PG & PG-13 - Movies for Kids

[Kim Possible]

Ok, I'll admit it - I enjoy a good kids film. When done right - movies for pre-teens/teens can be hillarious and I wanted to share my thoughts and see if there are any ideas you all have before I take my niece and nephew to a film or rent something that really isn't appropriate for them.
Last week I came accross Masterminds on HBO. It's about a Jr. High Boy - Ozzie who is good at computers but overall a troublemaker at school. The Prep/Private school in town gets taken over by individuals looking to make money off the parents. Ozzie and his friend find a way to foil the 'bad guys' plans and blow things up, slightly electricute, put on sprinklers, etc. I enjoyed it because it had enough action to make it fun but didn't have any of the sex stuff that they shouldn't see. Just fun.
Any good ideas for this pre-teen group out there?

[JBMoney]

I thought this would be a good thread. :what:

If you're not talking about current movies, and not cartoons, I'll start with:

Willie Wonka: Who doesn't want to be Willie Wonka?

Willow: Underestimated person ends up the hero in mideival (sic?) setting.

The Neverending Story: Good vs. Evil theme, young kid saves the world. One of the BEST fantasy movies ever.

Princess Bride: Funny stuff.

Ladyhawke: One of the few Rutger Hauer movies that kids can watch, with Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfeiffer.

Dragonheart: A boy and his dragon fight evil. Dennis Quaid & the voice of Sean Connery.

Shrek: Obvious.

Bad News Bears: Maybe too adult? Walter Matthau & Tatum O'Neal.

Better Off Dead: Cusack!! Curtis Armstrong. Two Dollars!!!

[Barb101]

That's a good list John. I especially liked Willow & Ladyhawke.
How about?

Labyrinth
E.T.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Raising Arizona
Spy Kids Movies
Any of the Goosebumps movies

And if you can actually talk them into it, a lot of the much older movies they might like. My kid does. The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...

[KrzDefKat]

Phar Lap, Black Beauty, National Velvet, The Black Stallion

(Can't you just tell I like movies about horses? :D )

Will try to come up with some more.

[JBMoney]

Eh?

The top 100 movies for children, according to "The New York Times Essential Library: Children's Movies" (Henry Holt and Company) for children age 8-12.

http://www.azcentral.com/families/articles/0120fam_topmovies.html

[Kim Possible]

Thanks JB - what a good list. I needed some ideas for birthday's and such and didn't want to send something 'stupid' to my niece and nephew.
Did anyone else notice there was at least 5 movies with the word 'little' in the title?

[JasmineDreamz]

How about the Harry Potter movies? I know, some parents object to these. I think they're great. I can't show them at the daycare at school, but all of the kids from 4 to 11 have already seen them anyway.

[JasmineDreamz]

Check out Secondhand Lions! It's a great movie for kids and adults alike. There's a bit of violence (fight scenes) but not too much. I think 13 year old kids could handle it. Robert Duvall and Michael Caine star in it and the kid who saw dead people (can't remember his name) plays the kid who goes to stay with his eccentric uncles. All in all, it's pretty good.

[Kim Possible]

Thanks Jasmine,

I just saw a preview of Second Hand Lions, it looks good. I think kids movies are hysterical. I drive Sideout crazy sometimes - he can't handle the humor at times. But SHL looks really good. My niece and nephew only visit once a year for about 2 weeks and I hate to get something, then have to turn it off b/c it's just inappropriate. I know their mom lets them see anything - but I'm not as comfortable with that. (they only see their mom once in a while.) I like to have a few 'late-night' movies for us when I put my little 'ankle-bitters' to bed. Thanks again.

[KrzDefKat]

I meant to post in here, but I got distracted...I'm not sure how old your nieces and nephews are, but I rented Johnny English. It stars Rowan Atkinson as a bumbling secret agent trying to stop a Frenchman from taking over the Queen of England's throne and turning the whole of England into a giant penal colony.
I'm sure it's suitable for those around 12, but rent it and you can decide for yourself. No language, nudity, or blood-and-guts violence.
Or try "Bean", another Rowan Atkinson film, rated PG. From the back of the video jacket:
"When the Royal National Gallery of London is asked to send their finest scholar to oversee the unveiling of Whistler's Mother in California, they send their most inept and detested employee, in a desperate attempt to get him out of their lives.
That employee is Mr. Bean - the master of disaster!
Within days of his arrival, Mr. Bean destroys virtually everything he comes into contact with, be it the career and marriage of his host or America's greatest painting.
Forget volcanoes and alien invasions - horror now has a human face."

:D

[KrzDefKat]

Or you can check out these links, KimP. :)

http://www.cleanfilms.com/

http://www.familydvd.net/scripts/

[Kim Possible]

Thanks Krz,

I think I'm going to have to rent the movies you suggested they sound like a hoot. Slapstick humor just gets me every time. I don't always like stupid - you know like 'dude where's your car' stuff but really funny silly movies kill me.

Personally, I love action flicks over romance but sometimes you can feel like a voyer with the romance films.

By far, my favorite is to hear kids laugh at movies. They just roll on the floor holding their bellies and everyone has more fun than watching lots of violence or smooching.

[shotglass]

Faces of Death? :what: :hehe:

I like the classics with a good moral story. Two of my favorites would be Twelve Angry Men and The Oxbow Incident.

Why not get them into some reading, as well? Shakespeare, Poe, Whitman........
de Sade ;)

[Kim Possible]

Reading is great Shotglass - I just wanted some fun ideas for when my niece and nephew visit. They live in California - I'm in Michigan one week a year to cram in fun fun fun. I send them books and stuff during the year - They are getting to old for veggietales :hehe: so just wanted some ideas.
I've got Black Beauty, Swiss Family Robinson and Treasure Island - books but the movies are fun too.
Thanks

[Kimmy]

Kim, two of my favorite books/movies when I was young were Sounder and Where the Red Fern Grows... Oh.. can't forget, My Side of the Mountain.. but I'm old.. these might be too dated for kids now :(

[STIBROKER]

Originally posted by Kimmy
Kim, two of my favorite books/movies when I was young were Sounder and Where the Red Fern Grows... Oh.. can't forget, My Side of the Mountain.. but I'm old.. these might be too dated for kids now :(

you left out old yeller.....

[Kimmy]

that's a good one... and The Yearling... Was Big Red ever a movie? Damn, we used to love stories about animals.

[JasmineDreamz]

Originally posted by STIBROKER
you left out old yeller.....
Ah come on Sti...do you want them to cry their eyes out? That always happens to me with Old Yeller. :cry:

[JasmineDreamz]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by shotglass


I like the classics with a good moral story. Two of my favorites would be Twelve Angry Men and The Oxbow Incident.

And then there's always To Kill a Mockingbird...great story

[KrzDefKat]

Mr. Bean was also a TV show. There were only a dozen episodes made, and apparently 2 more that were not made public. Here's a link; you can check out the episode guide. (Not all of the other links on this page work).

http://www.rowanatkinson.org/mr_bean.htm

I did see the first 6 tapes on e-bay earlier today; there was one $5 bid, and it closes Feb. 19. The whole set of 7 tapes, including the ones not made public, were selling at Amazon.com for $49.95 CDN.
A word of warning: Atkinson in the BlackAdder is not for kids. The humour is, shall we say, a little on the bawdy side.

Another British show I found hilarious was "The Baldy Man" with Gregor Fisher. They showed it here on the Comedy Channel a few years ago. No dialogue, just a lot of silliness.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/baldymanthe_1299000195.shtml
:D

[STIBROKER]

Originally posted by KrzDefKat
Mr. Bean was also a TV show. There were only a dozen episodes made, and apparently 2 more that were not made public. Here's a link; you can check out the episode guide. (Not all of the other links on this page work).
http://www.rowanatkinson.org/mr_bean.htm
I :D

liked the black ader better.....

[DMS]

Anyone watches Reno 911? It's got nothing to do with kids, I just like it.

[strangeboy]

I dont watch many pg rated movies ....

I saw scooby doo the other day and I thought that it was pretty good.... I think that finding nemo is a great kids movie, I am yet to find anyone who hasnt liked it... I also really liked The Lizzy McGuire Movie.... oh and Monsters Inc I found enjoyable... they are the only non adult movies I have seen in the last few years.

When I was 10 I thought that Annie was the best movie ever made :sure:

[Kim Possible]

Originally posted by strangeboy
When I was 10 I thought that Annie was the best movie ever made :sure:

I think most kids loved Annie at 10. I remember I used to watch it over and over and over. They came out with a new one recently, and although cute - I still prefer the older one.

The new thing I've noticed with kids movies is they are either remaking them - like the parent trap (which I loved the 1st one but the second one is a little suggestive for my young child.) OR they are making sequiles - like to all the Disney movies. I wish that Disney and other movie companies would re-release their older movies. I used to love The Happiest Millionaire and The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band The older "Bug car" movies were great and the Apple Dumpling Gang movies were hysterical.