Kinsey’s Top Ten Movie List

I don’t know about you, but I need movie recommends. It’s so hard to find a good story, let alone anything clean, coming out of Hollywood anymore.

So, I figured I’d share my favorite movies. They are picked for their story, characters, or creativity. Soundtracks are also often judged because I’ve been playing piano since I was seven and am a big music gal.

Please check these movies’ rating on KidsInMind before you watch them and determine whether or not you need to use ClearPlay or VidAngel to filter them, because everyone has different levels of what they can and can’t watch. (I also won’t be breaking up a few trilogies, just because. I mean, you have to watch them all. It also gives me more room for movies if trilogies just count as one item in my top ten.)

#1: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

This hits so solidly on story, character, cinematography, soundtrack – everything. Peter Jackson remained true to the heart of Tolkien’s trilogy, which is something I massively appreciate as a gal who always gets frustrated when movies don’t understand the book they’re based on. The settings are incredible, and I really appreciate how much practical effects are used. These days, everything’s just CGI, but you can there is just another level of realism achieved when you use clever but convincing practical effects. CGI just looks fake.

No matter how many times I watch this, everything still hits. I’d go so far as to call this series a classic, or an epic. It pulls together the grandness of the world and the conflict and yet manages to also highlight the smallness of character interactions and funny moments. Add that to gorgeous scenery, perfectly-cast actors, and a plot that holds fairly true to the books, and you’ve made the top of my list.

(I WATCHED WITH FILTERS with my family – mildly disturbing images for younger kids)

#2: Inception

I am so impressed by Christopher Nolan’s writing ability. I enjoy several of his movies, but Inception lands on the top ten for its fascinating concept, unique effects, cool scenes, and its fun heist crew. (There’s nothing like a good team in fiction.) Inception also used practical effects more than you would expect, not leaning all its weight on SFX. I actually heard an interview where Nolan talks about how he often chooses complicated practical effects over SFX because he thinks the audience can tell the difference (we can.) Plus, the Hans Zimmer soundtrack is golden. 👌

(I WATCHED WITH FILTERS – violence and language)

#3: The Captain America Trilogy

I love this one just for the characters and old-fashioned values, and some pretty sweet chase/action scenes in Winter Soldier and Civil War. I’ve yet to see cinematic motorcycle tricks and stunts that rival any done by Bucky in those two, and in Thunderbolts*. I love Cap as a hero who just does what is right, because it is right. He’s incredibly stubborn in what he believes, and provides a good role model – something that’s getting harder and harder to find in fiction. I like Bucky for his character complexity and simple superpowers as opposed to other Marvel characters. He has one thing – a metal arm, but the filmmakers use it in many creative ways. I also love the buddy trope, and war stories (this sorta counts, right?), and imagining fun conspiracies around Nazi and Communist Russia science. And come on — who can’t root for a good old fashioned story about American patriots kicking butt?

Plus, since Cap and Bucky are just ‘enhanced’ humans, their fighting choreography is just based off of various martial art and defensive combat styles, which I personally prefer to superheroes who are flying all over the place or shooting lasers, magic glowy stuff, etc — CGI instead of real actors doing practiced, finely-tuned choreography. And throughout this trilogy, there is massive character/relationship development and some powerful themes of loyalty, patriotism, sacrifice, guilt, and grit. I’ll admit these movies also have their slightly cheesier bits, but the parts of them I love, and the nostalgia of well-written superhero stories, are enough to help me overlook it.

(There’s a little bit of language, and sometimes touches of suggestivity from Natasha, but I’ve seen this entire trilogy without ClearPlay. There’s a scene in Civil War that we skip, however, where the Winter Soldier shoots and strangles an elderly couple and there’s visible gore.)

#4: Penguins of Madagascar

This movie is absolutely hilarious. I quote it all the time. It’s simple and tight, and every line of dialogue is snappy and fun. Even though it’s a kid’s movie, I can still enjoy it as an adult because it’s well-written, clever, and funny without being crass. The Madagascar stuff has always been clever, and this movie is no exception. The writing is tongue-in-cheek and yet they pulled off a successful plot and a complete, heartwarming little story without turning on themselves and getting all metamodern or anything.

(No filters needed.)

#5: Big Hero 6

This movie hits solidly on all the points – characters, art, soundtrack, theme, and plot (for its target age.) It’s got great humor, fun concept and design, and upright morals. It’s clean and lighthearted, but is also able to hit the deeper, darker emotional moments. It puts a fun spin on some superhero cliches, and also has some great quotable lines. Plus, the animation is fun, detailed, and bright, and different from the typical repetitive Pixar stuff we see so much of nowadays. (Fun fact, the composer of this soundtrack also did The Winter Soldier, and when you realize it, you hear a lot of the same digital instruments between the two.)

(No filters needed.)

#6: Rogue One

This movie has amazing characters, tight story, and a beautifully haunting theme. K2’s humor is just enough to keep it from being dark, and I love that Cassian and Jyn stayed as platonic friends (I’m sick and tired of the FMC and MMC predictably falling in love.) I am so for the strong themes of self-sacrifice and dying for a just cause, too, (instead of self-discovery or social justice.)

(No filters needed, though as with all Star Wars, people do get shot with lasers or stabbed with lightsabers.)

#7: X-Men: First Class

I like this one purely for the character dynamics, because as with all the other X-men movies I’ve seen, it does have its cringey bits. It’s mostly popcorn, honestly, but I still like watching it. I enjoyed Erik’s negative arc in this one because it was believable, and more sympathetic than, say, Anakin Skywalker’s, which I felt was just whiny, whereas Erik’s motivations were undersandable. Raven’s negative arc was subtler, but also interesting, and is a great example for girls of how easy it is to base our worth and value in our appearance and whether or not we have a boy interested in us.

It was also fun to see Charles and Erik play off of each other, one killing without any qualms and the other hesitant to do any physical harm. Though, by Days of Future Past, Charles the pacifist is somewhat losing his pacifism and switching from idealism to bitter despair, while Erik has fully committed to his misguided worldview, and that in its turn is its own interesting character growth. Their friends-enemies-friends-enemies cycle is interesting to watch throughout the X-men saga. Days of Future Past is also excellent, and cleaner, and I would highly recommend. It has some peak humor thanks to Quicksilver.

(I WATCHED WITH FILTERS – near-nudity from Mystique and sexual elements. In some ways this movie is pretty humanistic too, and has a more cynical tone than some of the comic-book-epic-adventure-style earlier ones.)

#8: The Spiderverse Duology (soon to be a trilogy)

The story is super tight in the first movie and the art is frickin’ cool. The sheer detail of it makes rewatches interesting because you keep noticing new things. I love Miguel’s character, and the soundtrack is also pretty epic. It incorporated a nice splash of that classic Spiderman humor. I could have done without the few touches of wokeness, and the profanity was unexpected in the second one, but I think the art style is just super creative and the story holds together well. The Spiderman story has been remixed over and over again, but this is one that respected the old framework while still putting a new, colorful spin on it.

(No filters needed, unless you want to filter the two or three curse words.)

#9: The Narnia Trilogy

This was a childhood favorite of mine, and while the filmmakers didn’t hit the mark as well as LOTR did, they did do a decent job with these movies. They messed up Voyage of the Dawn Treader, though, completely changing the message and vibe, and I was not happy because that was my favorite of the books. But they’re so nostalgic and very much ‘comfort movies.’ I first saw The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with my mom and sister on a girls night in my early tweens, and the vibe is so quintessentially fantasy. They’re pretty decent as adaptations, and with the exception of Dawn Treader, good as standalone movies.

(No filters needed.)

#10: Master and Commander

This also has strong character dynamics, and I am a ginormous Age of Sail nerd, so seeing everything portrayed so realistically really made me love this. The details were accurate, which they often aren’t in this genre of movie, to my great chagrin. It has a historical, classic feel. And it is much cleaner than the book. I enjoyed the themes of manliness, ambition balanced with wisdom, and brotherhood. The dialogue between Aubrey and the Doctor is wonderfully snappy and loaded with subtext. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a sucker for a good buddy story, especially when the two main characters have enough friction between the two of them to keep it interesting. And I love the sound of cellos and violins. 😊

(I WATCHED WITH FILTERS – for language primarily. The medical gore may bother some. Paul Bettany’s acting is enough to make me still wince through the surgery scene, even though absolutely nothing is shown but his face. The book is nasty, however, and very irreverent, while the movie honors the Christian culture of the era. Avoid.)

Aaaand a bonus…

#11: Treasure Planet

Yep, I’m breaking my own rules. But I felt I had to give a shout-out to this seriously underrated movie. The background scenery art is beautiful, it has some great quotable lines, and it’s a faithful adaptation of Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Its steampunk/space setting is quite creative as well. Yeah, it’s got some cheesy bits, and it’s definitely a kids movie. But it’s a surprisingly unique piece from a time when Disney just focused on making good stories instead of pushing wokeness.

Anyway, hopefully I’ve given you at least one recommendation for your next movie night. And if you have any recommendations for me, please leave them in the comments. What’s a girl to do when she’s obsessed with stories but so much of the market is full of garbage? 😆

Until next time,

Shine light into the darkness.

Cheers!