Category: Movies

Movie Lists

Over the last few years, Jason and I have, of course, taken on the pop-enculturation of Tucker. We have been working on the cinematic element of this lifelong process most recently.

In addition to the myriad animated movies courtesy of Disney, Don Bluth, and Studio Ghibli we indulge in, we also ensure a fair amount of live action and mixed action films as well.

About a year or so back, I drafted a list of animated movies that would be of relative interest to Tucker. I looked for movies with male characters who learned valuable life lessons through their adventures within the movie. Don’t get me wrong, movies with strong female characters are just as valuable, and two of Tucker’s favorite movies that don’t involve vehicles, dinosaurs, or super heroes are Frozen, Coraline, and Ponyo.

We have a few movie lists to share including our animated movie list for boys, live action movie list, and mixed action movie list. The titles in bold are ones Tucker has actually seen while the others are movies we are either waiting to watch with him (The Dark Crystal is probably too scary right now) or just haven’t gotten to yet (Pinocchio doesn’t come on that often).

Animated Movie List with Boys in Mind

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  1. Aladdin
  2. Aladdin and the 40 Thieves
  3. All Dogs go to Heaven
  4. Atlantis
  5. Bee Movie
  6. Big Hero 6
  7. Bolt
  8. Brother Bear
  9. Brother Bear 2
  10. Bug’s Life
  11. Cars
  12. Cars 2
  13. Cars 3
  14. Chicken Little
  15. Dinosaur
  16. Dumbo
  17. Emperor’s New Groove
  18. Finding Nemo
  19. Gnomeo and Juliet
  20. Goofy Movie
  21. Hercules 
  22. Howl’s Moving Castle
  23. Hunchback of Notre Dame
  24. Jungle Book
  25. Kronk’s New Groove
  26. Lion King
  27. Meet the Robinsons
  28. Monster’s Inc
  29. Monster’s University
  30. Oliver and Company
  31. Peter Pan
  32. Pinocchio
  33. Planes
  34. Ratatouille 
  35. Return of Jafar
  36. Robin Hood
  37. Sherlock Gnomes
  38. Shrek
  39. Shrek 2
  40. Shrek 3
  41. Tarzan
  42. The Black Cauldron 
  43. The Brave Little Toaster
  44. The Croods
  45. The Fox and the Hound
  46. The Good Dinosaur 
  47. The Great Mouse Detective
  48. The Incredibles
  49. The Incredibles 2 (coming soon)
  50. The Land Before Time
  51. The Sword in the Stone
  52. Toy Story
  53. Toy Story 2
  54. Toy Story 3
  55. Toy Story 4
  56. Treasure Planet
  57. Up
  58. Winnie the Pooh
  59. Wreck It Ralph
  60. Wreck It Ralph 2 (coming soon)

Live Action Movie List

  1. Gnome Mobile
  2. Herbie the Love Bug
  3. Herbie Rides Again
  4. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
  5. Herbie Goes Bananas
  6. The Flight of the Navigator
  7. The Explorers
  8. The Goonies
  9. The Cat from Outerspace
  10. Labrynth
  11. Muppets Treasure Island
  12. Muppets from Space
  13. The Neverending Story
  14. Annie
  15. Mac and Me
  16. ET
  17. The Dark Crystal

Mixed Action Movie List

  1. The Phantom Tollbooth
  2. Mary Poppins
  3. Bedknobs and Broomsticks 
  4. Who Framed Roger Rabbit

**These are obviously not exhaustive lists. What movies would you add? What movies are on your lists of movies you absolutely need to share with your kids?

Once More

When I worked at the Daily Lobo, we used to get free movie tickets to premiere screenings of new releases. The promotional team for these movies would unload hundreds of ticket vouchers at the front desk of the classifieds office after having advertised in our paper. All students needed to do was come in and make a request for their ticket vouchers. Usually, each voucher was good for two people, and limit one voucher per person.

When Under The Tuscan Sun came out in 2003, I dragged my mother to see it. This was no easy feat if you know anything about my mother: due to her back injury, she’s not able to sit or stand for very long. In 2003, her back wasn’t as bad as it is now, so she was willing to come out on this rare occasion to see the movie.

If you’ve never seen this movie, it’s the ultimate chick flick: Woman discovers her husband is having an affair, woman divorces husband, woman’s lesbian best friend (played by Sandra Oh) and her partner give woman their trip to Italy, woman goes to Italy, buys a villa, and tries to get over her divorce. It’s a self-discovery movie, to say the least, and I LOVE it. I watch it about once a month. Even in Korea, I brought my copy with me, and managed to still watch it. It’s a coming-of-age story, even though the main character is in her 40s. And it’s about real-life, human interactions which solidify relationships. But, mostly, it’s about family; the kind of family you’re lucky enough to choose throughout your life.

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Today I am watching it for the first time in several months on account of my having loaned it to my mother in exchange for a substantial variety from her own movie collection.

Why is it that some movies make such an impression on us that we’re able to sit through it again and again, and still have the same level of enjoyment as that first time we saw it? I can ask the same of books we love to read, or songs we love to listen to.

For me, I think it has to do with the timelessness of certain media. Movies, if they are well written, acted, and filmed, can resonate with their audience for generations. Movies like The Wizard of Oz, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Godfather, Titanic, etc. all do this for their respective audiences.

I think I am so drawn to UtTS because of the imagery and voice of the main protagonist, Frances Mayes. The fact that it’s based on her life, written by her hand, makes the movie more like a piece of literature. In fact, the movie was adapted from the book of the same name. A book, by the way, I STILL haven’t read. Aside from that, the scenery of Italy… AMAZING.

So, even though it’s been ten years, and I’ve probably seen it quite literally a hundred times, I still enjoy watching my chick-flick on a random fall day as I occasionally peek in on my little one sleeping via the baby monitor.

**Question: What’s your all-time favorite / go-to movie?**

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