jfv wrote: Sat Sep 14, 2024 3:21 pm Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Some great scenes, genuine LOL moments.

But a real hot mess of a film.

Good soundtrack.

DON'T SAY HIS NAME

The only reason you stay here is so you can fuck my mother and eat her food

Only manage to watch kids' movies these days. The little dude, 8 next March, is brave in many things but not so much when it comes to movies and books and narrative tension or intense or spooky stuff, which is fine, I haven't forced it, but it means that it's hard to read more intense fiction beyond things like the Tom Gates grade-school diary type things, Jedi Academy, etc. The Mouse and the Motorcycle was too much for him last time I tried. We read The Summer I Robbed a Bank, an awesome, funny book that deals with separation, neglect, illness, death and loss, but it was too much for him in the end and he wasn't pleased with me afterwards. Didn't help that I was tearing up a bit at the end either. Anyways, I still want to push the boundaries a bit (would be nice to be able to go to the movies with him beyond short-film programs at festivals a couple times a year) as I think that more complex stories would be good for him, and I'm happy video games have started to offer an in. He watched the Super Mario Bros. Movie this summer on a plane and loved it, was somehow not put off by the spooky or intense elements because he knows it's related to a game, and we have sinced watched it together multiple times. I looked up similar stuff and found the Sonic movies, and we have since watched the first two at home. Sometimes he hits the space bar and tells me to jump ahead if something seems like it's going to be too much, and we do. These movies are not all that bad, I have to admit I kind of liked them (and he loved them), though mostly I liked sitting side by side and watching them together. I also must admit I am excited about the new one coming out around Xmas, though we will most likely watch it later on the laptop screen at some point, the theater would still be way too intense.

So, yeah, these three video-game-related movies are alright, especially the Sonic movies. Please share others if you know good places to go from there.

I told him about my experience getting dropped off with my best bud to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark alone when I was his age with no clue what I was about to see. When he's anxious about having to watch a movie in a school context I call back to that story. "Whatever happens today, I am 100% sure that they are not taking you to Raiders of the Lost Ark, it'll be OK" and he smiles and rolls with it.

So, not a video game movie, but -- Have you tried the original LEGO movie? My daughter (almost 9) and I love it. So many kids movies are just completely awful to sit through as an adult, but I legitimately look forward to that one. Absolutely ridiculous and silly, and I nothing that would pass as scary, to my mind.

He watched all or most of that on the plane ride back from the States this summer and he said he regretted it, something spooked him! Made the mistake of not watching with him, something we generally do. He has a very good / highly active imagination and can be anxious about getting something stuck in his head. I tried to get him to watch The Bad Guys a couple times and the last time we were watching on my birthday and he was doing fine until the exact moment where the guinea pig philanthropist is revealed to be the real villain and he smashed the space bar, freezing the film on what was admittedly a very creepy little evil rodent face, and he was out. We watched Super Mario Bros again instead.

I imagine he'll come around eventually! I'm just trying to sustain our newly minted Saturday Movie Night. And, selfishly, I would love to just finally chill with him in a theater on Sundays this winter or whatever.

Still, thanks a lot for the rec and keep them coming, if you got 'em.

My Neighbor Totoro is, of course, wonderful and bears repeated viewings. Nothing scary about it, either.

Some might disagree here, but School of Rock is an excellent kids movie.

Charlie Chaplin’s movie The Circus and Buster Keaton’s short “One Week.”

jimmy spako wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 12:47 pm Still, thanks a lot for the rec and keep them coming, if you got 'em.

The Muppet Movie!
Muppets Take Manhattan!

I'm Statler.
I'm Waldorf.
We're here to heckle "The Muppet Movie".

Guard: Gentlemen, that's straight ahead. Private screening room D.

Statler: Private screening?
Waldorf: Yeah, they're afraid to show it in public.

Wood Goblin wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 12:53 pm My Neighbor Totoro is, of course, wonderful and bears repeated viewings. Nothing scary about it, either.

Some might disagree here, but School of Rock is an excellent kids movie.

Charlie Chaplin’s movie The Circus and Buster Keaton’s short “One Week.”

Thanks!

He still perceives animation like Tortoro as creepy. Looking forward to when that changes.

I showed him the trailer for School of Rock multiple times (I've never actually seen it myself but thought it would be cool to watch it with him). He thinks it's very funny but doesn't want to watch it yet. I thought it looked great.

He likes Chaplin in small doses, don't think he would do a whole film.
He liked the Three Stooges in small doses too, but found all the beating up on each other creepy and too much after a while.

Muppet movies are a good option, that might work now. Thank you too, Randy.

i would suggest Ponyo over Totoro for dipping a toe into Miyazaki Otherwise the gentlest children movie I am aware of is Disney's Winnie the Pooh, both the original and the most recent animated one.