Every Friday rolls around and it leads to the same argument every time. What movie are we going to watch for family movie night? I was getting tired of the older kids constantly influencing the choices of the small ones and then Dad swooping in and making the final choice. This, for the most part, left the majority of the children upset. So to remedy this problem I came up with an idea.
Owens Theater
We would create a year long play list that everyone would contribute to.
Each child got to choose 6 movies and one musical of their choice.
Each parent got to pick 14
Here is my reasoning for doing it this way.
1. The children get to pick enough movies that they still end up choosing almost half of the movies. This made it so I almost had 2 kid pick movies every month.
2. We like to show the children musicals, so we might as will let them pick at least one favorite
3.Us parents want to expose the children to new movies and experiences that they would never voluntarily choose. This might sound pushy but the family has some strange favorite because of our insisting on sharing "new" films to them.
We are also having teen movie nights twice a month since our oldest if 4.5 years older than the next younger sibling. Us parents picked most of these but he did get to put in some requests.
Some movies like Pearl Harbor and Gatica have a mild sex scene and we will be skipping over those
I created a fun chalkboard sign (see at the top of the page) to list the month’s movie selection. The children love to see what movies are playing each month.
January
Heidi, Cars, The Long, Long Trailer, UP
Teen Picks: Karate Kid & West Side Story
February
Annie, Paddington Bear, Iron Giant, The Parent Trap
Teen Picks: Spider Man & Cast Away
March
The Greatest Showman, The Little Pony Movie, Tron, The Lego Movie
Teen Picks: 10 Things I Hate About You & Pay It Forward
April
Mary Poppins, Bright Eyes, Big Hero 6, Big Jake
Teen Picks: I Robot & Gatica
May
Singing in the Rain, Cinderella, Wonder, King Kong(1933)
Teen Picks: Book Thief & Pearl Harbor
June
Summer Magic, Back to the Future 3, Finding Nemo, Modern Times-Chaplin
Teen Picks: Summer time X-Men marathon & La La Land
July
Lego Ninjago, Wizard of Oz, Wall-e, Davey Crocket
Teen Picks: Summer Time Lord of the Rings marathon & Wonder WomanS
August
Bambi, Swiss Family Robinson, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fantasia, Hook
Teen Pick: Summer Time Pirates marathon & Beowolf
September
The Sound of Music, Fox and Hound, LEGO Movie 2, McLintock
Teen Picks: The Help & The Secret Life of Bees
October
CoCo, Escape to Witch Mountain, The King and I, The Secret of NIHM
Teen Picks: Behind Enemy Lines & Run Down
November
Some Like: It Hot, Anne of Green Gables, Hugo, My Fair Lady, Ice Age
Teen Picks: Pursuit of Happiness & Dick and Jane
December
Toy Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Back to the FutureS , Willy Wonka
Teen Picks: Life of Pi & Ewoks Battle of Endore
So far we have loved having our own Owens Movie Theater Lineup and it has eliminated the Friday night melt down
*These movies are pick to fit our families values and standards, and may even get a little edgy at that. Please use this list with discretion and please preview any movie you have neve seen. Especially the Teen Picks if you have a younger teen.