Movie Night

Fire crackling
Dog snoring
Popcorn popping
Children giggling
Blankets rustling
Slumber party

Our Friday night movie night has become quite the tradition. We have a guest with our family this weekend, and after our movie last night, he said, “I wish I could just sleep right here.” The kids all piped up. “We can! It’s so awesome! Every Friday night we get to sleep here. But we only get to do it on Fridays.”

Last night we watched “The Blue Butterfly” (with language editing – which apparently was a good idea). I’ve become a bit famous for renting the very much lesser known movies out there. The kids usually groan when I tell them that this week’s movie is about a butterfly, or a dog, or a horse, or a bee, etc. But they’ve never been disappointed – well, except the week I somehow accidentally got a 12 minute movie! They like to bring that up. But almost every week, they love it. So occasionally we get the big , new blockbuster (I believe Beverly Hills Chihuahua is coming next week), but mostly we get something no one has heard of.

There is nothing worse than standing in a video store trying to figure out what to rent – or worse, taking your kids in the video store to see all the horrible images on the shelves while your hunting for something worthwhile. Then there is the $4 per movie rental and the time and the gas, etc. So with a little trial and error, we’ve found a pretty good method to this.

So here’s my plan:
1. We get the CBD catalogue in the mail (but you can probably get an idea on line, too). I look through their movie section (hoping they will be movies with good values and no immorality if they are found in a Christian magazine).
2. We have a Netflix account. No driving. No video stores. $8 a month (or close) for as many movies as we can mail back and forth.
3. I log into Netflix and search for the movies advertised at CBD, read their descriptions, ratings, etc. Then reserve.
4. Netflix will often recommend other movies that are similar, so I follow the rabbit trail and fill our queue with 10-12 movies at a time. You can change the order any time you want. Then they just come! They show up on Wednesday or Thursday. We watch them on Friday night. Mail them back on Monday (‘cause usually the kids fall asleep before the whole movie finishes, so they can re-watch parts over the weekend). The new ones come again on Wednesday or Thursday. Voila!
5. Redbox! On the weeks we somehow forget to mail back the movie or Bill and I want to rent something for ourselves or the kids have extra time off school, etc. We use Redbox, DVD vending machine. $1 a night. Redbox can be found at various locations around town. Here they are at Albertsons . We’ve found them at Mc Donald’s when traveling. Movies checked out at a Redbox, can be returned to any redbox.
6. We also have an account at Redbox. When we’d like a Redbox movie, we sign into our account, enter our zip code, and search for the movie we’d like to rent. It tells you which Redbox in town the movie is available at and then allows you to reserve it. When you go to pick it up, you just slide your card, and out pops your movie.

Some of the lesser known films our family has enjoyed are:
1. The Ultimate Gift
2. Akeelah and the Bee
3. Second Chances
4. The Blue Butterfly
5. I am David
6. The Trial of Old Drum
7. The Railway Children
8. The Greatest Game Ever Played
9. Country Remedy
10. Moondance Alexander