I’m a big fan of family movies. Of all the family activities we conduct in our household, Family Movie Night is the one that usually gets the best reaction. When we get into that high-speed, out-every-night, super-sonic lifestyle, our boys will still ask us, “Can we have a movie night?”

Nothing seems to calm us all down like a darkened room and popcorn.

As a family, we watch just about any type of movie. My guys like the original Flight of the Phoenix with Jimmy Stewart as well as an animated tear-jerker like Up. (Both are fantastic, by the way.)

Last week we watched We Bought a Zoo, and I cried, of course. Don’t laugh—tears are healing, and I had a bad week. Also, the little girl in that movie is ADORABLE!

This week the family flick that awaits is Dolphin Tale. I usually stagger my Netflix queue with action films in between the family fare, but Wrath of the Titans isn’t available until next week.

I know that for some people, movie night is a bad way for families to spend time together, because there is less interaction than with game time or gardening or stamp collecting. For us it works, because we use the movie subjects or characters as conversation starters. “What would you do in that situation? Can you believe his brother said that? Which one of them did you like best?”

Sometimes we talk about the movie far longer than we watched. It’s fun; you should try it!

That’s a wrap for this Toast to Cinema. Thanks for reading.