Wednesday, February 1, 2012

And he stayed seated for the whole movie

Which was the most impressive part, to me. Kiddo can't even stay seated through dinner. Or breakfast. DH took him to his very first Yankee game a few months back, and they spent more time strolling around the stadium than actually watching the game. (Although the Yanks lost, so arguably that was the right move.)

This was part of the reason I waited so long to bring him to a movie theater. Because even the five people at a half-empty matinee showing are going to get annoyed if your kid starts bopping up and down the aisles. Hey, I'd be annoyed if I were one of those five people.

The other reason, of course, being that it needs to be the right movie. As in, not a total piece of unredeemed garbage. Like, say, a Chipmunks movie. (Sorry, Jason Lee.) Or a Smurfs movie. (Sorry, NPH.) Or a Yogi Bear movie. (Sorry, Tom Cavanagh. No, actually I'm not.) Because I have to sit through it too, and I swore years ago that I wouldn't waste movie-theater money on bad movies. This is because I saw "Godzilla" in the theater and I still want Matthew Broderick to give me my money back.

"Beauty and the Beast 3D" seemed workable. Not so much the 3D, but because it's a classic, and the animation is well done, and oh all right, I love the movie. I know people freak about the whole Disney princess thing but 1. I don't see why that would apply to boys and 2. I love the movie. Belle is a brunette who is smart and loves books. In other words ... she's me! Well, me if I really, really liked yellow.

 So we went to the movie. He didn't quite get the purpose of the previews. (Considering what some of them were, neither did I.) Nor did he get the point of the special glasses, and refused to wear them. We had this whispered conversation about five times during the movie:

"Sweetie, you have to wear the glasses or you'll miss stuff!"

"No, I don't want to wear the glasses!"

And eventually I gave up. (To his credit, he really was whispering, so at least he listened when I warned him early on to talk quietly.) Though they didn't add too much 3D to the movie -- layered backgrounds, mostly -- so it was possible to watch minus the glasses.

And the movie is still great, like a lovely Broadway musical. Kiddo seemed to get into it. Near the end, he whispered, "Is the Beast dead?" And then a little girl in the audience asked her mommy the same thing, sounding near tears. Poor dear.

Kiddo reported afterward that he liked Beauty, and Mrs. Potts, and Chip, and also the part where Beauty throws a snowball and it hits the Beast on the head and she laughs at him. Figures the snowball fight would catch his eye.

So I'm going to declare our first moviegoing expedition a success, and look forward to the next one. Which will not be "Phantom Menace" in 3D. Jar Jar in 2D is bad enough.

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