Movie Recommendation

Husband and I just finished watching this wonderful movie, and I have to recommend it right away. Even if there is no one in your life with autism, even if you have never heard of Dr. Grandin before - just get onto Netflix or Blockbuster, or head to your local library and rent it, pronto. By the end, I was definitely in tears - but they were happy tears, so that shouldn't deter you. Dr. Grandin's story is so compelling, and Claire Danes does a wonderful job in the title role, this is a don't-miss movie.

And if you don't believe me, the movie (from HBO) just won seven Emmy awards last week. Yup. SEVEN.

Movies and Boys

The movies the boys watch at home (and don't watch) fall into several categories. Some I like, some they like, and some are, well, the opposite. Our tastes don't always line up, and I struggle sometimes to find things for them to watch that they will enjoy - I have a much harder time with this than with books. At least I have to worry about this less: they are allowed one movie on Saturday and one on Sunday, and they take turns with their choices. Otherwise, the TV is off-limits.

Here's some categories, and some reasons why I (and they) like what we like:

Movies I’m glad they love:

Second-hand Lions: this is an awesome movie, about a boy in Texas in the 1960's living with his two squirrely great-uncles. I've seen it panned by a number of reviewers, which just goes to show they don't know diddly about what boys like.

The two Narnia movies: I love how close these are to the books, and I'm hoping that trend will continue. They are a little violent for a child Two's age, but he has that second-child thing about being less bothered by things at an earlier age. It's just what comes from following along behind your older brother.

The Princess Bride: The boys adore this one, and they love to quote it along with their dad. "Why do you keep using that word? I do not think it means what you think it means." And so on and so forth, until I scream "STOP!".

The Court Jester: Yes, my children like Danny Kaye in tights. And if you have a problem with that, you can stuff it. Because there's nothing funnier than the "chalice with the palace", okay?

Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and Ivanhoe: The boys have no idea who Leo DeCaprio is, or Keanu Reaves, but they love, love, love Errol Flynn. They want to be each of his characters in these movies, and frequently pretend to be as soon as the movie ends.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: One loved this book, and both boys love the movie.

Treasure Island (the Disney version): this has been a favorite for years. I worked a deal several years ago and got to know the people on the other side so well; they would ask if they could come over and watch this with the boys, since the boys put it on during every conference call we had. We're glad those people live far, far away.

To Kill a Mockingbird: One and his dad read the book this past Spring, and we decided he was old enough for the movie. Of course, that meant Two sat there and watched it too. What can I say about it? It's just spectacular.

The Great Escape: they love this one, and even talked a friend into watching it last Friday night when he slept over. All three boys voted 2 thumbs up.

If they have to watch animation, because they don’t like it much anymore:

Wallace and Grommit (Three Amazing Adventures and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit): these are just too funny - and the clay-mation is truly a work of art.

The Disney version of The Sword in the Stone: my favorite movie from childhood. Two does a mean imitation of Archimedes.

Movies I’m mad they don’t like:

Up: They pretty much hated it in the theater, although the dogs made them laugh. Now they refuse to watch it at home. Husband bought it for me for Christmas; the boys booed.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People: It scares One. Little People especially. I have no idea why.

Miracle: Having spent years skating in that famous, red-seated arena, it offends me that they don't want to watch this movie. I don't necessarily want them to like hockey; I just want them to watch this movie. Is that too much to ask?

The Secret of Roan Inish: Seals scare One, especially when they turn into women. Given that he's scared of this and Darby O'Gill, maybe he's just scared of the Irish. Since I'm half-Irish, I don't know how I feel about that. Wait - yes I do: I think it's hysterical.

Movies I wish I’d never let them watch in the first place:

Anything Star Wars: bad plots and bad acting. Face it: they're poorly constructed movies. Their only redeeming factor is they are about the bad guys vs. the good guys, and you can never get enough of that.

Anything Harry Potter, Indiana Jones or Lord of the Rings. Don't get me wrong, I like these movies myself. I just wish I'd never let the boys watch them, because then I wouldn't be in the unenviable position of telling them they can't watch them ever again for a long, long time. And why can't they? Because when they watch these movies they behave poorly and they have nightmares; that tells me they are way, way too young for this stuff. Of course, since they refuse to believe the movies have anything to do with their behavior or their dreams, I am Mean Mommy, forever and ever, amen. And you can tell by how little I let them watch TV: I like being Mean Mommy, a lot.

Star Wars

Two is utterly and completely obsessed with Star Wars. He talks about it every minute he can, he begs to watch one of the movies every day, and he plays only Star Wars games on the playground at school. And so Husband sings, quite frequently, a la Bill Murray:

"Staaaaaar Wars! Those crazy creatures from Star Waaaaaars!"

And Two crossly sings back "those crazy creatures in Daaaaaaad's head."

Family Movie Night

I have a hard time with movie reviews - I think it's mostly because I don't like many of the movies being put out these days. Hard to blame the reviewer when he's sent to review schlock, but maybe I do from time to time all the same. Trying to get an accurate read on what's appropriate for the boys is even harder; people get picky when it comes to what their kids watch, but no one seems to have the same standards.

One review website I've been sent to, with high hopes that it would help make these decisions easier, is Kids-in-Mind. I hate to say it, but with every review I read, the message I come away with is "Someone said 'darn' and the dwarfs drank beer. Don't see Snow White." Not. helpful. If I didn't want to see any movies at all, I wouldn't bother looking them up. I'd just stay home and let the kids watch their 14,000th episode of Dirty Jobs.

But tonight I ran across another site, and I am astonished to say that it actually encourages me to see movies. It has exceedingly well-written reviews, points out the dirty details I might find relevant (which cuss words, any s*x?), but still glories in a good movie. Now that? That is helpful indeed.

Why I Don't Go to the Movies Anymore (warning: spoiler alert)

Because even if I went to what looks like a cute holiday movie, it would be ruined for me by its creators.


Why do they have to kill off the dog? What makes us want to go see that? How is my heart warm when I leave the theater with my sobbing children (who are soon to lose their own dog, thank you very much)? Why can't I go to a "family movie" and leave feeling good? Is that so hard for Hollywood? Apparently it is.

And I'm actually glad people are vandalizing these movie posters in LA. Yup. I am.

Juno III

My third post on Juno. Can you tell I have it saved on TiVo, taking up way to much disk space than it should? I'd like to watch it again now; rainy days are perfect movie weather.

Tony Woodlief has this to say about the movie, to which I can only say "hear hear":

"The characters don't all find Jesus in the end. In fact, they never mention Jesus at all, except in vain. But one gets the impression that these are precisely the kinds of people in whom Jesus takes an interest. Perhaps that means that the rest of us ought not look at them, when we encounter such people in real life, as something that must be scraped off our shoes. We could all stand to be reminded from time to time that sinners are humans too, and further, that the open sin can more easily be healed than that which lurks in the dour hearts of the ostensibly sinless."

Read the whole thing, as Glenn Reynolds would say.

What is your reaction when you see the pregnant teenager at Babies-R-Us? When I went to register for One's arrival, there was only one other woman +20 - everyone else was there with their mom, not their husband or boyfriend. The other woman - 30-something with a shirt that said "baby" and an arrow down to a map of China (such an awesome shirt) - and I exchanged rolled eyes and tsks as we looked around the room.

I am ashamed of that now. Given my own experience, I have to say I wish these girls were thinking seriously about giving their child up for adoption rather than ooo-ing and aaah-ing over layette items. But at least they were there with their family - someone was there to help them. These moms had gotten over the shock they must have felt when their daughter came to them with this news, knowing full-well that a lot of the care for this coming child was going to fall on them, not their daughter - and they were still there.

Abortion isolates women from all that. You can see that played out in Juno: she's alone when she goes to the hideous clinic, but once she tells her parents, they stick to her like glue. The message of pro-abortion advocates is "this is your decision, this is your body". Instead of empowering women, that message leaves them to deal with the entire experience alone. Carrying a child to delivery - whether to keep or to give up for adoption - involves a whole host of people - and the redemptive power of the support and love those people can pour out on the mom and her child is truly great.

On the Other Hand ...

Lileks loved WALL-E. That's a little predicable, since he's a Pixar fanatic, but he does write a lyrical (if long) review of the movie that's worth reading:

http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive/08/0608/063008.html

Movie Review

Here is an interesting review of the movie WALL-E:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/wall-e-a-gloom-e-satire/

After reading this I don't think the boys and I will be venturing out any time soon to see this movie. Somehow, none of this sounds appealing to me:

"The earth has been made uninhabitable by junk and pollution."

"The earthlings — or maybe Americans, as none of them have any other kind of accent — are brain-dead blobs perpetually stuffed to the gills with entertainment. They never leave their spotless flying barcaloungers — and never could, since their bones have shrunk to useless twigs inside their Shrek-like masses. They float through their troglodyte lives as unquestioning subjects of the master corporation (the same one that ruined the Earth) that houses them, distracts them and feeds them. All foods are made to be sucked down like milkshakes for maximum convenience."

"A variety of evil machines try to steal from them a small plant from Earth that they brought with them as evidence that the planet is inhabitable again. That poses a threat to the corporation that is generating so much profit from its captive audience on the space station."

I don't think my kids need these images fed to them. I also think I can manage to communicate to them the importance of being good stewards of the Earth without subjecting them to Disney's version of Blade Runner.

The Professionals

Husband has seen every single movie - at least all of those made between 1950 and 1990. We watched the last bit of this one tonight, and it has the best last-line-in-a-movie I've ever heard:

Mr. Grant (Ralph Bellamy): "You bastard!"

Fardan (Lee Marvin): "Yes sir. In my case, an accident of birth. But you, sir, you are a self-made man."

Sweeeeeet!

Juno

I loved this movie. But I don't think I was supposed to bawl so hysterically at the end, I really don't. It was beautiful and sad and I absolutely loved it. A very gentle movie. Maybe it's because I was adopted, or because I want a third child pretty badly and it's doubtful that's going to happen - I don't know. But I cried snuffly ugly tears at the end - the red-faced, blow-your-nose kind of tears.

I'm still glad I watched it.