Box Set Honorable Mention: Police Academy

Police academy movies complete box setOk. “Honorable Mention” is a bit of a stretch. In fact, a Police Academy box set / movie marathon makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.But, it is indeed a box set that exits, there are seven movies in the box set, and those seven movies will get you most of the way through a 24-hour marathon.

This box set isn’t enough for a movie marathon all by itself. But, if just can’t get enough of that dreamboat Steve Guttenberg, then take this box set, throw in some Cocoon, Short Circuit, 3 Men and a Baby, and you will have yourself a marathon. I wish you good luck in your 1980’s dreamland.

Creating Movie Marathon Kid-Friendly Zones

Being the parent of two young kids, I have not had to think too hard about the content of the movies and shows my kids watch (“Is it Sesame street? Or Barney? Or a classic Disney film? Ok then.”). But trying to create movie marathon kid-friendly zones is different. Each parent is going to have kids of varying ages and those parents will all have varying ideas of what is and is not acceptable for their youngins’. What is a movie marathon host to do?

Enter the non-profit group Common Sense Media.They have thousands of reviews for movies, TV shows, music, video games, apps, web sites and books. Their reviews include a quick rundown on content that may possibly be problematic for your kid, and they also provide a handy “content grid” that rates particular aspects of the title including educational value, violence, messages and role models, and more.

My kids love Wreck-It Ralph (and so do I!). I took a look at their review of Wreck-It Ralph, and it seemed pretty spot-on. Some video-game style violence, some potty humor, but generally a very positive message of discovering who you really are. Sounds like they and I think alike!

With that in mind, I vetted my upcoming 2013 movie marathon kid zones with Common Sense media. One big helpful item – they pointed out that Jiro Dreams of Sushi is subtitled, and will be of very little interest to young kids. Oops! My kid-friendly zone got a little shorter!

And here are the rest:

  • Swiss Family Robinson – Pros: Good adventure and family teamwork. Cons: Some possibly scary fight and animal scenes.
  • The Iron Giant – Pros: Great adventure and messages. Cons: A little bit of violence, some smoking.
  • Brave – Pros: Good messages about parent / child communication. Cons: Scary bear attack, rough fighting among the kid brothers
  • My Neighbor Totoro – Pros: Beautiful movie, imaginative story. Cons: The kids sure have a lot of freedom to wander around on their own.

I think I’ll keep using this site to check out what media my kids are about to consume. I hope you find the site useful too!

24 Hour Movie Marathon #5: The Final New Re-birthening – Revised Schedule

My wife and I have decided to experiment with “kid friendly zones” in our movie marathons and have updated this year’s schedule accordingly. 5:00 PM – 9:30 PM and 8:45 AM – 12:00 PM will be a mix of live-action and animated features suitable to younger children.

All of our previous movie marathons have been adult-oriented, so this will be a first-of-a-kind for us!

Start TimeEnd TimeTitleYearRuntimeBreak time
12:00 PM02:23 PMSkyfall2012143 min.37 min.
03:00 PM05:08 PMThe Magnificent Seven1960128 min.22 min.
05:30 PM07:36 PMSwiss Family Robinson1960126 min.24 min.
08:00 PM09:26 PMThe Iron Giant199986 min.19 min.
09:45 PM11:47 PMStreetcar named Desire1951122 min.13 min.
12:00 AM01:39 AMThe Legend of Drunken Master199499 min.6 min.
01:45 AM03:39 AMThe Big Sleep1946114 min.6 min.
03:45 AM05:42 AMThe Big Lebowski1998117 min.3 min.
05:45 AM07:13 AMMad Max197988 min.2 min.
07:15 AM08:36 AMJiro Dreams of Sushi201181 min.9 min.
08:45 AM10:18 AMBrave201293 min.12 min.
10:30 AM11:56 AMMy Neighbor Totoro198886 min.4 min.
12:00 PM12:00 PMFinish

Refined 2013 Movie Marathon Schedule

The close-to-final 2013 movie marathon schedule?

Start TimeTitleYearRuntimeBreak time
12:00 PMSkyfall2012143 min.37 min.
03:00 PMThe Magnificent Seven1960128 min.7 min.
05:15 PMRebel without a Cause1955111 min.9 min.
07:15 PMThe Big Sleep1946114 min.21 min.
09:30 PMStreetcar named Desire1951122 min.13 min.
11:45 PMThe Legend of Drunken Master199499 min.6 min.
01:30 AMThe Dark Crystal198293 min.12 min.
03:15 AMThe Big Lebowski1998117 min.3 min.
05:15 AMJiro Dreams of Sushi201181 min.9 min.
06:45 AMShort FilmsVarious30 min.0 min.
07:15 AMMad Max197988 min.2 min.
08:45 AMBrave201293 min.12 min.
10:30 AMMy Neighbor Totoro198886 min.4 min.
12:00 PMFinish0 min. min.