At Home with Tech

If you’re looking for a good movie to stream with your family, here are some choices I strongly recommend with your popcorn.

Every Friday, I spend at least 30 minutes scouring through the streaming apps I pay for to see if there are any new movies for my family to watch that night. It’s become an increasingly frustrating experience, as there just aren’t that many new films moving through the pipeline these days.

Yes… I know. There are thousands of hours of available content and nothing to watch. That’s how I feel.

But to be fair, I’m still limiting my search to PG-13 movies. I think one day soon, we’ll cross into ‘R-rated’ territory. Still, finding a movie that successfully threads the needle to meet the interests of my entire family is not easy.

The Usual Suspects
Fun and action-packed is a good combination. “Star Wars,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and MCU movies of course fit the bill, but we’ve seen them all… multiple times. And it doesn’t help that the only MCU flick this year was “Deadpool and Wolverine.” No, we’re not at all ready for that one yet. (I did enjoy it in the theater with a couple other dads, even though there were a few sloppy timeline and multiversal inconsistencies.)

Look Backwards
So, I think the answer is not to wait for the drip/drip of the next movie to show up on your app, but to look back to see what you might have missed. There are strong options that aren’t on the apps’ top 10 lists.

I’ve been maintaining my own list of movie choices for years. It’s a good reference for my family’s weekly conversation of which film we might stream next.

Here are 10 flicks for your consideration that my family has enjoyed watching together.

10 Older Movies to Watch

• “Free Guy” (2021)
• “Red Notice” (2021)
• “The Adam Project” (2022)
  (Yes, they’re all PG-13 Ryan Reynolds movies that hit the sweet spot for my family.)
• “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (2017)
• “Jumanji: The Next Level” (2019)
  (These are rare movies that are totally funny and border on silly. But silly still works for my 14-year-old son as long as it’s done right. Note: Dwyane Johnson movies are usually appealing.)
• “The Other Guys” (2010)
  (Entirely goofy misfit cops with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell)
• “Ready Player One” (2018)
  (Imaginative virtual reality and directed by Steven Spielberg)
• “Passengers” (2016)
  (Space travel with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence)
• “Knives Out” (2019)
• “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (2022)
  (Daniel Criag stars in these clever, funny and offbeat murder mysteries.)

3 Tom Cruise Action Movies

Over the years, Tom Cruise effectively created his own genre of action movies that are suitable for the whole family. So, his films usually show up on my list. Here are just three.

• “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning” (2023)
• “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022)
  (Arguably better than the first)
• “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014)
  (Our son really liked the “Groundhog Day” plot device for this intense alien invasion flick.)

2 Holiday Movies for the Family

There’s that time in December when someone says, “Let’s watch a holiday movie!” Well, here are two for you.

• “Spirited” (2022)
  (Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell make magic together. It’s a riff on “A Christmas Carol” that’s nice and just slightly naughty. Plus, it’s a Broadway-quality musical with tons of laughs. Move over “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This is the new standard.)
• “8-Bit Christmas” (2021)
  (It took me two years to convince my family to watch this. Its trailer doesn’t capture the true warmth of this very silly and satisfying look back at the 80’s. It’s another instant classic to keep on your list of flicks to watch over the holidays.)

5 Movies I’ve Yet to Convince my Family to Watch

Every potential movie goes through a Lester pre-screening process. That always involves watching the trailer. Sometimes the trailers for older movies are unappealingly dated. Other times, the trailer is surprisingly missing on the app. Instead, there’s just a scene included from the movie. That doesn’t cut it at all. And that omission usually spells doom for that flick.

Here are a few of those that we have yet to watch:

• “Twister” (The original from 1996)
• “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” (2017)
  (Certainly not as good as “The Fifth Element” from 1997, but still worth watching)
• “Hellboy” (2004)
• “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (2008)
  (Directed by Guillermo del Toro. Need I say more?)
• “John Carter” (2012)
  (A failed Disney tentpole, but I think still worth checking out. I also must admit that this is a running joke with me and my son, as he’s declined the ongoing option to watch this movie for almost half his life!)

Prepare for your Next Family Movie Night
You can’t expect everyone in a family unit to have the same interests in movies. So, if you’re a curator of options to stream, it helps to have a healthy list of choices to offer. You’ll have a better chance to find consensus on at least one.

And don’t forget to look backwards during your research. Older movies are just as good. And sometimes much better!