Sure, we all rent movies and let our kids watch them, but hosting a weekly family movie night is something else again. Family movie night is as much about turning your living room into your own cinema as it is about creating a bonding and learning experience for you and your kids.

At our house, Saturday nights are designated movie nights, but Sunday afternoons or evenings or other nights can work well, too—just choose a time when you're unencumbered by work or household responsibilities and you can safely turn off the phone and relax. Rather than simply renting a few movies and letting the kids start watching them in another room while you finish doing the dishes, make sure the event involves the entire family. Designate a movie start time and work together to complete chores in time. Set a cinematic tone by making sure there are enough comfy seats and preparing snacks—setting bowls of popcorn and "movie candy," like licorice or Goobers and Raisinettes, on the coffee table lets the kids know it's a special time.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

For added interest, make your snacks "match" the movie thematically. When my kids and I watched the now classic 1973 Italian comedy Bread and Chocolate, for instance, we ate, well, sandwiches of French bread and dark chocolate like the Swiss in the movie. Writer and Chronogram books editor Nina Shengold often joins fellow writer Laura Shaine Cunningham for family movie nights with food themes. Recent titles, says Shengold, include Bend It Like Beckham (accompany the film with samosas, Indian breads like nan and parantha, and chutney), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (try baklava), Under the Tuscan Sun (the perfect opportunity to introduce northern Italy's lighter, roasted cookery), and the delectable Chocolat (buy big at your favorite sweet shop beforehand, and be sure to pick up some Belgian cocoa). At our house, we've used family movie nights to introduce foods the kids might not normally try, like crepes for French films and vegetable tempura to accompany an occassional Japanese flick.

Lest you be a parent who loathes the idea of family movie night because, frankly, you don't like movies that are made for kids (e.g. Disney), don't despair. Plenty of foreign made-for-kids movies lack the saccharine of their American counterparts. For instance, try the British suspense film classic The Moonspinners with Hayley Mills, or (also from Britain) Fairy Tale: A True Story for little girls who like Tinkerbell or boys who are at all interested in Houdini. If you feel obligated to indulge in Toy Story or Finding Nemo one more time, you can always make it a double feature, with the second, more mature film scheduled for after the youngest kids have gone to bed.

Choosing classic black-and-white movies allows you to catch whatever flicks you've missed, or to take private trips down memory lane as you watch movies or compilations of televisions shows that have disappeared but are still beloved, all while your kids soak up some of your generation's culture. Added bonus: most classic films lack offensive language and graphic sex and violence, but are still complex and interesting enough to keep kids watching.

My boys and I have enjoyed working our way through the Hitchcock collection—with a few exceptions, of course—as well as Vincent Price's interpretations of Edgar Allen Poe's horror stories. Shengold keeps a list of kid-friendly classics on hand for trips to the video/DVD rental store, and says she's proud her daughter Maya, age 10, is a Katharine Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyck fan. Me, I'm as glad my boys can recognize Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart, as I am that they know who Dick Van Dyke is, can quote Chris the deejay from "Northern Exposure" and understand what I mean when I say that when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me from last year's "Odd Couple" collection marathon.

Unbeknownst to your kids, you can use foreign films to teach them about their ethnic heritage, or show a few classic historical films to educate them about 20th century culture and history. There's no better way to instill an awareness of World War II than with Au Revoir, Les Enfants or Life Is Beautiful during, say, the middle school years.

You can't go wrong with any age group or personal predilection by showing classic comedies—the Marx Brothers, the Pink Panther, and the films of Jacques Tati have all held up well over time, and still make kids laugh just as hard today as you once did.

So what are you waiting for? It's time to darken the room and let the show begin.