Am I a clown? Do I amuse you?
December 17, 2011 5:05 PM Subscribe
I really enjoyed Martin Scorcese's Hugo. What are some other family-friendly movies by directors usually noted for "grown-up" films?
Off the top of my head:
David Lynch's The Straight Story
Alfonso Cuaron's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox somewhat fits the bill, but I'm mostly interested in directors noted for making very-much-not-for-kids films.
Off the top of my head:
David Lynch's The Straight Story
Alfonso Cuaron's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox somewhat fits the bill, but I'm mostly interested in directors noted for making very-much-not-for-kids films.
John Waters' Hairspray
posted by cmoj at 5:20 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cmoj at 5:20 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Millions was directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 days later, Slumdog Millionaire).
(imdb lists it as PG-13, and amazon lists it as PG. It's very possible I have forgotten about some scene or my filter is way off)
posted by Gary at 5:28 PM on December 17, 2011
(imdb lists it as PG-13, and amazon lists it as PG. It's very possible I have forgotten about some scene or my filter is way off)
posted by Gary at 5:28 PM on December 17, 2011
Louis Malle's Zazie in the Metro.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:37 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:37 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon) directed The Wiz.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:40 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:40 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Mel Stuart's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:48 PM on December 17, 2011
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:48 PM on December 17, 2011
Robert Rodriguez, who directed El Mariachi and Machete directed all the Spy Kids movies.
posted by Ad hominem at 5:55 PM on December 17, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by Ad hominem at 5:55 PM on December 17, 2011 [4 favorites]
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, directed by Zack Snyder who did Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, Sucker Punch, and is working on Superman.
posted by tomswift at 5:59 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by tomswift at 5:59 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's Bob Clark's A Christmas Story. Bob Clark is otherwise known for his many horror b-movies, and, of course, Porky's.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:35 PM on December 17, 2011
posted by Sys Rq at 6:35 PM on December 17, 2011
Does Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits fit in this category? It's been a long time since I've seen it, so I can't recall how family friendly it is.
posted by bluedaisy at 6:39 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by bluedaisy at 6:39 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Tim Burton - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Alice in Wonderland.
posted by J. Wilson at 7:07 PM on December 17, 2011
posted by J. Wilson at 7:07 PM on December 17, 2011
Tim Burton - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Alice in Wonderland.
Huh? Tim Burton has directed something like fifteen major motion pictures, twelve of which were rated PG-13 or lower, two of which were Batman movies, and another two of which were easily adapted into Saturday morning kids' TV shows. Sweeney Todd is the exception, not the rule.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:30 PM on December 17, 2011
Huh? Tim Burton has directed something like fifteen major motion pictures, twelve of which were rated PG-13 or lower, two of which were Batman movies, and another two of which were easily adapted into Saturday morning kids' TV shows. Sweeney Todd is the exception, not the rule.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:30 PM on December 17, 2011
Oh, and the Harry Potter film from the director of Y Tu Mamá También.
posted by mkb at 7:35 PM on December 17, 2011
posted by mkb at 7:35 PM on December 17, 2011
Takashi Miike (Visitor Q, Audition, Ichi the Killer, etc) did The Great Yokai War.
posted by cazoo at 7:59 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cazoo at 7:59 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
George Miller, known primarily for the Mad Max series, has since directed the two Babe movies and the two Happy Feet movies. (Babe: Pig in the City is notable as being remarkably dark, surreal and sad for a kid's film.)
posted by eschatfische at 8:09 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by eschatfische at 8:09 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Wolfgang Petersen who usually does stuff like Outbreak and Air Force One did The NeverEnding Story.
posted by octothorpe at 9:15 PM on December 17, 2011
posted by octothorpe at 9:15 PM on December 17, 2011
I think ET counts in this category, since Spielberg had done nothing but thrillers before it.
posted by empath at 11:44 PM on December 17, 2011
posted by empath at 11:44 PM on December 17, 2011
Arguably Alan Parker's BUGSY MALONE (trailer, Ebert review) fits the bill; it's definitely a family-friendly film. The one difference from most of the other examples here is that it was his first credit as a director, rather than a late-career eccentricity like Lynch's THE STRAIGHT STORY. His next film was MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, pretty low on the family-friendly scale (as Turkish prison movies tend to be).
posted by orthicon halo at 12:23 AM on December 18, 2011
posted by orthicon halo at 12:23 AM on December 18, 2011
School of Rock directed by Richard Linklater.
I have no idea why it is rated PG-13.
posted by vincele at 9:27 AM on December 18, 2011
I have no idea why it is rated PG-13.
posted by vincele at 9:27 AM on December 18, 2011
Ralph Bakshi Made an adaption of Lord of the Rings which from what I remember is pretty family friendly. He is also famous for the very adult Fritz the Cat movie.
posted by DuchessProzac at 12:10 PM on December 18, 2011
posted by DuchessProzac at 12:10 PM on December 18, 2011
I have no idea why it is rated PG-13.
Probably the "I have touched all your kids, and they have touched me" joke.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:23 PM on December 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Probably the "I have touched all your kids, and they have touched me" joke.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:23 PM on December 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Danny Boyle's (Trainspotting, 28 days later, etc) Millions
posted by St. Sorryass at 9:14 PM on December 18, 2011
posted by St. Sorryass at 9:14 PM on December 18, 2011
Re: Time Bandits... Family-friendly apart from the very ending, which is Gilliam-style absurdly dark. Some kids could probably handle it.
JJ Abrams' Super 8 would qualify, I think! Most of his other films/shows have very adult themes. Except, maybe, Star Trek.
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 10:25 AM on December 19, 2011
JJ Abrams' Super 8 would qualify, I think! Most of his other films/shows have very adult themes. Except, maybe, Star Trek.
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 10:25 AM on December 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by saffry at 5:20 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]