Top 10 Movies of “Our” Time

Welcome one and all to my forever updating list of our favorite movies.  Before you bash my choices for this list, let me first give you an overview about why I choose these movies like I do.

• These movies I will forever put the remote down when I see it on TV.
• We own a copy of the movie and sometimes had to find another copy because I just destroyed the DVD from over-use.
• Has to be family friendly, but still something us parents enjoy watching and don’t mind if the kids walk in on us with it on the TV.
• Will rate each movie in several different categories: Sexual content, Violence, Profanity, and Drug use (includes alcohol consumption).  I will rank them on a scale of 0-5 where the lower the number the less it is seen.

	The Princess Bride
“Does it got any sports in it?  Are you kidding?  Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles!” Stars Cary Elwes as Westley and Robin Wright and the Princess Bride.  My wife and kids favorite movie hands down.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
1	3	1	1

	The Count of Monte Cristo
Just a great story all around.  Pirates, treasure, swordplay, revenge… Such a good movie, a little more of an adult version of the princess bride.  Stars Jim Caviezel as Edmond Dantes and Guy Pearce as Fernand Mondego.  There are also a few surprising actors in here as a young Henry Cavil (Superman) and Richard Harris (Harry Potter’s first Albus Dumbeldore) have some major roles in this film.  My wife and I both agree this is the second best movie in our library.  Our kids won’t look to this movie as their favorite because there’s “too much talking between the action”. I can understand, the time that he is imprisoned can be a little boring for children.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
2	4	2	2

	Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins
Stars Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke as Bert.  Mary Poppins is a magical nanny who comes in to try to fix the Banks family’s problems.  The children want a nanny that is not strict, the father wants order throughout his life, and the mother just wants what is best for the family while secretly supporting a women’s rights movement.  My kids love to sing, so it’s not surprising they love this classic musical.  My teenager still sings some of the songs from this movie.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
0	1	0	1

	Harry Potter series
Stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson. The Potter family is killed by the evil wizard, Voldemort, except when he tried to kill little Harry, Voldemorts spell rebounded on him and destroyed him. This series of 8 movies tells of the story of Harry’s time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well as the unique relationship between Harry and Voldemort and the reason why one cannot live while the other survives. The entire Harry Potter series has got to be a family favorite.  Voldemort is scary enough to get my 5 year old to hide behind a pillow, but somehow she keeps asking to watch it over and over again.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
1	3	1	1

	A Christmas Story
Stars Melinda Dillon as Mother Parker, Darren McGavin as the Old Man Parker.  One of the best Christmas movies EVER!  We watch this multiple times every year.  My kids can really relate to the story as the story revolves around a 9 year-old Ralphie who really want’s a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun for Christmas.  Now how to convince the parents that it would be a good present to give?  The interactions between Ralphie and his friends as well as his relationship with his family really bring back memories from when we were kids too.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
1	1.5	2	1

	Peter Pan 2003
One of the best renditions of this story I have ever seen.  Stars Jason Isaacs as both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook, Jeremy Sumpter as Peter Pan, and Rachel Hurd-Wood as Wendy Darling.  This is a classic rendition of the original story.  There has been some complaints about this movie suggesting that there is a portrayed sexual tension between Peter and Wendy, well there might be.  If anything that it is because they are playing on the fact that they are all pre-teen characters and a “kiss” is a prominent part of the original story line.  When asked what my kids think, they like the action between the kids and the pirates and the humor in the movie.  As adults, we love the hidden meanings in the symbolism throughout the movie and we all laugh like Tiger Lily when the kids get caught in a trap, hung by their ankles while their nightshirts fall overhead…
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
1.5	3	0	1

	Home Alone
Stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin, Joe Pesci as Harry, and Daniel Stern as Marv.  When the family goes on a vacation, they accidently leave Kevin at home, where he does everything that his family won’t let him do.  But when a couple of burglars decide to try to break in, Kevin takes it on himself to defend his home in the only way an 8 year-old knows how. With booby traps!  No matter how many times I watch this, no matter that I know what’s coming, I’m always out of breath, in cramps, laughing all the way to the end!
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
1.5	2	2	1

	The NeverEnding Story
Stars Barret Oliver as Bastion, Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, and Tami Stronach as the Childlike Empress.  A young boy that is always bullied by a group of boys, “borrows” a book and hides in the school attic.  This borrowed book takes him through a story about a world that is being swallowed by “The Nothing” and Atreyu is on a quest to find an item that will stop this destruction. My kids really like the discovery of what is found in this new world.  The way the boy gets back at the bullies at the end is satisfying.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
0	2	0	0

	Jurassic Park
Directed by Stephen Spielberg.  Stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum.  So, what’s the first thing you can think of when you find out how to clone dinosaur embryos? Let’s make a zoo where you can go a tour the animal habitats?  Nothing can go wrong here, can it?  One of the more adult movies I let my kids watch.  They understand that the Dinosaurs are fake and I have had no issues with nightmares from the violence in this movie.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
1	4	2	1

	Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!
Stars Rick Moranis.  About a scientist that accidently shrinks his kids and his neighbor’s kids to the size of ants.  Without knowing it, he sweeps them up and tosses them in the garbage.  Now the kids must fight the dangers that await them in their own backyard!  My kids can relate to the interactions between the kids in the movie, and they like the battles they have to endure in the backyard.
Sexual content	Violence	Profanity	Drug Use
1	2	1	1

Now, my kids also wanted to get in on this article too.  They each put together a list of their favorite movies.  Looking at these, i can see a little of their personality in the lists as well.

1. Mission Impossible
2. Zathura
3. Fury Vengence
4. Kangaroo Jack
5. Poltergeist

1. Inside Out
2. Maleficent
3. Big Hero 6
4. Max
5. The Mummy

When asked why they liked these movies, they both said the same thing… “They liked action movies that can make you laugh.”  Ali also added Poltergeist in there because she likes a good scare every now and again.

Last edit: 9/25/2015