Easter Holidays – Family Movie Nights!
As we approach the Easter weekend, we’re not planning any Grand Days Out.
Oh no – we try and steer clear of those on Bank Holidays – we’re not so good at roiling crowds of people.
No we’re far more likely to be found pottering at home while everyone else is out playing; we’ll take advantage of having the place to ourselves once they’re back at school.
So Easter for us is usually about family time at home – we’ll do some baking, we’ll play some garden cricket, and we’ll definitely curl up with large quantities of popcorn for a film or two.
So – what’s on our current Must Watch List for Family Night?
I’ll show you…
Ella Enchanted
A friend recommended this to me, saying I should ignore the sugary cover and Just Watch It. It’s good.
So we will.
“This modern-day Cinderella fantasy stars Anne Hathaway as Ella, who lives in a magical world where every child is given a gift by a fairy godmother after they are born. Ella is given the ‘gift’ of obedience – which soon turns out to be more of a curse, as her thoughtless and selfish father gets re-married after the death of Ella’s mother’s to a vain and cruel woman with two equally unpleasant daughters – and Ella is spellbound to do everything they tell her to. Determined to track down the godmother who burdened her with this terrible millstone, Ella embarks on a journey that takes in all kinds of magical adventures and fantastical creatures including fairies, elves and ogres, and even a fairy-tale prince (Hugh Dancy).”
Holes
Hands up who read this in school?
Yes, me too.
And Disney’s adaptation is fantastic – they made a brilliant family movie which I’m hoping our younger two will love as much as the rest of us.
Stanley Yelnats (spell the surname backwards!) and his family have perpetual bad luck as the result of a curse that was put on his ancestors when they lived in East Europe, before they came to the States. As a result of a typical piece of misfortune, Stanley ends up at the Camp Greenlake correctional facility. But there is no lake – just a desert, in which the boys have to dig holes day after day. Gradually the mystery of the hole-digging is revealed and Stanley is the hero of the day. The camp staff are wonderfully horrible (Sigorney Weaver and Jon Voigt) and the whole thing is so well made it’s a joy to watch. Although many parts are extremely funny there are many moving bits too (but not cheesy). It is much quirkier than other Disney movies, and suitable for ages 8 and up.
The Secret of Nimh
In these days of slick computer animation it’s easy to dismiss the older children’s films.
But really, there are some beauties from my youth I want to share with my family – and this is one of them.
The Secret of Nimh – I was just a little older than my daughter when it was released, and I remember it so clearly. Not your average saccharin animated tale of a cute mouse, this one is a little darker, and makes you think and feel surprisingly deeply.
“ The plot is simple, but remarkably well constructed and with surprising emotional depth. One of her children sick and unable to be moved, widowed fieldmouse Mrs Brisby has to seek the help of the mysterious rats of N.I.M.H. – escapees from a scientific experiment who now have extraordinary powers and intellect. But the rats are in the midst of a project of their own, with the evil Jenner planning to use the situation to help him usurp the kindly Nicodemus…”
Some Like It Hot
This obviously needs no introduction from me… except to my sons, who have no idea who Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis or Jack Lemmon are.
Shocking, I know; clearly I’m a bad parent.
But it’s okay – this film will fix that. And make them laugh the popcorn out of the bowl too.
I can’t WAIT to show them people were funny in the old days too… ;)
How about you – any Family Movie Nights planned for the weekend?
