our family's favorite movies
Since there has been such a dumping of snow all over the US, I figure more families are snuggled up together on the couch watching films together.
So I thought I'd share several of the favorites in our home. Some you may have heard of, but hopefully here are a few new ones to add to your list!
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I've got to start out with this one. We watched it last night on Netflix and when it was over, our kids saw you can rate the movie. They all jumped up and down yelling, "Five Stars!!" So though it's a new favorite...I simply had to add it to the list.
And you must watch this trailer, haha. It's especially cute.
The Houseboat is a very romantic, light-hearted movie. It is a little gem with Cary Grant playing his usual role of a debonaire bachelor with a little twist - this time he's a widower, a single father of three young children who suddenly decides that the children have to live with him.
Suffice it to say that he's had very little previous experience raising his kids - and it shows! Another improbable twist - enter the rebellious daughter of an Italian music conductor as a nanny (a very young and very exotic Sophia Loren) - and the fun begins.
The family and the nanny are planning to move to a guest house not far from the family of his late wife, but they need to relocate it to another place nearby and the guest house is getting ruined in the process. The houseboat is offered as a replacement and here they start a new life - simple, with very little amenities, but full of fun, love and occasional soul-searching.
Cary Grant plays the role with his usual flair, but I thought I've seen a milder and gentler side of him in his interactions with the kids. Sophia Loren was rather exquisite in appearance and a bit too headstrong for the role of a nanny, but then she was a spoiled daughter of a famous father in the movie, so her sometimes odd behavior does not really feel entirely unnatural. The kids were great. Their feelings are always on the surface, played very naturally, and that adds enormously to the movie's emotional charge.
(read more reviews here)
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Some people hear the rhythm in a step, the strident beauty of a police siren, the whip of a powerline in the wind. Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) doesn't get a decent night's sleep in the orphanage because of it. His fellow inmates call him freak because he believes both his parents are living and they'll come for him--if only he call out with the music that connects them.
As he says, "I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales." So, Evan decides after eleven years and some days to escape the orphanage and go find the music--and his parents.
Even ends up in New York City with zero street smarts. He really doesn't even know how to cross the road. A fortunate encounter puts him near Arthur (Leon G. Thomas III), a street busker his age who's willing to help--for a price. Arthur introduces him to Wizard (Robin Williams) who gives musically talented street kids a place to stay in exchange for half their take. The Wizard quickly discovers that Evan, who he renames August Rush, is a prodigy and is making some plans for the lad.
Meanwhile, we learn that Even's mom Lyla Novacek (Kerri Russell) had only been with Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) one night. The Julliard educated cellist was in an accident while pregnant and her father decided to sign her name and give up her son--telling Lyla that he'd died. Instead of the stage career her father envisioned, Lyla mostly gave up music and taught--til Julliard called her for a special concert in Central Park.
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Akeelah (Palmer) is an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Crenshaw Middle School in South Los Angeles, she's bright - she even aces all the class spelling tests - but she has a bit of an attitude problem, partly caused by the unmotivated feeling of those around her, and the idea that to be intelligent is not considered "cool."
But deep down Akeelah loves words and it's something she shared with her late father. Avella's mom, Tanya (Angela Bassett), is too busy trying to keep her life and family together to pay much attention. She has one young son flirting with being a gangbanger and another son is doing well in the Air Force, so Tanya just doesn't want to be bothered with what she views as the foolishness of spelling competitions.
Spurred on by the school principal (Curtis Armstrong) Akeelah is encouraged to enter the Crenshaw school spelling bee, even though she doesn't really want to do it. She of course wins, and but she's going to need help if she wants to make it through other contests. She finds a mentor in the somber Dr. Larabee (Lawrence Fishburne) who is on sabbatical from his position as chairman of the UCLA English department and has a lot of time on his hands.
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When Frank Beardsley (Dennis Quaid), a widower of 8 children runs into his high school sweetheart, Helen North (Rene Russo), it’s as if thirty years never passed! Helen, also a widow with ten kids of her own that include the six she and her husband adopted, feels the attraction as well.
It’s no wonder they rush into marriage without telling their kids. True love can conquer all—right?
Unfortunately for Frank and Helen, the families don’t mesh quite as easily as the newlyweds had hoped. They probably should have seen the culture clash coming: the disciplined Beardsleys run things by the book; for the energetic and vivacious Norths, there is no book.
Helen’s kids aren’t pleased about moving and sharing rooms with a bunch of uptight strangers. Frank’s children have nothing in common with the Norths. Since both sets of kids aren’t happy, they devise a plan to undermine the marriage and team up to plot the breakup. East meets west as the two families finds a way to work together—in order to separate.
Just when it appears that the kids have succeeded, they realize they like each other despite their differences—they don’t want their families to split up! Can they save Frank and Helen’s marriage after they so brilliantly split them up? It’s up to Frank and Helen!
(read more reviews here)
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The true story of Ben Carson, now world renowned neuro-surgeon is in one word...INSPIRING.
Cuba Gooding Jr. stars in this true story about a renowned brain surgeon who overcame obstacles to change the course of medicine forever. Young Ben Carson didn't have much of a chance.
Growing up in a broken home amongst poverty and prejudice, his grades suffered and his temper flared. And yet, his mother never lost her faith in him. Though she couldn't read herself, she insisted he follow the opportunities she never had, she helped to grow his imagination, intelligence and, most importantly, his belief in himself.
That faith would be his gift - the thing that would drive him to follow his dream of becoming one of the world's leading neurosurgeons.
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. watch trailer .
Hotel For Dogs is a funny, heartwarming and inspiring animal adventure that shows how far love and imagination can take you.
When 16-year old, Andi (Roberts), and her younger brother Bruce (Austin) find themselves in a foster home with a strict "no pets" policy, they must use their quick wit to find a new home for their dog, Friday.
When they stumble into an abandoned hotel, they realize they can transform it into the perfect place for Friday- as well as all the strays in the city. What began as a crusade to save one dog becomes a high stakes adventure as everyone around them starts to wonder- who let the dogs in?
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All Izzy Daniels (Corbin Bleu) knows is boxing. He's the third generation boxer in his family and hopes to be the third to win the coveted Golden Glove. After defeating neighborhood bully Rodney (Patrick Johnson, Jr.), he's well on his way.
Izzy's neighbor has an obsession all her own - Double Dutch jump rope. Mary (Keke Palmer) is quite good at it and the leader of a team trying to make the state competition. Izzy constantly teases Mary and her team mates about their jumping.
All that changes one day when Izzy is forced to take his sister to watch a Double Dutch competition. He's fascinated by what he sees. When Mary's team looses one of their members, Izzy agrees to step in while they search for another member but only to help them practice. He quickly finds that, not only is he good at it, but he loves it. Even more then boxing. Can he balance the two sports? Does he want to? What will his dad say when he finds out about it?
(read more reviews here)
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Note: the sequel is also a loved film in our home.
Cheaper by the Dozen is a very funny movie. It is typical Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt is a good match for him. Most of the humor is slapstick and you can't help but laugh.
The 12 kids especially the younger group are all good little actors and create an atmosphere of total chaos when mom leaves to go on a book tour and dad get tied up with his new coaching job. With all its laughs, the movie looks at some serious issues facing today's families.
Mom and dad now have their dream jobs but are unable to balance caring for the kids and the demands of those jobs. They are torn between family needs and unsympathetic bosses. Oldest daughter Nora (Piper Perabo)has moved out and is living with her boyfriend Hank (Ashton Kutcher). The parents have to deal with her wanting to sleep with him when they come to help babysit. The kids have their own ways to handle the situation and with hilarious results. Hilary Duff is very believable as a vain teenager and Forrest Landis does a great job with Mark, the kid who seems to feel the most neglected.
If you want an evening of laughter, by all means see this movie.
(read more reviews here)
Note: some of the trailers aren't stellar. Perhaps since several aren't well-known mainstream movies, a preview of the movie was harder to find. But I promise...they're so good!
Highly recommended by my kids...and us parents! xo
