Harry and the Hendersons

A quintessential family movie from the 80's. John Lithgow takes his family on a camping trip to Mt. Rainier only to come home with a Bigfoot!  Well, Harry, as they name him, becomes part of the family.  That, however, is only part of the story because hunters are after the new Henderson family member.

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*All Ages

Pocahontas

Pocahontas tells the fictionalized story of the famous Native American, Pocahontas, as she has her adventures and love story with John Smith when he arrives from Europe to the New World. Plenty of Autumn imagery, like fall leaves and campfires, fills the screen as you watch the tale unfold. 

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*All Ages

Fly Away Home

Fly Away Home tells the story of a girl connecting with her estranged and odd father while the two come together to raise baby geese she found.  It is a powerful story of a parent doing anything they can for their kids, whether that parent is the estranged dad with his daughter or the daughter with her geese.

October Sky

This true story, set in October 1957, tells a tale of hope, optimism, and dreams. Homer Hickam is a son of a coal miner, and he's expected to follow in his father's footsteps whether he likes it or not.  Homer, however, falls in love with the idea of rockets and space travel. He pursues his dream to his fullest capabilities, and the results are incredible as his sheer determination helps him make new friends, make new life possibilities, and make a connection with his closed-off father.  The moral is that dreams are not always easy, sometimes you have to work hard to achieve them.

Goonies

Goonies is a top 5 family movie of all time. It tells of adventure, danger, and excitement all as a group of young kids go hunting for lost pirate treasure with a family of criminals hot on their trail.  Produced by Stephen Spielberg and directed by Richard Donner, the story that could have been cheesy if made by the wrong people ends up amazing and fun.  Watch it to find out why Goonies never say die! 

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*All Ages

Iron Giant

In the peak of the Cold War in 1957, a boy finds and befriends a giant robot that has crash-landed in his hometown. A CIA agent shows up in town to find the robot, so it's up to the boy to keep the giant robot safe.  A great moral for this movie is that you don't have to be what everyone expects you to be.  You can be anyone or anything you choose to be!

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*All Ages

Back to the Future

Back to the Future is an iconic movie series. Marty McFly goes back in time in a DeLorean time machine, accidentally ruins the past of his own family, and has to struggle to set everything back the way it was meant to be. The series is best watched back to back to back. Robert Zemeckis directed these movies so similarly, and they're so well written, that there are so many similarities and recurring jokes throughout all 3 that are more easily noticed when watching them together.  Also, why not?  It's a great marathon of movies!

Great Outdoors

John Candy takes his family on a family fishing trip to a cabin in Wisconsin. Unfortunately for him, his brother-in-law, Dan Aykroyd, crashes the party unannounced with his own family. It's an immediate "Odd Couple" scenario because these two have nothing in common, and Dan's character takes over every activity that had been planned. Candy and Aykroyd are at their best in this hilarious John Hughes movie.

Charlotte's Web

The classic tale by E.B. White comes to life like it never has before in this mostly live action movie.  Computer animation brings all the animals to life on the screen.  Wilbur is a pig that is scared, at the end of the season, he'll become someone's dinner.  Charlotte, a writing spider, comes up with an ingenious plan to keep the little pig safe.

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*All Ages

Over the Hedge

It's almost hibernation time, and all the animals are preparing by gathering supplies. Only one problem, a scheming raccoon convinces everyone they can get more food in less time by going over the hedge into human territory! That raccoon is full of tricks, though, because he isn't just throwing out advice from the goodness of his heart.  He's in debt to a bear and looking for others to help him collect what he needs.  This is an extremely funny, star-studded, and weirdly underrated Dreamworks Animated movie. 

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*All Ages

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4: Long Haul

The Long Haul is a summer road trip movie at its essence. However, a big portion of the movie takes place at a rural county fair with livestock prizes and rides (in one of the awesomely grossest movie scenes you have ever seen).  Since county fairs are synonymous with Fall, Greg Heffley's fair adventure fits right in with the Fall movie list. 

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*All Ages

Open Season

It's hunting season and the animals of the forest must work together to escape the hunters.  The main two animals, a domesticated bear released back out into the wild and a goofball, nervous deer, have to get past their disagreements to lead the rest of the animals in a no holds barred battle against all hunters. 

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*All Ages

Rushmore

A love triangle forms when an overzealous student at Rushmore prep academy falls for the same teacher that his friend, another student's father, played by Bill Murray, is also in love with.  The student, Max, feels betrayed, and then all gloves are off for a fun-filled battle of wits. This surreal comedy by Wes Anderson is rated R.

*Teens

Red Dawn

During the Cold War of the 80's, what would have happened if the Russians would have invade the US? Red Dawn answers that "what if" question. A star-studded cast including Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, C. Thomas Howell, and Lea Thompson, band together to form a small rebel team intent on fighting back against the Russians from inside their American beachhead. While the remake was decent, it doesn't quite hold up to the original.

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*Teens

ET

ET is another all time, top 5 family movie. This time Spielberg introduces an adorable, waddling, glowing-fingered extra-terrestrial trying to find its way home. Along the way it befriends a group of kids that help it gets where its heading while avoiding the military hunting for it. 

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*All Ages

Super 8

JJ Abrams directs Super 8, which is like ET meets the Goonies, and Spielberg is involved once again as a producer. This time, set in 1979, a group of kids making their own horror movie are in the right place at the right time to film a train crash. However, there's more going on with the train crash than meets the eye. Creepy goings on!

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*Older kids and teens