Merry-Go-Round

I think I watch more movies with my sisters' kids than I do on my own. The Michigander nieces and neffy also pepper me with movie questions and express shock when I haven't seen their latest favorite.

Because the eldest sobrina apparently read Wonder the book several times and also liked the movie, we had to watch it. It wasn't something I would have selected on my own, nor watched without kids. As an elementary-school feel-good tale about friendship, it was cute. I appreciated how each character had their story told, with backgrounds and emotions coming out that others can't see in their interactions.

Coco was amazing, and not just because it was tailor-made for a Latinx fam. The story is endearing and cute and has a good twist and also had me sobbing at the end. I loved the little cultural touches -- like the chancla, the Mexico futbol jersey, the Spanish phrases not translated into English.

I liked Smallfoot. I expected it to be a reverse-Bigfoot discovery tale (and it was), but it also ended up being a refreshing take on the dangers of fearing the Other.

Inside Out was similarly cute, and all the little characters representing feelings reminded me of my youngest niece, or all of my nieces and nephews when they were little, for that matter. I had flashbacks to their toddler tantrums when various Feelings were dominant in the storyline. Oy.

The kiddos are all getting older, though, so the movies they recommend or want to watch are changing. Who knows what future theatre outings will bring?

Oft in ourselves do lie

From books to movies, I seem to be on a young adult audience kick. In this stressful election year, however, I think that's totally justifiable. What better escapism is there than to re-live the agony of adolescence, now that I'm safely and long past it?

I'm not the biggest fan of Wes Anderson's style of comedy (it's a little too deadpan for me), though I loved The Royal Tenenbaums. There were many moments in Moonrise Kingdom, however, where I genuinely laughed out loud or found a particular scene profoundly striking in its imagery.

Two New England tweens run away from their dismal lives and try to forge a new happy and free existence of their own making. Adults and a boy scout troop pursue them. So does a hurricane. Moonrise Kingdom was quirky and old-school epic, but cute nonetheless.


And then there was Brave. Honestly, the only thing I knew about it (enough to get me to a theatre) was that it had a feisty young heroine and took place in ancient Scotland.

SCOTLAND!!!!

I think I was expecting something along the lines of Mulan-meets-Braveheart. But what it turned out to be was a pretty sweet tale of mothers and daughters and courage and acceptance. There's the prerequisite Celtic witch, and a spell, and bears.

BEARS!!!!

I really, really liked it (SCOTLAND! BEARS!) but wasn't over-the-top wowed by it. It was also the first movie I've ever seen in 3-D, although I don't know that it made any real difference for this film.

But while I was hiking in Central Washington this past weekend, I couldn't stop thinking in a Scottish accent.

Wha's like us? Damn few...

Fear factor

I'd never seen Monsters, Inc. - but a post-turkey Thanksgiving stupor was as good a reason as any to watch it.

I thought it was clever, though I suspect much of it was too sophisticated for smaller children. (Monsters are deployed through doors in the monster world to scare kids in the human world. An energy company, Monsters, Inc., harvests children's screams as energy. One day a little toddler accidentally crosses the threshold to the monster world.)

Boo, the little girl, was adorable. And the ending was wonderfully environmentally positive: instead of relying on energy based on fear and the collection of children's screams, the monsters make a complete U-turn and change to energy consumption based on laughter and fun. I approve.