Thursday Movie Picks: Kids Movies Adults Would Enjoy (Non-Animated)

It's been a few weeks since I've been able to devote any time to this site whatsoever, much less my beloved weekly post as part of Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks Meme.

This one is a doozie. Sort of tough at first, but then I was just flooded with ideas. I have a list of timeless (and ageless) movies. Live-action films that work for me now (at age 30) just as perfectly as they did when I was a kid.


Here are my Thursday Movie Picks in the category of Kids Movies Adults Would Enjoy (Non-Animated):

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982)

Steven Spielberg's E.T. remains one of the most emotionally powerful movies of my lifetime. It has me weeping every time. It is truly one of those movies that any kid would love, any adult would love, basically anyone capable of watching a movie would love. Elliott (Henry Thomas) is dealing with his parents' recent divorce when he stumbles upon a stranded alien, who will change his entire world. This is a movie for kids made by a big kid that is in many situations shot from the perspective of a kid. "Turn on your heartlight," and let this one in, if you haven't lately. 

The Goonies (Richard Donner, 1985)

If any movie gets down to what it is to be a young adolescent, it's this one. I am hard pressed to think of another movie that is so present among people my age. It is one of those movies that is so totally engrained in every kid of my generation. Like my previous pick, this one features a young lead character in Mikey (Sean Astin) facing an adult issue in that his family is about to lose their home. A treasure map found in the attic leads to an adventure that I'm pretty sure anyone of any age would have fun with. "Hey! You guys!!!" This one needs to be seen by all. 

The Sandlot (David M. Evans, 1993)

My dad absolutely loves this movie. In 1993, he was 38 years old, about the same age (maybe a bit younger) than the characters it portrays. Scottie Smalls (Tom Guiry) is a lonely kid, who just moved to an L.A. suburb in the early 1960s. He has no friends and is a bit of a brain. When he befriends a local youth baseball legend, his life is forever altered by treehouses and mysteries and mean old men and Beasts and swimming pools and sexy lifeguards and Babe Ruth and autographed baseballs and the true meaning of our country's greatest game. It will remain a favorite of mine "forever, forever, forever, forever..." 

Bonus Pick

Tomorrowland (Brad Bird, 2015)

I just had to throw this one in the mix. If you told me last weekend that I would do a double feature of this and the new Mad Max: Fury Road, and that this one would stand out as the better movie, I would've told you you're crazy. Alas, it's the truth. Brad Bird has yet to do wrong for me. He directs action sequence in the most lively, fun sort of way imaginable. And this is a solid new movie about just that...imagination. And dreams. And believing that good can be made of a crumbling world. Britt Robertson stars as Casey Newton, a big dreaming, smart teenager, the type of character kids can and should relate to in this world of bad role models. She upstages an also great George Clooney in a movie that is just pure fun. It's still in theaters. I recommend you see it there. 

I recently wrote a sort of review of Tomorrowland as part of an essay about my day last Saturday. Check it out!