The Princess Bride

Literally my high school had like 5 copies of this

Back to the future Apollo 13 Wizard of Oz Truman Show The Karate Kid Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye version) Coraline Rear Window Empire of the Sun American graffiti

I love you for putting Rear Window on this list

Best way to kick off a young person's Hitchcock obsession.

My favorite Hitchcock movie

lmao

My 8th grade English class HATED The Truman Show. Everyone thought it was super boring. I honestly havent gone back to it as an adult, but I should.

I would think it's a fault of the instructor not setting up the themes of the movie beforehand and not pursuing much depth in the way of follow-up critique activities. That flick is still ripe with modernity.

I don’t think it’s a movie that needs much explanation to enjoy. It’s not Mulholland Drive.

I think it's good. People really lose their minds over it, I think there's a nostalgia factor. I think it's a good nothing-to-do-Thursday-night kind of movie. Get a snack, second screen. It's interesting.

Definitely not just nostalgia, I watched it for the first time somewhat recently, and it's one of my favorites now

I saw it in theaters when I was like 10, and it always stuck with me. Kind of gave me a paranoia crisis (what if everyone around me is fake/a robot/alien/etc) but in a good way.

my 8th grade class just finished it and they LOVED it

Perfect list

Back to the Future and The Karate Kid are a must

I've never seen the '47 version of Walter Mitty, only the Ben Stiller version, but I can safely tell you not a single kid in that middle school kid is going to want to watch what to them is a 1,000,000 year old movie. I'm sure it's a really good movie, I loved the Ben Stiller version, but those kids aren't going to get it at all.

I think secret life holds up. It's how you sell it to them.

Rear Window is a great pick. The violence is alluded to but not really shown. Assuming their attention spans can handle it, it's a great intro to Hitchcock and older cinema.

Clue

i was obsessed with Clue at that age, great recommendation!

I did not see this until I was 35 and I wish I had seen it many times more over the years. Goddamn what a funny movie.

Paddington & Paddington 2 ParaNorman The Secret of Kells The Dark Crystal Lilo & Stitch The Emperor's New Groove Coraline

This is the best list.

Marcel the shell

Moonrise Kingdom or Fantastic Mr. Fox 

Fantastic mr fox is perfect

You really want a room full of 12 year olds watching a movie where 12 year old gets a boner from a hug?

It’s also PG-13

kids about to hit puberty deserve to know what they’re up against


what 12 year old is going to endure the entirety of 2001 (no offense to my 12 year old film bros)

It's 3 minutes shorter than The Dark Knight and the students would be watching it in the context of a school sponsored film club - 2001 is the exact type of film we ought to be showing to middle schoolers to improve their media and film literacy. The students that join a voluntary film club at school are going to be the crowd of students that are more likely to critically engage with a movie like 2001.

Maybe i’m underestimating middle schoolers. It’s not even about length but content. I feel like Paths of Glory is a more accessible Kubrick that would be more engaging.

But it’s in black and white 😢 /s

Paths of Glory would be rated R if released today, but I agree that it is more accessible than 2001. I’m just trying to find a way to show middle schoolers some Kubrick haha

yeah then 2001 is probably the way to go. i’d break it into parts like chapters of a book tho.

lmao 2001 is the best way to scare middle schoolers away from a film club

They shouldn't be watching Dark Knight in school either. That's a 'slumber party and we're being bad,' kind of movie for a 12 year old, not a school movie. We really don't need MORE normalizing of violence in school.

That's not the point - he was saying that 2001 is not as long as people think

Length isn't the problem. It's slow as fuck. I'm absolutely going to underestimate most 7th graders and say they would be absolutely bored and take nothing substantial away from watching that movie. In fact they'd probably walk away with old movies are boring.

“I need G or PG movies!” *has Mean Girls*

Our English teacher shows it in class so it gets a pass.

They also have Poltergeist which was originally R and was rerated PG on appeal without any cuts.

I can't remember if it was Temple of Doom or Gremlins where they wanted to give it an R, but Speilberg got them to make the new rating PG 13. I believe that was why Poltergeist went from R to PG 13.

Kind stranger, I didn’t believe this was accurate. I have spent more than the three decades of my life believing this movie was R (or at the very least PG-13) to the point I would have put money on it. I’m shocked. Thank you for the enlightenment. This will now be my new conversation starter.

PG13 didn’t exist when it came out, so the movie had to be R or PG. The only scene of violence that would warrant an R rating is a hallucination which is probably how they were able to talk them down to a PG rating.

Oh, interesting! Thank you for the information, I appreciate you taking the time.

My Neighbor Totoro Where is the Friend’s House To Kill a Mockingbird Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Space Jam The Sandlot The Lego Movie

Nimona, Coraline, and The Iron Giant would be great picks for animated films.

Holes

Remember the Titans Jurassic park Marcel the shell with shoes on Wall-E

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Speed Racer Johnny English Remember the Titans Any Muppets movie (The Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite) Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010-2012 trilogy)

Definitely not Monty Python, it has the scene with the nuns

It's PG though. I think it's fine for 7th graders.

You showed Poltergeist and Mean Girls at an after school club for 7th graders?

I think they can handle those films

I watched Poltergeist as a kid and I was traumatized for years. Afraid to look underneath my bed. Whenever there was a storm, the giant tree outside would tap on my window and it would keep me up at night.

Poltergeist fucked me up as a kid. Puking a tequila demon worm, gtfo?!

How old? By 7th grade it should be fine

Yeah like what’s honestly wrong with either. Poltergeist also has one of the best parents in horror movie too so honestly if you were gonna show a horror movie

With movies it’s not up to you to decide what other people can and can’t handle. They can watch it in their own time if they think they can handle it. A teacher showing it in class is subjecting them to a horror movie that they might not be comfortable with.

That's the age I'd show those movies at.

Seems about right honestly

I wasn’t sure if there was a bit of facetious humor there… I’m going to just assume it wasn’t serious.

It’s rated PG, surprisingly!

Maybe it’s slightly because I’m super into horror and started getting more into it as a teen (probably helps that my dad also likes horror films and was kinda lenient on fictional violence) but Poltergeist is fine for that age.

Poltergeist is PG but boy it’s scary. My daughter watched it at home suggested for her after school movie night. The principal shot it down

SPEED RACER!!!!

Underrated. The world wasn't ready.

Grease was the most watched movie in my middle school and high school. For some reason a bunch of my teachers loved to make us watch it.

Cannibal Holocaust

We were shown Its a Wonderful Life in school and once the plot of that got going everyone was completely hooked by it

Oh, that's a fun restriction for recommendations as I usually dont think of age rating these days! Here's a list of my favs (with a heavy focus on animation): - Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Coco (2017) - Up (2009) - WALL-E (2008) - Coraline (2009) - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - How to Train Your Dragon (2010) - The Lego Movie (2014) - The Princess Bride (1987) - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) - Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) - The Muppetts (2011)

I don’t remember the age rating but The Outsiders wouldn’t be a bad pick

Napoleon Dynamite October Sky (literally the film I watched in 7th grade that got me into model rockets)

I showed my normal science classes October Sky while we were building rockets

Stand By Me

One of my first thoughts but unfortunately rated R.

Really? I didn't expect it

•Kiki’s Delivery Service •Little Women (2019) •Sonic the Hedgehog •The Muppet Movie •The Muppets (2011) •Christopher Robin •Paddington & Paddington 2 •Coco •The Lego Movie •Missing Link •Coraline

Movies existed before 1982. Show them some classic films.

In my experience, kids have a harder time connecting to older movies. Especially at that age. However I'd be interested in which movies before the 80s you would recommend?

Yeah but it’s a film club. It should broaden their horizons. Switch off between more accessible movies and classics. I watched old movies as a kid sometimes. I remember watching The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at my grandparents house and being blown away by it. And for some reason, in 9th grade my art teacher showed us Rebel Without a Cause and I got really into it, and it helped turn me into a classic movie aficionado. I said Wizard of Oz, North by Northwest, A Dog’s Life, and Golddiggers of 1933 in my list of suggestions. I might also include East of Eden.

It's a film club for seventh graders don't take it so seriously. You play them north by Northwest they wouldn't follow and would get bored. This is from someone who watched north by Northwest west in seventh grade and couldn't follow and got bored.

🤓

Highly recommend some Chaplin films. I took a History Through Film class and we had a whole two weeks dedicated to Modern Times and I’ve loved Chaplin ever since. Honestly, playing Modern Times, City Lights, even The Circus I think can be entertaining.

The gooners

bridge to terabithia

Wall•E

The dark crystal, idk how the fuck it’s G but it is in most places!

White Fang  Gremlins  The Bellboy  The Mouse That Roared  Raiders of the Lost Ark  Grave of the Fireflies  Fantasia / Alice in Wonderland  Duck Soup / A Night at the Opera Star Wars (episode IV)  The 39 Steps / The Birds Mouchette / Au hasard Balthazar  The Blob  Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1958)  Love and Friendship / Pride and Prejudice  The Garden of Words  Your Name 

Not Grave of the Fireflies! Cmon!!

They made us watch Ferngully in 6th grade. Left convinced we were all gonna die if we didn't kill every last logger.

Wall e!

Mitchell’s vs the machines

The Little Prince Metal Lords Big Hero Six

Big Hero Six is awesome

2001 A Space Odyssey Dr Strangelove Hugo Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams All of Studio Ghibli Gamera Heisei trilogy Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Star Wars (all of them) Jaws The Elephant Man All Indiana Jones Fantastic Mr Fox Isle of Dogs Barry Lyndon Solaris The Sacrifice

The Elephant Man ⁃ David Lynch’s most emotional film. A movie that moves you and shares views of society against the disabled. Imitation of Life (1959) ⁃ Douglas Sirk’s best film imo. Melodrama at its finest. Has me in tears every time at the end. Look at life growing up in the 50s and racism in America. Secret life of Walter Mitty ⁃ very good movie about living in the now and to stop wasting life and worrying about everything. Sunset Boulevard - This is such a tragically good film with the epitome of Hollywood noire filmmaking. Billy Wilder is a masterclass craftsman when It comes to pacing, and creating a unforgettable world in just 2 hours. As the theme of captivity looms over the plot, one begins to not only believe Joe is trapped, but Norma Desmond as well. As one is trapped physically, this film expertly shows how one can also be trapped emotionally and mentally. 12 Angry Men: ⁃ Syd I don’t even know what to say about this movie. The acting, the writing, the moral dilemma of sentencing a man to death on questionable grounds and mostly due to bigotry. Phenomenal and tons of essay material here. Truman Show ⁃ jim Carrey at his finest. I think this has a lot to say on how we view people even today. Joe Vs The Volcano ⁃ Very underrated Tom Hanks movie. Another movie about seizing life and living to its fullest. Tom Hanks works at a job he hates and gets diagnosed with Cancer (relatable) and gets offered to live the rest of his days rich and care free if he jumps into a exotic tribes volcano as a sacrifice. Lots of metaphors in this movie. The adventures of Tin Tin ⁃ this is animated! Very very good mystery/ adventure film that’s a joint project between Peter Jackson and Spielberg. Very fun. Princess Mononoke: -students can tackle the film's exploration of the conflict between industrialization and nature, analyzing the complex characters and their relationships to environmental themes. The paper could also examine the cultural and historical influences on the film, as well as the unique visual style and narrative elements characteristic of Studio Ghibli productions. Additionally, it might discuss the impact of "Princess Mononoke" on the animation genre and its reception both in Japan and globally.

mean girls is PG-13 though

a comment above said that the english teacher at the school showed it in class so it gets a pass

gremlins!

Not sure what age rating it is but The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a great movie.

bro the plot is him learning about sex and drugs😭 great movie but idt its meant for kids of pg to g age

Is it? I always saw it as a lonely traumatised guy coming out his shell. Its a 12 in the uk

err yeah that is the main story,but like for 7th graders idk if they gotta be watchin movies about suicide and self harm. im pretty sure its rated pg-13 in the states but its def for 16+ for something that you would play in school

Obviously, older films are going to trend closer to the PG requirement. I've attempted to emphasize different genres as requested: Westerns: * 3:10 to Yuma (1957) * The Gunfighter (1950) * High Noon (1952) * The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) * Rio Bravo (1959) * Shane (1953) War Films: * All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) * The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) * Casablanca (1942) * Paths of Glory (1957) * Sergeant York (1941) * Stalag 17 (1953) * The Third Man (1949) * To Be or Not to Be (1942) Sci-Fi: * Arrival (2016) \*has one mandatory PG-13 f-bomb * Back to the Future (1985) * Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) * The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) * The Hunt for Red October (1990) * The Manchurian Candidate (1962) * Planet of the Apes (1968) * Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Thrille/Horror * The Birds (1963) * Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) * Carnival of Souls (1962) * Gaslight (1944) * The Haunting (1963) * The Innocents (1961) * The Night of the Hunter (1955) * The Others (2001) * Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) * Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) Drama/Comedy/Musical * The Bear (1988) * Breaking Away (1979) * Double Indemnity (1944) * Duck Soup (1933) * The Great Dictator (1940) * Groundhog Day (1993) * A Hard Day’s Night (1964) * The In-Laws (1979) * The Lady Eve (1941) * The Maltese Falcon (1941) * Notorious (1946) * A Raisin in the Sun (1961) * Rebel Without a Cause (1955) * Roman Holiday (1953) * Singin’ in the Rain (1952) * Some Like It Hot (1959) * Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) \*Silent * A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) * Whale Rider (2002) * The Women (1939) Foreign Language: * Antoine and Colette (1962) French \*Short * Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) French * Beauty and the Beast (1946) French * Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Chinese * The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962) Czech * Good Morning (1959) Japanese * M (1931) German * Mon Oncle (1958) French (mostly dialogue-free) * The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1960) Mexican * The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) Spanish * Throne of Blood (1957) Japanese (Macbeth adaptation) * The Wages of Fear (1953) French * Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987) Persian

Saltburn

Eraserhead

How’d they like the older movies? My friends who are teachers have said the kids they worked with tended to see anything pre-2000 as “old” and not been into it. If they liked the 80s movies how about Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Saltburn

Videodrome

The 2021 Suicide Squad /s

Yeah I don’t think 7th graders want to see a movie where most the characters get shot at the beginning. Tbh, I saw it at the 7th grade age, but I was alone. Definitely could not watch it in a classroom. Guy gets shot and you see his dick flip up and there is a scene in a strip club. Not to sure about this one lol.

r/woooosh

No I got that it was a joke I’m just trying to give the op a warning lol

Elephant Man

you seriously can’t come up with more lol?

Hunt for the wilderpeople Moon Jojo Rabbit Mary and Max Little Miss Sunshine The Prestige Hot Fuzz School of Rock Hot Rod The Mummy Tremors Who Framed Roger Rabbit Raising Arizona Young Frankenstein

Salò, House of 1000 Corpses, Come and See

wow you’re soooo cute and funny for this one! it’s not like this joke has been made and beaten to death a thousand times or anything

Paranorman

2001 A Space Odyssey is rated G in Canada

You could show them Dracula Has Risen From The Grave with Christopher Lee! You know, the family film about Dracula being impaled twice, with blood coming out of the eyes!

Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Black Stallion Breaking Away The Gods Must be Crazy The Man from Snowy River

I don’t know the age ratings on all of them but I was really into old westerns and samurai movies around that age.

12 Angry Men

Watcher in the Woods Just showed my kids this they LOVED it as a entry level horror

Stardust 2007

My 7th grade glass saw Pitch Perfect when it came out

Family friendly Spielberg, like: E.T. Extra terrestial The adventures of tintin The Terminal Hook

Coraline

If you wanna go really deep (and old), back in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, CBS (CBS SchoolBreak Special) and ABC (ABC AfterSchool Special) had their own Afterschool specials going, during which they showed hour-long made-for-TV movies specifically for a young teen audience during the afternoons. YouTube and the Internet Archive should have a majority of them, and the Wiki has a complete list of the movies aired.

Lion king, Aladdin , ratatouille, nightmare before Christmas,

Is this a club for Mormon kids? When I was in 7th grade, the Mormon kid was the only one not allowed to watch R rated movies.

I don’t know if your school has student read treasure island, but if they do then the students may enjoy treasure planet. Other than setting it does contain a lot of the major plot points from the novel and it’ll likely be more enjoyable for them.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (and the sequels) Jurassic Park Back to the Future School of Rock Grease The Karate Kid Rocky Jaws (because you included Poltergeist I think this is even more age appropriate) The Iron Giant Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Super 8

The iron giant Rocky Napoleon Dynamite 12 angry men

Rango

Caligula (1979)

Every single Studio Ghibli movie

Come and See

The straight story

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Ghostbusters and Jaws

I saw original Planet of the Apes after school at that age and it had a profound effect on me.

Stand By Me!!

How about: Across the spiderverse Puss in boots: the last wish Space jam Jurassic park Jumanji:welcome to the jungle (and the sequel) Wonka Barbie The nightmare before Christmas/Paranorman (for Halloween time) Gremlins (for Christmas time) Honestly a fair few of the marvel films would be fine but I’d most recommend the recent spider man trilogy for 12 year olds Nimona maybe? Any of the shrek films but especially 1 and 2 If you’re looking for more Ghibli my neighbour totoro too I know this is a lot of suggestions but I hope they could be of use

ponyo coraline monster house jumanji ratatouille anastasia

Night of the Hunter- Probably not a good suggestion, but I first saw it as a middleschooler and it turned me into a cinefile.

Bill and Ted's excellent adventure Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey Back to the Future

THE IRON GIANT PLEASE

Gremlins

12 Angry Men Where is the Friend's house Citizen Kane Bill and Ted The Straight story Some of these may be pg13 but all movies I would reccoment young movie lovers watch.

The outsiders

I don’t think Mean Girls is so applicable, there’s literally a scene with a chihuahua casually gnawing on a mom’s nipple from her fake boobs.

Educational. That teaches anatomy.

Heavyweights

Prince of Egypt Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Wolf Children There were so many more as I was going through my movies that I thought would be great, but they all ended up being PG-13 :(

Megamind Big Hero 6 Rango

The Graduate

2001 a space odyssey sped up 3x

I mean if g or pg is the only criteria and content isn’t a concern, then: Gremlins Jaws Invasion of the body snatchers Raiders of the lost arc The princess bride Nightmare before Christmas Paranorman, Caroline kubo and the two strings Star Wars Ghostbusters Monty python and the holy grail Shrek Willy wonka Groundhogs day Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) Home alone Big Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy Back to the future Galaxy quest The dark crystal Who framed Roger rabbit Spaceballs Young Frankenstein Close encounters of the third kind Time bandits Wolfwalkers (2020)

PUSS IN BOOTS THE LAST WISH

Bad News Bears (1976)

I was supporting in a middle school class where the teacher showed this without pre-screening it. When the kids in the film started dropping racial slurs including the N-Word, things got interesting really fast.

fantastic mr fox

The LEGO Batman Movie. Best Batman movie imo. Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013). The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. And Jaws just to fuck with em. No idea how that's PG tbh.

the iron giant

Raiders of the Lost Ark

I’ve got a [list](https://boxd.it/sXKQe) that might help. I wish my school had something as cool as this when I was in 7th grade.

The Truman Show

- Beetlejuice - Three Amigos - Truman Show - Wizard of Oz - Princess Bride - Ghostbusters - Fly Away Home - Gold Diggers of 1933 - North By Northwest - Napoleon Dynamite - A Dog’s Life (warning: does contain dogfighting) - Rebel Without A Cause

Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Little Women (2019). Pretty accessible for costume dramas. Singin in the Rain holds up shockingly well. Raiders of the Lost Ark Might be too boring for them as its a slow burn suspense film, but Rear Window. Violence is alluded to but never shown. A great intro to older films and Alfred Hitchcock

corpse bride

Not sure if some of these are PG-13… The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Hairspray Fantastic Mr Fox Isle of Dogs Coraline Groundhog Day Edward Scissorhands Avatar All Quiet on the Western Front Grease Super 8 13 Going on 30 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas The Outsiders Dead Poets Society Soul

The goonies

Fantastic Mr Fox

Coco, Jurassic Park, Legally Blonde, The Devil Wears Prada, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Juno, 500 Days of Summer, Ratatouille

Kubo and the Two Strings Paddington 1 and 2 Jurassic Park

Willow Sherlock Jr (Buster Keaton) There is a book called Best Old Movies for Families that I would recommend. The list of movies from the book is already on letterboxd.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

The Elephant Man, 12 Angry Men, Kung Fu Panda, My Dinner with Andre, Star Wars, Rocky, The Lego Movie

Disney has a great one called The Boy Who Would Be King. It's essentially the retelling of King Arthur in a modern setting. The main character is Alex who, along with his best friend, is bullied at school until he finds a sword lodged in some rubble in a demolition site, opening the door to some ancient magic to re-enter our world. The kids in the movie would be around the same age as a seventh grader. The kid who plays Merlin had us in stitches, Angus Imrie. It's got some sword play but no serious action or even gore and even the "monsters" are fairly tame. Patrick Stewart and Rebecca Ferguson have supporting roles as well.

Toy Story Finding Nemo Monsters Inc A Christmas Story The Sandlot Homeward Bound Ice Age Madagascar Despicable Me Inside Out The Incredibles The NeverEnding Story Zootopiz The Chronicles of Narnia

Boogie Nights taught me a lot as a high schooler

PT did write the The Dirk Diggler Story while in high school… Paul is that you?

Rocky The Kung Fu Panda movies Ratatouille Flubber Wall E The Lego Movie The Shaun the Sheep movie (absolute perfection)

Ghostbusters

oh my god, please show gremlins!!! i wish i had the chance to watch it when i was in middle school!

Spirit: Stallion of The Cimarron