Movies to subject to you: U.K. edition

Lisa writes: Nick Hornby ("About a Boy," "High Fidelity") put it best:

"All I have to say about these songs is that I love them, and want to sing along to them, and force other people to listen to them, and get cross when these other people don't like them as much as I do."

That how I feel about these movies, especially the first one, because it seems like almost no one has seen it and it takes a ridiculous amount of convincing to get them to sit through it. My most successful technique has been to trap captive audiences (say, house guests) in front of the TV screen and just turn it on before they can say no. You say "coercion;" I say you'll thank me.

I'm including the trailers here, but I'd actually recommend you NOT watch the trailer and instead just go watch the movie. They always give away too much, those trailers.

The Secret of Roan Inish: Irish family loses a baby son when they're force to evacuate from their rural island to the big city. The boy may or may not have been taken away by seals, who may or may not be distant relatives. Kid-safe. Turn on the closed captions -- the accents are a little strong.


Waking Ned Devine: You've already seen this one right? Right? The correct answer is "Right!" Somebody in this little Irish town has won the lottery, but nobody is claiming it. Many hilarious old-guy shennanigans. Kid-safe as long as your kids think the sight of a very, very, very old man riding a motorbike naked is funny. (You just see his saggy backside.)


Millions: Just discovered this one two days ago. (The woman who plays the selkie in Roan Inish plays the love interest in Waking Ned Devine, and the man who plays her frustrated ex-boyfriend in Waking Ned Devine plays the dad in Millions. It's a cozy little movie world I've got here.) Little English boy accidentally discovers a duffel bag filled with hundred of thousands of pounds. He and his brother have 12 days to figure out what to do with it before England switches over to the Euro and it's worthless. (Note: England has not switched over the Euro. It's a movie.) Grown-ups, screen this one before showing the kids. Slightly cringe-inducing depiction of Mormon missionaries, one bad word, one scene where the bigger boy is looking at women in bras on a website, and some scary suspense when the bad guy is looking for the little boy.