Movie List
The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, Never, NEVER let
Them near your television set—
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all....
It rots the senses in the head!
It kills imagination dead!
It clogs and clutters up the mind!
It makes a child so dull and blind
He can no longer understand
A fantasy, a fairyland!
His brain becomes as soft as cheese!
His powers of thinking rust and freeze!
He cannot think—he only sees!
-Roald Dahl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
In an effort to be more thoughtful about the movies we watch, we are attempting to write a short review of each one. Perhaps the Oompa Loompas were a little extreme in their song above. There are lots of good stories in movie form, and there's nothing nicer than snuggling up on the couch after a day of hard work and enjoying a good story together. But before you know it—
We loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until our eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
We hope these reviews will help you find some good stories to watch with your family. We'll try to give a brief synopsis and mention anything offensive that stood out to us, but please don't sue us if you watch one of these and get offended at something we didn't mention.
Click here for the rest of Roald Dahl's poem.
6/8/2010, reviewed by Amanda Evans
This is a movie about a group of aging religious devotees in a small village on the coast of Denmark. They live simply, eating their food boiled and mushy. But when Babette, a French refugee sheltering among them for years, wins the lottery, she decides to spend it on ingredients to lay a real French feast before these humble people. As they see these exotic ingredients arrive, they are apprehensive, to say the least. But when they taste of her carefully prepared and exquisitely presented bounty,...
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6/3/2010, reviewed by Eli Evans
The Karate Kid story is well-known: a scrawny kid moves with his mother to new city and quickly manages to make an enemy of the local bully and his gang. A martial arts master takes him under his wing, mentoring and training him until the boy competes in the local martial arts competition. Along the way, the boy learns about discipline, self-control, and gains an appreciation for others. The original 1980s version was a great coming-of-age film that I must have watched half a dozen times...
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5/25/2010, reviewed by Amanda Evans
Set during WWII, this movie is about a group of Jewish Americans led by a backwoods Tennessee radical who parachute deep into German territory with the mission to kill every Nazi they meet. It also tells the story of Shoshanna, a young French Jew who narrowly escapes being massacred along with her family by a shrewd German known as the Jew Hunter. Shoshanna changes her name, settles in a new city, and eventually inherits a theater. Tension rises when the Germans decide to use her theater for the...
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5/25/2010, reviewed by Amanda Evans
I turned this movie on for the kids one afternoon, but it was so beautifully fascinating that I found myself stopping to watch it with them. This documentary tells the story of the penguin mating season. It begins with the long march inland to the only solid, somewhat sheltered spot in Antarctica where every penguin there was once hatched. It shows the competition among the females for the outnumbered males and then the touching tenderness between each couple once they select their mate for the...
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5/25/2010, reviewed by Amanda Evans
Not quite as charming as the book, this movie still manages to be very sweet and likable. The three girls don't give the most original performances ever, but they put on a show that would make a fun girl's night flick. Watch it sometime when Dad and the boys are out if you want, but please, don't miss out on the book!
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