Things to Watch - Five Great New(ish) "Indie" Movies on Netflix Streaming

I'm not really sure what constitutes an indy movie anymore, but most of these weren't main stream releases, so I'm going with that.



1. Iris - Iris Apfel rose to fame at the age of 84 when The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute premiered an exhibition about Iris's style. This documentary features Iris one year later. It's a great look at old age, creativity, and the need to "be yourself."

Best quote - "I would advise you to be happy rather than well-dressed. It’s better to be happy.”

Second best quote - "I never felt pretty. I don’t feel pretty now. I’m not a pretty person. I don’t like pretty so I don’t feel badly and I think it worked out well because I found, for instance, all the girls that I know who were very pretty girls and got by on their looks, as time went on and they faded… they were nothing. And they were very, very disappointed. When you’re somebody like myself, in order to get around and be attractive, you have to develop something, you have to learn something and you have to do something so you become a bit more interesting. And when you get old, you get by on that. Anyway, I don’t happen to like pretty. Most of the world is not with me but I don’t care."



2. Rich Hill - This documentary follows three teenage boys and their families, living in near poverty. Super depressing and beautifully filmed. A fascinating look at the America you never really see.

Best quote - “I pray every night. Nothing’s came, but that ain’t gonna stop me. This is what goes through my mind: God has to be busy with everyone else. Eventually he will come into my life. I hope it happens. It’s gonna break my heart if it don’t.”



3. Nightcrawler - Rumor is Jake Gyllenhaal was upset about not receiving an Academy Award nomination for his role as a creepy (super creepy) news photographer of late night car crashes. It's a dark, gloomy movie, but yet fascinating to watch; one of the best movies I saw this year.

Best quote - "A friend is a gift you give yourself."



4. Force Majure - This Swedish movie (subtitles) follows a beautiful upper class family on a ski vacation in the French Alps when a near-tragedy occurs. Nobody is injured (spoiler) but the movie deals with the aftermath. It's a depressing film with a beautiful setting, which makes you wonder what you'd do in similar circumstances.

Best quote - "Okay, is everyone happy now?"



5. Moonrise Kingdom - I actually haven't watched this yet, but Wes Anderson always makes beautifully crafted sets and stories, so I'm sure it's good.



* The Netflix Streamteam just sent us a giant TV (thank you!!), so I (obviously) receive compensation for writing these posts. But I decide what to write.

Things to Watch - Five Kids' Movies Featuring Paris (Netflix Streaming)

Netflix streaming has some fantastic movies featuring foreign lands. Here are a few that take place in Paris. Because sometimes the best travel is arm chair travel (especially with kids)!

1. Hugo - If you ask me, this is one of the best children's movies to watch as a family. Hugo received more Academy Award nods in 201l than any other film that year. The cinematography is fantastic as it the coolio automoton/robot thing they put together. Hugo also celebrates the history of cinema, including the early classic - A Trip to the Moon (also available on Netflix streaming). And the 1930s train station that serves as the movie's main location seems so romantic and foreign.

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - So this movie isn't exactly Disney at its best, but still there are some fun songs. And a gypsy (who doesn't love a gypsy?). Plus talking gargoyles. We watched it right before our trip to Paris and the kids were a little awestruck when they saw the "real" Notre Dame.

3. The Aristocats - I haven't seen this in years, but I remember loving it as a child. Kittens. An evil butler. The beautiful city skyline. What's not to like?

4. A Monster in Paris - T loves this movie. The monster is actually nice and nobody realizes but the beautiful singer.

5. A Cat in Paris - We haven't watched this one yet, but it sounds pretty good, "when Zoe discovers that her cat is also a thief's companion, she's thrown into a thriller filled with gangsters, jewels and the rooftops of Paris."

Things to Do - Family Movie Night (a list)

(Okay, so this photo has nothing to do with movies, but I felt this post needed a visual. Plus, it shows that my children would rather SCRUB POTATOES then compromise on film choices.)

Lately finding the "right" film for family movie night has moved from "difficult" to "near impossible". Do all families have this problem? We can never agree.

I prefer documentaries and 80s' movies, Dan likes nature movies and westerns, and the kids can watch High School Musical over and over again (note that this movie DID NOT make my list). Often, we come to a standstill and end up playing board games instead.

So I made a list. Maybe it will help you. Maybe it won't. All movies with one asterisk have been enjoyed by a minimum of three members of our family (at least one adult and two children). Movies with three asterisks are movies that we still haven't seen (but have heard good things about). I intentionally excluded some popular "classics" (for example, I know most people love her, but the Little Mermaid's self-involved rebellion and frivolous voice exchange bother me). Further, every household has their own rules for when children are old enough to watch certain movies, so even though my kids have seen Indiana Jones, I'm not sure it is right for all grade school-aged children.

Okay, so help us out here - WHAT DID I MISS?

(Also, I have to give a HUGE shout out to Common Sense Media for helping me craft this list (I love that site) and to the internet in general for finding more and more awesome movies to watch).
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MOVIES

ANIMATED
* Rio
* How to Train Your Dragon
* The Incredibles
* The Toy Story Trilogy
* The Fantastic Mr. Fox (I absolutely love this movie)
* Despicable Me (I and II)
* Wreck it Ralph
* Brave
* It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
* The Lorax (the original and the remake)
* Shrek
* Horton Hears a Who
* The Adventures of Tin Tin
* Mulan
* Tangled
* Hoodwinked
* Bolt
* The Book of Life
* Big Hero 6
* Paddington Bear
* Inside Out
* Minions
* Home
* Kubo and the Two Strings
* Zootopia
* The Peanuts Movie
*** Spirited Away
*** Cars
*** Wall E
*** Meet the Robinsons
*** Everyone's Hero


CLASSICS (I'm not sure where classics ends and "new classics" begin, so just go with it)
* The Sound of Music
* The Wizard of Oz
* Singing in the Rain
* Bringing Up Baby
* The Parent Trap (though my kids had a really hard time with the fact that each parent completely abandoned a child)
* Swiss Family Robinson (if you can ignore tolerate the blatant sexism; F kept venting by throwing pillows at the TV)
* The Star Wars trilogy (and all movies after)
* The Harry Potter movies
* Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original)
* Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp
* The King and I
* The Music Man
* Shane (the cheesy old Western)
* Dances with Wolves
* Funny Face
*** An American In Paris
*** Sabrina
*** West Side Story
*** To Kill a Mockingbird
*** Charlie Chaplin's The Kid

THE "NEW" CLASSICS
* All 8 Muppet Movies
* The Princess Bride
* The Harry Potter series
* Annie
* Hugo
* ET
* Adventures in Babysitting (be careful, the language in this one is pretty iffy, but I still love it)
* Ghostbusters (F called this "the most random movie ever", don't forget there is some violence and the bizarre ghost oral sex scene)
* Freaky Friday
* Enchanted
* Maleficent
* The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (some parents hate these, but I find them funny)
* Elf
* The Lego Movie
* Night at the Museum
* Home Alone
* A Little Princess
* The Never Ending Story
* Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (have you seen this yet? It's actually pretty funny, for little kids through adults)
* The Sandlot
* Goosebumps
* Welcome Home Roxie Carmichael
* Edward Scissorhands
* Mrs. Doubtfire
* Overboard
* Pixels
* Sing Street
*** Ever After
*** Holes
*** Dances With Wolves
*** Beethoven
*** Parental Guidance
*** Cheaper By the Dozen, I and II
*** Nims Island
*** Sky High
*** Beetlejuice
*** The Man in the Moon
*** Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

SPORTS MOVIES
* Bend It Like Beckham
* The Bad News Bears
* Karate Kid
* The Mighty Ducks
* Rudy
* Miracle
* A League of Their Own
* Kicking and Screaming
* Seabiscuit

ACTION MOVIES
* Spiderman
* The Amazing Spiderman
* X Men
* Indiana Jones
* National Treasure
* Spy Kids
* Charlie's Angels
* Antman (I LOVE ANTMAN!!!)
* Apollo 13
* The Martian (not sure where to classify this, so I'm going with action)
* Pirates of the Caribbean
* Captain America - Civil War

ANIMAL MOVIES
* The Free Willy series
* A Dolphin Tale
* March of the Penguins
* Bears
* Monkey Kingdom
*** Wings of Life

DOCUMENTARIES
* Blackfish (yes they cried, but now they care)
* 180 Degrees South (not exactly "normal" family fare, but my kids liked the surfing/mountain climbing and the environmental message)
* A Place at the Table
* Planet Earth
* Food Inc.
* Miss Representation
*** Spellbound (if you can find a copy)
*** Girl Rising (Netflix streaming)
*** Babies
*** Paperclips
*** Garbage (The Revolution Starts at Home) (Netflix streaming)
*** Forks Over Knives
*** More Than Honey
*** Harvest
*** Dive, Living Off America's Waste
*** The Beatles Anthology

KIDS OVER 7 (or 8 or 9 or however old you feel is "old enough")
* Ender's Game
* Stand By Me
* The Goonies
* Pretty In Pink
* Big
* Girls Just Want to Have Fun (the girls LOVE this movie and I love all the nostalgia associated with it. Never forget "Dance TV".)
* 10 Things I Hate About You
* Jaws
* Splash
* Overboard
* Roxanne
* The Money Pit
* Can't Buy Me Love
* Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
* Jurassic Park
* Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
* The Wedding Singer
* Big Daddy
* Back to the Future
* La La Land
* Arrival
* Tootsie
* Ghandi
*** Clue
*** Clueless
*** Super 8
*** Ferris Bueller's Day Off
*** The Outsiders (warning, this is REALLY REALLY sad, as in I forgot quite how sad)
*** Footloose
*** Au Revoir Les Enfants
*** Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
*** The Kings of Summer
*** Whale Rider
*** Mud
*** American Teen
*** Sixteen Candles
*** The Breakfast Club
*** Legally Blond
*** Dead Poets Society
*** Lucas
*** Mean Girls
*** One Crazy Summer
*** Divergent
*** The Hunger Games
*** The Bourne movies
*** Heathers
*** Mermaids
*** Dirty Dancing

________________________

TV

REALITY
* Project Runway (Hulu, but only on computers not TVs)
* Master Chef Junior (streams through Hulu)
* America Ninja Warrior (Hulu)
* Cosmos (Hulu)
* MythBusters
* Too Cute
* How the States Got Their Shapes (EVERYONE IN OUR FAMILY LOVES THIS SHOW)
* HGTV shows (such as Property Brothers & Love It or List It (if you don't have cable, you can also watch these shows through Netflix streaming)
* Brain Games
*** The Food Network (esp. Great Food Truck Race & The Next Food Network Star)
*** America's Got Talent
*** Survivor
*** Chopped
*** WildKratts

COMEDIES
* The Cosby Show (streams through Hulu)
* Punky Brewster (old episodes are on You Tube)
* Silver Spoons (Old episodes are on You Tube)
* Fresh Prince of Bel Air
* The Brady Bunch
* Leave it to Beaver
* The Munsters
* Malcom in the Middle!!

OLDER KIDS
*** Freaks and Geeks
*** Parks and Recreation
*** Modern Family
*** Stranger Things

Things to Do - Boyhood (the Movie) and Random Childhood Memories

Have you seen Boyhood? Richard Linklater spent 12 years filming the movie using the same actors. It's sort of crazy to watch a kid actually grow up on screen. Once the movie delves into the teenager years I started to wonder how much Linklater planned the main character's personality years ago, and how much the director changed the script as he watched the actor grow up. Despite the novelty of a film that took over a decade to make, the movie is also notable for the moments it links together. Rather than birthdays, holidays, and the types of events adults are likely to remember, Linklater concentrates on the smaller moments - moving to new schools/places, conversing with a cute girl on a bike, time spent with a mostly absentee father.

After watching the movie for date night, Dan and I opened a bottle of wine and tried to piece together our own earliest memories. One of Dan's friends told us that children rarely remember much before age 7, so lately I'm a mission to dive back further. After a few drinks (okay, maybe more than a few), I hazily started to recollect watching TV with my parents in the basement (my bedroom was upstairs and our only television was downstairs, so every night I dreaded being left alone at bedtime). So every once in awhile my parents would let me stay up late, watching TV with them - my dad enjoyed Benny Hill and some random beauty pageant show - despite my mom's insistence that such viewing was inappropriate (my father reassured her that I was too young to remember anything).

Everyone remembers Benny Hill, but it took some googling to bring back the $1.98 Beauty Show, which manages to mock beauty pageants while simultaneously degrading the women at an even deeper level. As Dan best phrased it, "when it comes to nostalgia for the past, everyone brings out the best stuff and manages to erase stuff like this." Prime time, we're talking prime time. (Not that the Bachelor is any better). Turns out the $1.98 Beauty Show aired from 1978 to 1980, so all my memories of the show predate my 5th birthday.

Have you ever Youtubed anything from your preschool years? It feels surreal to see such a random and vague memory in full color. Disorientating. At one hand, there's a satisfaction that comes with learning that your recollection is real, but so many other puzzle pieces are left out that you feel as if you're grasping for something out of reach. For example, where was the couch in the basement? I can't quite picture it. Nor can I recall our other furniture from the time. I remember the TV occupying the space where the bookshelves are now. But weren't the bookshelves always there? Everything outside the realm of Youtube seems to be lost forever, whereas the women on the $1.98 Beauty Show will continue to carry their rotten vegetable bouquets throughout time. It's odd to think our children (especially mine) will grow up with so many more old memories easily accessible. How will this change how they perceive time itself?

What about everyone else - what is your earliest memory?