Oooh - one more just came to mind, though I don’t know how available it is via the various services: Tokyo Godfathers.
Animated movie featuring 3 homeless people (one teenage runaway girl, one old alcoholic man, and one old drag queen) are all homeless, and have formed a small family of sorts. Then they find an abandoned baby. The movie follows all their efforts to find the baby’s mother and return it to her. It’s actually a Christmas movie -we watch it every year.
MirrorMask - A visual experience like no other. For an 8 year old the story might be kind of slow and there is a lot of talking, but the visuals are so stunning they just grab the audience right at the opening credits. THIS SCENE is likely the most creepy part of the film, though without context it’s not that bad.
Labyrinth
Dragonslayer - A classic.
The Sword and the Stone (1963)
Robin Hood (1973) - Both still fun to watch for adults.
I think you’d all find Shazam! to be fun, it’s a D.C. superhero film but it isn’t dark and gritty, instead it very much feels like a throwback to the zippy fantasy adventure comedies of the '80s.
Doesn’t Galaxy Quest drop a few f-words and such (Sigourney in “the Chompers”)? Might not be appropriate for an eight year old.
The Night at the Museum trilogy is family friendly and funny.
Just the one and it was dubbed over with “screw” during post-production.
No. You can see Weaver saying, “Fuck this!” in the film, but for the sake of a PG rating they looped over with, “Screw this! Whoever wrote this episode should die!” instead. Aside from a few alien blood splatters, there is nothing particularly gory or profane, and the handful of more adult references such as Tim Allen’s character sleeping with extras on the show or Tony Shalhoub’s character being constantly stoned (no drug use shown, it’s just implied by his behavior and constant snacking) will pass right over the head of an eight year old. The film is middle-of-the-road PG with enough goofiness to keep younger kids entertained even if they can’t follow the plot or understand that the joke is actors actually having to live out their roles.
Stranger
Actually, that Tech Sergeant Chen was stoned completely passed over my head until a friend pointed it out and I was well into adulthood when I first saw the movie.
Seconded.
It’s surprising that no Miyazaki movies are on your family’s list.
Spirited Away is a great introduction to the genre. I guarantee you’ll all enjoy it!
I mean, maybe he’s just a really happy guy who always has the munchies. The only overt substance abuse in the film is Tim Allen’s character guzzling down some scotch after discovering that people think he’s a joke, and what I assume is a mai tai that Sigourney Weaver is drinking while phoning Allen Rickman. I’m not even sure that would break a G rating on its own, although some of the action and violence (like the ‘miners’ cannibalizing one of their own) is definitely in PG territory; still entirely acceptable for a reasonably mature eight year old, particularly given how obviously comedic it is presented. The squid-like Thermians are actually more horrifying.
Stranger
Sounds like you need to return those kids for a refund! They are defective!
It’s such an awesome film that it’s unfortunate the studio didn’t know how to make and market it. I read an oral history of the movie that talked about this.
Those are long movies, and The Two Towers is particularly full of talk and travel. I can’t blame younger kids for losing interest; it’s a bit of a slog, even being condensed from the books.
Stranger
It turns out it was better that the studio at least stayed out of the “making” it part (but they could have helped with the marketing). Since we’re talking “Galaxy Quest”, there is a GREAT documentary about the making of, and continuing love of the movie, called “Never Surrender” available on Amazon. I would highly recommend it to all GQ fans.
Space Jam.
We’ve seen Shazam. Most of us liked it. (Little guy was scared by the “Monsters” at the end, but otherwise it was a great choice).
A few cusses here and there aren’t a problem. That ship sailed with the MCU. As long as it’s not the focus of a whole scene, or pervasive through the movie.
Guess you missed it upthread, but some are. We’re open to more of them, but Spirited Away I remember as having some situations that would be very scary for the little one so we’re holding off a bit on it.
I know, I know, but I lost the receipt. Guess we’re stuck with them.
Well, I went to the library with the express goal of getting MIB, but they only had II, III, and International. Put in a hold request for the original for a future weekend, but I picked up the following to propose as options for tonight and tomorrow:
Howl’s moving castle
Megamind
Jumanji. Welcome to the jungle
The Lego movie (The older kids saw this one long ago but probably don’t remember it. I remember liking it enough that we might want to see the sequel, but need a refresher first)
The Phantom (PG, 1996) – available via Amazon Prime.
The Shadow (PG-13, 1994) – available via Amazon Prime.
Maybe EBay? Or freecycle?
My children liked “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, but then again, they’re pretty much stereotypical boys and like that sort of thing.
I’ll echo those who recommend the new Jumanji movies (the Dwayne Johnson/Kevin Hart ones) My children liked those as well.
They also like the Wreck-it Ralph movies- there’s a lot of old and new tech and pop culture references in them. Not sure if your kids would like it, but they got a laugh out of Nacho Libre too.
I get the impression that the kids described in the OP would be completely freaked out by the melting faces scenes.
Perhaps end the movie just before that scene?