Which movies are good?

[light-castle]

Could someone recommend some good movies to rent or watch? Winter here & we seem to have more time on our hands (not really TV watchers usually).

Looking for some adult movies for me (nothing's too scary) and also some children's movies (8 year old & 3 year old boys). Older movies or newer that we'd have to rent are fine.

Thanks!
Jennifer

[MizMojoLaveau]

My movie watching has been REALLY limited the past 7 years, so perhaps I don't have a good frame of reference, but I'd say Warhorse for adults and Brave and Yogi Bear for the kids.

[lizzywednesday]

Do you have a kind of movie you gravitate towards? A certain actor/actress you enjoy watching? Any other requirements?

I always recommend Love Actually, because it's one of my favorites.

However, I usually lean towards classic movies - almost anything you'd see on a channel like TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is on my list:

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Errol Flynn, Olivia deHavilland, Claude Rains - a bonus is it's also family-friendly because of the old-Hollywood studio codes ... I've been watching it since I was a little kid, actually, but I think it's mostly due to my relationship with my dad, who adores these kinds of swashbuckler movies

Pillow Talk (1959) - Rock Hudson, Doris Day (rom-com with songs; mature themes, but not totally off-color)

Lover Come Back (1961) - Rock Hudson, Doris Day (rom-com with songs; kind of formulaic, but fun)

The Quiet Man (1952) - John Ford directed John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and a cast of some of the best character actors that have ever graced the screen in this love-letter to Ireland. It's a fun flick and the source of a lot of my favorite one-off lines.

Gaslight (1944) - Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman. Suspense/psychological drama. You may or may not find it scary, but it's a good film. It's a remake of an earlier filmed version of the same title, which TCM will be showing in the next few days. For trivia buffs, it features a 17-year-old Angela Lansbury in her first film role.

Bell, Book and Candle (1958) - Kim Novak, James Stewart. Based on the stage play of the same name (by John Van Druten), this is about a modern-day witch and her very, very, very mortal neighbor. It's kind of a romantic comedy, but that term doesn't do it justice. The absolutely great ensemble cast also includes Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Elsa Lanchester (a.k.a. The Bride of Frankenstein) & Hermione Gingold.

I Married a Witch (1942) - Fredric March, Veronica Lake. I actually just caught this on OnDemand & thought it was really interesting. Trivia bit: the creator of Bewitched used this with Bell, Book and Candle to create the show. Also, Veronica Lake was something else.

What do your kids enjoy?

My DD loves movies without human protagonists right now so Cars, Lady & the Tramp, Finding Nemo (n.b. - this can be pretty intense and very scary in some scenes; I suggest a mama-watch before showing the kiddos to make your own decision), Cars 2 ... but she's also started enjoying Cinderella (we watched it together when it was on Disney Jr. last month - popped popcorn & made it a big deal), Alice in Wonderland (n.b. - there are a slew of versions; I'm talking about the Disney animated version from 1951), Ratatouille, and Tangled (n.b. - I find the witch to be Exceedingly Creepy and quite scary myself ... and I love scary movie villains!)

[arivecchi]

I watch an insane amount of movies so this question is hard for me to answer - but I recently watched Pitch Perfect on demand with DH and it was much better than we thought! It's kind of a girlie movie, but we both really enjoyed it. (It's about a singing group competition in college).

My boys really liked (recent movies) Hotel Transilvania (not sure if that is out yet). I also recently started watching the HP series with my boys but we stopped at 3 because they found 3 a little scary. We also have the home alone collection and that gets tons of use.

[Jen841]

After years of joking that Netflix was a charitable donation and turning it off and on, we are using it regularly!

Lately we are using it to watch TV show series, the kids really love the old Denace the Menace shows. Nieces and nephews are into The Brady Bunch.

Via the library and friends we tried to watch many Disney movies that were somehow featured in the parks pre and post Disney trip.

As a family we watch a lot of Modern Marvel shows and travel shows.

Adults watch TV Series seasons:
Downton Abbey
Glee
Big Bang Theory

We only stream things now.

[maestramommy]

For kids: Totoro, Kiki's delivery service, Aristocats, Ponyo

[light-castle]

I like the funny, easy movies. Nothing too violent.

The kids like anything particularly with animals. They loved Milo & Otis, that kind of thing. Also, the animated stuff. Just nothing too scary for them either.

Jennifer

[star04]

"How To Train Your Dragon" for the boys, but DH and I also liked it! -- just saw your last comment, this could be a little scary at the beginning??

"Toy Story" trilogy

[MizMojoLaveau]

[QUOTE=star04;3698889]"How To Train Your Dragon" for the boys, but DH and I also liked it! -- just saw your last comment, this could be a little scary at the beginning??

:yeahthat: