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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
...the old stuff, not the new stuff (although that's good in its own right!).
It's not that hard a concept, it was intended as a kids' show, and the shoestring-snapped budget FX will make everyone giggle (we used that as a jumping-off point for the concept of "suspension of disbelief"). Quite a few episodes are now available on DVD.
Six and up normally, but my two-year-old stops in her tracks and looks at the TV every time she hears the theme music, and she cheers every time the Doctor is onscreen (and that goes for all of the incarnations of the character she's seen).
Furthermore, for car trips, download some of Big Finish's Doctor Who audios to your mp3 player from their website. Hey presto! Radio drama!
I was holding on to that as my sole suggestion...then forgot! And I agree with the Marx Brothers. We went to see one at a local theater and there were dozens of kids. Some others I love.
For little ones
The Snowman animated short
The Muppet Movie
Charlotte's Web
Babe
Chicken Run
For medium ones
E.T.
The Goonies
My Girl
Home Alone
Searching for Bobby Fischer
The Bad News Bears
Mirrormask
Gormenghast
Stand By Me
For big ones
Step Into Liquid
Europa Europa
Big
Some Like it Hot
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Pan's Labyrinth
Pathfinder (Ofelas)
American History X
Krackysm, thanks for mentioning "JT." I was thinking of that story and couldn't remember the name. It affected me deeply when I saw it as a kid.
We loved the Shirley Temple movies as kids and watched them over and over. Even as young kids we knew they were sappy, but we liked them anyway.
And thanks for listing "The Point." I hope it gets re-discovered.
Pity this list seems to have studiously ignored so much from the 30s, 40s, 50s...
National Velvet and the Lassie films are wonderful adventures for children. They not only entertain, they teach.
With some caution, I offer up a 1949 film (in vivid technicolor) with Robert Mitchum, Myrna Loy and a 7 year old Beau Bridges: THE RED PONY, based on a John Steinbeck novella.
It's the story of a California ranch family, set some time in the first or second decade of the 20th century. It centers around a little boy who idolizes the family's ranch hand, Billy (Robert Mitchum), and whose father is unable to establish a bond with his son.
There is one particular scene that may be rough for very young children, but in 1949 this film was deemed appropriate to be shown to kids past the toddler age.
It's a powerful film directed by Lewis Milestone, the same guy who directed the compelling anti-war film ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
You've got a lion (Elsa) and an Ocelot (Michel -- ba da boom!), but no cheetah! DUMA is a great kids' film: it's got humor, adventure, sentiment (not sticky), funny accents, and some scary bits. Plus the cheetah, who's incredibly appealing.
Warning: the boy's father dies, which can be hard for some kids.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
