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. The Terminator Movies. Our boys have been begging for years for us to let them watch the Terminator movies–since they’ve played the video game and loved it. The problem is that almost all the movies in the series are rated R. But rated R back in the 80’s and 90’s is more like PG-13 today. So, we read the parent guides and whereas they have a bit more violence to them than I like–it’s no more than other movies. The only one we didn’t watch was the first one because of a sex scene. Their favorite was Genesys–it’s one of the newer ones (from 2015). To be honest–they’re all the same story over and over: a robot is sent to the future to either kill John Conner (the future military leader that overthrows the machines) or Sarah Conner (John’s mother), some other robot is sent to help protect them, big battles, lots of crashes and deaths, protector robot wins but usually also dies or is severely maimed in the battle. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Like I said–the violence level in these movies is pretty intense. My boys are teenagers now, but even for them–some scenes were a bit much. Also, some of the movies have more foul language than others–I would recommend checking the parent guides to gauge your comfort level.
2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It is our tradition to watch this gem while we’re decorating our home for Christmas. It’s one that we don’t even need to actively watch–we have the whole thing memorized. I love all of it–especially Cousin Eddy. It’s rated PG-13. There’s some foul language (not much) and one or two “adult” type situations (You can read the parent guide here).
3. Andor. This is a new Star Wars prequal story from the Rogue One movie. It centers around the character, Cassian Andor. We’ve only watched 2 of the 12 episodes, but I’ll be honest–we’re all finding it kind of boring. I’m sure we’ll finish the season, but I’m hoping it gets a little more exciting. It’s rated TV-14 (you can read the parent guide here).
4. Fatman. Mel Gibson plays a rather gruff Santa–He lives at the North Pole with his wife and they are struggle financially because the government subsidizes their operation, but the funds have diminished due to unbelief. He agrees to allow the US military to use his property for training purposes for additional income. Meanwhile, a bratty rich kid has received a lump of coal from Santa. He decides to hire a hitman to take out Santa and well…things get rather violent after that. It’s rated R and I would definitely not let young kids watch this. We allowed our boys to because the action/violence was along the same lines of some of the PG-13 movies we have watched.
5. Mayor of Kingstown. Super Rockstar and I are in “show hole” as we are either awaiting new episodes to drop from some we are currently watching or others we have finished all together. This one has been on my list for a while to check out. It’s kind of hard to catch on to at first, but basically, it’s about a family whose hometown is made up of multiple prisons. The brothers have made a business out of being a Laison for the gangs that have members in the prisons and family members that are desperate to help their loved ones serving time. They also work with the local police and protective services. In the process they have to deal with a lot of unsavory characters. It has a pretty dark almost depressing feel to it, but it’s an intriguing story. It’s rated TV-MA and I don’t recommend for kids–there is a lot of adult scenes as well as graphic images and violence.
I would love to hear our opinions and any suggestions you may have of what to watch.