Family Movie Night…. Armentrout style

By: Jill Armentrout

Since most of the movies I see in theaters (for the past 5-10 years) are with my children, I try to find films that will entertain all of us. It’s not too difficult as today’s family movies usually have something for adults too. I agree with critics that it’s a pain when cartoons try too hard to be culturally relevant and have animals spouting catch phrases like “You da ant!” But there is a lot of good stuff. I like to learn new things from the kids. Of course “Frozen” was a part of our lives for much of 2014, but I also like to share things that are timeless – or at least from my very important time as a child.

I also enjoy lists and Entertainment Weekly released one this year called “55 Essential Movies Kids Must Experience (Before they turn 13) – http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/06/23/55-essential-movies-your-child-must-see-before-they-turn-13/. The age cutoff has to do with building a cultural awareness in young people – in the order of the age when they are best introduced. I love this list and encourage you to check it out, but don’t let your kids know you have a check list.

They can smell your good intentions and will run away.

I purchased “The Princess Bride” on ITunes along with the book by William Goldman, but have yet to get the girls (7 and 11) to watch with me. Even their dad has never seen it – a wrong I need to right. They claim the trailer is dumb. It probably is, or can’t live up to today’s previews. So I will take advantage of a moment of boredom during winter break. The eldest daughter has seen the first Star Wars trilogy with her dad and even the Transformer movies, along with the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Hobbit films (are they done yet?). I can still get some of the Disney cannon in with the youngest on my side. There’s “The Lion King” and “The Incredibles” we have missed. There are also several on the list I need to see myself: “Iron Giant,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Red Balloon.” I have neither seen nor read a scene of Harry Potter.

Our family has enjoyed the new movies we’ve seen together recently: “The Lego Movie,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” even “Big Hero 6,” which was not marketed well. But there is a particular ‘80s nostalgia in me that longs for Indiana Jones and Marty McFly. I’ve managed to pass on the Little House books to the kids if not the TV show and Judy Blume’s “Superfudge” if not “Are You There God?, It’s Me Margaret.”

How much is too dated or too embarrassing? I’m not sure. What is a classic? Maybe that’s a personal decision. I do have “Sixteen Candles” cued and ready to go – on VHS.

Jill Armentrout of Birch Run is Parent Liaison for the Saginaw County Great Start Collaborative. In this position contracted through the Saginaw Intermediate School District, she coordinates the Parent Coalition, bringing the parent voice to the early childhood system and outreach to families. She is the mother of two daughters.