recent movies

i didn't always go to lots of movies. in fact, there've been long stretches of my life when i probably went to no more than two or three a year.

this is not one of those stretches.

when i don't have my kids i can easily do two or three in a weekend... and i'm not scared to go alone, day or night. and though bo and co aren't quite as into movies as me, they're usually game for whatever i suggest. here's our take on a few recent things we've seen.

just like heaven. i loved this: laughed, cried (yes, actual tears streaming down these actual cheeks), got totally sucked into the idea that sometimes the great love of your life is so destined to be with you that even death can't take her/him away. boco weren't quite as enthusiastic, but they giggled a bunch and enjoyed the mechanics of the reese-ghost interacting with the real world. and the napoleon dynamite guy was hilarious.

wallace and gromit. yeah, i don't know. maybe my expectations were too high given the OMG! reviews, but i didn't really like this so much. didn't really laugh (though tons of adults in the packed theater--it was that rainy-ass saturday two weeks ago--were cracking up); didn't really care. bo and co also found it just marginally entertaining, with a few chuckles. for me and my daughers, totally skippable.

little manhattan. ok, so romantic comedies are my favorite kind of movie. and christ, talk about crying! the tears were gushing during this! anyway, i liked all the characters (all the kids anyway... the grown-ups were kind of blah); liked the way the uws was so lovingingly, romantically filmed; liked the way the boy-lead did a voice-over narration for the ENTIRE movie (i can't think of another movie that this technique has been so prevalent... and if he'd been annoying, it would've been a nightmare--but he wasn't, and it wasn't); LOVED the dead-on portrait of the many stages of love: the initial giddiness of the what-the-hell-are-THESE feelings; the courage it takes to reveal your heart; the exhilaration of she likes me too!!!; the terror that maybe she REALLY likes someone else instead; the horrible horrible why!?why?!why?! despair of heartbreak; the eventual peace and learning that comes with acceptance. boco liked this a lot too: were totally charmed, got giggly embarassed by the 11-year-olds discomfort with their feelings, thought it both realistic and nicely romanticized. a big winner.



this weekend? definitely dreamer.