Adam: Seen it before. So I got a good nap. Holes was screened, because of lazy parenting. We showed the kids an old used movie instead of getting them a fresh one. I recuse myself from the star rating system.
Stephanie: *****(5 stars) It's true Holes was available for free at the library, but haven't our Netflix pix lately (Herbi, Herbie Fully Loaded) gone south? Adam and I did see this movie 6 years ago--I can't remember why, but I remembered it as being cute, and I remember liking Patricia Arquette in it. Sure enough, it WAS a really good movie, and yes, I loved Patricia Arquette all over again, with her dreamy sadness. There was also comic supporting roles for John Voight, Henry Winkler, Sigourney Weaver and Tim Blake Nelson ("O Brother Where Art Thou") as well as cameos from Rick Foxx and Eartha Kitt and a film debut for Shia LaBeouf, who I think its kinda adorable. The plot hinges on a hundred-year-old act of violence and I needed to tell the kids they might want to close their eyes as the lynch-mob gathers. James did, Jupiter didn't, and they're more or less unscathed, with a little history lesson about race relations thrown in. I think some of the interconnectedness of three storylines that span 150 years was lost on the kids, but the setting, a Juvenile detention camp, complete with orange jumpsuits in the middle-of-nowhere-Texas was fascinating to them. The hierarchy and violence of such a place was shown without ever being genuinely horrifying. James was locked in suspense. Justice liked the lizards. They all got up the next morning and watched it again, the true test of whether a movie engages them or not. It was a long movie though. The kids sdin't get to bed till 10 pm.
James (age 7): ***** "Fifteen stars. When the guy asked, "Why don't you teach this shovel how to read, what does D. I. G. spell?' And then Hector hits him on the head and says, 'Dig!' and the boss lady comes and pours water all over him. " I peeked a little at the scary parts.
Jupiter (age 5):** (I assigned Jupiter's star rating based on her detached countenance, but willingness to watch the movie the next morning.) "Why didn't it have any dogs in it? The next movie we get, can it have dogs?"
Justice (age 3): ***** "Sixty stars. I liked it when they dug holes."
