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A Few of My Favorite Things, Part 4

This time of year we’re offered a lot of “best of” lists: Most important news stories for 2018. Top 10 sports highlights for the year. Best eco-friendly companies for ’18. Even when it’s not an annual compilation, most of us are drawn to these sorts of lists. We love lists. Why, members of the Plugged In staff published their own “best of” lists this month.

Back in 2012, I went out on a limb and published a blog titled “A Few of My Favorite Things” where I gave a list of some of my favorite, family-friendly movies. But I couldn’t just constrain myself to five or 10. [Click here to see it.] And I knew there would be titles on the list that would have some readers thinking I’d gone off the deep end. And I was right. But for the most part, the response was upbeat and the readership was strong. Many families had been looking for some type of assemblage to assist them in their personal family movie viewing.

That prompted me to do a Part 2 in late 2015 and a Part 3 a year ago.

Although I typically don’t make these lists annually, since it’s been a year, this one turns out to be my 2018 personal favorites. But first a bit of a disclaimer.

Because of what I do for a living, as you can imagine, people regularly ask me what movies I like. I find myself throwing out film titles, but if my wife is around, she’ll pin me down a bit more and ask me to clarify for those asking: Are these family friendly films or films that you really enjoyed? I know what she’s getting at. But for the list below I don’t differentiate between the two. For instance, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms makes this year’s list. It’s a film that I would give a 4.5 out of 5 for family-friendliness. But did I enjoy it? Not so much personally. But if my kids were, say, 9 and 12, I would happily take them to see this one and would “enjoy” it through their eyes. I think you get my point. So without any further ado, here goes:

Paddington 2

Early Man

Black Panther (teens on up)

Like Arrows

Billy Graham: An Extraordinary Journey

God’s Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness

Paul, Apostle of Christ

7 Days in Entebbe (teens on up)

A Quiet Place (older teens on up)

A Miracle Season

Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero

Indivisible

Unbroken: A Path to Redemption

Summer in the Forest

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Incredibles 2

Little Women

Leave No Trace

Running for Grace

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

Lost Kites

Christopher Robin

Beautifully Broken

Operation Finale (teens on up)

Gosnell: The Trial of American’s Biggest Serial Killer (older teens on up)

Smallfoot

I Still Believe

Small Group—The Movie

Free Solo

Moses (Sight & Sound’s drama)

Forever My Girl (for teens on up with parental discussion)

Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch

Ralph Breaks the Internet

The Annunciation

I Can Only Imagine

Mary Poppins Returns

By the way, if you think I’ve overlooked a film, let me know in the comments below.