Best Movies for Family Movie Night: Here’s My List
One of our new rituals as a family is a Friday Movie Night. I know it’s not particularly innovative or interesting, but it’s new to us! It’s been a good way to keep sheltering-in-place entertaining. I’m now on the hunt for the Best Movies for Family Movie Night!
Each Friday, we alternate who picks the movie. Henry went first and picked Rio (big hit). Then Matt picked Babe (our worst pick yet!). Tate followed up with the most recent Star Wars film (an obvious hit since we had seen it already!). Then I chose Holes (I liked it but the boys thought it was just okay). Then Henry picked Spies in Disguise (thumbs up). Matt picked Spaceballs (the biggest hit yet!). Tate picked the first Harry Potter film, and I picked Mrs. Doubtfire (it went over better than I thought it would).
I love talking about Movie Night days in advance as folks think through and finalize their choices. It’s adorable!
When Friday night rolls around, we pick up take-out, cover our bed with a giant extra sheet to protect it from spills, set up our screen and projector, and then eat and watch. It’s a really fun ritual. We still put Tate to bed around 6:30pm, so we will generally watch the first half on Friday and finish up on Saturday.
For my picks, I’m looking for things that I find interesting (but I also want my children to find them enjoyable). It’s a tall order! Here are some of my ideas:
Best Movies for Family Movie Night
- The Lion King
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Star Wars
- Mary Poppins
- Home Alone
- Inside Out
- Peter Rabbit
- The Princess Bride
- Mrs. Doubtfire
- Space Balls
- Coco
- The Sandlot
- Matilda
- Moana
- The Parent Trap
- Free Willy
- My Dog Skip
- Up
- E.T.
- Mighty Joe Young
- Dumbo
- Big
- Candleshoe
- The Land Before Time
- The NeverEnding Story
- Swiss Family Robinson
- James and the Giant Peach
- The Black Stallion
- Wonder
- Shaun the Sheep Movie
- WALL-E
- Eight Below
- Big Hero 6
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
- Secondhand Lions
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Freaky Friday
- Little Giants
- Rookie of the Year
- Cool Runnings
- Dolphin Tale
- Holes
- Yours, Mine, and Ours
- Whale Rider
- Spy Kids
- Pete’s Dragon
- The Black Stallion
- The Mighty Ducks
- Swallows and Amazons
What are additional ideas you think I should add to this list? I’m eager to know! Thanks in advance for your time.
8 Comments
Kate
Free Willy was THE BIGGEST hit in our house. It was on replay for ages.
One silver lining of the whole pandemic has been being able to introduce my old favourite movies from my childhood to my kid. Generally big hits all around: An American Tail, Land Before Time, Homeward Bound, The Great Mouse Detective, The Sound of Music, Rescuers Down Under, Free Willy.
We sadly don’t have Disney + in Belgium yet, but we apparently will (September?), so I am reluctant to drop 20 bucks every time we want a new Disney movie at the moment…
Kate
I was just browsing through the not-great selection on Belgian Netflix and I have some suggestions for your list!
The Witches (warning: a bit scary)
Jumanji (the original, not the remake with The Rock)
The BFG
Madagascar (that was on repeat for a while too)
Little Rascals
Sara Cotner
These are great, Kate! Thanks so much for chiming in.
Amy
I just wanted to pop in to add the film version of “Swallows and Amazons”. We have watched it on Amazon Prime and would be worth renting. It is beautifully filmed and the sibling relationship and adventure they have together is so great! It doesn’t follow the book very closely but is still such a great movie.
Sara Cotner
Ooh, this sounds good, Amy! I will add it to my list. Thanks so much!
Sara Cotner
More great additions! Thank you! Thank you!
meg
Hi Sara, great list. Our family loves “Singing in the Rain” and other old musicals. The “make ’em laugh” bit from this one is worth it!
I notice a spelling book behind you….is this something you are using with your kids? Do you like it?
Thanks!
M
Sara Cotner
Great addition, Meg!
Yes, it’s the All About Reading program. I love it and highly recommend it! Let me know if you have more specific questions about it.