven't all watched together yet. That one is in Redbox.
We have a DVR and we record Funniest Home Videos ... my 2-1/2 year old daughter thinks it's the funniest thing. How about the movie "Homeward Bound?"
Here are two I'd recommend:
"Fly Away Home" -- about a girl who tries to teach some orphaned geese to migrate. Nowhere near as sappy as it sounds. Anna Paquin and Jeff Daniels are the actors.
"The Secret of Roan Inish" -- it begins with the funeral of the protagonist's mother, but then again, a lot of moms die in Disney flicks, too. It's a retelling of a Scottish folk tale but is set in Ireland. The girl goes to live on an island with her grandparents and believes she sees her baby brother, who had disappeared years earlier -- has he been living with the seals all this time? The family does, after all, have "selkie" blood according to the tales her grandfather tells her...
Just wanted to update that we rented this movie last night. It was disappointing. The story is good, but the writing was poor. The movie was kind of choppy. Peter Boyle was pretty funny though.
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