A League of Their Own (1992)

Why its here:
How can you fail with Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, baseball, and WWII-era Americana? You can't and this film doesn't. A very fun and also moving depiction of a fascinating little slice of time. . . . But you can set that all aside. The truth is, the main reason we watched is so we could show the boys the iconic "there's no crying in baseball" scene.  :)

Specs:
2 hours; rated PG

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:

8.38

More about the film and our reaction to it:

The bones of the film are well-known: during WWII, when American men were in high demand for for the war effort, American women stepped up in many many ways. One of which -- that I don't think was widely known before this movie shed light on it -- was by playing baseball games to supplement thae lagging sports/entertainment 'industry', suffering in the wake of the war.

Hanks plays a washed-up, strung-out former coach who gets roped into helping one of these teams of women in the "all girl league." Davis, Petty, Madonna, O'Donnell and other comic talents play the players. The movie, directed with typical Penny Marshall style and skill, plumbs the social clashes and heart-warming drama that ensues when they are all thrown into a pot together. Its a fun, funny and feel good movie.

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Beetlejuice (1988)

Why it's here:
To sample one of Tim Burton's first directorial efforts. I was also excited about the deeply talented cast.

Specs:
An hour and a half; rated PG*

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
7.75

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is a strange film. I guess saying that Tim Burton directed it may have already made that apparent. Although it ultimately becomes a weird, scary-ish, supernatural 'comedy', the film starts out as an idyllic and romantic film of pleasant country life with our young couple played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin. But all that changes soon enough and we transition into a story about an unpleasant and stressed urban family and their resident ghosts. I won't say much more so I don't give away interesting plot twists.

My older son (age 15) loved the film! My younger (age 12) really wasn't sure what to make of it, but ultimately enjoyed it a lot. I think he found parts of it slightly more disturbing but was won over by the incredible creative talents that are found everywhere in this film.  If you watch with your family, just go in with few expectations and you will probably get a huge kick out of it.

* As with other PG films of this era, the boundaries are stretched with sexually inappropriate content including some erotic gestures, a visit to a brothel, comments from Beetlejuice of a sexual nature and abundant proof that Beetlejuice is "interested" in teenage Winona Ryder. However, much of this stuff is short-lived on screen and might be glossed over quickly by parents or not fully understood by kids. There are also some fairly grotesque or disturbing images related to showing how various afterlife characters died or related to our main characters attempting to scare the living. These are played for absurd comedy purposes and not for horror, so it is hard to say how cautious you might wish to be about them. If you have tender souls in your household, a pre-watch is probably warranted just to see. This would not be a typical PG rated film today.

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