In Family
Oscar- winning films for the whole family.
During recent years, R- rated films such as Spotlight, Birdman, 12 Years a Slave and Argo have won Academy Awards for Best Picture. The 89th Academy Awards, airing 7: 30 p. m. Sunday on ABC, includes R- rated movies such as Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight among its Best Picture nominees. Don’t think of the Oscars as only for adults, though. A number of family friendly films have captured Oscars, and this year, PG- 13 rated movies Arrival, Fences, La La Land and Lion, along with the PG- rated Hidden Figures, also are nominated for Best
Picture. Before or after Sunday’s ceremony, it’s never too soon to introduce children and teens to the wonders of smart cinema, and a good place to start is with Academy Award- winning films. Here are some Oscar winners since the 1992 Academy Awards ( films win from the year prior) worth watching with the family ( and they’re not all animated Disney or Pixar films):
1992
The big winner at the 1992 Academy Awards was The Silence of the Lambs
( Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, etc.). It’s not a film for children. Maybe older teens. But Jack Palance won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as surly cowboy Curly in City Slickers, a PG- 13 comedy that — besides profanity — is suitable for family viewing.
1994
Steven Spielberg directed two films in 1993 which were nominated for Oscars in 1994: the R- rated Schindler’s List ( which won a slew of awards, including Best Picture) and the summer blockbuster Jurassic Park, a thriller rated PG- 13 that won Oscars for Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects. Besides some “intense science fiction terror,” it’s suitable for older children and up.
Also, the PG- 13 rated Mrs. Doubtfire, starring the late Robin Williams as a female housekeeper, won a Best Makeup Oscar. There’s some language, but not much else keeping this comedy away from children.
1995
There are some heavy adult themes in the PG- 13 rated Forrest Gump, which won Best Picture, Best Actor ( Tom Hanks), Best Director ( Robert Zemeckis) and more, and the film also includes some drug use, some sensuality, war violence and mild profanity, but this heartwarming drama with comedic overtones is still suitable for preteens and older.
1996
The PG- rated Apollo 13 won Oscars for Best Sound and Best Film Editing, and the story of the ill- fated Apollo mission bound for the moon in 1970 is low on violence and other parental concerns, except for a lot of language — which is understandable given the circumstances.
1996 also included the G- rated Babe, about a sheep- herding pig, which won for Best Visual Effects.
1998
Can we just recommend
Titanic, which won a host of awards, from Best Picture to Best Cinematography?
OK, let’s just say Titanic — which certainly has some moments that give its PG- 13 rating ( Jack drawing Rose; Rose and Jack in a car) but otherwise is an entertaining — if a little long — and educational telling of the sinking of the famous ocean liner. There’s also profanity — hey, it’s about a sinking ship — and some violence, but otherwise OK for preteens.
2001
Although Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon lost Best Picture ( Gladiator won), the PG- 13 rated film won a number of Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film.
The adventure fantasy film is a breathtaking movie, lovingly shot, and with dazzling martial arts sequences. The dialogue is in Mandarin, so there are subtitles, but this actionpacked movie is perhaps a good introduction for children and teens to subtitled movies.
There’s violence, especially near the end, but language and sex scenes are not an issue.
2002
A Beautiful Mind won the Best Picture, along with Oscars for Best Supporting Actress ( Jennifer Connelly), Best Director ( Ron Howard) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The PG- 13 rated film has some violence and intense thematic material, but is OK for preteens and older.
The first in the trilogy, The
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, walked away with Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Best Original Score. There are violent battle scenes in the PG- 13 rated movie, along with frightening imagery, but the J. R. R. Tolkien adaptation is a fantasy film good for older children.
The 2002 Academy Awards also marked the first- ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature, with the PG- rated Shrek, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, winning.
Since then, this category has presented a goldmine of Oscar winners suitable for all ages, from Finding Nemo in 2003 to this year’s nominees: Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle and Zootopia.
2004
The third Lord of the Rings film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,
walked away with all 11 Academy Awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director ( Peter Jackson) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film, which is tied with Ben- Hur and Titanic for the largest number of Academy Awards won, is rated PG- 13 for its violence and gore ( there are intense battle sequences) and horror scenes, but still suitable for preteens and above.
2005
Every Pixar movie that has ever won an Academy Award could be on this list, but that would be Pixar overload so it’s best just singling out some really great Pixar works, like the PG- rated The Incredibles,
which won Oscars for Best Sound Editing and Best Animated Feature. The rating is PG instead of G because of cartoon violence, but it’s still good for children.
The Best Original Score in 2005 went to the PG- rated
Finding Neverland, the story of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie’s friendship with the family who inspired him to create the boy who wouldn’t grow up. The movie has some brief language and some scary scenes, but that’s it. Older children are good to go.
The PG- rated A Series of Unfortunate Events won the Oscar for Best Makeup. Starring Jim Carrey, the film is rated PG for scary situations and brief language. Preteens and older should be OK.
2006
In an age of been- there, done- that big- budget sequels and explosion- riddled summer blockbusters, documentaries still offer great filmmaking, delivering engaging stories that are often educational.
Award- winning documentaries are often not for children, though ( usually they are better for preteens and older). 2006 was an exception, with March
of the Penguins, a Frenchmade nature documentary with narration from Morgan Freeman in the American version, picking up the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. G- rated, this film is a delight for the entire family.
The Best Animated Feature this year was the G- rated The Curse of the Were- Rabbit,
from the Great Britain- based animation studio Aardman Animations, which is known for its kid- friendly animated fare.
2007
Dreamgirls won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress ( Jennifer Hudson) and Best Sound Mixing. It earned its PG- 13 rating mainly through its profanity and some drug content. Still, it’s an entertaining watch for older children.
2010
Let’s skip ahead a few years ( yes, Ratatouille and Wall- E are great, and G- rated Best Animated Feature winners in 2008 and 2009, respectively) for a look at The Blind Side, the story of NFL football player Michael Oher, which won Sandra Bullock a Best Actress Oscar. It’s a PG- 13 movie, mainly for some brief violence, drug and sexual references, but it’s really a story suitable for older children.
And yes, the Best Animated Feature winner this year was Up, which also won a Best Original Score Oscar.
2011
Quick: What’s the first ( and only) G- rated film to win Best Picture? 1968’ s Oliver! ( Technically, the Motion Picture Association of America started using the G rating in 1968, making Oliver! also the first film with an MPAA rating to win Best Picture. Films such as the now G- rated The Sound of Music — which won Best Picture in 1966 — were given MPAA ratings upon re- release.)
That tidbit of trivia sets up this knowledge: Toy Story 3 is the most recent Best Picture nominee with a G rating, though it lost to The King’s Speech. Still, this classic — and a film worthy of all audiences, young and old — picked up Oscars for Best Original Song for Randy Newman’s “We Belong Together” and won for Best Animated Feature. And it’s better than The King’s Speech.
Another Oscar winner from 2010 good for children is the PG- rated Alice in Wonderland, which won Academy Awards for Art Direction and Costume Design.
2012
The Help has a PG- 13 rating because of what the MPAA says is “thematic material.” There’s some violence in the movie, and some profanity, drinking and smoking but nothing an older child can’t handle. And it’s worth the watch, and a film for which Octavia Spencer won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Although it lost in the big Oscar categories it was nominated for, the PG- rated Hugo walked away with several Academy Awards, including
Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects. It’s good for older children.
2013
Ang Lee ( Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) won a Best Director Academy Award for directing Life of Pi, a delightful PG- rated film good for the entire family, although there is some heavy emotional content.
The film also won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects and Best Original Score.
2014
The PG- rated Frozen — Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Let It Go”) — has to be mentioned. There’s some cartoon violence, but children are good watching this beloved tale.
2015
Selma — which won an Oscar for Best Original Song for “Glory” by Common and John Legend — is an important movie that families should watch. It’s PG- 13 rated because of its violence ( the brutal mistreatment of blacks in 1965 Alabama) and some profanity. Still, older children could learn valuable lessons from this film.
2016
Last year’s Oscars were kind of all over the place, with R- rated films such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Spotlight and The Revenant earning multiple Academy Awards.
Down the list was the PG- rated Inside Out, which won for Best Animated Feature. Produced by Pixar, the film proves that if you want award- winning and kid- friendly content, this studio is your first option.