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humanaevitae
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| Posted: Jan 01 2006 at 8:25pm | IP Logged
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If this topic has already been addressed, please point me in the right direction!
We need some movie suggestions for our family. Most of the kids still prefer animation. We have a 8ds, 6dd, 4ds and 1ds.
It seems a lot of videos that are otherwise decent still have crude humor or language in them. We watched Toy Story 2, which had been recommended to us, and my DH was still frowning at some of their antics and language. My thought is that we will never find any movies that are perfect. AFter talking about it, DH wondered if he was too strict/picky and I was wondering if I was letting too much junk in the house!
So, what makes a movie a no-go in your family? Where do you set your standards? How do you deal with the different age groups?
Please!!! There has to be a list of films out there. Obviously all families will have differences in their criteria but we need to start somewhere.....
TIA
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JSchaaf
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| Posted: Jan 01 2006 at 9:19pm | IP Logged
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We watched The Sound of Music Christmas Eve-my kids (6,5 and 3) loved it! If I had to do it again, I probably would have turned it off after Maria gets married-and avoided the whole escaping from the Nazi's segment at the very end. But they watched the whole thing, we talked briefly about Nazi's and WWII and why the family had to leave Austria. My 6 yo has requested it a couple more times since Christmas-and I'm happy to sit and watch it with her-it's one of my favorites!
I also found Annie on DVD at Walmart-from the80's ? with Carol Burnett. I remember loving this movie as a child-I can't remember objectionable parts but will prescreen-wait, I think there might be a scene with Miss Hannigan drunk in the bathtub...
We have lots of the newer Disney/Pixar/ScreenWorks movies on DVD-The Incredibles, Shrek, FindingNemo, Madagascar. My dh has seen most of them with the girls-he hasn't said anything about them being inappropriate. Lot of "potty humor", though, which drives me crazy (Like calling someone "underpants head") But I'm able to squelch it pretty quickly, though. But I wonder if it wouldn't be better to sometimes have no TV at all...
Anyway, out there somewhere is a site that rates movies on specific things-language, humor, tobacco use, etc. Much more detailed than regular ratings. I can't find it, though. Does this sound familar to anyone else??
Jennifer
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Jen L.
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| Posted: Jan 01 2006 at 10:10pm | IP Logged
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Is the site that you are thinking of Screen It? It has very specific information on many movies, plus an "our take" review page. I use it all the time. It is free for all but the very newest movies in the theater. (Many pages on this site are very long, keep scrolling down to see everything.)
I also like Focus on the Family's site: Plugged In Online
and Decent Films.
There are lots of others, but these are my main sources.
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dh Klete,ds (8/95),dd (12/97), dd (11/00), and ^2^ in heaven
"...the best state in which to glorify God is our actual state; the best grace is that of the moment..." St. Peter Eymard
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Jen L.
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| Posted: Jan 01 2006 at 10:28pm | IP Logged
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I couldn't agree more with you, Tia, about the movie dilemma....
We deal with the age differences often by having a movie time for my 10 year old with one of us while the 2 others are otherwise occupied.
The "perfect" movie is very illusive. Even some of the CCC Saints videos were too intense for my under 8 year olds. Many movies that are very good but not perfect do allow for good opportunites to talk about what is and is not acceptable and why, especially with the over 5 year olds.
We also use the "Fast Forward" button when something is too intense but the movie itself is worthwhile. (For instance with Babe (a great movie) we fast forwarded through the sheep attack by wild dogs for a few seconds.
We are quite picky about what movies they see and I sometimes think that we are too strict. I have always been sorry when we've let the standards slide.
I'm looking forward to hearing more on this thread.
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Jen
dh Klete,ds (8/95),dd (12/97), dd (11/00), and ^2^ in heaven
"...the best state in which to glorify God is our actual state; the best grace is that of the moment..." St. Peter Eymard
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Angie Mc
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JSchaaf wrote:
I also found Annie on DVD at Walmart-from the80's ? with Carol Burnett. I remember loving this movie as a child-I can't remember objectionable parts but will prescreen-wait, I think there might be a scene with Miss Hannigan drunk in the bathtub...
Anyway, out there somewhere is a site that rates movies on specific things-language, humor, tobacco use, etc. Much more detailed than regular ratings. I can't find it, though. Does this sound familar to anyone else??
Jennifer |
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Annie...Miss Hannigan is WAY scary to ME!
Kids in Mind describes specifics of movies.
Love,
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Jamberry77
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Our sons love Laurel and Hardy. Last year on April Fools Day, the AMC channel had their films on all day and I taped some. Nothing scary and no bad language and lots of laughs.
Babe is popular here, too, along with the old Herbie movies.
Kelly in NC
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5athome
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We tend to use a lot of the old sit coms - like Leave it to Beaver, Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke. For animated, the littler ones love Veggie Tales, Rescue Heroes, and some Disney. We are pretty strict about limiting what I consider junky movies - Shrek, SharkTales, SpongeBob, etc...
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Michaela
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Lately, we've been watching the oldies... but goodies. 
My children are completely captured by Benji. Over the weekend, we rented three Benji movies. They asked are there more. At first, my boys acted like they weren't interested, but stopped what they were doing to watch with DD.
I'm thinking about looking for Shirley Temple, Little Rascals, Black Beauty....and others I watched as a child.
They seem much cleaner, less violent, and without all the smart talk and body function sounds coming every few minutes that the new childrens videos usually have.
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momwise
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| Posted: Jan 02 2006 at 2:33pm | IP Logged
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humanaevitae wrote:
| So, what makes a movie a no-go in your family? Where do you set your standards? How do you deal with the different age groups |
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Not very well I'm afraid. Once our older boys reached the teen years we had a few years where we seperated what they wanted to see from what the littles could see by early/late bedtimes but as more of them reached adolesence it became so difficult.
These days I'm controlling a lot more of the video selections because renting and buying are out of our budget and I pick all the library movies by default . Actually the movies have gotten much better over the last 5 years or so. If you really do your homework you can almost always find some great stuff coming out on video that is overlooked and un-reported on at the theatre (like Spellbound).
For animated movies for ages 8-under I'd try Jonah the Veggie Tales movie, the Miracle Maker, Francesco's Friendly World & Madeline (shorts),Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, Muppets Christmas Carol & Prince of Egypt (may have a couple of scare parts for really young kids)
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momwise
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| Posted: Jan 02 2006 at 2:35pm | IP Logged
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I forgot about Little House on the Prairie. You can buy several seasons worth at Costco or Sam's Club. The acting drives me crazy but the kids love that show!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: Jan 02 2006 at 2:42pm | IP Logged
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My girls (9 & 3) are both enjoying Eloise at Christmastime right now! They also like Eloise at the Plaza. The boys enjoyed them both, too. 
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Sarah
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This is a hard dilema. The younger ones have watched stuff earlier than the olders.
We also stick to old sit-coms. They are short and fun with no commercials. Mary Poppins is good, although the ending when they are running away could be intense). I've ordered some Mickey Mouse/ Donald Duck type stuff on video off Amazon. Polyanna is good. 7 brides for 7 brothers is good, although at the end the reverend hears a baby crying and asks who's it is, even though the girls aren't married. An "on-the-ball" kid might wonder why the reverend would ask that, but it went over my kids' heads. There is fist-fighting in it, but I didn't think that was too bad. (I'm just trying to give you every scenario because I've been "burned" by movie recommendations when people forgot important warnings).
Oh, "Come to the Stable" is a great old, funny and very Catholic movie. It has gangsters in it but they never do anything bad. I can't think of anything bad in it. The older Winnie the Pooh movies are good. The older Disney cartoons are good,but there is always some scary conflict in the story-Lady and the Tramp (the rat scene  ), 101 Dalmations (Cruela ), the Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Peter Pan. My kids do fine with them, though, especially if you talk them through it and warn before things happen.
This is something to remember with all these movies that are coming out now that are from books. Just because something is from a book, a good book, doesn't mean that your child can handle the imagery. Visual imagery is very powerful!
A PERSON CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT THEy ALREADY KNOW. VISUAL IMAGES FROM MOVIES CANNOT BE STOPPED IN TIME BEFORE THEY ENTER THE BRAIN'S CIRCUITRY FOREVER!!
A child's idea in their mind of a witch/dragon/beast is much tamer than what movie makers can create. Be very careful. (I know I risk sounding like a big priss here).
This is something that I don't think people are realizing when they are taking their kids to movies these days.
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MaryM
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| Posted: Jan 02 2006 at 3:15pm | IP Logged
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humanaevitae wrote:
| How do you deal with the different age groups? |
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We have done upstairs and downstairs movies before, with the younger ones watching one movie and the olders another and we (parents) alternate between them. We've done this when we have other families over as well - like two separate "theaters." We don't do this really frequently but it helps when there is one movie we would like to see with the older ones, but the younger ones don't want to miss out on being able to watch a movie. I know this isn't a feasible option for everyone but if you have two TVs it can work.
Several people have already recommended Veggie Tales - for anyone who hasn't seen it, the newest one "Lord of the Beans" is very cute. Since it is a bit of a spoof on the "Lord of the Rings" it makes for added enjoyment for those fans.
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Jen L.
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Thanks for the post on visual images, Sarah. You say it very well. SEEING someone else's vision of a book is entirely different than visualizing it for yourself in a way that you naturally can handle!
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Jen
dh Klete,ds (8/95),dd (12/97), dd (11/00), and ^2^ in heaven
"...the best state in which to glorify God is our actual state; the best grace is that of the moment..." St. Peter Eymard
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Mary G
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My kids -- thanks to dh's influence -- LOVE the Waltons (we've only gotten series 1 as their so expensive  ) -- but 24 50 min shows kept them busy for quite some time. They also love All Creatures Great and Small (we have series 1-3 -- these are classics!); occasionally a grandma will sneak in Clifford or Bob the Builder -- but basically we're shifting to a pretty much video free existence (we're already without cable). Usually only watch movies Fri-Sun; school nights we do read alouds....but then, as my kids will tell you, we're cranky! 
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Erin
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Have you watched the Little Foot Videos, the Land Before Time? They're rather cute and nothing objectionable. All about a herd of dinasours living together harmoniously and the adventures and interactions of the little ones.
Its a tough one. I used to be far sticter with my older ones than I am now. I don't however allow any videos with 'sexual references' or boy/girl stuff we don't allow either. Some of the old Walt Disney movies are good. Old Yeller (although there are a few sad ,scary parts)The Herbie movies.
Often what we worry about because we look at things with an adult knowledge goes comnpletly over the childrens heads. I'm talking fairly mild stuff here. Not way out there ones.
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Maddie
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It is so hard to find good movies for children, so we look to the classics. My husband and I have a hard and fast rule, we preview ALL movies first. My older children, 15, 13, and 11 had the driveway shoveled by 7:30 am the day Narnia came out so I could preview it for them. My little guys really loved Mickey Rooney in Young Tom Edison, old Disney movies are great if you can find them. Annie Get Your Gun with Howard Keel (I can't think of anything objectionable in that movie), and we love Bing Crosby! A conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (one scene has a character looking up the barrel of a gun because he had never seen one before, comical/and a teaching moment about gun safety or not depending on your family)and Here Comes the Groom (one scene has the main female star strut her stuff, very mild , but we're sensitive).
I read somewhere (it may have been an article by Elizabeth Foss?) about a father who would not allow his children to see a popular movie that was out. They pleaded with the argument that there was only a little bit of morally objectional material in the movie. He nodded his head and said he would think about it. The father decided to make some brownies for his children and added just the smallest amount of dog poop in the batter. After baking his brownies, he presented his scrumptious treat before them. Drawn to the kitchen by the delightful aroma, they lined up for their brownie. He then disclosed the secret ingredient, there were no takers! "But, it only has a LITTLE bit of poop in it!" A little bit of poop can ruin the entire batch of brownies like those scenes in some movies today. We tried to preview Shrek for New Years but didn't even make it passed the credits, my dh said,"Too much poop."
Rachel
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teachingmom
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I watched that entire movie with my girls last week and really enjoyed it! I was so pleased to see that even though the "Christmas" part of the movie was entirely secular throughout the movie, the last scene shows Eloise and a crowd of other characters singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". It was great to see that Jesus was not left out completely.
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teachingmom
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| Posted: Jan 03 2006 at 10:34pm | IP Logged
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Maybe you all can help me with a question I had when I went into Blockbuster for the first time in awhile last week. When I look through the children's section, I see lots of movies that I saw as a child/teen, but can't remember well enough to judge if they are appropriate. Have any of you seen the 3 Free Willy movies recently? What do you think of them for the 3-11 crowd?
By the way, I had a bad experience with movies this past weekend. When I was at Blockbuster (without the children), I finally decided on one of the old 1960's Disney movies that was rated G, thinking it would be a safe bet without previewing. I rented Blackbeard's Ghost. Little did I know that there is a rather scary scene toward the beginning of the movie. (OK, I guess I was naive--after all it is about a ghost!  )My 5yo screamed in terror and wouldn't continue watching the movie. We had friends over and the kids had been watching in the basement. She later wouldn't go to sleep without me lying beside her and also woke up afraid in the middle of the night. That was a first in our house. 
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humanaevitae
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Thank you everyone for your insights and suggestions. Please keep adding to the list if you think of others!
Nicole
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Topic: movie suggestions for littles?
