Family Films Book Now Available On-Line

"The Denver Post Guide to the Best Family Films," scheduled to hit bookstores around Oct. 25, is now available for pre-order at your favorite on-line site. The Amazon link is here, and the Barnes & Noble link is here

Keep an eye on this site for more announcements about book store events and TV and radio interviews -- we'll be doing 10 minutes with our friends at KBCO on an upcoming morning show. And keep your eye on this space for more great lists of family movies.

Family Movies and Travel

We just had a terrific family trip to NYC and points east, and one of the many fun elements of walking around New York was remembering all the movies shot at the famous scenes we walked by. Just a few examples, the "Home Alone 2" scenes in Central Park, the ice cream shop in "Serendipity," the bike-riding scene in "Kramer vs. Kramer" on the Mall at Central Park, the computer-generated scenes in "The Day After Tomorrow" . . . and of course "Sleepless in Seattle" at the top of the Empire State. The list goes on and on. It's a nice way to engage your kids in the scenery without going on blah-blah-blah about 300 years of history.

This week's Denver Post column

Here's our Family Film pick for this week, appearing in The Denver Post feature section every Tuesday:

Breakfast Club Rises, Shines

Stop watching "The Breakfast Club" in its frequent cable-TV
rotation.

To get the full essence of the best high school movie ever made
(not just my opinion - Entertainment Weekly put it tops on a list
of 50 all-time greats), you need to rent the full R-rated disc from
your favorite retailer. Yes, there are a couple dozen f-bombs; yes,
the kids smoke pot onscreen; yes, Judd Nelson's bully character
sexually harasses poor Molly Ringwald in a very raw way.

But they nail it. Through one of the best ensemble performances
from Hollywood youth, and through the words of writer/director John
Hughes, "The Breakfast Club" speaks undeniable truths about the
high school experience that ring true a generation later. Think
about that, it's a remarkable achievement: In 1985, when "The
Breakfast Club" came out, were there any high school movies from
1963 that rang as true?

Hughes exploits the claustrophobia of a high school library on a
Saturday morning - from the opening seconds, it's just so wrong.
Kids shouldn't be dropped off at high school on a Saturday! It's
detention time for five mouthy teenagers from Shermer High School
in suburban Chicago, and the stereotypes announce themselves
immediately: the Brain, the Jock, the Princess, the Criminal and
the Basket Case.

In nine hours of threatening, bickering and, eventually, poignant
(but never maudlin) self-revelation, the stereotypes dissolve and
re-form. These students have the chance to break the mold, but the
ending is not naive - they may fall back into the same old rut.

Pair this with the lighter tone of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off,"
since Hughes himself did. He filmed that comedy classic back to
back with "The Breakfast Club," using the same school sets and
the same crew. Legend has it that you can see identical posters in
the hallways in both films.

Each Tuesday, Michael Booth uncovers a movie gem for rewarding
family entertainment. Send your suggestions to
mbooth@denverpost.com.

We have a publication date . . .

Sept. 15 is the print date for "The Denver Post Guide to the Best Family Films." List price is scheduled to be $12.95. Watch this space for more information about book availability, and author appearances throughout the fall.

The Book is on the Way!

You've asked for a compilation of our weekly family DVD picks, and "The Denver Post Guide to the Best Family Films, by Michael Booth," will arrive this fall. Check here for more information, or send an e-mail to mbooth@denverpost.com to be placed on a mailing list for notice when the books arrives from Johnson Books in Boulder.

Also use our e-mail address to send your own recommendations for future columns, which appear every Tuesday inside the Lifestyle section of The Denver Post.