Does Parenthood Change Your View?

As most of you know I have a 5-year old son. He absolutely loves movies and I have been slowly introducing him to some of my favorite (and my wife's favorite) films.

We have gotten through most of the superhero films that I allow him to watch, the Pirates franchise, Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, etc.

Obviously, some of those will have to wait until he is older. Although I am not a fan of censorship, I believe censorship via parenting is extremely important.

Before my son was born (and now too I guess) I was pretty much a kid at heart. I loved watching some of the films geared towards children, like the Pixar/Disney movies, Shrek, the Muppet films, etc.

But, has being a parent also changed me into liking some of these films, especially those I probably would have never watched unless I had a child, more than I usually would?

This past weekend my family watched The Smurfs together. Now, in the past (before my son) I don't think this would be a film I would watch. Sure, I watched the cartoon as a child, but nothing in it screamed to me that I had to see it.

And, I not only watched The Smurf, but I actually enjoyed it to an extent (review coming in the future).

I follow a lot of other blogs about films, some with children and others without. I am not sure if being a parent has changed their viewing habits, or their likes at all. This is just something I have noticed with me.

In the past year I have watched Alvin & the Chipmunks (both of them), Gnomeo & Juliet, Rio, Alpha & Omega, Cars 2 and I am sure many others. The lone exception on this list that I probably would have watched alone is Cars 2 because, as I said above, I was a Pixar fan even before I became a father.

I did not hate any of the above films I listed. Sure, they weren't groundbreaking, Oscar level films, but each of them had something that made me at least somewhat interested. In fact, I have watched Rio twice already - and I am sure to watch Cars 2 a ton more times as my son loves it.

Don't get me wrong, I still watch a ton of different-type of films. And I have even branched out a bit beyond my own comfort zone and watched films that others have deemed good, despite my distaste for gore (I got through Zombieland (again, review coming) and I will eventually give Tucker & Dale vs. Evil a try). That is not the type of change I was talking about.

I guess I am watching a bit more kid-oriented films than I would have in the past. And, I am enjoying them a lot more than I thought I would. I guess I have my son to thank for that.

8/50x2: A History of Violence

So, Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a family man that runs a local diner. He is married to Edie (Maria Bello) and has a son Jack (Ashton Holmes) and daughter Sarah (Heidi Hayes).

This is the premise of A History of Violence.

His life appears to be great. He has a great relationship with his wife and the members of the town love him.
One night at the diner two robbers attempt to rob the place and also kill one of Tom's employees. Out of nowhere Tom appears to go ninja and takes down both robbers, saving his employee and the diner.

News spreads fast and Tom's face is plastered all over the news and newspapers.

One day at the diner a man Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) shows up claiming that he knows Tom, but not as Tom, instead as Joey Cusack - an Irish mobster from Philadelphia.

Tom of course refuses this accusation - but for some reason Fogarty and his gang just will not let it go.

One night Tom and Jack get into an argument and Jack runs off - only to get kidnapped by Fogarty. Fogarty uses this to get some face time with Tom.

The rest of the film is basically Tom, who has been living a new life, trying to fix his previous life to get back to the one he is living. But, now that his family knows the truth has the damage already been done?

This was a pretty decent film. The action scenes may have been few and far between, but they were good when they were there. Mortensen and Bello really stood out in the film for me. I haven't seen too many Mortensen films outside of Lord of the Rings, but I respect him as an actor.

Grade:

7/50x2: Smokin' Aces

I first wanted to see this film when it was in theaters. There was just something about the trailer that drew me in, perhaps it was that it starred a bunch of well-known actors, or because it looked like an action film on steroids. Either way, I wasn't able to check it out in the theaters. Then, I waited patiently for it to come via Netflix - and the disc wouldn't play in my player.

So, almost five years later I finally got see Smokin' Aces. And although it was a decent flick, it wasn't something I needed to wait five years to see.

Buddy 'Aces' Israel (Jeremy Piven) is a magician in Vegas, but also has his webs inside the mob somehow - which has made him filthy rich.

Well, in order to save his own ass he has agreed to turn over evidence against the mob - which makes him the No. 1 target for Primo Sparazza - so the FBI, believing Sparazza will go after Israel - use him to bring the entire operation down.

But, there is a huge hit out on Israel and every hit man (and woman) in the Vegas area are out to collect on the hit and take down Israel.

So, here is a bit of a rundown of those targeting Israel. Lazlo Soot (Tommy Flanagan), a master of disguise. Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson) and Georgia Sykes (Alicia Keys), a team of hitwomen, Pasquale Acosta (Nestor Carbonell) a torture expert, and the Tremor brothers, Darwin (Chris Pine), Jeeves (Kevin Durand) and Lester (Maury Sterling).

Oh, and a trio of bail bondsman, Jack (Ben Affleck), Pete (Peter Berg) and Hollis (Martin Henderson), who have been hired to bring Israel back into custody.

And finally, he is being protected by the FBI team of Stanley Locke (Andy Garcia), Richard (Ryan Reynolds) and Donald (Ray Liotta).

Talk about a bunch of heavy-hitters. And not to ruin anything, but a lot of the names above have a brief cameo or very little screen time at all.

The best part of this film has to be the Tremor brothers. They are insane and truly funny. Plus, I liked the relationship between Reynolds and Liotta, very father, son like.

There was at on of action, which I liked - but it wasn't an amazing film. It was just a decent, fun watch.

Grade:

Quick Shots 13

Title: Morning Glory 

Starring: Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum. 

Brief Synopsis: Becky (McAdams) is a TV show producer, but gets fired. She gets hired by Jerry (Goldblum) to try and resurrect a struggling show called Daybreak. In order to keep her job and possibly save the show she has to make some drastic changes, including firing the main host and hiring long time curmudgeon, Mike Pomeroy (Ford) and pairs him with Colleen Peck (Keaton). 

Opinion: It was a pretty cute film. McAdams is pretty impressive and also fairly cute in this movie. I love Goldblum and Ford, and I was able to handle Keaton. Overall a nice little watch.

Grade:

Title: Alpha and Omega

Starring: Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover, Larry Miller.

Brief Synopsis: Kate (Panettiere) and Humphrey (Long) have been life long friends. Apparently in wolf communities there are to type of wolves, Alphas and Omegas. Kate is destined to be an Alpha while Humphrey is an Omega. Despite enjoying each other, Kate is forced to accept an arrange marriage with another Alpha with another pack of wolves to bring the two groups together. But, Kate and Humphrey are captured by humans and released in another park to repopulate the area.

Opinion: It was a different type of movie. Not the premise really because the two opposite track lovers seems to be done quite a bit. Anyway, watched it with my family and it was a nice watch - probably not one I would watch over and over though.

Grade:

Title: Bridesmaids

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Wendy McLendon-Covey.

Brief Synopsis: Lillin (Rudolph) is getting married and has asked her best friend for life, Annie (Wiig), to be her maid of honor. Lillian and Annie have been life long friends, but Lillian has become close with a wife of her husband's boss, Helen (Byrne), who somehow seems to take over the planning of the bridal shower and this makes Annie begin to lose her mind.

Opinion: Nice to see this type of film from the female perspective. It reminded me a lot of last year's breakout hit The Hangover, but all about the females. Wiig and Rudolph were great, Byrne was a nice bitch, and the rest of the bridal party - especially McCarthy - were hilarious.

Grade:

Title: Bad Teacher

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Lucy Punch, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, Phyllis Smith, John Michael Higgins.

Brief Synopsis: Elizabeth (Diaz) is a teacher finishing her first and only year at school. She is about to marry a man for his money, until his mother steps in and breaks it off. So, she must return to school and figure out her next step to find a man to take care of her for life - enter Scott (Timberlake), a substitute teacher who happens to be related to a rich family. Elizabeth believes she can get him if she can get a boob job, and does all she can to raise the money.

Opinion: Going in I was expecting to hate it. I had heard some horrible reviews from a ton of people, but I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. No, it doesn't live up to some of those other raunchy comedies that have been out there, but it was ok. It was pretty darn predictable though, because I knew what would happen by the end from the get-go.

Grade:

Title: Gnomeo & Juliet

Starring: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne, Ashley Jensen.

Brief Synopsis: The classic retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet through garden gnomes. This movie pits blue versus red - two sides of the fence. Juliet (Blunt) is on the red side when she discovers a beautiful flower that would help her garden - there she meets Gnomeo (McAvoy) and the two hit it off - before realizing they are from rival sides of the fence. The rest of the film is their hidden love and if they will meet the same fate as their 'namesakes'.

Opinion: A few decent laughs in this one. Pretty well done. A ton of great voice talent here and it was done pretty well. I enjoyed it, but again not a watch it a lot type of film.

Grade:

Tuesday's With Movies: 1/3/12

Last week a bunch of horror films I will never see came out and I had no reason to post this weekly post. The same thing could be said about this week, but there were a few that I may be interested in - plus it's the first post of the new year. So, here you go.

Contagion: This was supposed to be the new Outbreak I guess. It has a star packed lineup, but a lot of what I am hearing is it might not be the greatest of films. But, I will at least give it a try.

The Guard: I have seen very little on this so I am not exactly sure what it is about. It does star Don Cheadle, though, who does pretty well for himself. Looks to be a mix of two different personalities being teamed up to take down a drug ring. It's been done before, but I may give it a try.

I Don't Know How She Does It: How do some of these movies get made? I really have no idea who is rushing out to see a Sarah Jessica Parker film not named Sex in the City. Plus, why does Greg Kinnear keep doing these films? He is way better than this.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Yet another horror film. I swear they turn these out a dozen at at time. This one is about a young girl who moves in with her father and his girlfriend, but apparently there are creatures living in this house that want to make the little girl one of their own.

Shark Night: A bunch of people go on vacation and get attacked by sharks. Sounds like fun.