Your First Movie Theater Experience

To my crazy little whack bean:

We took you to the movie theater for the first time ever this weekend. We went to see Disney's "The Princess and the Frog", which you've seen the previews for and been getting excited about recently. You already own a pair of PJ's with the Princess on them that you got for Christmas, too.

I have to admit, I was excited to see it myself- I knew that the music from it was getting rave reviews all over the place, and TIME magazine voted it the BEST movie of 2009. I convinced your Daddy that we needed to take you to see this new Disney movie and we decided last weekend was a good one, since I had to stop by Cey-Cey's house anyway to get my coupon binder back. After seeing The Princess and the Frog, I have to agree that it was probably one of my favorite movies from 2009, as well. The characters were great, and it was a wonderful return to the classic animated Disney flick with great music to accompany it. I'm a total Disney freak, and I grew up with those classics- ones that you will probably be familiar with yourself before too long- so it was very nostalgic for me. We'll definitely be buying that Blu-Ray when it comes out :D Don't get me wrong, I love the new computer animated (CGI) Disney/Pixar movies, too... but it had been a while (almost ten years I think!) since they'd done one in the classic style, and I definitely think it was a long time coming. Disney always pulls off a great balance between touching emotion and interesting storyline for adults and fun, silly characters and constant action for children. But, I digress.

I was a teensy bit nervous taking you to the theater, but to be honest, I wasn't THAT worried. You're one smart little cookie and you are VERY well behaved when you want to be :) So I knew that if I explained the situation to you, you'd handle it like a champ. And I was right.

We told you over and over on the way down that there would be other people watching the movie too, so if you needed to talk to Mommy or Daddy, you'd have to make sure to whisper. When we got there, I took you to the potty (Bravo on potty training by the way! You are doing great these past few days...) while Daddy got us our tickets, soda, popcorn and Sour Patch Kids.

We settled into the row right behind the platform they have for wheelchairs and whatnot- which is pretty close to the front of the theater. It turned out to be a good thing towards the end, because about 15 minutes before the end of the movie, we heard a little girl in the back yell "I'm TIIIIIRRREEEDDDDD!" and then you could just feel all the kids in the theater getting antsy at once. The other girls that were in the row with us stood up, and so did you, but it was fine because of the stadium seating (see, being picky about theaters DOES pay off!) and the fact that there was nobody in front of you, so you had room to stand and wiggle a bit without bothering people.

It was so adorable to see you sitting in that movie seat. You don't quite weigh enough to hold the seat all the way down, so you were having a lot of fun bouncing up and down in it. These are the moments when I smack my forehead and wish I had a smartphone with a decent camera- I never remember to bring my digi with me for things like this, and I so wish I had a picture of you enjoying your first movie, munching on popcorn. You really thought you were the cat's meow sitting in that seat, sharing snacks with your parents :D

Through the ENTIRE movie, you remembered to whisper instead of talking... Granted, it was a somewhat elevated whisper ;) but it made me smile every time. You're such a good listener, and I'm so proud to bring you places... People are always amazed at how smart you are and how well you behave. I tell you, little girl, you just shine like a star.

Every time a kid would walk by us with their parents during the movie, you would poke your little head out from your seat, look at them, and in the loudest whisper you could manage, say "HIIII!" It was so funny to see, because every time you'd do that, the other kid would kind of stop, look around for you, and wave or smile back...I swear, if it hadn't been a movie where you had to sit and be quiet while it was playing, you probably would have left that place with a boatload of new friends.

We had such a great time taking you out this weekend, and it made me more confident that you can handle events like that well, even if you are required to be quiet most of the time. I feel so blessed to have you and your Daddy... The day out together was so fun, just getting to spend some quality time together and laugh and smile and gain some perspective... That no matter how tough these economic times get, we have each other and THAT is something to be grateful for.

As we were watching the movie, you were so enraptured by the music and the big screen in front of you... And I looked over your head at your Daddy and together we shared a smile that was really meaningful to me. Though we didn't exchange a word, I think we both felt the same way: in awe and gratitude over having such an amazing little girl, and proud of ourselves for having created such a close-knit family. We've had some rough times over the years, but I would do it all over again if that's what it took to be where we're at right now. With all the saddening news and shocking images that have been circulating over the past week from the earthquake catastrophe in Haiti, it really makes me pause and remember how happy I am, and how, in the big scheme of things, our life is pretty damned good.

Ten on Tuesday- My Top 10 Horror Movies

So this is a meme I came across today and thought was fitting for the week. The ten horror movies that I love the most! This will be hard... I've loved all things spooky since I was little. "The People Under The Stairs" was one of my favorite movies when I was about 12. If you've seen it, you'll know why this is dysfunctional. I'm surprised my parents didn't think I was a budding sociopath.

Anyway, these are ones I think everyone should see. I'm linking each movie title to its corresponding IMDB review so if you HAVEN'T seen any of them, you might take this Halloween opportunity to check them out. :D Oh and just FYI, I'm not including ones I consider to be "suspense" movies, just the SCARY ones- which is why you won't see Silence of the Lambs (a great movie, nonetheless)! I debated on The Sixth Sense, but in the end, even though I question its horror-ness, it was so good, it made the cut. I have tried to put them in order of which I like best, but the classics end up at the bottom- not because I think they're worse, simply because (a) I think most people have seen them; (b) I think they're "givens" which obviously make the top ten; and (c) I prefer to watch the newer movies. So, yeah, don't be all hater-ish on me if you're a fan of the oldies but goodies. At least they made the list. :P


1. 30 Days of Night I loved this movie! It came out last year and I just recently saw it. The basic plot is that vampires attack an Alaskan town during its dark season... That's all I'm gonna give you. It is hands down the best scary movie I have seen come out in probably the last five years, at least. It makes it to the top of my list for being the most believable, horrifying vampire flick EVER. Greatness, I tell you, greatness!

2. 28 Days Later and its sequel, 28 Weeks Later. They were both pretty good zombie-type flicks. I enjoyed them thoroughly (I stayed awake for the entirety of both of them, that says something right there!)

3. Saw the original one. It was great, even though I felt like the sequels kind of teetered off... My brother says the last one was really good, but I didn't even finish it. He thinks I should give it another try, so maybe I will this week!

4. The Others was original and scary and awesome. The first time I saw it, we were in the theater, and my cousin Bobby who had already seen it was with us. Just as the old lady creepy ghost turns around the face the camera (I mean at the EXACT right time) he turns to me, grabs my shoulder, and goes "AHH!" I swear to god I thought I was going to die! I jumped so high, my heart almost beat out of my chest, and I squealed like a two-year-old. I think I punched him in the arm, too. Serves him right, making me look like a pou-soi in front of everyone.

5. The Sixth Sense as noted above, I debated on this. But it was a REALLY good movie. I liked it a lot. And I think the scene with the bodies hanging in the doorway at the school qualifies it for horror, even though overall I'd call it suspense.

6. Dawn of the Dead 2004 Even though we already have some zombie movies on here, and even though this is a remake, I still think it was pretty good. Kudos to Zach Snyder for making an old classic modern and still interesting.

7. The Shining is another well-acted, truly terrifying movie.

8. The Exorcist is a classic that everyone should see. I personally didn't find it that terrifying, although in the unedited version, when she walks backwards down the stairs on her hands it is pretty frickin creepy.

9. Halloween. Duh. It set the standards for today's horror films, so I definitely say it deserves a spot in the top ten.

10. House of 1000 Corpses is creepy and weird and stylized and yuck, but it is a fun one to watch. Rob Zombie directed, so that gives you a faint idea if you haven't seen it.


Other notable mentions that are sweeeeeetttt but didn't make MY top ten?

*Pet Sematary- Another good Stephen King. He has a lot of good ones. Misery was pretty scary, also.

*The Happening- Pretty new, I liked it more than a lot of people who saw it that I talked to, but I felt it didn't climax that great and was also more on the suspense tip. The list has very strict rules, you know.

*Blair Witch Project- I loved it when it came out, but then there was all the hype about is it real? It's not real! They liiiiieeeeeddddd etc. so the novelty sort of wore off. Still a good movie, though.

*Strangeland- by Dee Snyder. I watched it alone when I was 16 and yeah, didn't want to get up and walk past the windows after. Kinda creepy, and you probably don't want to watch it if you are one of those parents who are freaked out by your kids going on the net. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

*Shadow of the Vampire was pretty good also. I saw this at a film festival before it got big and I was impressed.

I'm psyched now, because in my hunt for my own favorite horror flicks, I've come across a couple that are supposed to be great which I hadn't seen yet! Guess I'll have some for my viewing pleasure this week!

~Toodles~