Movie Log, Winter and Spring 2020/21

 With all the enforced home time this winter we've been doing quite a few movie nights lately. For the most part we've focused on movies David and I remember from our growing up years, so these are mostly movies from the 80s and 90s. I thought it might be fun to keep notes on which ones we watched and whether we enjoyed them. 

For reference, James is 11, Grace is 10, and Lucy is 7

Short Circuit (1986) 

Short Circuit was either the first or second movie I saw in the theater. Dad was inspired to take the family when it made it to the Hood theater because it was filmed in Astoria (OR) and parts were even filmed at some Corps of Engineers properties near Bonneville Dam. But I hadn't seen it in 25 years, and all I could have told you was that it involved a live robot named Number 5. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it had stood up to time. It was funny, sweet, well paced, and kept everyone's interest up. It was full of one-liners too: the kids were especially taken with "Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?" I liked "Life is not a malfunction." That said, the robot out-acted everyone else on screen. Easily. 

Family Friendly Factor: Brief, vaguely suggestive scene with Stephanie in the bathtub, but nothing shown. Quite a number of things were blown up at the beginning of the movie, but it was not in anger. 

Batteries Not Included (1987) 

This was another one I was confident I'd seen, but again all I could tell you was that it was about some robot-like little aliens. I thought it was a more or less pure kids' movie - I imagined I even recalled a kid as co-star. It was actually about a group of mostly older New Yorkers who were being forced out of their apartment building by a unscrupulous property developer and his honchos. The aliens showed up needing power, and paid for it by repairing the damage caused by the bad guys with magical precision. Echos of "The Elf and the Shoemaker." Although it wasn't at all what I had been expecting, it was another sweet and often funny ensemble movie that all five of us enjoyed. 

Family Friendly Factor: One brief view of a nude painting. Not much in the way of language or suggestive behavior. A scary moment or two with a fire.

Star Trek IV (1986) 

I've seen this one 1/2 a dozen times or more. David and I got to talking about the various ST movies one night at dinner and we agreed this would be a fun one to start with. Of course, I hadn't seen it in 15 years. And the kids have never seen anything else Star Trek. This was more of a barrier than I had anticipated, but in truth it's a purely funny movie. I think Lucy was the only one bored by it.

Family Friendly Factor: Somehow I'd forgotten all the "colorful metaphors." In other words, Kirk and even Spock swear routinely if mildly, albeit for comic effect. There isn't anything else suggestive or even terribly violent though.

The Rocketeer (1991) 

Once again, I know I watched this when it was new-ish, but remembered nearly nothing about it. It's a comic book origin story set a few years before WWII and centered around a pilot who comes into possession of a one-man rocket pack. This one looked way better on paper than it did in real life. I felt like it dragged quite a bit, and was more than ready for it to be over 2/3 of the way though. The best scenes were near the beginning, and things flagged after that.
Grace says that she enjoyed it, and James certainly did, but Lucy and I were both bored.
I wouldn't watch this one again.

Family Friendly Factor: Some surprisingly scary fire scenes during the climax on the burning dirigible. Some mildly suggestive behavior between the lead lady and the bad guy. Not much swearing though.

Elf (2003) [Watched 12 '20]

This one is forever showing up on family friendly must-watch Christmas movies, so - having already watched "Home Alone" and the animated "Grinch" - we decided it was finally time to give it a try.  I'm giving it a big, fat "Meh." Yes, it had a handful of funny moments. But there was a serious flinch-factor to most of them. Watching a 6 foot tall adult in tights make an utter fool of himself over and over again got - uninteresting - pretty quickly. Maybe worth it for that scene where he fights with the dwarf... or throws snowballs at 80 mph? The climax was not very satisfying, although the epilogue was sweet. All in all, you'll have to try hard to get me to re-watch. 

 

Family Friendly Factor: Some potty humor, some drinking humor, some mildly suggestive bits with the girl Buddy finds himself sweet on - not in itself a reason to avoid, but taken as a package, why bother? 

Home Alone I (1990) [Re-watched 12 '20] 

The kids love this one, of course. Well, James and Lucy do. It's very slapstick and there's a lot of truly cringe-worthy moments during the climactic home invasion. The thieves would have been disabled, if not simply dead, 4 or 5 times over, but in true cartoon style they keep on, just so they can step on something else sharp. I enjoyed it more last year than this, and I'm not all that eager to add it to our must-watch-every-December list.
In its defense, the scenes between Kevin and the next-door-neighbor all the kids are so scared of are really sweet and well played. The Christmas Message here was better than in a lot of holiday movies. 

Family Friendly Factor: Ouch. So Much Destruction and Slapstick Violence. Kevin is in actual danger for much of the movie. His family, especially brother Buzz, is pretty awful, and Kevin says pretty awful things back.

The Grinch (2018) [Re-watched 12 '20]

We have carefully not watched any of the other Grinch movies, including the original classic TV special. That said, we all enjoyed this animated version. It goes well off the plot line - inevitable given the brevity of the source material, I suppose - and innovates wildly as to character backstories. But the spirit is reasonably close to Seuss' book. And the movie is quite fun as well as visually stunning in true Seussian fasion. My favorite scene is one that appears in the trailers: the Who carolers essentially pursuing the poor Grinch through the streets of Whoville to the tune of Pentatonix's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."  I will willingly watch this one in future holiday seasons.
PS: I consider myself a (slightly guilty) Cumberbatch fan, so imagine my embarrassment when I actually didn't realize he voiced the Grinch on my first viewing. Wow. Take away a guy's British accent and he's not Quite so cool, I guess!

 

Family Friendly Factor: Not much to complain about here. Nothing, really.  

Superman II (1976 / 2006 Director's Cut) 

David's memory was that Superman I wasn't worth watching, so we went straight to #2. We checked out the original director's cut from 2006, which included significant reworking of the ending among other things from the theatrical release. Fascinating stuff of course. But Oh How It Dragged. Again, the older two kids will tell you they enjoyed it, but I was bored stiff at the half-way point. I've gotten used to the pace and witty banter of the more recent Marvel movies, and this could not compare, Christoper Reeve or not. (At least the kids now understand the Lego Batman reference to "The Phantom Zone!")

Family Friendly Factor: Lots of mayhem and violence. No swearing. One awfully suggestive scene where Superman and Lois are clearly in bed together at the Fortress of Solitude. 

Back to the Future I (1985) and III (1990)

We watched these two several months ago. I've seen them any number of times, and they are just as much fun as I remembered - just don't bother with II! 

Family Friendly Factor: Some very suggestive (not to mention uncomfortable) flirting between Loraine and Marty in #1. He and Jennifer kiss. Marty does use some words my kids are not allowed to use. #3 is the cleaner movie from this perspective.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 

We screened this one several months ago, in mid 2020, and I spent a good portion of the movie wincing and wondering why I had thought this was a good idea for the kids to watch. Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie in a fun franchise, but there is tons of violence, injury, and scary stuff - not to mention the whole face melting thing. No-one seems to have been too traumatized, thankfully. (Oh, and we did have a number of conversations about the Biblical accuracy, or rather lack thereof. But oh well!) 
The Last Crusade is by far the best movie of the series, but I'm holding off on it for now. I realize that I shut my own eyes for a lot of the action scenes and maybe the kids don't need to deal with those for now.

The Wizard (1989) [watched Feb '21]

In a well-intentioned but sorely misguided attempt to keep his little half-brother out of an institution, 13 year old Corey (Fred Savage) kidnaps 9 year old Jimmy and sets out cross-country with no more goal in mind than "California:" the place withdrawn, uncommunicative Jimmy is always trying to reach. Along the way Corey discovers that Jimmy is a video game wizard, able to master practically any title he plays the first time.  
You might be tempted to pass this one off as a bought-and-paid-for Nintendo advertisement: the "maguffin" the protagonists end up pursuing is a spot in the Nintendo "Video Armageddon" championship of course, and they stop to bone up on Nintendo titles at every arcade they pass. Even the yet-to-be-released Power Glove got a drool-inducing 5 minute scene. But they wrapped a really good, fun, and rather sweet movie around it that our whole family enjoyed - even David, who had not seen it when it came out. 
I had a few memories about this one: the cross-country chase, and a video-game champion nemesis named Lucas. And of course Fred Savage, who I've always kind of liked even though I didn't watch The Wonder Years as a kid. But I'd forgotten the pith of the story, which was - like I said - really pretty good.

Family Friendly Factor: The kids stop in Reno for a video game cram session, and we get to see much more of scantily clad waitresses and the like than I personally wanted to. Grace wanted to know why they couldn't wear just a bit more than that.
There are verbal fights between the dad and older brother, and a few (pretty slapstick) actual fights with the bounty hunter, but nothing really cringe-worthy.
I found the final scene very nearly a tear-jerker, but it was in a good way. Really, aside from the utterly unnecessary lightly-clad female flesh, there isn't much to complain about.  

Flight of the Navigator (1986) [watched Feb '21]

This is one neither of us had seen. The action starts in 1978, but quickly shifts to 1986 with our protagonist, a 12 year old boy, utterly unable to explain his disappearance in 1978 nor why he is obviously Still 12. Turns out that he'd been kidnapped by an alien drone ship and taken at light-speed to its home planet, examined, and then returned. Then said ship managed to crash into a power line and fry itself on the way out, and needs the maps it stuck in the kid's head to get home. At this point it devolves into a Short Circuit-like chase, especially after the ship regrettably downloads a fair bit of 12-year-old-boy humor along with the maps. (I eventually figured out the ship was voiced by Paul Rubens, aka PeeWee Herman. This explains a lot, perhaps especially why I found it pretty irritating.) Much of the action takes place just between this kid and the ship, and we'll just say that Joey Crammer isn't quite as good an actor as Fred Savage.

Family Friendly Factor: Overall it was pretty tame and unobjectionable - they even wrap it up with a neat little bow just in case you were going to feel too sorry for this poor kid stranded 8 years later in time than he was meant to be. But that's all I can say for it. There was very little more to the plot than "boy gets to play with magical spaceship, but discovers knowing the way to its home planet isn't very helpful when he just wants to go to Fort Lauderdale." It's clear the kids enjoyed it, but it was a little too pablum for me to rate it very highly. 

Cool Runnings (1993) [Watched Feb 21]

The "based on actual events" story of the 1986 Jamaica bobsled team. The kids did not have high expectations for this one. Sports movie, based on a true story, and - most critically - not sci fi, fantasy, or even action adventure. I wish I could say that it entirely exceeded their expectations in all possible ways, but I think they were only moderately impressed. (Grace says she liked it.) They did sit through it and laugh at the right places. For my part, though, I enjoyed it. I'd seen it once, maybe twice before, but long enough ago that I'd forgotten all but the high points. I really don't consider myself a sports movie person - certainly, outside of the Olympics I never watch sports on TV - but the end of the movie came closer to jerking a few years than anything I've watched lately. 

 

Family Friendly Factor: Nothing to complain about here. OK, there is a minor bar fight, but there's no language, no skimpy female costumes... I really think the only thing you could fuss about here is a appreciate statement about the main character's back-side.

Mystery Men (1999) [Watched Feb '21]

This one was a whole lot funnier in my memory than it was when we re-watched it. I mentioned this analysis to a friend and he said he thinks this is one that was always funniest when remembered and re-quoted with friends. In other words, it's a movie with a fair number of funny quotes and amusing situations, but they're not stitched together well enough to be a truly great watch.
It was very much an ensemble cast, full of big names, and I think a lot of such movies don't live up to their promise. Also, Peewee Herman. 'Nuff said.

Grace says "It's kind of like Elf. People running around being idiots."
 

Family Friendly Factor: Lots of potty humor. And a surprising face-melting-fairly-main-character-blowing-up scene that you don't really expect and don't prepare the kids not to watch. Would not re-watch.

Explorers (1985) [Watched April '21]

Neither David nor I saw this one when it came out. I'm not sure either one of us can really say we've seen it now. :) It would appear to be notable primarily because it featured both the very young Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix. Not that I could tell you anything else either of them were in. Anyway, it's based on the same general theme as Flight of the Navigator (1986). A young, sci-fi obsessed, ostracized-at-school teen has recurring dreams of flying through a Tron-like environment, and gives the circuit diagrams he draws upon waking to his best friend, who just happens to be a tech wizard. He inputs them into his computer and "a miracle occurs." Suddenly the three guys (another misfit dropped in at the right moment) are in possession of a force bubble which can travel through its environment without gravity or friction. Between the three of them they manage to construct a reasonably air-tight vessel which they use to buzz the local drive-in movie theater. 

At this point I had to leave to pick up Grace and missed most of the last 45 minutes of the film, but it would appear that the aliens who actually sent them the tech specs have plans for them: they go on a fantastic interstellar adventure, part on good terms with the ETs, and come back home without raising any particular suspicions with parents or other authorities. It ends on a high note with our little team - plus the beautiful girl the main guy had a crush on - in another Tron-ish dreamscape. (Tron, 1982, is on our list to watch.)

Look, it's a lot better than "Flight of the Navigator" if only because it lacks Pee Wee Herman. The actors were a little better too, and maybe even the plot - although I can't fully speak to that. But it's not in the same league as "Back of the Future" (also 1985) or "Short Circuit" (1986), let alone ET (1982) which would have been aimed at effectively the same audience. 

Still, James and Lucy appeared to enjoy it. There was nothing that I saw in the first half of the movie that was in the least offensive in terms of language or sexual innuendo, so it's fairly safe.

Malcolm in the Middle (Seasons 1-2, 2000/2001) 

We've been watching a couple of episodes of the sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle" each week after dinner. Malcolm, an otherwise ordinary kid, is "diagnosed" with a genius level IQ early in the season. The stories center around him (I personally appreciate his shtick of addressing the camera a couple of times per episode), his immediate family of 2 other boys and parents, and his big brother Francis who begins the series away at military school. 
I'll be honest, this one is hard to justify. Hal and Lois frequently end up largely unclothed in cringe-worthy scenes. They are frequently very suggestive (although since they're married, I can let some of it pass! Also, most of it frankly goes well over the kids heads.) The boys are awful to one another. Craig is creepy. Hal is a stereotypical idiotic sitcom-dad. And it's Hilarious.
OK, it's more than just that. I was talking to an older friend about what we both like so much, and there are a couple of redeeming factors. One is that Hal and Lois really do love each other. They are deeply committed to each other and their family, even when sacrifices are required. (The season 2 finale was practically inspiring!) And (possibly excepting Reese) the kids are really not That bad: they're just kids. Malcolm is a genius, but he just wants to be accepted by his peers and maybe get a girlfriend like everyone else. Francis is a unrepentant screw-up, but he has considerable strength of character. Dewey is devious, but also pretty sweet. The side characters are works of art in themselves - Stevie is everyone's favorite, but many of the "Krelboyns" are nearly as funny, and then there's Spangler, and Lavernia... honestly, the writers are brilliant.
Grace (who is taking an acting class) is grumpy about the fact that no-one ever learns anything and no-one ever wins. She loves to point out the over-acting. I try to explain that this is a sitcom, and that's how they work. But it violates her understanding of good storytelling. Somehow I expect we'll keep watching it anyway, at least for a few seasons.  

PS: I watched this initially when it was new. I had no kids, I had no husband. I was WAY too hard on Lois. I am So much more sympathetic to the poor woman this time through! 

PPS: I think this may be the only sitcom (excepting The Simpsons, which is arguably in that category) that I actually like. I am neutral at best on all the ones we watched growing up like "Home Improvement." Those all had the same stupid dads that I object to in principle (yes, Hal absolutely falls into this category), but also felt this deep need to tie every episode up with a neat little bow. Usually a cringe-worthy one. Ugh.

Current(ish) Movies

Captain America (2011) [Watched Dec 2020]

We watched this one without Grace, who has no love for Superhero movies. I really enjoy this particular entry in the Marvel / Avengers canon, but am not eager to explore the others with the kids. 

Family Friendly Factor: There is lots of WWII violence in the movie, plenty of scary moments, and lots of other stuff the younger kids might not be good with. 

Lego Batman (2017) 

Purely fun. Much more fun than Superman II. There are even some good life lessons in there. 

Pete's Dragon (2016) 

Better than I thought it would be, and Grace (the resident dragon expert) accepted the highly mammalian dragon despite his fur. Shockingly, contains a bit of environmental preaching and casts the loggers as bad-guys. Par for the course, but always a bit irritating. 

Family Friendly Factor: Pete loses his parents at the beginning of the movie. It's handled fairly gently - we certainly don't see anything graphic - but it's obviously traumatic. Nothing else terribly concerning here unless, like us, you are annoyed by the continued vilification of loggers. 

Spiderman: Far From Home (2019), watched April '21 

James really, really, wants to watch Marvel movies right now. A lot. I am not nearly as excited about them, Lucy is neutral, and Grace would much rather chose something else. She's not sure what, but not Superhero movies. She - like me - finds them a bit exhausting with their constant chases, fights, and explosions.
I was really pretty OK with "Far From Home." (Even though I have not seen any of the Avengers movies after Civil War.) Peter Parker is a high school student, really really needs to guard his secret identity, and would really, really, really love to date whats-her-name. But Nick Fury needs him to help track down and neutralize some really nasty elementals threatening - well - everything. He tries to get out of it, but neither Fury nor the elementals will take "No" for an answer. So, of course, he fights them, makes some new friends, exposes his secret identity to whats-her-name, and is an unwilling participant in the destruction of some seriously historic European architecture. 

From a family friendly standpoint, there's a very suggestive and utterly unnecessary scene where a beautiful S.H.I.E.L.D. agent commands Peter to strip and try on the new costume she is delivering. Of course a classmate walks in on the and draws all the wrong conclusions. Aside from that there's just the question of how desensitized we wish to be to violence and things exploding all over the place...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), watched May '21

Another one that James insisted upon pretty strongly, and we gave in because it was his birthday weekend. He needed it to fill in the blanks between Captain America and Age of Ultron. I'd seen it, probably in the theater when it was new, but couldn't tell him much about it. Didn't even remember good ol' Redford was the betrayer. Nothing really wrong with the movie, and it did move the whole Hydra plot forward quite a bit, but for all its explosions, close calls, and frantic, adrenaline-pumping battles, it did little to engage me. Yes, there were the the heart-strings tugged with the miraculous reappearance of poor, mind-slaved Bucky.  But that was about it. Plenty of witty banter, plus The Falcon's origin story, but I really do find these sorts of movies overstimulating and exhausting.

 

After Hours TV Time

My insomniac (Grace) keeps showing up after bedtime while I am watching my own comfort-TV. This month that's

Due South (1994-1999)

This Police Dramady was a huge favorite of mine when it was on TV, and I actually acquired the DVDs and pull them out perhaps ever 5 years. Grace is scandalized that I had a crush on Frazier. 

Anyway, the series is about a Mountie (Frazier) who "first came to Chicago on the trail of his father's killer, and for reasons that don't bear exploring at this juncture, remained attached as liaison to the Chicago PD."  It's part fish-out-of-water, part Odd-Couple as the straight as an arrow, boy-scout like Frazier solves cases with the considerably more morally flexible Detective Ray Vecchio.  And then there's his dead father who Will keep interfering with things at the most inconvenient of times...

Grace loves this one, especially because as it is Not a sitcom, things Do go right for the characters from time to time, and they get to learn and grow to some degree. 

Family Friendly Factor: There's plenty of violence. Guns, fists, whatever. There's wince-creating tension between Frazier and his female CO, and Frazier and his partners' sister - both of whom are pursuing him, not vice versa. Every once in a while Frazier actually behaves in a less monk-like manner than we have come to expect. Not much in the way of language, although Ray is very brash.

Last month it was 

NCIS (Seasons 1-5, 2003-2008). 

We won't talk too much about the family friendlieness of this one, as all of the complaints about violence, murders, and generally bad behavior apply, but Grace loves Abby a lot. And Gibbs, although not as much as Abby.
This is my second time through, and I decided that I was done with it for a while after season 5. I know there are 12(!) more, but it was getting intense and not the relaxing escapist fare I was wanting. 

Before that it was 

Person of Interest (2011-2016), aka "Jesus Saves." 

One of my own personal favorites. Mr. Finch, a reclusive billionaire, recruits homeless veteran John Reese (Jim Caviezel, thus the "Jesus Saves" joke) to help him save people who's "numbers are up" according to his all-seeing computer known as "The Machine." There are elements of Quantum Leap especially in the first couple of seasons, and it's quite enjoyable. Of course by the end they're in a fight for their very lives against another, rather more evil computer program, but it's one I really enjoyed watching both times through. Not really family friendly, though. Typical levels of violence and murders and occasional suggestive behavior.