I Can't Trust Movie Ratings

It's a rare treat for us to go to the movies as a family. A matinee will cost us at least $30, which is a splurge we don't often indulge in. Instead, we wait for family movies to come out on DVD and have movie night at home. Unfortunately, it seems if the movie isn't animated or rated G, then it may not be a true "family movie."

My daughters now have the attention span to enjoy live action movies. A few months ago I rented We Bought a Zoo, thinking it would be a fun movie night flick. It was definitely a cute movie, but I almost turned it off mid-movie. The movie is rated PG. I expected a few questionable moments. I counted several uses of "sh*t" and Matt Damon's character even calls one of the animals an "a-hole," except he says the actual word. We happened to be watching the movie the weekend of Easter. Matt Damon and his older son have a conversation about how they live in a house with a young girl who still believes in the Easter Bunny. Oh brother. Fortunately, my daughters somehow didn't hear that part.

The other night Hubby and I were watching a movie (without our daughters) that was rated PG. One of the characters said "a-hole." When exactly did that become a PG word?

I say bad words, but not in front of my children. I fully expect them to hear these words and some day use these words (and then we'll have to talk about whether it's appropriate, etc., etc.). However, when I watch a PG movie, I don't expect to hear such extreme swear words, especially if the screen where they tell you why the movie is rated PG only says "mild violence." Yes, I understand PG means "Parental Guidance," but if the material is that unsuitable for someone under, oh say 13, shouldn't the movie be rated PG 13?! I'm starting to think I need to pre-screen our movie night movies to make sure they're truly PG.

The Break Up

Dear Netflix;
It's not me, it's you. I know I should try to soften the blow, but why lie? It's time to part ways.
When I first heard about you, I was skeptical. Who can't find the time to return a movie to a rental store? Then along came quads and I barely had time to shower, let alone leave the house. The luxury of throwing my latest DVD rental in the mail was wonderful.
We had a good run. I often found myself watching the latest releases on the day they came out because I figured out your "system." You send out Tuesday's new releases on Monday. I rarely had to wait for things and rarely found myself with scratched DVDs.
But now I've moved on. To the library. Yes, the library. In the last month or so, I've made a shocking discovery. For whatever reason, you have been holding out on me. My local library receives many new releases weeks before you do! And they're free to rent! Sure, I can't build a "queue," but I can put up to ten items on hold. Unlike you, the library won't let me put DVDs on hold as soon as the movie hits the theater. I have to wait until said movie is "on order," but I don't mind checking the website often to see if I'm able to request a movie. (Right now I'm #2 in line to rent Tangled when it comes out, so clearly the persistence paid off).
I'll always remember you fondly and I'll continue to tell people what a great service you are. Who knows, maybe we'll rekindle our relationship someday. But for now, I'm going with the entity that doesn't take a dime from me!
Thanks for the memories,
Quadmama

Movie Night

When I went on my DST Rant yesterday, I touched on Movie Night. I instituted our first ever Movie Night in hopes of getting some extra sleep. It didn't work (the sleep, that is), but movie night was fun.
We watched How to Train Your Dragon. I had put my name on the wait list at our local library, so it took awhile to get the movie, but the timing was perfect. Now my girls can't wait to have another Movie Night.
The library has been a great resource of free movies. We've checked out other movies to watch during the day. I've given up using Red Box. Why pay $1 to return a movie the next day, when you can check out a movie from the library for free for a week? Hubby and I still use Netflix for ourselves in order to get new releases in a timely manner, but my girls don't know the difference.
We're patiently waiting for our next Movie Night. We are on the wait list for Ramona and Beezus, Toy Story 3, and Shrek Forever After. Between those movies and some of the movies we already own, our Movie Night lineup is set for a few weeks. I'm still trying to figure out, though, if it's the movie that has my girls excited or the prospect of eating popcorn right before bed!

Let's Go to the Movies

A few weeks ago I blogged about trying to figure out a good age to take children to their first movie. After much deliberation, Hubby and I decided to make yesterday our first official "family movie outing." We had two options: we could see Igor for free at a nearby Kerasotes owned theater or we could see Kung Fu Panda for $1 admission at a local AMC theater. Since I've never heard of Igor and didn't have time to research it, we opted for Kung Fu Panda.
Overall, we had a good time. The theater was surprisingly crowded, but when you think about it how much it would typically cost a family to go to the movies, it makes sense that a lot of parents were treating their kids to the $1 selection.
Tortilla was happy as long as she was holding someone's hand or sitting on a lap. Sue-Sue was entertained for the first half of the movie, but then wanted to go home. She settled down once I told her she needed to be quiet so the other kids could hear. Cakes wanted to walk around the whole time. She was more into watching the other movie-goers than watching the actual movie. Roo seemed to do the best. She changed seats a lot and had a few questions, but overall she stayed quiet and glued to the screen.
My daughters will be four in September. I think this was a good age to try our first movie. If they had been much younger I don't think they would have had the attention span necessary to sit through a movie.
My advice: try a free or discounted movie for your first few outings. If we had left at any point during the movie I wouldn't have felt like we wasted money. Six dollars for all six of us to see a movie is a bargain. Also, arrive at least 20 minutes early. The later you arrive, the harder it is to maneuver through the crowd and find a seat. Talk about your expectations ahead of time: we need to be quiet, whisper if you have a question, the lights will need to be turned off so we can see the movie, etc. You may also want to consider taking a snack with you. We seemed to be one of the only families who by-passed the line at the concession stand. I didn't take any snacks from home and my daughters didn't seem to mind, but for other children this could really be a deal breaker. Finally, don't be afraid to leave. I really wanted to get through the entire movie, but had my girls started acting up we would have left. I saw several families leave... some simply because their kids didn't have the attention span for the movie.
I don't think it's something we'll do on a regular basis this summer, but it was definitely a positive experience. I'm glad movie theaters offer these free or discounted films in the summer because there's no way all six of us could afford to see a "typical" movie.