Tuesday, June 24, 2008

daht dah dahhhhhh DAH....

I arrived in San Jose in the middle of a slight heat wave - about 104, give or take. I really wasn't bothered by it but the neices and nephews were, and were already planning to go to a movie.

They had already seen Kung Fu Panda, which seemed to be a good film for ten kids aged 3-16 (many more toward the lower end of the scale) to see.

They had also seen Iron Man, which though I liked it is in no WAY a movie for kids. Covering up their eyes was one parent's action, another wisely walked out (come on , three and five year olds seeing the first part of that movie? Unh, uh.)

So, this time they all decided to see Get Smart.

Sigh.

It's not a movie for kids, either - though mostly because of language and a few off-color references.

Which is funny, in a way, because the kids were laughing and giggling the whole way through the film. I found most of the jokes were sophomoric and the movie rather juvenile.

But you know what? By the second half of the movie, with most of the dumber jokes out of the way, it turned into a fairly decent movie. Pretty good action sequences. For a Get Smart movie.

I think that it's a movie based on a 1960s TV show that was made so people born in the 90s can enjoy it. Those of us who are older?

Welllllllll....

May I recommend Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day.

Seriously. I hadn't even heard of this film but went on friends' recommendations, and found it every bit as delightful and entertaining as they had.

Set in London on the eve of WWII, unemployable Miss Pettigrew intercepts an agency request for a housekeeper and is drawn into a web of clever relationships, always on the outside looking in. Poignant.

It's rentable (my definition for movies that don't require scope - like Indiana Jones - to make their point, and can be watched comfortably on television), and is much, MUCH better than I make it sound.

If you liked Thank You For Smoking, you'll like this one too.

3 comments:

Jim McClain said...

"By the second half of the movie, with most of the dumber jokes out of the way, it turned into a fairly decent movie."

So they missed it by THAT much?

Sorry about that, Chief.

Martin Maenza said...

KC, we often question parental judgement when we see films. I remember us being in the third Lord of the Rings film and folks had their three and four years olds with them. What? Can't spring for a babysitter? People, seriously! Have some sense.

KC Ryan said...

Martin, part of the problem is the way these movies are marketed to kids.

My brother told me he saw Iron Man stuff all over the local 7-11 every day when he stopped for coffee. How bad could the movie possibly be if Iron Man is on Slurpee cups?

Similarly, the Hulk is all over Burger King with goofy toys that the kids want (though why you'd want Dumpster Tossing Abomination, who knows?). Again, they went several times to BK to get the toys.

There was a good article in WSJ about how they're trying to bypass the selling of the movies to their corporate partners. Cna't run an ad for your movie? Heyyy, we can run an ad for the toy, though.

I'm not anti-corporation by any means, but it seems that they're talking out of both sides of their mouths. WE didn't promote the movie to kids. Blame the toy/cereal/clothing companies!

Seems a LITTLE sneaky to me...