An Old School Movie List to Aid with Social Distancing

Never have we needed Elisabeth Shue, Emilio Estevez, or historical conspiracy theories more in our lifetime. Usually, I would take a decent amount of my word count to really dive into this topic, but crazy times call for getting to the point. 

Here are movies from my childhood that will bring smiles to many. (Full disclosure: PG when I was a kid, is pretty much a Mature Only audience nowadays.)

Adventures in Babysitting

You’re welcome world! This 1987 classic is one of my favorites. A rock star lead in Elisabeth Shue (who still looks amazing in the new Amazon Prime series The Boys) made this film a hit. Any actress who for the majority of a film can pull off a look that involves a long camel-colored coat and rainbow scarf deserves an Oscar nomination. 

Shue plays a high schooler named Chris who ends up babysitting the Andersen kids when her boyfriend cancels their date at the last minute. Throw in a hormonal best friend, a little girl in love with Thor, an unplanned trip from the suburbs to the city, plus a car-jacking and you have….drum roll: Adventures in Babysitting.

My kids laughed hysterically throughout this movie. We did have discussions about how the “F Word” is never appropriate, except maybe in that one instance when Shue’s character has to yell the profanity at a gang member in a subway car in order to save lives. The babysitting life is rough, as she also sings the blues, gets shot at by mobsters, and tight rope walks on rafters.

My spouse had never seen this movie. I rented it for the kids and me while he was out of town. I couldn’t believe it, so I watched it again with him the next evening. He raised his eyebrows a few times, especially since some of the plot focuses on a playboy magazine. Trust me, there was still wholesome fun in plenty of scenes.

If you enjoy Adventures in Babysitting, you might also want to see these 1980’s-1990’s classics: Romancing the Stone, Mr. Mom, Space Camp, and Cloak & Dagger.

Mighty Ducks

Okay, now this recommendation is more family-friendly. It is also the first film in a trilogy. Social distancing looks to be going on for weeks, so be a parental champ and watch all three of these films in succession with your kiddos.

Emilio Estevez is in rare form as Gordon Bombay, a selfish lawyer forced to coach youth hockey as his community service for driving while intoxicated. He gets The Bad News Bears (another classic film) only instead of baseball cleats they are on ice skates. The youth hockey players are led by Joshua Jackson of Dawson Creek/teen idol fame. 

Mighty Ducks came out in 1992 and is one of those fun sports movies where the players end up teaching the coach a thing or two. Which means everyone wins in the process. Estevez recently signed a deal with Disney+ to star in a Mighty Ducks television series. So jump on the bandwagon now!

If you like Mighty Ducks, also consider: Sandlot, The Cutting Edge, Little Big League, or A League of Their Own.

National Treasure

The last two evenings my household took in the acting chops of the one and only Nicolas Cage in National Treasure and National Treasure II. Both films are wholesome and offer history lessons throughout the far-fetched plots. 

The first film has Cage’s character, Ben Gates, stealing the Declaration of Independence in order to keep it out of the hands of bad guys. His sidekick is a funny, tech genius and there is a love interest played by Diane Kruger. Much of the first movie involves important buildings in Washington DC and areas of New England. The second film is equally far-fetched but has the trio gallivanting from DC to Europe to the Black Hills. 

My children (age ranges from 6 to 11-years-old) enjoyed both of these movies. Really the only critique came from my oldest daughter as she wondered aloud why the smart female character would want such an old boyfriend. I laughed. Then, I had to have a discussion regarding Hollywood’s tendency to ignore age differences. Especially when it favors the leading man having a much younger love interest.  For those who are wondering, Cage is 13 years older than Kruger.

There are rumors of a National Treasure III, I wonder what that will entail?
If you like National Treasurer, also consider: The Mummy, Indiana Jones films, or The DaVinci Code.

Movies from my youth could be on a list that goes on forever, which means there is probably another blog post or two to come regarding this topic. 

What movie from your childhood is definitely worth viewing again?