MrPages and I are amateur film buffs. One cold January evening, MrPages tromped up to the local Blockbuster and discovered the foreign and classic film section. We quickly exhausted their selection however and eventually came to depend on the library. Even their selection seemed limited, however, and we finally took out a membership at Zip.ca. For $11 a month we get to “rent” two movies. We’ve never had problem with the DVD’s or the mailings. We don’t, however, use Zip to decide what to rent. There is even more dreck at Zip than at Blockbuster, but if you know what you are looking for, you can find a number of older films.
We are very picky viewers, even more so when the children are involved. We want to create an appreciation of art and a taste for well-done film. We try to keep a look out for film recommendations by friends. Almost everything we watch is pre-inspected at a few internet sites: Moviepicks or Kids in Mind. Each one of these site rates movies thoroughly, allowing parents to know what their getting into before they see a film.
In addition, MrPages and I preview a large number of movies before we let the LittlePages enjoy them. We also keep up a constant conversation about what makes good film, including plot, character development, acting, sets, special effects, and over-arching world view. The LittlePages are all looking forward to seeing a number of films when they’re a little older. As each reaches a certain level of maturity, more films will be available to them. We are also working hard not to deny our youngest the chance to see fun, preschooler type shows. I recently realized that while the LittlestPage has seen Flywheel several times, she had never Blues Clues!
So here’s the list of the most remembered films the Pages saw this year:
The entire family:
Christmas Shoes – the ultimate tear-jerker, even the second time around. Not a great film, but we could all do with a reminder of the important things in life.
Emergency! – Cutting edge realism, at the time. It had the children pretending to be Emergency Services personnel for months.
The Waltons – How did I miss these growing up? A large family that loves one another and makes the right choices during difficult financial times. The teen love interests are a little annoying, and the clothes are more 1970′s than 1930′s, but far better fare than most of what’s on cable to day.
Curious George – Awesome soundtrack! Kids music that appeals to the musician in MrPages. The movie was good too.
The Nutcracker Ballet – I thought they would get bored, but they loved it. We had read the original E.T.A. Hoffman book, which is different from the ballet, but the crew still enjoyed watching this stage version by the Royal Ballet.
Blues Big Musical – My three year old almost missed out on this. She was absolutely thrilled and keeps talking about it, even weeks later.
For the older ones:
Bridge to Terebithia – I confess I had not read the book before MrPages and I previewed this movie for the kids. The ending was a complete shock. Well acted, well presented and a pleasure to watch with the oldest Pages.
Night at the Museum – This has a soft spot for us in the same way that Nemo does. There are not many films that portray Dads as heroes, but the Dad in this film triumphs. Silly, fun and full of laughs.
Princess Bride – Card-carrying cynic MrPages read this to the crew this summer. They all loved it. The movie was much darker than I remembered and I kept wondering about the moral implications of some of the character’s choices. That said, the movie is almost word for word from the book and has a ton of great quotes.
MrPages and I:
To Live - A beautiful foreign film that follows the life of a young rich man as he loses his fortune and China becomes communist. With research we discovered that the title is better translated To Live On (it makes more sense). The film is a testament to the strength of human resilience.
Primer – A low budget, extremely complicated science fiction film about traveling in time and how it could change people. Although highly intellectual and therefore a little confusing, it is certainly worth a look if you like science fiction and relationship driven film. A handful of friends made this movie for $7000, and it won a pile of awards. No special effects, no sets other than a house, an office and a U-Store-It, but a real mind-bender.
Dr Who – What can I say? I grew up watching all the Doctors. We’ve been watching the DVDs of the newest series. I’m also trying to find older seasons since MrPages hasn’t made the acquaintance of earlier Doctors. Some of the newer ones are much scarier than older versions, but the hero still manages to avoid violence and use science to overcome the latest threat to the universe.
Ushpizin – An Israeli film that follows a Hasidic couple during the feast of Sukkot. This film is well acted (by real Hasidic jews) and beautiful to watch. The spiritualism is deep and reverent.
The Terminal - A sweet movie that could have been great film. While Tom Hanks turned in a solid performance, the other characters were less believable. The product placement was pretty heavy handed as well. However, it’s still good for a lovely date night escape.
For other lists of good movies checkout:
What to Rent – This site has you answer an extensive questionnaire and then treats movies likes real people and tries to match you with ones that match your personality and mood. Most of the matches it offered us were good quality films that we have seen or would consider seeing.
A few other lists I have bookmarked include Babara’s Picks for Family Friendly Films , this one of Classic Heartwarming Family Films, this one of Spiritually Significant Films, and Film Site offering a complete listing of the greatest classic movies ever made.
You can also check out Kathryn L. Stout’s Movies as Literature curriculum.
Join us next time for The Year in Review: Holidays and Events
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The library has some of the older doctor who. And zip has some as well.
Daniel and I watch the newer ones. We haven’t really watched any of the older ones though.
Well now. How could I have missed the library for Dr Who episodes!? The older episodes are cassettes, so I will have to dig out the VCR, but they are available much more quickly than Zip! Thanks for the tip, Jessica.
Tome Baker is still my favorite Doctor Who and the longest running one. The new one seems kind of young, but may be the audience they are going for.
I will start with a confession. I am not a great movie critic or expert in any regard. But a movie that I stumbled across at my local corner store absolutely surpried me this spring. Perhaps you’ve seen it, but if not do look for “The Ultimate Gift”. Really loved it. As I remember it was very clean (I can remember 2 scenes that maybe would make you wonder where it was going, but all is well). Loved it.
The Ultimate Gift has been on our Ziplist for a couple of months. It had got excellent reviews! But thank you for the the suggestion, Barbara. That’s how we find the best movies!