Almighty Dad | A stay at home dad blog

It is not for me to decide what the boys will like.  There are some movies that I was sure they would like, but didn’t.  I thought Monsters Inc. and The Incredibles would make the list, but they didn’t.  Other movies I never would have expected to make it, like Castle in the Sky.  But, the boys always seem to surprise me.  Sky High was one that they watched several times and laughed each time (that was unexpected).  Spider Man, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones are good adventure movies for any age, and the boys watch them often.  Home Alone is a classic kid movie that parents would like to go away – but won’t.  Spirited away was a little spooky, but the kids didn’t notice.  Parents can never know for sure what their kids will like.  These are the movies that my kids have decided make the grade; I created a list of 20 and they helped me cut it to 10.

Star Wars (All of Them)

Is there a kid in the universe that doesn’t love Star Wars?  There probably is.  But, there aren’t many.  Star Wars needs no explanation: light sabers, robots, evil sith lords, and exploding stuff.  What else do boys need or want?

Cars

Talking cars living in a car-centric world.  It’s a simple premise; a hot shot guy gets stranded in a hick town and has to get along until he is “rescued”.  But, then he learns about the simple things in life and becomes attached.  It’s Doc. Hollywood but animated and with cars as the main characters.  Kids love not having to think much while still getting witty one liners and funny accidents.  That’s Cars in a nutshell.

Howl’s Moving Castle

This is one of the coolest and most difficult movies to explain in such a short space.  It’s about a wizard who travels around in a magical walking castle.  This wizard befriends a local girl one day.  Later that same day the girl gets cursed by a witch.  Howl does not witness the curse and is, therefore, unaware of it.  The curse renders the girl an old woman.  She cannot reveal that she is cursed, and Howl is the only one who can remove the spell.  She goes looking for him.  When she finds him he does not recognize her.  She pretends to be the new cleaning lady for his walking castle.  The story gets really involved from there, and I don’t have enough space to explain it.  Suffice it to say that it’s even one of my favorite movies.  The boys were captivated by the twisting plot, the fantastic animation and, of course, all the magic.

Castle in the Sky

Japanese animated movies are usually smart and beautiful.  Castle in the Sky is one of the best.  Once, long ago, people lived in floating cities (hey, at least it isn’t robot lions that turn into bigger robots, right).  Eventually these cities fell back to earth and people started living on land again.  But, one city, Laputa, is still floating somewhere out in the sky.  It has become a legend while nobody has been able to find it.  A girl is in possession of a magical stone that she discovers is a piece of a rock that powers Laputa.  She is convinced that the city exists and sets out on a quest to find it.  She is pursued by the government and sky pirates who want the rock for themselves.  It’s yet another smart, imaginative story, the kind the boys can really appreciate.

Wall E

I thought a movie without dialogue for the first 40 minutes would be boring.  Wrong!  I can’t say for sure what it is about this one that makes it more interesting than Finding Nemo or Toy Story, but it is.  Maybe it’s the love story between Eva and Wall E?  No, probably not.  Could it be the rescue of mankind from it’s own lazy self?  I doubt it.  Who knows?  It’s a mystery.  The boys just seem to dig it.  That’s cool.

Sky High

What a stupid movie to be included on the list, right?  Apparently not.  Superpowers in the hands of kids?  You betcha!  Irresponsible behavior?  Yup!  Kurt Russell?  Yes.  So, I guess it’s a cool movie.  I rented it one day and had the boys watch it while I was doing some homework.  They giggled through the whole thing, and asked to play it again when the credits began to run.  Go figure.

Home Alone 1 & 2

Whatever anybody does do not watch Home Alone 3.  What’s this?  There’s a Home Alone 4, too?  Holy Cow!  Well, I didn’t know that.  In any case, 1 and 2 are funny.  A kid gets left at home twice in a row and finds himself facing the same two criminals both times (the second time in New York City).  In the real world these robbers would die many times over with the abuse they are subjected to.  But, they don’t, and they keep coming back for more.  That’s exactly why kids love it.  It’s like a Road Runner cartoon where Wile E. just doesn’t know when he’s had enough.

Indiana Jones (All of them)

Who doesn’t love Indiana Jones?  I grew up on these movies.  I’m happy that the action and adventure has not been lost with the passage of time.  They are just as cheesy and awesome as ever, and I think they boys enjoy them as much as I ever did.

Spider Man (All of them)

Spider Man made the cut while Superman, The Fantastic 4 (movies), Batman, and Iron Man did not.  I can’t explain why that is.  Well, they are good movies so I’ve got no complaints.

Spirited Away

The third Japanese movie to make the list, and maybe the best.  It’s about a girl who is moving to the suburbs with her family.  The family takes a shortcut and gets lost in a strange looking abandoned town.  Chihiro (the girl) goes off to explore and, when she returns, she finds her parents have turned into pigs, literally, from gorging themselves on free food that they found at an abandoned looking restaurant.  Chihiro tries to escape but finds herself trapped in a spirit world.  She meets a boy named Haku who offers to help her.  The plot from there is all about her trying to get free from the spirit world and recover her parents.  It’s beautifully made and another masterpiece of animation.  I thought the boys would be spooked by it.  But, no, they weren’t.  It’s the sort of movie they, or anybody, can watch all the way through without taking their eyes off the screen.  Yes, it’s that good.  It also won the Academy Award for best animated movie.

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1. Books I Read to the Boys by Request