Movies To Watch And Not To Watch When You Are Pregnant

Pregnancy is both a very beautiful and anxious time.  This is particularly true for me because of the problems I've had in the past.  As a result, I like my pregnancy movies to be optimistic and enjoyable not horrifying or depressing.  That is why I have characterized the following movies not based on whether they are good or not but based on whether they are good for a worried pregnant woman to watch. 

Movies to Watch

The Blind Side (2009)

This is such an amazing mother-child movie! I watched it last night (for the 20th time) and cried through most of it.  I especially love when Sandra Bullock is reading Ferdinand the Bull to her kids.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie!!!!!!





Father of the Bride 2 (1995) and Father's Little Dividend (1951)

Father's Little Dividend is a great movie for first time parents and grandparents.  It's a beautiful and hilarious classic about expecting a baby and bonding with him after birth.   

Father of the Bride 2 (the remake of Father's Little Dividend) is the perfect pregnancy/American Dream movie!!!  It pays up the birth of a child in the best of ways.  Even though it is a bit ridiculous at times ("the baby wing" and the baby shower with the storks), it leaves you feeling happy and sentimental about the birth of your child. 

Baby Boom (1987)

In this movie, the life of a hard working and highly paid executive (Diane Keaton) is turned upside down when she "inherits" a baby from her cousin. 

This is a great family movie about bonding with your children.  What I really loved was how the main character overcame obstacles and how her love for her daughter helped her make better life/career decisions. 

Babies (2010)

This movie is amazing!!! It follows four babies through the first year of their lives.  What I really loved was watching the contrast between how the babies were raised in these different parts of the world: Mongolia, Japan, Namibia and the US.  This movie is very well done.  There is no narrative so you just watch the babies interact with the world around them.   

Movies Not to Watch During Pregnancy

All Alien(s) Movies

These are great movies.  The reason that they are not happy pregnancy movies is pretty self explanatory if you've seen them or have a remote idea regarding what they are about: monsters impregnate unwilling victims (through their face) and then the aliens burst out of their stomachs, killing them in the most violent of ways. 

Prometheus may have actually been the worst pregnancy movie (even though we loved it).

Twilight Breaking Dawn (2011)

I did not actually see this movie but from what I've read, the birth scene is extremely violent and follows a very disturbing pregnancy. 

















Rosemary's Baby (1968)

This is actually a really good movie.  In fact, it is one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.  That is also the reason that I don't like it as a pregnancy movie.  There are enough things to be anxious about when you are pregnant.  The fact that your baby may be the devil or anti-Christ should not be one of them. 

Maybe Baby (2000)

This "comedy" is about the problems a couple has conceiving a child.

I did not find this movie funny at all. In fact, it left me feeling depressed. If you are looking for a positive pregnancy movie, this is not it.

Found Footage Movie Review: Chronicle vs. The Troll Hunter

Chronicle was the first movie we saw in theaters in 2012.  We would have never noticed it if our friend wasn't excited to go see it for his birthday.  Alex and I have a movie theater system: except under special circumstances, we do not watch movies in theaters unless they receive a rating of at least 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.  Overall, Chronicle scored 84% from 146 reviews. 

If you have not yet seen Chronicle, I don't plan to spoil it for you.  I will go into the minor plot elements meantioned in the trailer. 

The movie is about three guys who mysteriously develop super powers.  As they explore these power, Matt and Steve become concerned that Andrew has a dark side. 
The film was fairly low budget with an estimated budget of about $12 million.  It is a "found footage" film like the Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and The Troll Hunter.  The explaination for filming in this style is that Andrew has decided to film everything in his life. 
The best part about this movie was how real and honest it felt.  This is how I would imagin typical high school teenager to react to getting super powers.  The acting was great and the characters were relatable.  The special effects were also well done and the CGI did not take away from how the movie felt. 
My biggest criticism was the use of "found footage" in this film.  Unlike The Troll Hunter, this film could have done without it.  At times, the filming felt forced which did take away from the movie.  The writers had to keep coming up with "creative" ways to explain where the footage was coming from and, when there was just no way to explaine it, they ignored it.  This problems was not so glarring that it ruined the film.  In fact, I didn't think much of it until we started discussing these issues afterwards.  In hindsight, it's just silly not detrimental.  This movie would have been just as enjoyable if it had been filmed in a normal manner and if the writers didn't waste their time coming up for explaination for the movie cameras. 

A few days before we watched Chronicle, we also watched The Troll Hunter, a Norweigian Horror/Fantasy film that came out in 2011.   

This film is about college students investigating mysterious bear killings as part of a school project.  They begin to stalk an evasive hunter who they believe may be behind these killings.  After the hunter eventually agrees to participate in their documentary, the students discover that sometimes fairytails are real. 
Like Chronicle, this film also has a low budget of about $19,900,000. It is filmed like a "mockumentary".  The difference between this movie and Chronical is how well the filiming style fits into the movie.  There is no camera ackwardness that detracts from the movie.  Since this movie is supposed to be a documentary, the style feels natural. 
Similar to Chronicle, this movie is also very well acted, has a great story and great special effects.  It's also very funny but, I suspect, not as funny as it would be if I were Norweigian. 

Overall, we highly recommend both Chronicle and The Troll Hunter as great movies worth watching.