Ghostbusters ***1/2

Mama: *Had I seen this movie when it first came out, Signourney Weaver's big hair might not have made such an impression on me. I think she's way sexier bald with a flamethrower in her hand. There should have been more ghosts in this movie and less sidekicks. Annie Potts' voice made an impression on Jupiter. "Mama, why is her voice like that?" she asked. "I think she's trying to have a funny voice," I answered. I secretly suspect I look a lot like Annie Potts.

Popi: **I picked this movie because I wanted to see Bill Murray, and he delivered.. Again this turned out to be more of a boy movie than a girl movie. I remembered more ghost sliming. I thought the kids would like the demon in the fridge and the 40 ft marshmellow man. But our boy liked the demon gargoyles, and our girls seemed to like how excited we were about the movie. Though nothing in it seemed to appeal to them.
Rick Moranis held fast as a strong secondary character, though it was embarrassing to see Hollywood take its medicine and reluctantly put a black man on the team—only to undermine his roll at every turn.

Justice:***** Kinda scary but not too scary, but a little scary. The green ghost he was eating dinner and I don't know, that was a scary part. It was awesome. That means we can watch Ghostbusters soon.

James: *****It was awesome. Five stars. I liked when the gargoyle cracked and started attacking. and when she opened the fridge and there was a plateful of a goblin and fireflames.

Jupiter: *****I do want to watch it again. I don't know what I thought of it. I liked it when there was a man and he was climbing in his car and he saw a rotten skeleton in his seat. And I liked the curls.

Swiss Family Robinson **1/2

Mama: *** There are some genuinely tense moments in this movie for kids to love: the shipwreck scene, the raft scene where the family navigates through waves and rocks to try and get to shore, the swamp snake scene! Also, lots of animal antics. But at some point I started wondering, aren't there any girls (besides the Mother) in this movie? I glanced at Jupiter nervously. Her pleasure in movie viewing is often connected to how pretty the main character's hair is and what kind of high-heels she has on, and what accesories she carries, and there was no sign 45 minutes in to there being any girl characters with pretty hair showing up anytime soon. "Don't I remember a girl in this movie?" I asked Adam. And sure enough, we got our girl. This movie was made in 1960, so the female characters are insipid at best, pathetic at worst, with no chance for growth or redemption by the end of the movie. Roberta, though a good shot, uses her marksmanship to play one suitor against another, and never takes aim at a single pirate. I know if the movie was remade with Lindsay Lohan, she'd kick way more but by the end of the movie.
Oh, James MacArthur who later in his career will play Detective Danny Williams from "Hawaii 5-0," looked studly without his shirt on.

Popi:***Disney crack for a little boy: giant snake attack, a tiger disposable pirates coconut hand grenades, a shark, big dogs swinging from vines, a wild animal race filmed at double speed, etc. For little girls there’s almost nothing. There was a cute monkey. For adults, the movie would help you understand your grandparents’ protestant work ethic, irreligious belief in a higher power and sense of dominion over a world that has no other purpose than to serve them. It would also help you understand the corset, the parasol and the vapors.

James: * It was boring. I liked the ship in the storm. (he fell asleep before the giant snake pulled one of the brothers under the water.)

Jupiter: I don't remember it. (She fell asleep before we discover the boy they rescue from pirates is really a girl.)

Justice, age 2: **I liked it but it was a little bit boring.

The Wizard of Oz ***

James (age 6): ***** I like the hourglass part, where Dorothy was going to die.

Jupiter (age 4): ** It was too long. I liked Dorothy and Toto.
I liked the nice witch. I liked when Toto was running away with Dorothy.
On Dec. 6, 2008 Jupiter requested the ranking of The Wizard of Oz to be raised from two stars to google stars. It's true, she has been ta.king about this movie ever since we watched it.

Justice (age 2 1/2):*** I liked the lion and the green city. I liked the witch and the monkeys.

Mama:* I was Dorothy for Halloween in 7th grade.
So I was on board with this movie, a classic, as a kick-off to movie night. But I spent most of this movie battling my repulsion. I've always had this uncanny valley effect with some illustration and animation--Dr. Seuss completely creeps me out. And as soon as Dorothy steps foot into the disturbing technicolor of Oz, I found myself trying to squelch my "ughs" and "Icks." As a kid I remember Glinda the Good Witch as being beautiful and sparkly. "Isn't she beautiful and sparkly?" I said to Jupiter and Justice, but the truth is Glinda the Good Witch is as disturbing to look at as Melanie Griffith's lip implants. James kept asking, "When's there another scary part?" And, "Is there another scary part coming soon?" And I wanted to say, "Look at that the prosthetic nose on the Tin Man and the greasy sheen to his metallic makeup! Look at the Cowardly Lion's mustardy jowls!" I can't even speak to the munchkin musical number. So much scarier than a melting witch.

Popi: *An endurance test.
I had forgotten that the characters from the real world become the characters from the fantasy world, and that was a sweet touch. Of course I liked the real world better. The sets were right out of David Lynch, especially Oz. I always liked that moment when the shoes were sticking out of the house and Dorothy first put them on. I can't think of another moment that brought me pleasure.
I'd always heard of the comic genius of the actors who played the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and The Cowardly Lion, but I didn't see anything funny. And I remember the flying monkeys as being scary, but the kids were unphazed. In fact those were the most unscary fucking flying monkeys ever. The color was somehow both garish and tedious. The only other time I saw color application like that was in Pyongyang.
I think the kids were curious because they'd never seen anything quite like it and they did seem to follow it it. Though they didn't talk about it later.