I don’t get to the movies very often. I have three kids, a wife who doesn’t share my love of cinema, and a lot of ‘in home’ responsibilities, and so when I do get to the movies it is usually to see either a cartoon or some big budget blockbuster I was able to convince my wife I needed a ‘guy date’ for. So far this year I’ve been to the movies eleven times (seriously, that’s it) and while I do enjoy some of the kids movies I take in, it would be nice if I could see a film for ME every once in a while.

So, my eldest daughter is trying to branch out into movies and television shows aimed more for her age group, and this has me anxious because I hate most of them. She’s been watching those ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ movies and watching those awful Disney shows that pretty much paint adults as complete idiots and encourage obnoxious behavior. I try and ban them from the house, but there is only so much ‘Dora’ I can force on her before she literally wants to punch me in the face. She saw the preview for ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’ and begged and begged and then she got my youngest daughter to chime in with “I’ve wanted to see it my whole life” and then my son stared at me and I knew he wanted to see it too and my wife said “let’s go to the movies” and there I was, sitting in a row of children slobbering over popcorn and anticipating Steve Carell getting kicked by a kangaroo while I was commiserating over my envy of the young couple I saw walking hand in hand into ‘Gone Girl’ at the other side of the theater.

I didn’t hate this.

No, in fact, I kind of liked this one a lot.Read more ›

The "family comedy" genre has been under-explored, and I think it's got so much potential. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day takes the basic premise (as well as Alexander's liking for Australia) from the beloved children's story and does really funny things with it. After seeing it in the theater, I'm already looking forward to getting it on home entertainment (DVD/Blu-ray). Whereas the children's book is a rant by Alexander which allows you to see the impact attitude has on making a day good or bad, the movie makes Alexander a more clear-headed character, more of a real victim. Then he makes a birthday wish that the rest of his family could know what it's like to suffer like he is, and the next day, things go great for him and awfully for everyone else in his family. Steve Carell, playing the dad, is so funny because he is literally NEVER in despair in the midst of extreme calamity in the movie. He also does some fabulous shrimp-catching in his mouth, which is my favorite scene. It's structured as a series of incidents affecting each family member, where things are going great for everyone except Alexander, things go great for Alexander and horribly for everyone else, and then they decide to look on the bright side and find solutions to their problems by sticking together. It's refreshing (because it's so rare) to have a comedy made today with that carefree kind of attitude and a PG rating. It'd be funny if the busted vehicle--it looks REALLY bad after a failed driver's license exam--was bought at an auction of movie props and put on display somewhere someday. Also, there's a great cameo appearance by Dick Van Dyke, who must participate in the most embarrassing (in a funny way) joke of the movie. :-)

Yes, the message at the end of the movie was very nice, and there were some great laughs in the film also. What this family goes through in one dreadful day makes for a family fun movie, one would think. Overall, the message and laughs were there. I can't argue that. What bothered me to no end (and also my child as well, who realized at her tender age that this one scene was highly uncalled for, unnecessary and inappropriate and did nothing to add to the movie at all) was the one scene where the mother puts her hand on the leg of her son who is driving the family car and when he shrinks back from her she asks if he's uncomfortable because she walked in on him in the bathroom that morning (which in itself was ok and was actually an amusing scene) because as she explains she's seen his penis before, actually she's seen her brother's penises also, oh, and actually she's seen ALL the penises of everyone in the car. Can you spell INAPPROPRIATE? Yes, we all know mommies see their son's penises. We (as adults) also know that mommies see daddies penis also. Ok, that's fine....but what mother SAYS that sort of thing in front of her children and husband? I can't think of an appropriate moment for that.

I got wondering what has happened to the Wonderful World of Disney! Are they bending to popular culture? Are they giving in because "everyone thinks it's cool?" I imagine during screenings no one complained (or at least not loudly enough) about this scene as it made it into the movie. What does that say about society? Yes, it was one small piece of the movie, but it was NOT expected in a Disney film and I was highly disappointed in a company that I have come to equate with morals and values.Read more ›