We are a family that loves movies and TV shows. Each week I’ll share what we watched and what we thought about them. I hope it will give you good insight and even some ideas if you’re stuck finding something new.
1.National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Super Rockstar had a double gig last weekend, so the boys usually take turns choosing a movie for us all to watch while he’s away. Morgan chose this one and I had forgotten how much I liked it. Nicolas Cage’s character, Benjamin Gates, has an ancestor that another historian has found to be a co-conspirator with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Lincoln. To disprove this, they use Wilkes diary and set out on a grand adventure where they discover clues to a map of the Lost City of Gold. It’s a great adventure type movie, with lots of puzzles to solve, intrigue and good chase scenes. It’s rated PG. There are some kind of intense scenes here and there that littles might find scary, but otherwise great for kids of all ages (you can read the parent guide here).
2.Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I love all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I think Johnny Depp does a great job of portraying Captain Jack Sparrow and each movie has so many characters to love. This one has Captain Jack and his crew on a chase to find the fountain of youth. My favorite character is always Barbossa–he’s awesome! It’s rated PG-13 and has some intense and sometimes frightening scenes that might be scary to littles (you can read the parent guide here).
3.Bridgerton: Season 2. I really liked the first season and now there is a second one to enjoy. I’m only about halfway and so far it’s been a little “meh”. They seem to be trying to recreate the drama of the first season, but since they revealed who Lady Whistledown is at the end of Season 1–it’s not quite as intriguing to me. I’m still enjoying it, but I’ve had to lower my expectations a bit. It is rated PG-MA–there’s some nudity here and there and adult situations, so not for young viewers at all.
4. Vikings: Season 2. We just finished watching this season and I don’t think it was nearly as good as the first one. As with so many shows that start off strong, somehow they end up losing steam after a time. I haven’t checked, but whomever is directing this season has some John Woo training–very artsy, lots of slow motion and weirdness. The season did end with enough steam to make us want to press on to the 3rd season. I’m hoping things improve. It’s is rated PG-14, but there’s not a chance I would let my boys watch it. WAY too many adult situations and nudity (you can read the parent guide here).
5. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The boys were very excited about seeing this movie, so we took them as a surprise on Friday. I have to say though–we were all a little disappointed. I wish I would have watched the previous Fantastic Beasts movies before seeing this one as a refresher, but I’m not sure that would have helped. I remember reading several years ago, that the author–J.K. Rowling was asked the question of Dumbledore’s sexuality. She answered that she believed he was gay. I’m not sure why his sexuality was important to those that asked, but apparently it is to some and this movie explores that notion by him revealing that he had been in love with Grindelwald. I’ll be honest–that part of the story just seemed forced and weird. That being said–the whole movie felt forced and weird. I was disappointed overall and none of us felt that it was very good. It’s rated PG-13 and has some intense battles and some scenes that might scare littles (you can read the parent guide here).
I would love to hear our opinions and any suggestions you may have of what to watch.