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Movie list, Age 8

September 30, 2011 - -

If you haven't been following my site, I've been assembling lists of movies, separated by the ages suggested at Common Sense Media, and this is my list for eight-year-olds, which continues the good stuff from the the age seven list.

  • Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi - At the top of the age eight list is the movie that is very likely my favorite film of all time: Empire Strikes Back. It's hard to imagine a time when we didn't know that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, but I hope that my children can appreciate the movie's genius even a fraction as much as do I.
  • Superman: The Movie / Superman 2 Okay, okay. This movie may have the absolute worst example of bad sci-fi physics ever. But Christopher Reeve made a wonderful Superman, and should we ever see the sequel, I'll be making sure that it's the Richard Donner cut.
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind One of Linda's all-time favorites. Close Encounters is a relatively slow-paced story, which I think really adds to the impact of the movie's ending.
  • The Princess Bride One of the classic eighties films, and one of the most quotable movies ever.
  • Labyrinth I couldn't tell you how many times I watched and rewatched Labyrinth when I was twelve. An embarrasing amount. I even recorded the movie's audio on casette tape so that I could listen to it when I didn't have a VCR handy.
  • The NeverEnding Story Pink fluffy luck dragons aside, the movie was great. The book was better, but the movie was great.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender Probably the best non-humor cartoon series I've ever seen. The characters are amazingly well-developed, and they all have excellent arcs throughout the show's three seasons. The plot advances well and is always engaging. Best of all, the series comes to a well-thought out and very satisfying conclusion. If you've never seen this cartoon, I can't recommend it highly enough. It ain't just for kids.
  • It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World When I was a kid, we watched this movie roughly once a year. It is hilarious, and probably has the best cast I've ever seen in any movie, ever. It's got to be three hours long, but it's well worth the time.
  • Willow Val Kilmer as a long-haired swordsman. Warwick Davis playing the eponymous character. I suppose some parts of the movie could be scary for kids, but we'll just have to play that one by ear.
  • A Christmas Story This one might not even wait until age eight in our house. A Christmas Story is a Christmas classic second only to It's a Wonderful Life.
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Slightly more scary than the first Harry Potter movie, what with the spiders and the basilisk. I'll likely make sure that the books come before the movies, as they're just so much better.
  • The Secret of NIMH I loved this movie as a kid, and although we own the DVD, I haven't seen it in a long time.
  • Sky High A movie about a high school for burgeoning superheroes. Plus, it's got Bruce Campbell.
  • Ever After Definately a chick flick retelling of Cinderella. Drew Barrymore ain't bad, and the addition of the Leonardo Di Vinci character was pretty cool.
  • The Jungle Book Another movie I loved as a kid. The haunting melody that the Indian girl sings at the end has stuck with me to adulthood. Til I'm grown, til I'm grown...
  • How to Train Your Dragon I never saw this movie, as it came out just last year, but I heard some very good things. Adhering to the philosophy that there must exist some good cartoons that didn't yet exist in my own childhood, this film shall receive playtime in my home.
  • Darby o'Gill and the Little People I haven't seen this movie in decades, but I remember it being scary and fun. Also, it's got a teenaged Sean Connery. Early twenties at most.
  • Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (original) Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka is classic, and I'm a big fan of Roald Dahl stories. Lia has already seen the movie, but parts of it seriously freaked her out.
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (remake) The remake is inferior in many ways to the original, but it might be fun to watch two versions of the movie.
  • Batteries not Included* The only time I saw this movie was in the theater. I don't remember much, and that's why it's at the bottom of this list. Something about alien robots being fixed by people, and that being akin to resurrection. Who knows. I remember it being good.

It's odd for me to be making a list of movies for Lia when she's eight, as that's still a ways off and I'm in no rush for her to grow up that quickly. I'm sure it will happen faster than I'd like.

Comments on Movie list, Age 8
 
Comment Fri, September 30 - 2:30 PM by Frank
Secret of NIHM is one of Cam's favorite movies right now, at 3 years old :) She asks to watch Mrs. Brisby a lot in the mornings. I think I told you Empire was a total failure, she's only interested in Yoda and RD at this point, so Clone Wars goes over much better.

We've also already tackled How to Train Your Dragon and Princess Bride, and I know Lia would enjoy those right now, no need to wait 4 more years.
 
Comment Sat, October 1 - 5:57 AM by Surgo
The only thing I'm tempted to argue with is Harry Potter. The numbering of the books aside, they're not a year to year correlation.

I think the story ages much more quickly than the audience, such that the first is appropriate to a 7th grader and the last appropriate to a 15th grader.

That's not a typo, I think the last HP is okay for an 18 year old, but PH balanced for a woman.

*cough* A 21 year old.

Even as I say this, I'm waffling at both ends of the spectrum for both the movies and the books.

I think for best overall enjoyment, ie. a father-daughter thing, I'd put the HP movie oeuvre as starting some time in middle school. As for the books... also starting in middle school, like the books themselves.
 
Comment Sat, October 1 - 5:59 AM by Surgo
Dang your no editing policy! A *yearly* father-daughter thing. Yearly. Traditional and junk.