The Black Stallion ***1/2

James: * Pretty boring. I wish when the Black Stallion was taking a swim, a giant sea monster would come up and eat him.

Jupiter: ***** (25 stars) I liked it when the boy got rescued. It was a little scary when the boat was on fire. I liked it when the horse was on top of the mountain. Mama, do you know what a black stallion is? It's a boy horse who's black.

Justice: *****A little scary, the boat was on fire. I liked the black horse, and the boat was on fire and the boy kid. I liked when the black stallion lifted up the boy.

Mama: ****This movie was lovely! The cinematography made surprising perspective moves, the acting was subtle and well done and the script was sparse on dialogue, thus avoiding sentimentality--this movie was truly a joy to watch! When Justice went to bed half way through, and one by the one the bigger kids fell asleep, Adam and I kept watching, seeing the movie through. (We did NOT do this with Swiss Family Robinson.) Before they did fall asleep, and especially in the first 40 minutes when Alec and the Black Stallion are shipwrecked, the kids were gripped. Come on, there was a wild stallion on a boat, a fire and a storm, a boy and a horse in danger of being sucked into the ship's motor, a boy trying to survive on an deserted island alone, a cobra attack, and then those amazing scenes of boy and horse finally befriended, galloping along the beach together. There was also popcorn and second helpings on gummy worms. No one was complaining.

Popi: **** Patient and thoughtful, with great attention to the acting, there isn't ten minutes of dialogue in this 2 hour movie. That's how much the actors communicate. The sinking of the ship was gripping and it's followed by 30 full minutes of silent interactions between the boy and the horse. Just when that premise starts to play itself out, Mickey Rooney enters, quietly but with force and great believability. I'm not a student of the Rooney oeuvre, but this is the best I've ever seen him. I think of his "Let's hold a barn dance" roles, but in this movie, I pinched myself several times at the power of his acting. Thankfully, they don't belabor the ending that has to be.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ****1/2

James (age 6): ***** Cinco. (five stars) That was one of the winners. I liked all of Narnia. I liked Susan's bow and arrow, but I didn't like her and I didn't like it when Susan killed that Narnia guy with her bow and arrow. I liked the witch. I liked Lucy's knife. I liked when they were riding across the frozen waters. I don't like Aslan, because he's a good guy. I like his teeth, but I don't like him. Not a bit scary.

Jupiter (age 4):***** I didn't like it--I loved it. I liked Lucy. I liked her hair. I liked her older sister's hair. The witch was scaring me, when she frozen people. Aslan was pretty.

Justice (age 2): I don't know. (Justy went to bed in the middle of this one.)

Mama: **** Okay, so I loved this movie. I loved the books when I was young, and as for the movie, I was completely able to yield to the fantasy world. Fauns, and Griffans, and Centaurs! In fact there was even a cool female Centaur with a bow and arrow. Tilda Swinton who I've always liked was soooo creepy as the White Witch, with costumes right out of Oz. At the end, she's tawny haired, wearing animal skins, looking fabulously barbaric in her chariot. I tend to narrate movies as they go along, so the kids understand them. I'll say things like, "Who is that lady in white? Is she the evil white witch the faun was scared of? Should Edmund go with her?" On this oocasion, though, I stopped myself and asked the kids, "Hey, guys, is she a nice queen, or not-so-nice?"
"She gave Edmund candy," Jupiter said.
"But she yelled at him," James countered.
By the end of the movie, Jupiter knew the White Witch was evil. "Mama, do you like her hair?" Jupey asked. And then clarified her feelings. "I don't like her hair."
I loved seeing James' growing ability to predict what would happen in a movie. As Aslan the lion, with head hung, ascended the steps to the stone table, and the riotous evil creatures cheered and teased him, James said, "Maybe that's the promise Aslan made to the white witch. That he would die instead of Edmund." This was a completely fun one, and the only reason it didn't get five stars from me, is that it was a little too much for Justice (age 2) and when Monday rolled around and it was time for Jupiter to choose a movie to watch during the week, her choice (as well as James') was: James and the Giant Peach.

James and The Giant Peach****

James (age 6):***** I liked the rhino and the shark attack. And when the icicles were hanging from the seagull. And I liked when smokey clouds came out of the rhino. And the bugs almost got eaten by the robot shark. And when the robot shark shot a wire into the peach. And I liked it when Centipede was almost cut in half by the pirates.

Jupiter (age 4):***** I like James and his bug friends. And I liked it when he said, "The Peach." He said, "Go ahead and eat some." It made me feel happy. I hated the rhino because it ate James' parents. I like it when James first becomes friends with the bugs. I liked it when one of the bugs was hungry and Ladybug gave him something to eat. I like it when James and the spider save Centipede. I'm going to tell Penelope all about it. Mom, can we keep that movie?

Justice (age 2):*****Five stars, awesome. I like the rhino and the shark. Mom, you know what I like?...I don't know. (disappointment in voice, at her lack of ability to communicate.)

Mama:** James and the Giant Peach is a Harry Selick movie, so it has a similar creepy aesthetic to a "Nightmare Before Christmas," but less goth, and not quite as good. The movie starts with James' idyllic life with his sweet parents. It's almost standard, isn't it--that a child must be orphaned, or at least one parent should die early in the movie. It gaurantees a plot, the kind where the stakes are highest--a child is in jeopardy. Sure enough, James becomes orphaned, but there was something almost whimsical about the vagueness with which these parents are removed: the narrator simply says James' mother and father were killed by a rhinocerous. This kept it from being emotional for my kids, who had just survived the death of Babe's mother several weeks ago. Unlike "The Wizard of Oz," the beginning and end of the this movie (the live action part) was far creepier than the magical world James enters. The abusive aunts were made up so garishly, they could have been from Oz. The sets and situations seemed claustrophic to me, but I have to say these kids were glued to this movie. James was unblinking. Jupiter forgot to eat her popcorn. Justice was riveted, her brow furrowed through the entire movie.



Popi:***I'm with Mama that you've got to give an extra star when all the kids are gung ho. As far as stop motion goes, this one has some amazing sequences, the best in my opinion being when the peach is in the heavens, and the grasshopper begins a celestial musical number. The story, though, was a little episodic for me, and didn't have the totality of vision or character based storylines of Nightmare Before Christmas or The Curseof the Wererabbit. Lots of imagination, though, and the kids loved it. Looking forward to Coraline from Selick!

Nim's Island (Guest Critic: Grandma Pat) ***1/2

James: *** I liked when she was climbing the volcano and when she came down when she got off the volcano, she was really bloody. And I liked when her dad almost sunk. And when she pretended the volcano was erupting but she was really setting a fire in it, and that scared everyone away from the island. And when her Mom almost sunk.

Jupiter: ***I liked the girl's lizard. And I liked her seal. And I liked her. I liked her hair.

Justice: I liked when the girl climbed the volcano. (James reported Justice to have fallen asleep during most of it. Jupiter says, "I tilted Justy's head on me for a pillow.")

Pat: ****I liked this movie. I thought it had elements for both adults and kids. I liked the artistic way they handled losing Mama. It was non-threatening for children, I thought. The mother's boat gets swallowed by the whale, but in such a way--this cartoon thing on the waves--that it minimizes the impact for children. I felt Jodie Foster was fabulous as a super agorophobic and how her primary relationship was with her super-hero character who was an Indiana Jones kind, an adventurer. (I also liked the fact that they had wireless internet on the island!) I thought there was a good mix of people in jeopardy but it wasn't too scary for children. Adults could really appreciate some of the performances. I thought little Abigail was adorable and I think she portrayed an incrediably self-sufficient little heroine. She did all of this incredible self-defense stuff against the pirate ship. When her dad got lost at sea she took care of practically everything. I also liked her magical relationship with creatures, the lizard the bird and the seal. It was fun, I enjoyed it. I'd even watch it again. (Justice fell asleep almost immediately and Jupey soon thereafter. James and I made it to the end.) Four stars.

Babe****1/2

Mama: ****This movie was so smart and sweet. Sure the first scene was scary, like in "Finding Nemo." The mama pig gets marched away from the cold, industrial pig factory and the piglets are forced to nurse a mechanical teat. But the whole world of Babe is so well imagined and he's so cute! This one was a hit. The kids were riveted, especially because they knew the stakes were high.
Popi:

James (age 6): ***** Awesome. I liked it when the sheep was dead and we got to see her really bloddy and stuff and I liked it when the men took the mama pig away and ate her for dinner. And I liked it when they ate the duck's friend for dinner. And I liked it when the man had the gun and was maybe going to shoot.

Jupiter (age 4):***** Good. I like it when the cat gets to stay outside and the pig gets to stay in and the pig gets to drink a bottle. I didn't like the part where the mama got taken away from Babe or when that old sheep dies or when the duck's friend gets killed and aten. And I don't like it when that guy almost wants to shoot the duck. I like it when they get the alarm clock. I like it when the sheep tell the doggie who killed the old sheep. I liked it when Babe went and ate his food and the man danced with him. I want to watch it tomorrow, but can we skip when they carve the sheep and can we skip the mice in the beginning. I do like mice, they're cute, but I don't like the dark colors that were there. I thought it was creepy. Five stars.

Justice (age 2): *** I liked the sheep. She was lying on the ground. I liked the pig.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea **1/2

Mama: **I loved this movie as a kid. I wrote my first piece of fiction based on (stolen from) this movie at age 8. I remember the mysterious Captain Nemo, that cool submarine, the flooding, the giant squid. It sounds so cool when you sum it up! But my experience of it as an adult left me shaking my head. So boring! So much yaddy-yadding about themes that want to be big, but aren't. The little girls found in it absolutely nothing to love. There was a cute animal (a seal who does tricks) but not enough of him to engage them. As for pretty ladies with long hair, pickings were slim: Kirk Douglas has his arms around two prostitutes in the first scene. I have to admit the most entertaining part of the movie was watching Kirk Douglas as a charicature of a sailor. He seems to have it in his contract that he must occasionally take his shirt off and bare his tan chest. No belly-buttons allowed. Every kid fell asleep before the best scene. And the giant squid scene WAS cool, just like I remembered. There was geniunely lots of tension, the submarine flooding, Nemo carried off in its tentacles, bare-chested Kirk Douglas with a harpoon in his mitts and a dagger in his teeth. Too bad there wasn't more of all that! I did like the sets, red velvet and metal gears, all steampunk like.

James (age 6): *****I loved the giant squid attack. When only a little bit of it was above the surface and those huge green eyes, little green bits of glowing water came shooting out of them into the river--ohhh, that was the best. That was actually better than the giant squid attack. I sorta like the whole movie.

Jupiter (age 4): *I think it's one star.

Justice (age 2) No comment. Climbed all over Mama the entire movie.

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.