We like to watch movies as a family and we keep it interesting by alternating who gets to choose. One week it's the kids and then the next week it's the parents. We try to get good quality movies, ones that our kids wouldn't think of renting on their own. You should start this when your kids are young however -- once they are teens, they don't want to watch anything with you!
Bill, Ottawa

You can use movies to talk about the issue of media violence with your kids. Organize your own Cine-Club evening: rent the original Dial M for Murder of Hitchcock and the remake with Gwynneth Paltrow, which came out a couple of years ago, or the original Psycho and the recent version. Watch these with your teens and get them to tell you what differences they noticed. Talk about the excitement generated by blood and guts on a movie screen, versus the panic SUGGESTED by music, tempo, facial expressions, etc.. Talk about what they EXPECT to see in the next action movie they go to...what it takes to scare them or keep them on the edge of their seat and why.
Dr. Arlette Lefebvre, Toronto