FEBRUARY 1, 2007: WELCOME TO THE SITE!
Dear readers, children, parents, grandparents, lovers of old movies young and not-so young:
Maybe you've hit the same wall I hit a few years ago, when I realized everything my daughters watched on TV and in movie theaters came from the same handful of major corporations. Maybe you're getting a little sick at how much selling is jammed between the cracks of your children's daily entertainment. Maybe you're worried about sex, violence, coarseness, crudity. Or maybe you just want to watch something different with your kids and not have to worry about it.
Sounds familiar. I've been an old movie freak from high school on--I somehow managed to turn it into a paying career--but when Eliza and Natalie came along, classic movies suddenly became something more: a grand, funny, sad, epic, safe, smart alternative to the processed cheese the media feeds them on a regular basis.
(author photo credit: Lori Yarvis)
I started them young and it worked: The girls like their modern movies, just as their friends do, but they love a lot of classics and, even better, feel comfortable skipping along the decades if the stars are interesting and the stories are good. Which they most often are.
I decided to write The Best Old Movies for Families because I wanted to share what I'd learned. Not just which old movies work, but why they work--what they say to children (and to parents) and how the lessons planted in them might flower down the line. Above all, I wanted to share the fun, because these movies are fun, especially when watched with the whole clan.
I'm sure I missed some of your favorite movies in the book. That's why we have a Readers' Forum, so you can recommend additional films and discuss what plays well (or not) at your house. I'll also be answering reader questions from time to time and spotlighting movies and genres not covered in the book. I hope to hear from many of you, and not just parents. When a kid gets hooked on an old movie, there's an entire world behind that door, and the journey's just beginning.
--Ty Burr
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