Great Fun etc: What to Watch on Rainy Days in Your PJs (movie ideas)

We've been watching movies for so long it's getting hard to find new ones to watch, it seems. Thankfully Fatso keep us supplied so when the school holidays come around, and it's a long wet winter week, we can slob about in our PJs and watch DVDs by the fire.

Here a few of the movies we've been watching (and enjoying) in our PJs lately...

RATING GUIDE:

***** Outstanding, Highly recommended

**** Very good, enjoyable, Recommended.

*** OK, decent, but not memorable

** Barely OK, could do better.

* A bomb. Avoid at all costs.

"Little Kid Watchability" is based on children aged 3-6 years. Movies with PG are more suited to older, not-so-sensitive children. Some (M) movies may be suitable for older children if they are clean (no bad language or sexual content) and just contain fight scenes, e.g. Amazing Spiderman, The Hobbit etc. I personally find that when you mute the sound (the forboding music) scenes lose their scariness, so we hit mute when the tension builds too high. Having older children as well as a younger one sometimes we have to push the boat out a little to find something everyone can enjoy. Parental judgement and guidance is always required!

......................

THE LEGO MOVIE (PG) *****

We have watched this one over and over these holidays. It's a new release and so is a welcome addition to our holiday viewing. This movie was an instant favourite when we first saw it at the cinema; the humour and storyline cleverness is AWESOME. In fact "everything is awesome" about this movie. There is some great voice talent (including Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman) and the message which comes through the story is also fab. It's not just funny, it's also MEANINGFUL. "You are special" "You can do amazing things if you believe you can". I love this movie. the kids love this movie. We'll be watching this one again and again during these rainy school holidays I'm sure.

LITTLE KID WATCHABILITY: This is a (PG) but only the most sensitive kids would find anything worrisome about it. It's LEGO after all.
SCARY BITS: Very sensitive littlies might get upset when Emmett is captured by Lord Business?!
GROWNUP WATCHABILITY: Very watchable, very enjoyable, even on repeat.

THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG (M) ****

We took Dash (age 11.5) to watch this at the cinema when it came out and it was fabulous. When Fatso sent the DVD to us for the holidays we knew where the scary bits were so we played film editor and hit "mute" or "Fast Forward" in the darker bits when we watched it with the other kids. This movie is a bit darker than the first one, but still very clean (no bad language or sexual content) and with a fast trigger finger, it was made suitable for a whole-family movie night. Everyone enjoyed this movie and it has been watched a few times now these holidays. We eagerly await the final instalment at Christmas time!

LITTLE KID WATCHABILITY: Not recommended for younger kids; but if you have a little brother and a fast trigger finger on the remote, you can easily "edit" this movie for the whole family.
SCARY BITS: Lots of fight scenes, a few chase scenes, there's a pretty wicked dragon and the orcs are of course very ugly. You know your kids and whether this would disturb them... or not. (The dragon is not scary, just cool, IMHO)
GROWNUP WATCHABILITY: This grown-up has watched it (and enjoyed it) several times. But then I'm a LOTR/Hobbit fan from way back and so are our kids. Each to their own.

THOR (M) ***

The Marvel movies (with the exception of Iron Man who is a bit of a womaniser) are all very clean in terms of language and sexual content. We've watched and enjoyed the Avengers so I thought we'd give "Thor" a go and it was... fine. What you'd expect from a superhero movie, action, fighting, goodies and baddies; no sex, no swearing just lots of non-gory fighting. This movie is the back story of Thor and how he came to earth, his conflict with his brother Loki and how he became worthy of his hammer. I've given it a three stars because we enjoyed it, it's a decent watch, but nothing to rave about. If you're like us and running out of ideas for movies to watch with your kids cos you've seen so many over the years... you could give this one a go.

LITTLE KID WATCHABILITY: Boys would love this movie. Lots of action. Best for school age. Don't show this to your preschooler!
SCARY BITS: The "Ice Giants" (an alien race) are pretty weird-looking; there's a fight between "the destroyer" and Thor near the end which is pretty full on and a whole town gets smashed to bits. But not scary for kids who like fight scenes.
GROWNUP WATCHABILITY: Ahhh it's fine. No complaints here. I'm gonna order number two... and Captain America as well, just for fun. These movies are clean and action packed after all.