Weekend Matinees

Amy Brown

You might know that, until recently, Delphine was just too sensitive to watch movies. Any kind of suspense or peril would send her running for the farthest corner of the house. But lately she's become more blase about everything, and she is much cooler about scary bits in movies. "Actually this is pretty scary," she will say, while holding her ground on the couch. So, we've been watching movies.

We started a while ago with The Sound of Music, which is really quite scary what with the Nazis and all. (Although Delphine was more scared of the stern father.) Then a few weeks ago we rented Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, then Nanny McPhee. We decided to have a regular movie night every weekend. After some discussion we've decided to have matinees so as to avoid too much pre-bedtime excitement and bad dreams. I'm excited to introduce the girls to some great movies, and to get back to watching movies myself, even if only PG-rated ones.

Last week we watched Star Wars (the original one). Cordelia was really excited to see it, and Delphine enjoyed it in the end. I think they both liked making sense of all the stuff the boys in their classes jabber about. Although Delphine was very confused as to why Ethan would dress up as a bad guy—Darth Vader—for Halloween. I couldn't help her.

Here's our list of movies to see:

  • Bedknobs and Broomsticks
  • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
  • Mary Poppins
  • Fiddler on the Roof
  • Toy Story
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • The Princess and the Frog
  • Alladin
  • The Aristocats? (This is the first movie I saw in a theatre, but I can't remember if I liked it.)
  • Shrek
  • The Lion King
  • The Iron Giant
  • It's a Wonderful Life
  • The Muppet Movie
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
  • Darby O'Gill and the Little People
  • The Incredibles
  • Nightmare Before Christmas
  • Escape from Witch Mountain
  • The Wizard of Oz
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (maybe later)
  • The Princess Bride
  • E.T.
  • Fantasia
  • Babe
  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off
  • Miracle on 34th Street
  • The Parent Trap
  • Swiss Family Robinson
  • My Neighbour Totoro

Any other classic, or great, kid or kid-friendly movies we should see? Dave, what about Miyazaki? What do you like?

(Oh, and Columbine's post about Alice in Wonderland is quite apropos.)