Time Bandits (1981)

I mentioned that I would see another consecutive movie about a boy. Thankfully, it's quite different. In fact, despite the PG rating, I hesitate to count it as a family flick. IMDb doesn't. (Non-American studios, I find, are more likely to have kid-unfriendly stories starring kids.)

Kevin, 11, suffers from parents uninterested in his interest in history. One night, his bedroom is accidentally invaded by six time-traveling dwarves. They're interested in history, of course, but not for the same reason: They want to steal the riches of the past. Despite his disapproval of that plan, Kevin tags along, with nary a language barrier. He learns that they've worked for the Supreme Being himself on maintenance of the space-time continuum, and since they swiped his temporal map, they have to keep moving. (They've been around for eons but seem as vulnerable as humans.) Little do they realize that the scarier threat is from Evil himself, looking to grab the map for his own ends.

Silverado (1985)

As you may have guessed from the title, it's a western; and as you may have guessed from the year of release, it's not very serious as westerns go. The casting provides a further clue to the latter: It includes Kevin Kline and, in a smaller role, John Cleese. Oh, it's not A Fish Called Wanda with twang; the humorous aspects are secondary to the adventure and occasionally solemn drama. (Netflix calls it "fast-paced," but it allows some tense pauses a la Sergio Leone.) Still funnier than the overrated Cat Ballou in my book.