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.Avatar—The Way of Water. First of all–it’s long. As in over 3 hours long, so make sure you go potty and maybe NOT drink the giant soda like I did (I really wish they had an intermission). That being said–we really enjoyed it. Several folks have asked me, “did it feel long?”. At times, yes. But, overall, I found myself wrapped up in the story and the beauty of the cinematography. I highly recommend it. It’s rated PG-13 (you can read the parent guide here).
2.The Holiday Movies/Shows we watched. We have several Christmas time movies that we love to watch as a family–including a few new ones. I’ve already mentioned Christmas Vacation, Spirited, and Fatman (you can read those reviews here and here.) But here are a few others we enjoyed.
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. This is a new show streaming on Disney + and is absolutely delightful. Drax and Mantis head to earth to get the perfect Christmas gift for Peter Quill. It has a lot of funny and great moments in it. It’s rated TV-14 (you can read the parent guide here).
Lego Star Wars Holiday Special. This is a show from 2020 that you can stream on Disney +. They are celebrating “Life Day” (as opposed to Christmas), but it’s a very fun story with a good message about what really matters. It’s rated TV-G.
Muppet Christmas Carol. This is my most favorite version of the “Scrooge” story. Super Rockstar pointed out that the script is nearly identical to the original tale written my Charles Dickens. It’s just wonderful and has some great songs that we sing along to every time we watch it. It’s rated G.
Rise of the Guardians. I love this movie–in that it has all of the holiday and make-believe characters: Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, Sand man, Santa Clause, and the Tooth Fairy. It’s a great story of how belief is what makes them stronger, and it allows them to protect the children from bad things–like nightmares. It’s rated PG, but I would caution this one if you have littles that still believe sincerely in these characters. The idea of unbelief is a strong theme–so if you don’t want them to question it, I would wait until they’re older.
Klaus. It’s only available to stream on Netflix, but I highly recommend it. It’s a very creative origin story of Santa and how he came to be because of a postman assigned to a tiny island town stuck in a battle between families. It has a little bit of dark humor, but we all just love it. It’s rated PG.
The Narnia Movies. They’re not Christmas themed movies, but since all of them came out during Christmas and there’s snow…well, I think they counts. There’s 3 to enjoy (The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). If you have never watched them–they are absolutely wonderful and are all rated PG.
3.Jack Ryan–Season 3. This is such a great TV series that streams on Amazon Prime. They just came out with their 3rd season and we’ve watched 3 episodes so far. I absolutely love it and highly recommend it. It’s rated TV-MA.
4.1923. This is the second pre-qual to the Yellowstone series. It’s what happens after the 1883 series and continues the Dutton family saga. Oh my is it good. Harrison Ford is cast as Jacob Dutton and Helen Murren plays his wife. There are so many other great actors, and the story line is incredible. I was really glad someone posted the Dutton family tree on social media recently–it has helped me to keep track of it all. It’s rated TV-MA.
I would love to hear our opinions and any suggestions you may have of what to watch.