Movie Reviews: A Canadian Mom in LA!

So my hubby & I had a question posed to us by one of our friends, & I figured it would be great to get your opinion on it.  Up until this point our almost 2 year old son has not been to a movie in a movie theatre.  He has seen several movies on DVD (I admit that I am weak & let my child watch not only TV but movies as well) & one of his favorites right now seems to be Shrek.  So our friends inquired as to whether we wanted to bring our little guy to see Shrek 3.  My immediate reaction was “No way!!!”  They tried to coax us into it, to no avail, & I was left wondering why my gut reaction was to run screaming from these people who (in my world) had just proposed an absolutely absurd thing!!  I realized that, like Shrek, my reasoning was like an onion….it had layers.  Before my hubby & I had our little guy we would go to the movies & be aghast by the number of kids who were in both incredibly inappropriate & exceedingly late films.  R-rated movies that finished at 11pm…apparently no problem for some parents with 2 year olds.  I thought my feelings would change when I had my own child.  Nope, feelings only intensified, especially when we had a babysitter sitting at home while children my son’s age were running around in the theatre.  And don’t get me started on the state of the “ratings-system”.  An R-rating in the US means that if you are under 18 you must be accompanied by an adult over 21.  When a movie like Hostel: Part 2 gets an R-rating with a description including “sadistic scenes of torture and bloody violence, terror, nudity, sexual content, language, and some drug content”, I can barely contain my disgust.  A 2, 8, or 12 year old could go to see this movie as long as there is an adult with them, & the theatre can do nothing about it.  That’s just nutso.

But our friends were not proposing a late show or an R-rated movie, so I had to dig deeper into the onion to see where my genuine hesitation lay.  I think it all started after our little guy was born.  As all of you know, EVERYTHING in your life ceases to be about you, & even less than that is about you & your spouse.  I think that is how I rationalized to myself the decision to not co-sleep with our little guy.  For a while there the only thing that my hubby & I had that was just “us” was sleeping (just sleeping) in the same bed.  As the little guy has grown up we’ve had a few more milestones of “us” things, like staying up to watch Lost, then working our way up to watching a whole DVD, after the little guy goes to bed.  But alas, once we reached the next milestone the previous one seemed a lot less monumental.  They become less of rewards & more of the norm.  So, when our friends said “what’s the worst that can happen?”  They were thinking “okay, so you may have to leave the theatre early”, while I was thinking “I will lose that special “us” thing I have with the hubby…it won’t be just ours anymore.”  Some people may say that you forgo that when you have kids, but I think that I need it more than ever.  I know they are only little for so long, but I don’t want to turn to my husband, once we are empty-nesters, & say “who are you?”  Right now, for me, going to the movies just the two of us is sacred.  And I’m not quite ready to give it up yet.

So needless to say there was no Shrek 3 for the little guy, he’ll just have to wait for the DVD.  Which brings me to the parenting questions/advice.  At what age do you think it is okay to bring a child to the movie theatre?  Do you trust movie ratings or do you feel you need to see the movie before you will let your child see it?  And finally, do you & your spouse have special “us” time that is just about you as a couple? Share your thoughts below in comments.

So on to the reviews.  The ratings are: 4 stars = don’t miss it, 3 stars = worth seeing, 2 stars = not terrible, 1 star = don’t waste your time. 

In Theatres Now

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Let me say, first off, that I enjoyed the first two movies in this series immensely, so my opinion may be a bit skewed.  This one picks up where Dead Man’s Chest left off, the search for Jack Sparrow.  We get introduced to new characters & reacquainted with old ones, all of which seem to have their own angle.  But hey, it’s a movie about pirates, wouldn’t they all have their own angle?  The movie is long (topping out at over 3 hrs), but filled with enough adventure & plot twists to warrant it (unlike Spiderman 3).  I enjoyed that Kiera Knightly’s character took a much more pivotal role in this movie, as I felt they wussified Elizabeth Swan & generally under-utilized her in the second movie.  Overall, I found this to be a very fun, exciting, & entertaining movie that was definitely worth the price of the ticket, oh ya & some popcorn.  Just an FYI, if you do go see this movie stay ‘til the very end of the credits…it’s worth it.

Ocean’s Thirteen
This was actually a breath of fresh air, after the decidedly youth-oriented movies we have been seeing lately.  I actually turned to the hubby & said “this is a much more grown-up crowd than we’ve seen in a while.”  I personally think that this is a great date movie.  Something for both of you.  There were whole scenes where I’m not quite sure what George Clooney said, but he sure did look nice!!  This is a caper movie, so no deep character examinations here.  The group is back in Las Vegas seeking revenge for one of their own being wronged.  What Ocean’s Thirteen does so well, that Ocean’s Twelve entirely missed the boat on, is utilizing its supporting characters to their full potential.  So much so that I have quite a bit of a crush on Matt Damon now, prosthetic nose & all!!!  Gone are Julia Roberts & Catherine Zeta Jones, but filling the gorgeous woman quotient is Ellen Barkin.  I don’t know how old she is, but she looks fabulous & is a great actor to boot.  Oh ya, there is plenty of screen time for Clooney & Pitt too, so don’t worry about that.  I really wanted to give this movie 4 stars, but I feel like I have to be pretty picky about that last star, so I will give it an emphatic 3 stars.

On DVD Now

Catch & Release
I have to admit that I had VERY low expectations for this movie because I had read some awful reviews of it.  So I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the movie.  It is the story of a woman (Jennifer Garner) whose fiancé is killed shortly before their wedding.  Through a series of events she begins to realize that she may not have known as much about her fiancé as she thought she did, & frankly vice versa.   The main characters are all flawed, but in an interesting way, & they eventually surprise you when your first impressions of them are proven wrong.  Overall, I think it’s worth renting, but maybe with a group of girls.  The hubby watched it with me & was noticeably bored (the snoring tipped me off).

Movies to Keep an Eye On
I’m going mainstream & big-budget for what I’m looking forward to next month.  I’m just interested in which one is going to fall flat on its face.

Transformers – July 4.  I have to admit that when I saw the preview for this before Spiderman 3 I turned to the hubby & said “look there’s Optimus Prime!!”  Which prompted him to flash me the loser sign.  Oh well, I just dated & totally geekified myself by that statement!!

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix – July 13.  Maybe you’ve heard a bit about this little indie-flick.  Ya right!

Hairspray – July 20.  Every time I see Travolta in the full drag get-up I am a bit creeped out.  I’m also a bit intrigued as to whether a musical can fly in 2007.
No Reservations – July 27.  I’m thinking this might be a great date movie.  Catherine Zeta-Jones for the guys, Aaron Eckhart for the girls.  Seems like a fair trade.

Top Five
So in honour of the fact that I only seem to be seeing movies in the theatre this summer that are followed by a number (specifically 3 so far), I thought the top five could be best movie sequels.  I’m sure I will get some who disagree, so please fire away.

Top Five Best Movie Sequels Ever

5.  Toy Story 2 – I have seen this movie more times than I should admit, but it makes me smile every time.

4. Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade – Genius casting of Sean Connery as Indy’s Dad.  I don’t think that anyone can forget Sean Connery saying “We called the dog Indy!”

3. Bourne Supremacy – Back to my crush on Matt Damon.  I thought the first movie in this series was great & LOVED the second one.  Can hardly wait for the third one (yep another sequel I’ll definitely see this summer)

2. Aliens – I don’t like horror/gory movies, but this movie is total genius.  Sigorney Weaver’s character was a woman who could kick butt & didn’t need to sexed-up ala Charlie’s Angels.

1.  The Empire Strikes Back – The movie sequel that all other sequels are judged by (well in my books anyway)

Well thanks all for making it through the second edition of the urbanmoms.ca movie reviews, & yes to those who are paying attention this one was actually longer than the first!!!  If you see a movie/DVD that you think is great, please let me know…I’d love to read someone else’s review for a change!!

See you at the movies!!!