Parents need to know that A Bug's Life has lots of "good bug-bad bug" cartoon action and some images that could be scary to very young children who have not yet differentiated make believe violence from real violence, or to sensitive kids who are not comfortable with suspense or jeopardy. Scowling, threatening grasshoppers loom over and swarm toward a colony of vulnerable ants, the heroes of the story. The insects contend with fire, rain, predatory birds, as well as the power hungry grasshoppers. Older kids will enjoy the clever humor and the unique view of the insect world, as well as the interspecies conflicts. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
In A BUG'S LIFE, when Flik inadvertently loses the food tribute set out by the ants for the predatory grasshoppers, he must find a way to protect his community. In the spirit of The Magnificent Seven, he goes off in search of warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers. He mistakenly hires a group of unsuccessful vaudevillians from (of course) a flea circus, who think they are being booked for a performance and have no idea he expects them to fight. But they turn out to have just the right stuff to help the ants fight the grasshoppers after all, and Flick gets to prove that he is a hero at heart.
You'll need to see this delightful movie twice to appreciate the scope of its visual wit and technological mastery. Oddly enough, this wasn't the only computer-animated movie about bugs to come out in the fall of 1998; Antz was released just a month before, and the difference between the two animated bug movies is exemplified by their lead characters. Antz has Z, voiced by Woody Allen as -- well -- Woody Allen, angst-ridden, in analysis, searching for individual identity in a world of conformity. A Bug's Life has NewsRadio's Dave Foley providing his voice as Flik, an All-American ant-next-door type who is inventive, brave, and loyal.
Helped by outstanding voice talent, the rest of the movie's characters are quirky and endearing enough to make you forget they are computer-animated. Lending their voices are Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Phyllis Diller, Kevin Spacey, Spin City's Richard Kind, Frasier's David Hyde Pierce, and John Ratzenberger of Cheers. Antz was largely brown, but this movie uses a paintbox of color to produce stunning images with luminous tones.
Families can talk about the insect world in A Bug's Life. How many bugs can you name? How do bugs communicate in real life? Why do you think ants and bees live in such big colonies? How do they benefit the earth?
Truth can be stranger than fiction. But it can also be scarier. Real life and real-life events can often induce the fear a horror movie is more likely to cause. And while films are the perfect excuse and resource for escapism, they can also provide something else that's not exactly entertainment. We're talking about reflections of reality that don't have the safe word of fiction and simply deliver an adapted version of the horrifying truth. The endings are anything but happy.
But while these films tend to be disturbing, they're not always hard to watch. We've become accustomed to their existence, and we even know when to press "stop" or cover our eyes in order to avoid something traumatic. That is, if you get to watch them more than once. In the case of the following films, you probably won't. These are non-horror films so frightening they've caused people to leave the theater, feel disgusted, or simply reject the opportunity to watch them. In these cases, they don't even have to be based on true events to be horrific. They just have to show you an undoctored version of something possible, a grim version of fantasy, or they have to recount a real-life event in the format of film.
In Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, Schindler's List, the Nazis have occupied parts of Europe and started what's known as the Holocaust. Concentration camps, where Jews are subjected to labor, torture, and death, are common. Only one member of the Nazi Party thinks differently. Oskar Schindler owns a factory, and he uses a hiring process to save as many victims as possible, making him one of the most important people in the Jewish community to this day.
An emotionally devastating film that was irreversibly imprinted on people's minds, Schindler's List is a remarkable depiction of war and the horrors that ensue with power. The director made sure to make a realistic and gripping film featuring the truthful aspects of conflict and not necessarily battlefield violence. Instead, he goes for another version of violence. A psychological one that resonates through a horrific portrayal of malice. This is a film that should make deniers take back their words. To this day, it's a film that's so horrifying that people have trouble rewatching it. That is, if they dare at all to rewatch it.
Tom Ford's thriller Nocturnal Animals tells the story of Susan Morrow, a wealthy art dealer who's trying to leave her past behind. However, when her ex-husband Edward comes knocking and asks Susan to read a manuscript, she realizes the past is back to haunt her. How? In the form of a horrific horror book that Edward seems to have written for her, and to let her know a couple of things. This is a very underrated film that everyone should watch at some point, featuring great performances by Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
The film is told mostly from the perspective of Edward's interpretation. But such interpretation is reflected in the book, which features eerily similar characters to those in reality. The thing is, what they go through is a jarring experience of sadistic violence and nihilism that could only come from the mind of a scorned man. One would say that it's better if Edward reflected repressed desires in a story he writes, but the effect this has on Susan is nonetheless a very terrorizing one. Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Ray is the main reason why people find it very hard to watch this again. That man is the best representation of evil in recent years.
In Testament, a small American town is shaken by the launch of a nuclear bomb. It doesn't exactly fall near, but the effects and fallout don't take long to appear. The film is told from the perspective of Carol, a mother whose husband never returns after the morning the bomb hits, and who is forced to care for her children as they slowly start suffering from the aftermath. It stars Jane Alexander in an Academy Award-nominated performance.
When it comes to films about the threat of nuclear war, most are told from the perspective of military leaders trying to prevent conflict. However, in Testament, there are no uniforms, banners, or broadcasts. This is the portrayal of a family that's unaware of the consequences of war, as everything that happens isn't exactly what the books tell. The film's very hard to watch because it isn't hopeful at all: It is simply an account of a mother unsuccessfully trying to save herself and her children. Testament is realistic and raw, and it has no limits when showing the effects of nuclear warfare. Just a quick note: It isn't a graphic film at all.
The NeverEnding Story tells the story of what happens when Bastian Bux is given a sort of magical book. After hiding in a bookstore when chased by bullies, the bookseller gives Bastian a book titled The Neverending Story. Naturally, Bastian hides in his school attic to read it. Then the film turns over to what happens in the story he's reading: a magical journey by Atreyu, a young warrior, who must save the kingdom of Fantasia from a devouring force called The Nothing. At its time, it was an extraordinary fantasy film. Luckily, it's a film that hasn't been remade, but let's not give them any ideas.
But The NeverEnding Story was also a very scary film. The Nothing, as a concept, is terrifying. It's a shapeless force of nature with the capacity to exterminate worlds. Additionally, children at the time were treated to a heartbreaking death scene that still makes many people cry, even adults. Oh yes, a wolf-like creature named Gmork also hunts Atreyu, and the young warrior is forced to face the Southern Oracle, which is a set of two statues that shoot laser beams out of their eyes and have the capacity to liquefy everyone who doubts themselves as they pass. How can we not be traumatized after watching that?
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 film that dared to step into the future while also having a poignant take on where we're going as a species. After the discovery of an alien monolith in a very unlikely place, humans take on a galactic endeavor to explore outer space. The problem is that, as helpful as machines are in the future, they're also sentient enough to make harsh decisions and submit us to a journey of existentialism.
Still the greatest sci-fi movie ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey is, more than anything, a beautiful film. The special effects, the innovative styles, the realism. But it's also out of bounds when it comes to the limits of its genre. It's what Kubrick did with all of his films: make viewers feel like they were in the hands of a guy who had the ability to see the dark side of everything. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, it's all about the unknown and the menacing and beautiful void of space. It's rewatchable for obvious reasons, but this doesn't mean you will always have a pleasant experience that won't hit a nerve.
Elem Klimov's Come and See tells the story of two mischievous boys who do something they're not supposed to while their village is occupied by Germans in 1943. Flyora is seen by Germans digging up a rifle, and the next day he's forcibly enlisted by German forces to fight against his own people. The chaos ensues right after, and Flyora becomes witness to the wrath of violent conflict. The film spent eight years in some sort of development hell as Soviet authorities declined every attempt at production. But in 1985, the project saw the light, and it provided a harrowing take on the war genre.
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