Things to Do - Family Movie Night (a list)

(Okay, so this photo has nothing to do with movies, but I felt this post needed a visual. Plus, it shows that my children would rather SCRUB POTATOES then compromise on film choices.)

Lately finding the "right" film for family movie night has moved from "difficult" to "near impossible". Do all families have this problem? We can never agree.

I prefer documentaries and 80s' movies, Dan likes nature movies and westerns, and the kids can watch High School Musical over and over again (note that this movie DID NOT make my list). Often, we come to a standstill and end up playing board games instead.

So I made a list. Maybe it will help you. Maybe it won't. All movies with one asterisk have been enjoyed by a minimum of three members of our family (at least one adult and two children). Movies with three asterisks are movies that we still haven't seen (but have heard good things about). I intentionally excluded some popular "classics" (for example, I know most people love her, but the Little Mermaid's self-involved rebellion and frivolous voice exchange bother me). Further, every household has their own rules for when children are old enough to watch certain movies, so even though my kids have seen Indiana Jones, I'm not sure it is right for all grade school-aged children.

Okay, so help us out here - WHAT DID I MISS?

(Also, I have to give a HUGE shout out to Common Sense Media for helping me craft this list (I love that site) and to the internet in general for finding more and more awesome movies to watch).
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MOVIES

ANIMATED
* Rio
* How to Train Your Dragon
* The Incredibles
* The Toy Story Trilogy
* The Fantastic Mr. Fox (I absolutely love this movie)
* Despicable Me (I and II)
* Wreck it Ralph
* Brave
* It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
* The Lorax (the original and the remake)
* Shrek
* Horton Hears a Who
* The Adventures of Tin Tin
* Mulan
* Tangled
* Hoodwinked
* Bolt
*** Spirited Away
*** Cars
*** Wall E
*** Meet the Robinsons
*** Everyone's Hero

CLASSICS (I'm not sure where classics ends and "new classics" begin, so just go with it)
* The Sound of Music
* The Wizard of Oz
* Singing in the Rain
* Bringing Up Baby
* The Parent Trap (though my kids had a really hard time with the fact that each parent completely abandoned a child)
* Swiss Family Robinson (if you can ignore tolerate the blatant sexism; F kept venting by throwing pillows at the TV)
* The Star Wars trilogy
* Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original)
* Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp
*** Funny Face
*** An American In Paris
*** Sabrina
*** West Side Story
*** To Kill a Mockingbird
*** Charlie Chaplin's The Kid
*** Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Netflix streaming)

THE "NEW" CLASSICS
* All 8 Muppet Movies
* The Princess Bride
* The Harry Potter series
* Annie
* Hugo
* ET
* Karate Kid
* Adventures in Babysitting (be careful, the language in this one is pretty iffy, but I still love it)
* Ghostbusters (F called this "the most random movie ever", don't forget there is some violence and the bizarre ghost oral sex scene)
* Freaky Friday
* Enchanted
* Maleficent
* The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (some parents hate these, but I find them funny)
* Elf
* The Lego Movie
* Night at the Museum
* Home Alone
* Indiana Jones
* A Little Princess
* The Never Ending Story
*** Bad News Bears
*** Ever After
*** Dances With Wolves
*** Beethoven
*** Parental Guidance
*** Cheaper By the Dozen, I and II
*** Nims Island
*** Sky High
*** Beetlejuice


ANIMAL MOVIES
* The Free Willy series
* A Dolphin Tale
* March of the Penguins
* Bears
*** Wings of Life

DOCUMENTARIES
* Blackfish (yes they cried, but now they care)
* 180 Degrees South (not exactly "normal" family fare, but my kids liked the surfing/mountain climbing and the environmental message)
* A Place at the Table
* Planet Earth
*** Spellbound (if you can find a copy)
*** Girl Rising (Netflix streaming)
*** Babies
*** Paperclips
*** Garbage (The Revolution Starts at Home) (Netflix streaming)
*** Food Inc.
*** Forks Over Knives
*** More Than Honey
*** Miss Representation
*** Harvest
*** Dive, Living Off America's Waste
*** The Beatles Anthology

KIDS OVER 7 (or 8 or 9 or however old you feel is "old enough")
* Ender's Game
* Stand By Me
* The Goonies
* Pretty In Pink
*** Jurassic Park
*** Back to the Future
*** National Treasure
*** Clue
*** Clueless
*** Super 8
*** Ferris Bueller's Day Off
*** The Outsiders
*** Footloose
*** Girls Just Want to Have Fun
*** Au Revoir Les Enfants
*** Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
*** The Kings of Summer
*** Whale Rider
*** Mud
*** Bend it Like Beckham
*** Spiderman
*** American Teen
*** Sixteen Candles
*** The Breakfast Club
*** Legally Blond
*** Dead Poets Society
*** Lucas
*** Mean Girls
*** Hunger Games
*** Divergent
*** The Sandlot
*** One Crazy Summer
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TV

REALITY
* Project Runway (Hulu, but only on computers not TVs)
* Master Chef Junior (streams through Hulu)
* America Ninja Warrior (Hulu)
* Cosmos (Hulu)
* MythBusters
* Too Cute
*** HGTV (We don't have cable, but I've heard from numerous friends that this whole network is great to watch as a family (though their shows cause me a lot of house guilt))
*** The Food Network (esp. Great Food Truck Race & The Next Food Network Star)
*** America's Got Talent
*** Survivor
*** Chopped
*** WildKratts

COMEDIES
* The Cosby Show (streams through Hulu)
* Punky Brewster (old episodes are on You Tube)
* Silver Spoons (Old episodes are on You Tube)

OLDER KIDS
*** Freaks and Geeks