We kick off our series of “Peacock presents” recommendations with 10 movies perfect for when it’s the kids’ time to choose what to watch on family night. You’ll find beloved Fresh throwbacks (1933’s Alice In Wonderland), delightful animal features, a documentary that the kiddos will love, and even a Wes Anderson flick. You’ll also discover a couple of Rotten flicks here, movies that may not have won critics over but which the RT staff love watching with their kids – or remember loving when we were little ones ourselves. So, hand your littlest the remote and settle in for a fun-for-all-the-family night with one of these titles, available now on Peacock.
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The Little Rascals (1994)
21%
Mischievous youngsters Spanky (Travis Tedford) and Buckwheat (Ross Elliot Bagley) lead an anti-girl organization, and they pick their buddy Alfalfa (Bug Hall) to represent them in an all-important soapbox car rally. When the boys then find their driver canoodling with schoolmate Darla (Brittany Ashton Holmes), they decide they must break up the couple. Unfortunately, while Spanky and his pals are busy meddling in Alfalfa’s affairs, their prized race car is nabbed by two young toughs.
Critics Consensus: No Critics Consensus as yet.
Spellbound (2002)
97%
Eight youthful competitors, sponsored by their hometown newspapers, travel with their families to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Now in the national spotlight and under heavy pressure to perform from parents, teachers and their audience, the children struggle to advance toward the championship – and its accompanying scholarships and cash prizes – while approaching competitive spelling with the focus and intensity of Olympic athletes.
Critics Consensus: A suspenseful, gripping documentary that features an engaging cross section of American children.
Kicking & Screaming (2005)
41%
As a child, Phil Weston (Will Ferrell) was never able to live up to the demands of his overbearing father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who wanted Phil to be an athlete. Now a parent himself, Phil has inherited his father’s competitive nature, while his son, Sam (Dylan McLaughlin), has inherited Phil’s lack of athletic talent. Serving as Sam’s soccer coach, Phil hopes to turn his last-place team of losers into champions, so they can beat the rival team coached by Buck.
Critics Consensus: The script is mediocre and fails to give Ferrell a proper comedic showcase.
Beethoven (1992)
31%
When the family of George Newton (Charles Grodin) decides to adopt a cute St. Bernard puppy, the patriarch soon feels displaced by the dog. Before long, the adorable canine, dubbed Beethoven, has grown considerably, leading to household mishaps. While George’s wife and kids dote on Beethoven, it takes time for him to see the pooch’s finer qualities. However, Beethoven’s life with the Newton family is jeopardized when a scheming vet (Dean Jones) tries to nab the dog for a deadly experiment.
Critics Consensus: Fluffy and incorrigible, Beethoven is a good boy who deserves a better movie.
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
93%
The year is 1965, and the residents of New Penzance, an island off the coast of New England, inhabit a community that seems untouched by some of the bad things going on in the rest of the world. Twelve-year-olds Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) have fallen in love and decide to run away. But a violent storm is approaching the island, forcing a group of quirky adults (Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray) to mobilize a search party and find the youths before calamity strikes.
Critics Consensus: Warm, whimsical, and poignant, the immaculately framed and beautifully acted Moonrise Kingdom presents writer/director Wes Anderson at his idiosyncratic best.
Mystery Men (1999)
60%
Champion City already has a superhero, the appropriately named Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), but that doesn’t deter the city’s seven quirky amateur crime-fighters, who use the Captain’s capture at the hands of villain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) as motivation to prove themselves. The only problem is that their strange powers – silverware hurling, bowling, shovel skills, incompetent invisibility and deadly flatulence – aren’t doing them any favors.
Critics Consensus: Absurd characters and quirky gags are brought to life by a talented cast, providing this superhero spoof with lots of laughs.
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
60%
In this version of the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice (Charlotte Henry) discovers that an ordinary library mirror is actually a portal into another world. As she adjusts to her constantly changing size, thanks to some mysterious cookies, she follows a rabbit with a pocket watch, stumbles upon a deranged tea party and seeks advice from the shadowy Cheshire Cat (Richard Arlen). Later, Alice runs into Humpty Dumpty (W.C. Fields), whose unfortunate tumble sets even stranger events in motion.
Critics Consensus: No Critics Consensus as yet.
Nessie & Me (2016)
- -
A 9-year-old boy moves to a quiet lakeside village and befriends an elderly sailor who claims that a mythical creature named Nessie lives in their peaceful waters.
Critics Consensus: No Critics Consensus as yet.
Kindergarten Cop 2 (2016)
29%
A gruff FBI agent goes under cover as a kindergarten teacher. He’s there to recover stolen data, but first he’ll have to learn to survive in the politically correct world of elementary education.
Critics Consensus: No Critics Consensus as yet.
Dudley Do-Right (1999)
16%
Based on the cartoon, this live-action comedy follows the adventures of Dudley Do-Right (Brendan Fraser), an enthusiastic, if somewhat dim, Canadian Mountie. When Dudley’s childhood crush, Nell Fenwick (Sarah Jessica Parker), returns to their hometown in the mountains, he is eager to spend time with her, but his attempts at courting her are foiled by the villainous Snidely Whiplash (Alfred Molina), who is up to his usual schemes. Can Dudley win Nell’s heart and curtail Snidely’s wicked ways?
Critics Consensus: No Critics Consensus as yet.
Thumbnail: © Warner Brothers, © Focus Features, © Universal
