Domestic Psychology

Fright Night ramblings

// August 21st, 2011 // 3 Comments » // me

Friday night, we left the sleepy small children in the care of girl teen and went to see Fright Night. Anyone who saw the original Fright Night knows that it was not a sleep with the lights on afterwards or a nausea inducing festival of escalating grossness that defines most horror flicks. The original Fright Night was more of a comedy than a fright. The remake is extremely loyal to its predecessor with a cameo appearance from an original cast member just for the geezers in the audience. Go see Fright Night.

I was too busy braiding and making knots with my Twizzlers to jot down all the movie previews before Fright Night. There was something with Daniel Radcliffe in a haunted house that doesn’t look very challenging for his acting talents. Harold and Kumar made a Christmas movie that should go directly to Netflix for late night, tv in bed viewing. I’ve been anticipating the John Carter on Mars ever since it was just a rumor and even though it looks like Disney has added an extra layer of cheese that an adult studio wouldn’t have done, I’ll still be going to see it.

My only problem with Fright Night was the absence of any filler scenes that are really just bathroom intermissions. When we watched the last Harry Potter, everyone knew to race to the bathroom while Harry was in the empty train station. When I am at a guy movie, I know that if I leave at the beginning if a battle scene, they will finish fighting just as I return. I need an app that alerts when scenes that add nothing to the plot are beginning so that I can take a potty break.

I suppose I could just skip the giant bucket of beverage that I sip the entire movie.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (Non-spoilery Review)

// August 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // movies, parenting

Aspie Caveman went to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World and offers the following review.

“It was really fun. If you don’t play video games, you won’t get it.”

My get off my lawn response.

“You whippersnappers hadn’t even heard of Scott Pilgrim until they decided to make it a movie. Back in my day, we had to read about it. By candlelight. Barefoot. Uphill both ways. Now bring me some tea. What time is it?”

non-spoilery movie reviews

// June 27th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // movies

Toy Story 3
Beautiful. Fans of the first two Toy Story movies will appreciate the continuity and new fans won’t feel like they’re missing something. Before the movie, I accidentally read an article that said the writers thought about “The Great Escape” when they wrote this movie. I don’t want to spoil “The Great Escape” for anyone, but it doesn’t have a happy ending. That review combined with nearly every single person who saw Toy Story 3 writing that they cried during the movie made me very nervous. I didn’t want my children heart-broken over a movie. My worries were for naught. The children were the only people in our group who didn’t cry, but we ALL loved the conclusion of this trilogy. Unlike other studios that think a family movie is inappropriate jokes book-ended by flatulence humor, Pixar knows exactly how to reach out and pluck the heartstrings of the parents whose children watch their movies. It is more subtle than “Up,” but it is no less effective. See Toy Story 3 on the big, big screen.

Amy & Evan’s review: “Let’s go see it AGAIN!”

A-Team
They were trying too hard. I laughed out loud a few times, but the actors just looked uncomfortable in their characters. They clearly wanted the plot to be a surprise to the audience, but it was much too easy to see from the very beginning. The grandparents and small children in our group fell asleep during this one. The teen boys in our group did stare at the screen with grins on their faces the entire movie. Wait and get this one from Redbox or Netflix.

Batman v Darth Vader

// May 25th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // kid quotes, movies

Amy: “I’m Batman and I can beat you up.”
Evan: “Well, I’m Darth Vader and I can win without even touching you.”
Amy: “Nuh-uh. Batman is better than Darth Vader.”
Evan: “Darth Vader is the best bad guy EVER. He always wins.”
Amy: “That’s not fair. You love Batman.”
Evan: “I love to win. Darth Vader wins.”

Lots-o-Huggin’ Bear

// April 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // movies, play

Is he in the Disney Store now or are they waiting for June 18th?

Christmas Movie Marathon

// December 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // holidays, movies

While watching the Rankin/Bass channel aka ABC Family this week, I started mentally composing a list of my favorite Christmas movies. In no particular order, I like to wrap, craft and snuggle while watching:
Elf
The Santa Claus 1 & 2 (not 3)
Die Hard
A Christmas Story
Mixed Nuts
Fitzwilly
While You Were Sleeping
Christmas Vacation
Scrooged
The Homecoming
Auntie Mame – original version
How the Grinch stole Christmas – animated version
The Nightmare before Christmas – which is more Halloween than Christmas
Gremlins – again, more Halloween than Christmas

Also:
Home for the Holidays – even though it is technically a Thanksgiving movie

Related: Halloween movies

Doug says:

// October 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Doug, me, movies

Me: “You remember wonderinging where they filmed when we were watching The Holy Grail?”
Doug: “The Holy Grail? I remember wondering where something was filmed, but I don’t remember what it was.”
Me: “It was Holy Grail. You asked where they filmed it.”
Doug: “Noooo. I think it was Planet of the Apes.”
Me: “Are you sure? I thought you asked where Holy Grail was filmed.”
Doug: “Nope. It was definitely Planet of the Apes.”
Me: <- sigh ->
Doug: “Go ahead and tell me. You know you have to say it.”
Me: “No. It doesn’t matter now.”
Doug: “Come on. Let it out.”
Me: “Scotland. And they used the same castle for every location.”
Doug: “Feel better now?”
Me: “No. I have to look up Marky Mark AND Charlton Heston.”

Walter Cronkite through my children’s eyes

// July 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // cartoons, movies, people

Watch the rest of “We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story” with the voice talent of Walter Cronkite as Captain Neweyes and multiple Jurassic Park references – part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and the conclusion.

Half-Blood Prince

// July 15th, 2009 // 6 Comments » // movies, people

In random bullet form, because:

• Midnight movies are fun, but I fall two days behind every time I do an all-nighter anything.
• HBP doesn’t suffer from the “trying too hard” to be dark, funny or normal that previous installments had.
• This movie has an inevitable destiny feel that makes each of the characters more interesting and more forgivable.
• Calvinists will like this movie.
• HBP is not too scary for the older children and tweens. I didn’t even hear a sniffle from the crowd when a character died. This is not a bad thing. It is appropriate given the intended audience of the original books.
• I can’t watch Luna without seeing Asperger’s.
• Romance and companionship are more prominent than action and suspense in this movie. It’s like catching your breath before the free-fall on the roller coaster.
• I’m too old to find ANY of the young adult actors eye candy. Instead, I found myself mesmerized by Maggie Smith. I find her more beautiful and fascinating than any of the plastic people who usually play adult women in movies. I want to have that kind of confidence in who I am when I am 75. It’s just the getting there that’s difficult.
• Infants and babies are flexible enough to sleep and nurse their way through a movie at any time of day or night. Small children are not. None of the preschoolers at the movies at 2 in the morning enjoyed the outing and their parents won’t enjoy how over-tired and cranky those children are today.
• I know it’s been a long time since I was a teenager working at a (now gone) movie theater, but we had fun. Midnight movie crowds are playful and easily engaged. The teens working last night were overwhelmed by the crowds. They were visibly nervous and looked more interested in blending into the walls than in having fun with their coworkers.
• There are not enough trivia slides before the annoying tv commercials that are followed by the excellent movie previews. Did that sentence make any sense?
• The best crowd reaction was for Sherlock Holmes and the very worst was for 2012. As the lady behind me said, “Aww, h*ll no.”
• Hurry up and finish the last two movies already!

The Redbox Loophole

// July 7th, 2009 // 5 Comments » // Doug, marriage, me, movies

Everything about Scientology bothers me, but nothing is quite as irritating as Tom Cruise. He and his cult are so annoying that I refuse to spend money to see any of his movies. Doug considers any movie involving helicopters, submarines or airplanes, a must-see movie. Helicopters, submarines or airplanes are featured prominently in most Tom Cruise movies. Because of my aversion to funding Mr. Cruise, Doug ends up waiting for the movies to make it to television. Yesterday, Doug found a loophole in my “no money for Scientology” rule. “If I use the free Redbox rental code for Valkyrie, I won’t be spending any money on a Tom Cruise movie.” I couldn’t argue with his logic. Now, Doug’s in the basement watching Valkyrie while I get all the children jammied and in bed. I think I figured out the problem with Doug’s plan. By stubbornly refusing to watch the movie, I have deprived myself of two hours of good snuggling with Doug. I may have to re-think my whole boycotting plan.