Family Movie Nights

To help families spend time together and share common experiences, The Leadership Institute provides recommendations for Family Movie Night. Each week, a new movie recommendation and explanation is available for your consideration. Enjoy the show!

If you are looking to see where a particular movie is streaming or is available online, please visit https://www.justwatch.com

The Way
This Lent, why not spend some family time together with some reconciliation-themed, almsgiving, sacrificial movies. We’ll kick it off this week. An American father travels to France to retrieve the… Read More
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
If you have teenage children, you really ought to watch this movie together as a family. They likely only know Mr. Rogers through pop culture references or Eddie Murphy’s return… Read More
Matilda
Matilda is a heartwarming yet difficult movie about a young girl who loves to read. She wanders back and forth to the library with a wagon full of books; while… Read More
The Fourth Wise Man
Adaptation of Henry Van Dyke’s vintage short story “The Other Wise Man,” tells of a fourth Magi (Martin Sheen) who is delayed in following the star to Bethlehem, then finally… Read More
It’s A Wonderful Life
Seasonal favorite about the joys and trials of a good man (James Stewart) who, facing financial ruin on the eve of Christmas, contemplates suicide until his guardian angel (Henry Travers)… Read More
A Muppet Christmas Carol
In this sprightly version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Muppets Kermit, Miss Piggy, the Great Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat and Fozzie Bear have incidental roles as Michael Caine portrays… Read More
The Bells of St. Mary’s
Director Leo McCarey’s sequel to “Going My Way” (1944) pulls out all the emotional stops in a sugary confection that takes happy-go-lucky Father O’Malley (Bing Crosby) to a poor parish… Read More
Joyeux Noel
Intensely moving World War I tale of soldiers — Scottish, French and German — who spontaneously agree to a cease-fire on the Western front on Christmas Eve as they hear… Read More
Henry Poole Is Here
This Hollywood sleeper provides some great insight into how human beings function when we believe that hope is gone. The story focuses Henry Poole’s general malaise towards life and the… Read More
We Are Marshall
My family loves this movie. We Are Marshall is based on the true story of the football program at Marshall University, virtually wiped out in November 1970 when the crash… Read More
The Secret World of Arrietty
14-year-old Arrietty and her family secretly live in the walls of a secluded country house. Finding room to live in the walls is not so difficult for them; they are… Read More