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Eight-year-old Toby loves a good ritual, and he recently named Wednesday evenings “Family Fun Night,” where we order pizza and watch a movie. Fine by me! Here, Toby and five-year-old Anton share their favorite and least favorite movies we have seen (and I’d love to hear yours)…
The Parent Trap
Toby: If I could have a sister, it would be the girl in Parent Trap. Hallie lives in California, and Annie and her mom have a butler! They do a special handshake. I think kids would like it. I could teach kids how to do it, if they want to know. I’ve watched Parent Trap three or five times!
Anton: I’ve seen Parent Trap two times. I like the pranks. They put a lizard on a lady’s head.
Toby: I also wrote a letter to Dennis Quaid. I said, I’m a fan!
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Toby: It rains food, and I would like it to rain pasta every day. I would have rigatoni with marinara and parmesan cheese. I have the book, too.
Anton: I like that movie. I would have it rain anchovies because I love anchovies and Daddy loves anchovies.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Toby: I love Spider-Man. He is very cool and learns how to swing from trees. But at the beginning, Peter Parker died because of Kingpin. I would not recommend watching that movie if you don’t like death scenes. It was so sad. All the people in the movie were crying and covering their mouths. It made me feel sad the next day, too.
Enchanted
Toby: I would recommend this movie to kids. They live in New York, and all the animals come to help clean the apartment but they are rats and pigeons and cockroaches. It’s funny and gross. I like when they get married at the end and the dad does a funny dance.
Anton: (Does the funny dance)
Sing
Toby: You get to hear all the animals singing in a competition. I liked the part where Johnny’s dad says, ‘Son, I’m so proud of you.’
Anton: I like Johnny and his song, ‘I’m Still Standing.’ If I could sing a song, I would sing ‘Take on Me’ or ‘Let My Love Open the Door.’
The Sound of Music
Toby: I didn’t like this one as much. I guess it’s okay, but I think there are better movies.
Anton: I love the Sound of Music. (hiccups) I liked the chase scene, and I like when they sing Edelweiss because we sing that at home.
Inside Out
Toby: I think this movie is boring. The family moves to this house that’s really annoying. And Joy is annoying because she’s always happy. And it’s confusing. Also, they say Fear keeps Riley scared but he actually keeps her safe. They should call him ‘safe.’
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Toby: This movie makes us laugh all the time. The door of their minivan falls off. Alexander’s big brother goes to prom. I kind of think I look like the big brother.
Anton: You do look like the big brother!
Coco
Toby: This movie is really good. You think it will be scary because of the skeletons but it’s not scary. Daddy cried when we watched it. But I thought it was happy because you get to see your family who died.
Trolls
Toby: Trolls has a lot of good Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick songs. And it’s all about how to be happy. Everyone has it inside them to be happy. Basically, you don’t need to eat a troll to be happy.
And for the future?
Toby: I would recommend Freaky Friday. It’s PG. I haven’t seen it but I want to.
Anton: I just want to watch any grown-up thing.
Thoughts? What would you — or the little ones in your life — add to the list?
P.S. A seven-year-old’s guide to surviving family travel, and parenting in 10 words or less.
(Photo illustration by Maud Passini for Cup of Jo.)
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