With the Thanksgiving break over there was a lot of travel time and movie watching for my children. As parents it is our job to show our kids movies we enjoyed from our childhood. Some more kid appropriate than others. I am always up for pushing the envelope a little and showing my kids things slightly early, much to my wife’s chagrin. So what if our son says Speed is his favorite movie? Have you seen Speed? It’s amazing! It really launched two major movie careers! It has a fast bus, bombs, trains and the immortal line of “well I’m taller,” after Keanu knocks Dennis Hoppers head off while riding on top of the subway.
As a child I was exposed to movies and shows a little early and I enjoyed that time with my parents. I mean what ten-year-old says that Law and Order is his favorite show? In 1992, this guy did. This was of course after Quantum Leap ended. Why have they not rebooted this show? Nostalgia is a hit and have the leaper travel from 1980-2012 or something.
Anyway, I showed my son the last 20 minutes of the movie Predator. Yes, the original with ARNOLD. He loved it when he tried to trap the alien and then dropped a log on his head. Yes, I had to explain the mud masking his body heat, but he picked it up pretty quickly. Today I feel we are afraid to show our kids shows too soon, as we are protecting them. Meanwhile, as children we had access to a lot less content and somehow were exposed to more. I assume most of you reading this post watched Spaceballs, which has some language and sexual references. Better yet, I am guessing most of you love Back to the Future. You know the movie where a teen spied on a naked girl, gets hit by a car and then has his mother try to sleep with him. Meanwhile, I am showing my son all the Terminator movies because they are exciting, fun and are what I watched as a kid. The violence in them is just about the same as most of the Marvel movies at this point.
With their being a lot of downtime during break I tried to show my kids a variety of things. My children apparently love Jumanji. No, not the new one. (They have seen it though) They love the old one with Robin Williams. We have watched it at least five times in the last few weeks. (They make a mass shooting joke in the movie, which seems insane now, but was played for laughs in the 90’s. No way this happens today)
I decided to show my kids a movie I fondly remember Flight of the Navigator. I asked some people on Facebook if they can recall it and a lot of people do. The movie is so strange and has many plot holes, but barely holds up. Quick synopsis: Kid goes missing in 1978, shows up in 1985 and has not aged at all. (MANIFEST BASICALLY RIPPED OFF THE PLOT OF THIS MOVIE) Government takes kid for testing, kid escapes and finds the space ship and eventually goes back in time to 1978 like nothing ever happened. Random side note about this movie: Sarah Jessica Parker plays a teenage food delivery person who works for NASA and brings the main character his food, but then she tells his parents what is really going on. It makes zero sense in every way. Man the 80’s were weird. (Not as weird as the movie The Wizard, which they should remake but have the main character play NINJA in the finals not some random California guy named Lucas) My kids loved this movie. I think they love any movie in which the kid is the lead and has to do adult things. My son also loves The Parent Trap. Yes, the one with Lindsay Lohan.
Despite some new movies being interjected into the week, there are two things that stand out as the favorites in our house as of this moment.
- An Elf’s story: The Elf on the Shelf.
Have you seen this or are you aware it exists? It is supposed to work with the Elf on a shelf I think. I’m really not sure. I know it’s only 23 minutes and I wish it was 120 minutes. MY kids love it. I know the main character elf is named Chippy. My children have watched this at least ten times in the last week. It just lives in the DVD player in our playroom. When I was putting away laundry on Monday I had to keep walking down and pushing play for it to restart. - Sing
Full disclosure, I love this movie. The cast is amazing. The music is amazing. The story is kind of long, but fun. Every character develops in some way. The final twenty minutes are as good as any kid’s movie in terms of an enjoyable and a great ending. Our family watched this movie a ton when we were driving around looking for a new house to buy about two years ago, but it’s back! My daughter has watched this at least 50 times. She keeps watching the ending and I don’t blame her. I may or may not have the soundtrack on my phone. (Current albums on my phone: Sing soundtrack, Moana soundtrack, Watch the Throne Jay z and Kanye, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson Greatest Hits. I don’t care if you judge me. Kelly Clarkson is sensational and Since U Been Gone is maybe the best song of the 2000’s)
These two have captured my children’s attention until the barrage of Christmas movies and shows invade the television. My kids have already seen the new Grinch movie and I really want to take them to see Wreck it Ralph 2! Secretly, I want it to be Creed 2 instead. I mean he has already seen the first one a few times, so why not? I can’t wait to show my kids the Christmas classic Die Hard.
What are your kids currently watching? What movies from your childhood have you had your children watch recently?
Win The Weekends 