Recently the Facebook page lit up for a bit when one of you asked about movies I would recommend that you watch with your families. The questioner said I could decide the rules and then let people use some discernment with their own families. As soon as I saw the question I knew I had to do it. But I also knew I wanted to bring my friend Josh Gibbs into the conversation. So I shot him an email with the parameters and he sent me back a quintessential Gibbs-list: one part entertainment, one part film nerd, one-part thoughtful meditation on parenting. So before we get to my (extensive) recommendations here is what he sent me:
The Josh Gibbs Six
I have two daughters, ages eight and ten, and they never watch movies by themselves. Thus, the one rule which governs what movies they can watch is this: whatever it is, it has to keep me interested. In the same way little boys who have never seen a single act of violence in their short lives nonetheless know intuitively to turn obliquely angled sticks into pistols, so little girls must somehow ambiently acquire knowledge of cartoon royals, for mine know the names of half a dozen Disney beauties while having never seen a single animated princess picture. There’s a war on.
My primary objection to most children’s films is that they are zany, loud, flashy, banal commercials. My primary objection to most family films is that they are preachy and moralistic. With this in mind, here are some films my children and I like to watch together.
The later films of Charlie Chaplin: My girls fell in love with Chaplin watching Modern Times, but then we watched A King in New York and Limelight, both films from the second half of Chaplin’s career wherein he wrote, directed, and acted. These latter films are heavy at times, but often evidence the same sort of wit and wisdom for which we celebrate Oscar Wilde.
Into The West (1992): Aside from its coda, this film is just a fine bit of neorealism. The story of a drunk Irish widow (played with ease by Gabriel Byrne) whose two young sons befriend a horse they believe to be magical, then go on the lam to escape a corrupt cop who wants to acquire the horse for nefarious purposes. Set in slums, small towns, and the beautiful Irish countryside, there’s nothing saccharine about the film, but nothing seedy about it either.
To Catch a Thief (1955): I don’t want my children to be dorks when they grow up, so I’m having them watch Cary Grant movies.
That Thing You Do! (1996): The problem with most family movies is that they resolve too easily, every animosity is open and brazenly hostile, and everyone gets exactly what they want in the end. This Tom Hanks film from the 90s suffers from none of those problems.
School of Rock (2003): The most underrated movie about school ever made. While this film has no talking animals in it, there are many talking children in it, thus children will like it.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)/Isle of Dogs (2018): The only thing I really hold against my children is that they haven’t seen The Grand Budapest Hotel. I recognize it's a bit unfair to fault them for this, given that I won’t let them watch it, but still. Until they’re old enough to delve into the rest of Wes Anderson’s oeuvre, these two clay movies will do just fine. While both movies feature talking animals, neither is daft or zany or loud or flashy, and each offers adults plenty to chew on, as well.
My List
A few ground rules I made for myself:
No Disney — you don’t need me for that
Less focus on anything after 1990 (although I did break the rule a few times)
Less focus on movies that are purely entertaining—you’ve got apps for that.
Had Gibbs not included the Chaplin films on his list I would have put them on mine. You might be surprised how much your kids enjoy his silent films, by the way. Which is to say, do NOT skip the old movies. Don’t skip movies because they are black and white or because they seem campy or because the acting is more theatrical then today’s performances. You don’t necessarily need to start with the 30s or 40s to be an educated movie-watcher, but you should sprinkle in some classics along the way.
For example, watch Preston Sturges’ incredible Sullivan’s Travels (1941), one of the great Hollywood satires and, for my money, one of the funniest movies line-by-line ever written. It’s about a dissatisfied filmmaker who decides to go on the road disguised as a common man (he’s in pursuit of a movie that can change the world, you see) and was the inspiration for the Coen Brothers’ Oh Brother, Where Are Thou? Check out Steven Greydanus’ review of the film here, for Decent Films. Middle school and up, is my thinking.
I am going to skip all the traditional Disney/Pixar fare, and instead mention two alternative animated films that our family loves. One is a western (not surprising, I know) called Rango (2011), about a chameleon who finds himself the incompetent but lucky sheriff of a desert town called Dirt where water is scarce and thus a black market currency. It might be too zany for Mr. Gibbs, but it certainly fits his requirement that it keep parents interested. The other one is The Iron Giant (1999), Brad Birds first film, before he went on to direct The Incredibles and Ratatouille. As Greydanus put it, “The Iron Giant was already a boy-and-his-dog story, but with the Giant as the dog.” Kids and up in both cases.
In my opinion, kids are uniquely open to the wonders of the Western movie and most of the classics are very family-friendly. Almost to a fault, but it was the era and the Hays Code was a thing. Watch Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), Red River (1949), Hondo (1953), Shane (1953), High Noon (1953), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and you’ll have a great education in American cinema’s best filmmakers. My kids like these fine and they’re 7 and 8. Make sure to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) with your older kids, one of my favorite movies ever and arguably the best screenplay ever written.
Your kids have watched The Raiders of the Lost Ark, right? I hope so, although I would watch it alongside younger kids just in case. It’s got its moments where you may need to fast forward. Face-melting can be scary.
You probably know this, but my favorite movie is Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960), a film with underlying adult themes that every high schooler should watch. The second-best screenplay ever written, for my money.
Singing in the Rain (1952). I will let Greydanus have the floor here, too: “People who say they don’t like musicals should watch Singin’ in the Rain, and find out how sweet eating one’s words can be. People who say they do like musicals already know and love Singin’ in the Rain—otherwise they have no business saying they love musicals.”
My Neighbor Totoro (1988) is one of the most beloved animated films of all time—and one of the most influential. Without Hayao Miyazaki’s breakthrough film, we wouldn’t have had films like Toy Story or The Incredibles or the aforementioned The Iron Giant. Kids and up. 2001’s Spirited Away is from the same studio.
Gibbs mentioned that he shows his kids Cary Grant movies so they won’t be dorks. For that same reason you might want to show your kids some of the noir classics like Notorious (1946) and Strangers on a Train (1951), both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949), a classic thriller filmed in the ruins of post-World War II Vienna, written by Graham Greene. Middle and up will like these best.
You could also spend some time with some of the epic swords-and-sandal films like Ben Hur and Antony and Cleopatra, or, say, The Sound of Music. Those movies will keep kids occupied for a long, long while. Any age, in my opinion.
And finally, you should try out Bicycyle Thieves (1946), a wonderful Italian movie about a father and son on a mission, Babette’s Feast (1988) about a cook who changes a community, and Chariots of Fire (1981), about pleasing God—but these films demand some patience. Middle school and up.
That isn’t a comprehensive list, per se, but it’s a start.
Happy watching.