For a Friday night in, there’s nothing like a movie night to unwind from the work week and kick off the weekend. But, unless you’re up to a challenge, we’d recommend that you don’t watch movies like Titanic or Jaws while you’re on your houseboat. (On a related note, ever notice how most movies with boats are disastrous? Now, we’re not saying boats are problematic, but… Hollywood is definitely saying that boats are problematic.)

In any case, here are some of our boating movie favorites:

Houseboat: Classic. Of course you have to watch “Houseboat,” while on a houseboat. Isn’t that some sort of code? Okay, it’s not. But hey, you have to admit it’s got the perfect name. Starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren, this movie is about a widower trying to raise his three children with the help of a live-in nanny. Coincidentally, this nanny has zero of the skills that you would expect from a nanny, so that’s comical. But you can see where the rest of that plot is headed, right? Romance. So if you’re looking for a 50’s romcom, this is probably the most appropriate one for the occasion.

Overboard: This movie is fun for the whole family. A hoity-toity woman throws a carpenter overboard after a wardrobe dispute, and later that day, she falls overboard herself. She gets amnesia from the fall, and as payback, the carpenter claims her from the hospital as his wife, and she comes home to mother his four boys and play the housewife. They end up falling in love, she ends up remembering who she is, and you’ll have to see it to know the rest.

Captain Ron: Another Kurt Russell movie. This time he plays the crazy, unkempt captain who helps a family sail their inherited ship (which is in rough shape) from an island in the Caribbean to Miami. Through a series of adventures, including guerillas and pirates, the family arrives back safely in Miami and, while originally planning to sell the yacht, decide to keep it instead.

Fool’s Gold: A Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey movie: excellent. There always has to be a movie about treasure hunting – that’s one of the best uses for a boat, right? This movie is basically a race between some hooligans to find this treasure on a sunken Spanish galleon ship that was lost at sea hundreds of years ago in a treasure fleet. You get the happy ending – a couple back together, the gold found, ensuing fame – but not after several obstacles.

Life of Pi: Boating superstitions say that cats are good luck on boats; does the same go for wildcats? It may not seem like such a good idea, but it seems to work out pretty well in “Life of Pi.” A family decides to move to Canada and sell their zoo, but the freighter they get on crashes and everyone goes with it…except Pi, a 16 year-old boy, and a Bengal tiger. They are stuck together in a lifeboat and live to see land, and then they part ways, and Pi is forced to tell his story to people who don’t believe him.

And of course, there are all those pirate movies out there that fit the nautical movie theme perfectly. Happy friday!