Good movies for "grownups"

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sweetirishct

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Hey there!! I wanted to start a thread for enjoyable movies that are relatively “safe”… By this I mean, very limited violence, sexual content, undesirable activities:tsktsk: …

Basically, DH and I are looking for stuff that we can watch together that won’t be detrimental to our 22mo DD who may be playing in the LR before bedtime.

So I begin with a movie I have come across, called Keeping the Faith(PG-13), comedy. It has Ben Stiller as a Rabbi, Edward Norton as a Catholic Priest, and Jenna Elfman as a mutual friend. These three grow up together in a city neighborhood. Jenna’s character moves away and enters the corporate world as an adult. Ben’s and the other actor’s characters each enter their own religous orders to work in the community. Jenna comes back to the pic and old friends get together… I love it because: it shows the Priest as a real human with real human emotions (he questions if he is falling in love w/ Jenna and if he should leave the Priesthood). Also, it shows to very different faiths ***working together ***for the betterment of the community. Imagine that!! :clapping: Now, a few warnings: it does show the lovebirds engaging in premarital relations (not explicit, I don’t think). I think that is pretty much it for the bad stuff:hmmm: … Overall, a cute movie. Please pre-view it first for appropriateness in your family…

I would like to use this thread to suggest movies, and also to discuss them as supporting (or not) the basic Christian values. 👍
 
We watched the movie Annapolis the other day with our daughter (she is 24), it really was a decent movie. It is about a young mans desire to enter the Navel Academy and succeed. Not reallly much vulgarity -if any- or sexual overtones. Overall it really was good honest movie about life.
 
That reminds me… We watched another movie recently… The Guardian, with Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner.
A nice movie about life as a Coast Guard swim rescuer…
A little violence in a bar fight (USCG boys in a Navy bar- pretty short)… and a sweet romance…
 
In the old-school category, I love Humphrey Bogart movies. The Maltese Falcon defined the film noir genre, although there is a bit of violence (tame by today’s standards).

Casablanca and Key Largo are examples of how you don’t need to jump in bed, or even need any innuendo, to create the aura of attraction. (I haven’t seen The Big Sleep or To Have and Have Not.)

And The African Queen with Bogie and Katharine Hepburn is a classic in the genre. Each teaches the other something from their backgrounds.
 
I like* Return to Me*. 🙂



Very sweet, very clean (a little language), and a nice Catholic undertone.
 
I completely enjoyed the current hit, “Night at the Museum”.
No hint of sexuality - no cuss words, just clean family humor with a great ending.
 
sweetirishct said:
The Guardian, with Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner.
A nice movie about life as a Coast Guard swim rescuer…
… and a sweet romance…
Click to expand...
Um… that “sweet romance” :eek: caused us to stop the movie and give our 12-year-old son a 20-minute talk about how “casual” relationships like those portrayed in the movie are not acceptable behavior for young Christian gentlemen (even if one is a hot-shot swimmer for the Coast Guard). For the same reason, we haven’t watched “An Officer and a Gentlemen” with him yet (or wait, maybe we have, only it was called “The Guardian” and it starred Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher instead of Louis Gossett Jr. and Richard Gere!)😛

“Invincible” was also a great movie and the relationship (while illicit as well) was far more discreet. Our son actually liked “Shall We Dance” and it inspired him to take a summer ballroom dance class for kids!

Another movie that I loved (and one of our traditional Valentine’s Day "must-see"s) was “A Walk in the Clouds”. It could have gone off the deep end with the relationship, but ended up portraying Keanu Reeves’ character as a real gentlemen.

Still thinking of others…
 
I can recommend an excellent quirky mystery that’s heads above the usual stuff – lots of twists and a surprise ending. NO sexual stuff, no questionable language, no overt violence (one shot of a man with a knife in his chest, which is essential to the plot): The Spanish Prisoner

It is my all time favorite movie.

The lead actor, Campbell Scott (son of the late George C. Scott) is also in another Catholic-themed movie called ***Saint Ralph ***(which has a young man struggling with the sin of masturbation, but it’s a scene that passes fairly quickly). Otherwise it is a charming movie about belief in miracles. For those of us who grew up pre-Vatican II, it brings back wonderful memories.

'thann
 
sweetirishct said:
So I begin with a movie I have come across, called Keeping the Faith(PG-13), comedy. It has Ben Stiller as a Rabbi, Edward Norton as a Catholic Priest, and Jenna Elfman as a mutual friend. I love it because: it shows the Priest as a real human with real human emotions (he questions if he is falling in love w/ Jenna and if he should leave the Priesthood). Now, a few warnings: it does show the lovebirds engaging in premarital relations (not explicit, I don’t think). I think that is pretty much it for the bad stuff:hmmm:. Please pre-view it first for appropriateness in your family…
Click to expand...
Interesting thread…but I must second anyone reading to pre-view Keeping the Faith prior to viewing. If I recall correctly, the priest character casually answers a question of whether he had sex before, he said “Well sure” or something like that like it was the most natural thing ever. Plus the premarital relations you mentioned. And the “mentor” priest talking about how he falls in love every 10 years. I found its portrayal of priests as very weak, not so much “human.” There’s also a fairly risque scene of the priest’s fantasy with the Jenna Elfman character. I forgot about that!

I’ll give a few movies though, because I like the thread idea…I’m a guy, so sorry that these aren’t too fancy-romancy if that’s what you’re looking for:
  1. THE SIXTH SENSE…a little scary, but the boy turns to Catholic statues for his comfort…good story line too (I want to make sure it’s not just a “clean” movie…the story should also be good. Some violent images, nothing really gratuitous…this is for “grownups” right?!
  2. SPIDER-MAN…the newer series with Toby Maguire…even has Aunt May saying the Our Father in the first movie.
  3. X-MEN 2…includes a very Catholic mutant character who prays the Rosary.
  4. Most Jackie Chan movies are clean and have comic, well-choreographed fight scenes (off the top of my head, there is brief nudity in Operation: Condor)…First Strike is a good one.
  5. A couple animated movies that are good for the grown-ups and kids are the sci-fi TITAN A.E. and the very funny spoof of Little Red Riding Hood called HOODWINKED.
  6. In the theaters still is the very clean NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM. You can even learn a little about history too.
  7. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST…self-explanatory…although violent imagery…great film, though.
 
(I’m a gearhead, so…) If you or DH likes “feel good” movies, or overcoming personal challenges my new favorite is “World’s Fastest Indian”.

It’s the story of a New Zealander who’s life’s dream is to race his 1920 Indian motorcycle on the Bonneville Salt Flats. He does have two “dalliances” along the way, but a great story.

The other is “Heart Like a Wheel”. It’s the story of Shirley Muldowney, the only drag racer to win 3 Top Fuel championships.

Non-Gearhead favorites:
Different kind of horsepower - “The Man from Snowy River”. A love story of a young man “coming of age”, earning respect, and falling in love. Fantastic horsemanship & riding in this film.

“Mr. Holland’s Opus”. Richard Dreyfuss plays a musician/composer from age 30ish to his 60’s, who becomes a HS music teacher to make ends meet. Great story about how one person can impact 100’s of lives.

“Nobody’s Fool” - Paul Newman plays a 60ish construction worker who re-develops a relationship with his (now) adult son. Some nudity.

“On Golden Pond”.
“Amadeus”

Sorry, but most of my fav’s are 10+ years old.
 
Fly Boys is a jewel, its about WWI flying aces, some images of war. But a really good film based on a true story.

Peace,
Lee44
 
bluerose said:
Um… that “sweet romance” :eek: caused us to **stop the movie and give our 12-year-old son a 20-minute talk about how “casual” relationships **like those portrayed in the movie are not acceptable behavior for young Christian gentlemen (even if one is a hot-shot swimmer for the Coast Guard). For the same reason, we haven’t watched “An Officer and a Gentlemen” with him yet (or wait, maybe we have, only it was called “The Guardian” and it starred Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher instead of Louis Gossett Jr. and Richard Gere!)😛

“Invincible” was also a great movie and the relationship (while illicit as well) was far more discreet. Our son actually liked “Shall We Dance” and it inspired him to take a summer ballroom dance class for kids!

Another movie that I loved (and one of our traditional Valentine’s Day "must-see"s) was “A Walk in the Clouds”. It could have gone off the deep end with the relationship, but ended up portraying Keanu Reeves’ character as a real gentlemen.

Still thinking of others…
Click to expand...
Eeek!!! So sorry!! Now I am going to have to review it, am I so socialized that I forgot about those type of parts?? Wait a minute…
Oh My Wow!! I just remembered exactly what you are talking about, w/ Ashton’s character waking up in the girl’s apartment… WHY MUST THEY RUIN AN OTHERWISE GREAT MOVIE!!!

(corporate schmucks…:banghead: )
 
sweetirishct said:
Eeek!!! So sorry!! Now I am going to have to review it, am I so socialized that I forgot about those type of parts?? Wait a minute…
Oh My Wow!! I just remembered exactly what you are talking about, w/ Ashton’s character waking up in the girl’s apartment… WHY MUST THEY RUIN AN OTHERWISE GREAT MOVIE!!!

(corporate schmucks…:banghead: )
Click to expand...
Yep, that’s the scene. Then we continued, thinking, “okay, they got the OSS (obligatory sex scene) out of the way” AND THEN we get to the scene where they’re talking about going out on a “real date” while Ashton is in bed and she’s sitting on the floor and then she gets in bed… all three of us were scrambling for the remote!

But wasn’t that a WONDERFUL portrayal of the modern dating scene? Oh, wait, that wasn’t a “real” date:rolleyes:
 
guess I am glad we missed the “dating scene”…
DH and I were HS sweethearts:heart:
 
I heard “Lake House” was very good. I also liked “Hope Floats”. And since my husband is a Sandra Bullock junkie, I guess “Miss Congeniality” could make the cut. In fact, I sometimes try to tease my spouse out of a grump by singing, “You think I’m gorgeous, you want to kiss me, you want to hug me…” It usually works.

Or maybe he’s just trying to get me to stop singing?😉
 
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