I wasn’t sure if this belonged here or in Cafe Society. Since it is more of a poll rather than a discussion of films, I decided to put it here (mods, please move it if I put it in the wrong place).
I watched The Goonies with my son (he just turned 10 on Tuesday) last night. I am 30. When I was 11 I loved the movies The Goonies so I decided to see if my son would like it. Well, he loved it. He has watched it 3 times already, since last night. I felt like a kid again watching it with him.
What movies (or anything really) have you introduced your children to that you just loved when you were thier age? Did they enjoy it as much as you did?
The Goonies - he loved it. (If you have the DVD, DO NOT let him watch the actors’ commentary. It’s one of my favorite commentaries, but not kid appropriate. You should watch it, though.)
**The Neverending Story ** - he liked it.
**The Princess Bride ** - he hated it. Must have been switched at birth. Little bastard!
**The Indiana Jones Trilogy ** - liked the first two, loved the third. Ohmigoodness, they’re nasty racist bits of work, aren’t they? I never noticed before.
**Star Wars Trilogy ** - come on, he’s a boy. Of course he loves them. Of course, he likes the newer ones, too. Little bastard.
**Dark Crystal ** - loved it
**Labyrith ** - he thinks it’s OK, but doesn’t get my love of it. Maybe he’s not hot for David Bowie in tights. Ah, well.
**Jim Henson’s The Storyteller ** (TV show available on DVD) - he likes these more than I did.
We’re just starting the Mel Brooks movies. He loved Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Young Frankenstein. (There are a couple of scenes I have to pretend I’m not listening or leave the room for so as not to hear his giggles - but it’s all inuendoey. I know he gets it, he knows I know he gets it, but we’re still pretending he doesn’t get it. Isn’t parenthood fun?)
Music is another one. He hates rap and gangsta culture, and alt rock isn’t really his cup of tea, either. He’s always asking my husband and me for music ideas. He loves **Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie ** (the Thin White Duke stuff, mostly), The Cure, The Clash, The Ramones, The Smiths, The Doors, The The. He also has my fondness for cheesy musical soundtracks, but we won’t hold it against him.
I’ve already introduced my three year-old to my favorite Disney film Beauty and the Beast.
And Mommy has a list of “safe” Buffy episodes.
But right now I’m more interested in teaching her the joys of going to the movies more than any specific films - we’ve been going to the theater together since she was 2 yrs old - Shrek 2, Scooby-Doo, Ella Enchanted, and her first movie, Home on the Range.
My oldest daughter is 4, so she isn’t allowed to watch all my favorite movies yet. The ones she does watch are
The secret of Roan Inish, my all-time favorite movie. Irish fairy-tale, sort of. The Muppet Movie but we skip the frog-torturing scene. The Pirates of Penzance, the one with Kevin Kline. Not really top on my list of all-time best movies, but I like G&S and she likes pirates. The Nutcracker I was a huge Nutcracker fan until adulthood, and I still am very fond of it. She only likes the first half for some reason, and especially likes Herr Drosselmeyer.
Pretty soon we’ll have to see The Princess Bride and Star Wars (hah, we have the real version on videotape), but she’s a bit young for those yet. I should really get more musicals; she liked My Fair Lady and The Music Man when she saw them. She’s been asking for Camelot, but I’m not ready to explain that one yet. uhh, so, Guinevere is married to Arthur, but she loves Lancelot, which is adultery, so they have to burn her for treason… :eek:
Yeah, my son is a HUGE Star Wars fan. He also likes the movie Innerspace.
I’ve also gotten him hooked on the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. He usually HATES to read so it was quite a challenge to find something that he enjoyed.
Oh, and the movie Big, with Tom Hanks. He has watched that movie probably 10 times in the past year. He can quote the dialog, so I am trying to work that one out of his rotation.
My boys are older, 15 and 21. The older one grew up with The Neverending Story as well as theThe Goonies.
There are a few movies from my childhood that I turned them both on to, with mixed results. Black and white movies threw them off a bit sometimes.
But they would still watch if there was humor, a bit of action, and a compelling plotline. The Red Balloon
(le Ballon Rouge, 1956)
My kids loved the story (a red balloon follows a little boy all over Paris) but got weirded out by some of the more superficial aspects of the movie (the kid’s short pants, etc.)
I had more success with The Three Musketeers and its sequel. (I think these are both 70’s movies.)
Oh, we’re going to have to have Robin Hood soon, thanks for reminding me. It was filmed here in my town so it’s a big favorite around here. (The Errol Flynn one, I mean, but you knew that.)
The Princess Bride. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Ghostbusters. The Jerk.
The ones that I loved at her age, but I consider a little edgy for the present day so I’m making her wait another year or two, are:
Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke.
(at 12 and 11, my kid brother and I could recite every line in that movie… and we actually turned out okay [I think]!)
and
Animal House.
Been trying to find the Monty Python show episodes on DVD, to no avail. My brother and I absolutely loved that show and were glued to PBS for hours on the weekend thanks to it. Not to mention the hours of fun acting out “Dead Parrot”, “Crunchy Frog”, “How To Defend yourself Against Fresh Fruit”, etc. etc., for our helpless parents.
My kids are grown, and they grew up with the favorites mentioned here, so there was no introducing to be done – we pretty much watched those movies together.
We did make sure they were exposed to horror movies from the 30’s – Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy – the classics – and my daughter has stayed a horror fan.
I’m glad to know that today’s youngsters appreciate these movies.
We introduced our daughter to Star Wars when she was young – though I didn’t love it as a child, since I was 25 when it came out. She was unimpressed with the video and we had to explain just how impressive it was back then. When they rereleased it, we took it to the theater and she finally understood.
I introduced my daughter to The Outer Limits when she was the same age as I was when I first saw it. She enjoyed it a lot.
I don’t have kids, but I occasionally help babysit for my cousins, who are three girls between the ages of six and twelve. Over the years, I’ve got them hooked on Princess Bride, The Nightmare before Christmas (I think the youngest is going to be pretty hardcore Goth when she gets to be a teen, and it may be my fault), Yellow Submarine, and Spirited Away.
Okay, the last one isn’t something that I was into as a kid, as it’s far too recent, but it’s still a great kids movie they wouldn’t have seen if not for me.
I got the entire box set of Monty Python tv episodes at Costco for $99.00. Such a deal! My 12 yo loves them. There are so many, and we only watch a few at a time, so they last and last.
The MP movies are terrific, too, though hubby and I hadn’t watched them for a while and so were surprised at the end of The Meaning of Life when a man is chased all over town by naked women. Not as surprised as the 12 yo though!
