Movies

I am a movie goer. I love a well done action/adventure or romantic comedy and enjoy most other genres as well. I have been known to tolerate genres I don't enjoy as much for various reasons. Like when I know my kids wanted to see a movie I wouldn't ordinarily go see or sometimes when the trailers promise to explain why something in an earlier movie (like Jason in Halloween) is the way it is. (Halloween was still a disappointment.) In the past I have been known go watch movies with people just to keep them company and not because the movie was my choice.

I usually go about once a week but in the past have been known to go up to 15 times in a week during the summer blockbuster season. It is easily done when you are a mom who nearly always screens movies her kids would like to see for age and content appropriateness. Not to mention there are 5 of them with a 4 year spread between younger kids and the older kids. So appropriate for some was not always appropriate for all.

For nearly 12 years we lived in the same small town where the theater employees knew us well. We moved about 9 months ago and many employees at the theater we frequent see us as a regular even though we only go about once a week now. Only once a week now because I'm poor (we are in a much more costly area) and my kids are all over 17. They can all get into any movie without my accompanying them. Screening is now a thing of the past. Although if the kids know I have seen the movie they are thinking about going to they will ask my opinion. Movies cost too much these days to waste the money on a so so movie! On occasion I will go to a movie they are watching just so I know what my nearly grown children are watching.

As I go to the theater I wonder why some parents act the way they do. I am amazed at the number of people who don't pay attention to the movie ratings. Especially ratings due to violence, vulgarity and sexually explicit scenes in movies. For instance I love Tyler Perry movies but his subject matter is not geared to young kids. (For years I was the only white girl in the theater but I am happy to say that is not the case any more.) Or the night I went to see Obsessed and there were two young families with three toddlers in strollers positioned so they could watch as well. So not a kid movie. Or the parents who took children that looked like a 7 and 9 year old to Monsters Ball. About half of the people who watched Halloween when I did were under 14.

Kid movies are one of my favorite but also my least favorite to attend. If I can I go mid week during school hours I'm stoked. The mess is bad enough but the crying babies & toddlers and talking is the worst. I wonder why people don't teach their children how to act in public. Normal stuff like being polite and picking up after themselves.

It amazes me when parents lug in several small kids with tons of goodies to eat and don't bother to think of the calories their children are consuming or the mess they will leave behind. The parents never think twice about making big messes and walking away. In essence the kids are learning that it is okay to walk into a public place make a mess and leave it for someone else to pick up. No wonder the school campuses I work at are such pig sties!

Adults can be as bad as the kids and they are old enough to know better. We all pay good money to see a movie and we are subjected to the rude people. For instance the guy who answers his cell phone using his outside voice so he can be heard over the actors and then begins to narrate the movie to whoever called. Or the woman who talks to the stupid people in the thriller/slasher movies who always go upstairs, duh, they always go upstairs. Or the hard of hearing who ask whoever they came with what the actor said. And my least favorite group to sit near is the group of friends who can't quit talking through the movie. Sometimes I just want to yell GET A DVD & GO HOME or THIS IS NOT YOUR LIVING ROOM! That would make me as bad as them though.

I love the escape of a movie. To leave my reality for 90 to 120 minutes or more and enjoy some other scenario for two hours. The ability to be cool on a hot day without paying the cooling bill. Concentrating on the story of someone else, the mystery, the excitement, and the entanglements.

My favorite movies make me think. My favorite movies never insult my intelligence. My favorite movies are not predictable. My favorite movies have a good story. My favorite movies entertain.

Strangely enough I can usually find something good about even the worst movies. If the "critics" give the movies a bad review I know I'll enjoy them. The Academy of Motion Pictures make me crazy. They usually pick the artsy movies that are limited release until they are nominated. The movies are generally good but I rarely agree with them. They generally leave off great ones and choose my least favorite as the winner. No I am a movie goer who is not narrow minded or judgmental.

I could probably do a movie blog. Maybe I'll think about that one...