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Contemporary Movies (1997 and onwards)
Contemporary Movies
A Cat in Paris (2010)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)
Belle & Sebastian (2013)
“There is a sequel that just came out.”
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Bicentennial Man (1999)
Big Fish (2003)
Bruce Almighty (2003)
Cast Away (2000)
Children of Heaven (1997)
Clueless (1995)
Cruella (2021)
Délicieux / Delicious (2021)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
Encanto (2021)
“My 10 year old is eager to have me watch Encanto this weekend. She's watched it twice.”
Fargo (1996)
Harry Potter series
Hidden Figures (2016)
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
“Skews young but still so creative.”
Juno (2007)
Knives Out (2019)
La vita è bella / Life is Beautiful (1997)
Liar Liar (1997)
Marvel movies (Spider-Man, Black Widow, Avengers, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Thor, and much more)
Mean Girls (2004)
“For the past 12 years, my girls have watched Mean Girls and the Winona Rider Little Women each year back to back with their BFF. The yin and yang. It formed their feminist world view and it was all they ever needed to know about navigating girl world - and I am good with that.”
Meet Dave (2008)
Million Dollar Arm (2014)
Miss Congeniality (2000)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011)
Murder Mystery (2019)
Nanny McPhee (2005)
Notting Hill (1999)
Now You See Me (2013)
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Office Space (1999)
Own the Room (2021)
Red Notice (2021)
Remember the Titans (2000)
Riverdance (2021)
School of Rock (2003)
Serendipity (2001)
Shall We Dance? (1996)
Sing Street (2016)
“Dublin, 1980s. Boy forms a band so he can ask a girl he fancies to be in the videos. The band cycles through the sounds and looks of 80s music including Duran Duran, the Cure, Adam Ant and Hall & Oates. Totally fun. On Amazon.”
Spelling the Dream (2018)
Star Trek (2009)
Super Size Me (2004)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Blind Side (2009)
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain (1995)
The Founder (2016)
The Hobbit series
The Intouchables (2011)
The Iron Giant (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
The Parent Trap (1998)
“My identical twins much prefer the new Parent Trap.”
The Secret of Kells (2009)
The Social Network (2010)
The Truman Show (1998)
Two Weeks Notice (2002)
Uncle Nino (2003)
Waitress (2007)
WALL-E (2008)
Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Classic Movies
Films that will help tweens and teens better understand their parents!
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
A Few Good Men (1992)
A League of Their Own (1992)
All of Me (1984)
Alien (1979)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Annie (1982)
Babe (1995)
Babette’s Feast (1987)
“My other favorite is Babette's Feast. I am devoted to food movies.”
Back to the Future (1985)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Big (1988)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Clue (1985)
Cool Runnings (1993)
Die Unendliche Geschichte / The NeverEnding Story (1984)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Excalibur (1981)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Flight of the Navigator (1986)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Freaky Friday (1976)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Ghostbusters
“All of them, even the less popular remake.”
Gremlins (1984)
“Gremlins is a big hit in our house as well as Goonies.”
Groundhog Day (1993)
Heathers (1989)
Henry V (1989)
Hook (1991)
Il Postino / The Postman (1994)
Jerry Lewis movies
Jumanji (1995)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Little Caesar (1931)
“My 8-year-old loves modern-day movies if they have shooting, so I tried some antique film-noir on him as less unwholesome. He loved Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar, though James Cagney in White Heat was too talky and creaky for him.”
Little Women (1994)
“For the past 12 years, my girls have watched Mean Girls and the Winona Rider Little Women each year back to back with their BFF. The yin and yang. It formed their feminist world view and it was all they ever needed to know about navigating girl world - and I am good with that.”
Mary Poppins (1964)
Meatballs (1979)
Monkey Business (1931) and other Marx Brothers films
“I also firmly second The Marx Brothers, which has to be part of any child's cultural education. Try Monkey Business first, which is less stagey and more slapstick. My 8 year-old is crazy about Duck Soup.”
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
“Brilliant and a classic if you can stand the frequent f-bombs.”
My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and other Studio Ghibli movies
“I second ALL of the Studio Ghibli movies, not just Totoro (which is awesome).”
Oklahoma! (1955)
Oliver! (1968)
Overboard (1987)
Parenthood (1989)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Private Benjamin (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Rear Window (1954)
Rocky (1976)
“The original Rocky went over big in our house and then we all went to see Creed which we also loved.”
Show Boat (1951)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Speed (1994)
Stand by Me (1986)
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Star Wars
“I feel like you can't go wrong with Star Wars. Watch it from the beginning!”
Stripes (1981)
Tampopo (1985)
“A plug for "Tampopo" (my own favorite movie). Both kids loved it, but when we rented it I forgot that there was some nudity-- a bare-chested whipped cream orgy between a gangster and his moll that lasts around 30 seconds, but I had to fast-forward through.”
“[To the above poster] I LOVE you! Tampopo is MY all time favorite (and I have been ready to jump in front of the tv and mute for that one scene).”
That Darn Cat! (1965)
The Bad News Bears (1976)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Goonies (1985)
The Karate Kid (1984)
The Kid (1921) and other Charlie Chaplin movies
The King and I (1956)
The Little Princess (1939)
“Skews young and to girls for sure.”
The Lost Boys (1987)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Parent Trap (1961)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Princess Bride (1987)
The Red Balloon (1956)
The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
The Sound of Music (1965)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
WarGames (1983)
Wayne’s World (1992)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Yellow Submarine (1968)
12 Angry Men (1957)
“My son recently watched 12 Angry Men and he really loved it. I was surprised, b/c he's usually more of a mainstream, action-movie or funny-movie kind of kid. But he was riveted and said he loved it.”
9 to 5 (1980)
TV Shows
Bonus: Here are a few series recommended by parents to help your kids understand their parents better!
Fawlty Towers
Freaks and Geeks
Northern Exposure
Star Trek
Veronica Mars
