Note from Editor: We are incredibly excited to provide for you a new series of features articles written by a very talented guy from Lawrence, Kansas. Name’s Greg Russell and he will be sharing with us his Saturday night family movie time with us. Enjoy!!
Our family has had a ritual for most of its existence. Movie night. Once a week all four of us gather together to watch a movie and share a huge bowl of popcorn. It’s a time we can all experience the same thing and be together. As time goes on that togetherness has brought closeness, especially as the kids grow and we still share the same couch.
Movie night has epic connotations in our household. It is the pinnacle of the week. Hosted traditionally on Saturday nights it is the event no child wants to miss. It has been used as a carrot to get them to do tasks they rather not or the reward taken away for misbehaving. It’s impact has not faltered through the years
I never tell anyone what the movie will be. Movies from any genre or era are free game. Color or black and white. I try to choose things that the kids would enjoy but I also use it as a chance to expose them to things they would probably never choose for themselves. We’ve done the obvious (Back to the Future), the necessary (Jason and the Argonauts), the classics (It’s a Wonderful Life), the cheesy (Flash Gordon) and everything else from westerns to anime.
In trying to pick appropriate subjects i use common sense. Ultimately when faced with questionable subjects there are really only two things that I frown upon for kids almost completely. Sex and sadistic themes. I can bare through bad words (wasn’t long into Men In Black that I just said “Stop repeating it and watch the movie), I can deal with violence (isn’t that what Star Wars and X-Men are?) and I can deal with gore (we watched the open scene to Saving Private Ryan to start a conversation between real horror and horror movies). I don’t seek any of these theme out for the kids but we can deal with them. However, they are too young for sex and they are too young to have to think about sadistic torture or violence. I guess Takashi Miike and Tartan films are out for now.
Movie night is not always the best movies and even more often they are not the best for Mom and I to endure. However, the kids always look forward to the surprise and I look forward to their excitement. There are so many movies to watch! I do have a bias when I rate these movies, as anyone probably would. I have soft spots for older movies. The older they are the more forgiving I am. I grew up watching old Star Trek and Twilight Zone episodes and I think I’m better for it! I’ve subjected my kids to the same. We can’t truly appreciate all there is without knowing what there was.
In some attempt to categorize this randomness I will give you my (biased) opinion on the movie’s watchability as an adult. This will be the traditional school grade A+ through F. I will also attempt to reduce the enjoyment of the kids to a rating. I think at their age (9 and 10 years old right now) they like all movies. I remember liking everything too. So to compensate for that their rating will be “liked it”, “it was great” or “loved it”. I will also attempt to put some age limits on movies that may need that disclaimer. I’m no meanie.
So, all that said, without further ado, let’s pop the popcorn and watch some movies….
Mom says : Sometimes my favorite part of movie night is the end when I say, “Go brush your teeth”.