1. Downton Abbey: A New Era. Since we watched the first Downton Abbey movie, we certainly needed to watch the newest one. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was so glad it was another continuation of the Grantham family story. I hope not it’s not our last visit into their lives–I already miss them. It’s rated PG and other than some adult content (there is a homosexual character throughout the TV series and movies) it’s very clean (you can read the parent guide here).
2. Thirteen Lives. This was such an intense movie. It’s based on the true story of 12 boys and their soccer coach who are trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018. It is such a heroic story as people from around the world come together to not only locate them but find a way to bring them all out safely. I found myself literally holding my breath at times during the movie. It’s rated PG-13 (you can read the parent guide here).
3. The Gray Man. This was an interesting movie starring Ryan Gosling. He plays a CIA assassin and finds himself on the run when he uncovers some dark agency secrets. There’s a lot of good action and intrigue and we all really enjoyed. It’s rated PG-13–there’s quite a bit of violence, intense action and foul language (you can read the parent guide here).
4. Secret Headquarters. This was a really good family movie. Owen Wilson is a super-hero, unbeknownst to his son–who only sees him as an absentee dad. He and his friends discover the secret headquarters while his dad is away, and it is left to them to defend it from dangerous villains. It’s fun, silly and has some really good positive messages–it’s rated PG.
5.Where the Crawdad’s Sing. Oh how I loved this book and was so excited to get to see the movie. So often the movie disappoints after having read the book–but this will not. It’s about a girl who survives living in the marsh in the deep south after her family abandons her as a young child. Known only as the “Marsh Girl”(her name is Kya), she befriends a boy from the town who teaches her to read and write and discovers her talent of observing and documenting nature within the marsh. He goes off to college and in his absence, she begins a relationship with the town football hero. When he is found dead, she is the only suspect. It is a great story of love, of harsh judgements, and of things not being what they seem. It’s rated PG-13, but I don’t recommend for kids. There’s a lot of adult content (you can read the parent guide here).
I would love to hear our opinions and any suggestions you may have of what to watch.