Beach movies

Or, more correctly, movies we all watched while at the beach.

First up was Batman Begins. Maria hadn't seen it so she was curious after seeing The Dark Knight. We told the kids they could watch it but that we would warn them if anything particularly bad or scary was coming up. Language was mild, so that was good kid-wise. And it's pretty violent, but we fast-forwarded through a couple of spots, and most of the fight sequences were so chopped up that you couldn't really tell specifics on how he was trashing the bad guys. It's a good movie--might make a good Blu-Ray demo disc--but I think The Dark Knight is a better one, even if a bit too long. I think Katie Holmes made a big mistake in not signing back up for the sequel, and she probably does too. I'll ask her next time I'm hanging out with her and Tom and the family.

Next was Ella Enchanted. The kids hid WAY more at this movie than at Batman Begins. Is it because they've been desensitized to violence? No, it's because that they have ALWAYS hated movies where characters get misunderstood and then bad things happen as a result. (I remember going to see Elf with Anna when she was 6 and her being mortified that everything had gone wrong when Will Farrell was walking alone through the snow.) And misunderstanding is basically the entire deal with Ella. They liked it but could barely stand watching it in spots. I could definitely stand watching it because Anne Hathaway is drop-dead gorgeous. Other than that, it was OK but only just. The lighting and photography made it look like an ABC made-for-TV movie. It tried to be kind of Shrek-ey with its mix of fairy tales and pop-culture references, but didn't succeed as well. The soundtrack had some good tunes (particularly Queen's "Somebody to Love") but this was also a little too reminiscent of Shrek.

So, ultimately, good thing Ella had Anne Hathaway in it.