Great movies for this age group

[Suzukimom]

There aren't too many movies I would want to pay to take my kids to in a theater so we rent them from our library or use our Tivo.

What are some movies which have had impact on your teens/tweens.
We liked "Remember the Titans", "Radio," "Hoosiers," to name a few.
These are movies which inspire and teach.

[UnschoolnMa]

I've got no problem with my kids seeing the movies in theatre. We're taking Ds to see "300" actually and Dd and I are going to see Wild Hogs.

Remember the Titans was great!

[Suzukimom]

Originally Posted by UnschoolnMa

I've got no problem with my kids seeing the movies in theatre. We're taking Ds to see "300" actually and Dd and I are going to see Wild Hogs.

Remember the Titans was great!

We just don't have that much time to see a movie in a theater plus the cost gets outrageous.

[Dar]

Let's see... lately, Rain's favorites have been Jesus Camp, An Inconvenient Truth, and anything Stanley Kubrick. She loved Clockwork Orange for a while, but now is more into Lolita.

dar

[Suzukimom]

Originally Posted by Dar

Let's see... lately, Rain's favorites have been Jesus Camp, An Inconvenient Truth, and anything Stanley Kubrick. She loved Clockwork Orange for a while, but now is more into Lolita.

dar

An Inconvenient Truth was one movie we did see in a movie theater last summer on the hottest day of the year. I believe this did have an impact.

[UnschoolnMa]

Originally Posted by Suzukimom

We just don't have that much time to see a movie in a theater plus the cost gets outrageous.

I hear you on the cost for sure! But when we do have it to spare we really make an effort to get the kids out to see the stuff they are interested in. Often Dh and I will drop them off and come back in a couple of hours. We also like to go as a family, but our tastes in movies are quite different so it's pretty rare that we all agree on what to see these days. The last one was "Night at the Museum" and it was cute.

[UUMom]

My kids liked Bridge to Teribithia. They were surprised at how true to the book it was. My 14 yr old said she thought it was the best juvenile book- to- movie she'd seen.

Otherwise, we haven't been to the movies much. But on the the recent DVD list is Supersize me, Over The Hedge, Ella Enchanted (maybe these aren't so recent...lol) . Some oldeis but goodies that get played frequently here are Wild America (one of our favs), A League of Their Own, and Singing in The Rain. lol

[PiePie]

agent cody banks
harry potter and prisoner of azkaban
ice princess
my dog skip
october sky
pollyanna
santa claus 2
stuart little
the real macaw
the rookie
what a girl wants

[shanagirl]

DD is 9. She loves the Miyazaki animated films and so does her 12 year old cousin (a boy). Spirited Away is my personal favorite, and I know a number of adults who loved it too. A friend's son who is 13 and extremely into being cool watched it begrudgingly on my recommendation and it's now his favorite. The movie in entrancing and engages the imagination long after. Any mother here would totally connect with the moment one of the characters (Yubaba) thinks someone has stolen her baby.

These are movies with real people we've watched recently with preteens and teens that have been big hits:

Fly Away Home
Breaking Away
Holes--Jon Voight is amazing.
Hoot
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Donald Sutherland version)

[nd_deadhead]

My twin boys are 12, and DH and I LOVE the fact that they are old enough/mature enough to watch movies that WE like!

Some of our favorites:
Star Wars series
Star Trek series
Hunt for Red October
The Ladykillers (the original - NOT the Tom Hanks version)
Ladyhawke
Catch Me If You Can
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Sting
Jeremiah Johnson
Silverado
Eight Below
Iron Will
Touching the Void (rated R for language, but an amazing story)
Miracle

Edited to add our all-time favorite: The Princess Bride!

When our boys were in 5th grade they were studying American History, specifically the Civil War. We borrowed "Roots" from the library, and watched the whole thing over the course of a week, with LOTS of discussion.

[lorijds]

I don't know how old your kids are---

I second Holes. Omg I love that movie! That is one where I think the character development is actually BETTER than in the book.

I also agree with Spirited Away. They are produced/distributed/whatever my Studio Ghibli (sp) who have other movies that are not necessarily Miyazaki ones. Another one that my oldest liked (but which scared my younger one -8-) is Princess Nauzicum (sp) and the Valley of the Wind.

My oldest (11-6th grade) likes Pride and Prejudice, we just watched Much Ado About Nothing (I had her read the wikipedia entry about it so that she knew the story), and she also really likes "Raising Arizona."

Hope these help.

[peacenlove]

I personally loved Stand by Me when I was 12 and saw it in the theatre. My son (9) loves many of the above mentioned. My dh says Karate kid, Tron, Star Wars, and Wallace and Gromit (funny for all ages!)
We also like the Back to the future movies, I also want to see Bill and Ted's excellent Adventure again. Freaky Friday,Big, Space balls.
My son loved an Inconvenient truth and The future of food

[UnschoolnMa]

Oh yes Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, The Sandlot, Star Wars, Matrix movies, Spiderman, etc.

[Turkish Kate]

I'm with nd deadhead, I'm so happy that DD (13 1/2) is old enough to watch some "grown up" movies these days.

Princess Bride remains an all-time family favorite. I tried to read the book once, but just couldn't do it. Bend it Like Beckham was another great one that we drag out on occasion. DD has come to an appreciation of Audry Hepburn, so Breakfast at Tiffany's has been popular. She also likes operatic musicals, such as Phantom of the Opera, Cats, etc.

One thing that we used to do when we lived in the US was to have "Dinner and a Movie" night, where the night's dinner would match up to the theme of the movie. Ex: For Breakfast at Tiffany's, we would have pancakes and eggs; for Bend it Like Beckham, we would order Indian or I would make Aloo Gobi; for The Last Emperor, we would order in Chinsese, etc.

[gayle1701]

My 16-year-old daughter is really into watching the old John Hughes teen movies-The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, etc. We love watching together. We loved Remember The Titans. Another one of her favorites is The Notebook.

I really love science fiction, so the Star Wars and Star Trek movies place high on my list. Driving Miss Daisy is also one of my favorites. The two of us also love lots of the classic Disney movies. Dad even gets into the funnier ones like Toy Story. We also make it a habit to watch at least one classic every couple of weeks, like Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, etc.

[Ann-Marita]

Pirates of the Caribbean (both of them)

Lord of the Rings (all three)

[Ninjinmama]

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Lord Of The Rings
Harry Potter
Star Wars
Holes
Millions
Bridge To Terebithia
Superman
Zathura- brother relationship really resonated w/ my boys
Tron
Wants to see Night At The Museum
Akeelah And The Bee
Neverland
Edward Scissor Hands

[Ninjinmama]

Forgot Pirates Of The Caribbean!!

[Malva]

I second Bend It Like Beckham.