10*10*10: appendix [movies!]

Conor suggested that we add an 11th category to my list–movies! These are all films that we have wanted to see, but that have either seemed like too much work or been too long or whatever. We have quite a backlog. The problem, aside from sometimes being limited to things that won’t give the kids nightmares, is that by the time they’re in bed [usually not until at least 11], I’m more in the mood for James Bond than Ingmar Bergman. Or I don’t have my glasses on or want to knit, so I don’t want anything too demanding or anything subtitled. Anyway. Here’s our list!

Appendix: Movies
1. Wild Strawberries — Ingmar Bergman
2. Elevator to the Gallows — Louis Malle
3. Le Cercle Rouge — Jean-Pierre Melville
4. Birth of a Nation — D.W. Griffith
5. Two Women — Vittorio De Sica
6. Pan’s Labyrinth — Guillermo del Toro
7. Battleship Potemkin — Sergei M. Eisenstein
8. City of God — Fernando Meirelles/Katia Lund
9. F for Fake — Orson Welles
10. Flag of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima — Clint Eastwood

There are also a few rules:
A. Watch after kids go to bed.
B. All lights off except the lamp–that is, a decent movie-viewing environment.
C. No pauses.
D. I need to wear my glasses.

There you have it. We embarked tonight, starting with “Wild Strawberries.” It is an odd film. I really like the performance by Victor Sjöström, who plays the main character. It is a little harder for me to get behind the script, as all of the women [except for the aged housekeeper] are crazy bitches. It is lovely to watch, though–interesting, beautiful cinematography. And, as I say, Sjöström alone is worth watching it for.

Mary=genius

We’ve been watching “A Hard Day’s Night.” Mary saw Paul’s grandfather come into the picture and exclaimed, “He’s a king mixer!”

I said, “Is Wesley a king mixer?”

She said, “No! Wessy not a king mixer! Wessy a toddler!”

4th of July and update on the refrigerator problem

My handy husband came home and took care of it in about 10 minutes using a borrowed Skil saw. Thanks for the advice–I really had no idea what to do with that.

So, yesterday was the 4th–we went to a movie [Pixar’s “Up,” which I liked a lot]. The kids were pretty good, although Wesley cried when it was really loud, and there was no one else at our showing anyway so it didn’t matter.

Then we went to the fireworks over in the next little town.

We sat around for an hour waiting for them to start. Conor made a paper airplane to entertain Mary. Finally they began the show. The first fireworks went off. I said to Wesley, “Look, honey!”–but his face was already crumpling up and he just SCREAMED. Then I realized that Mary was also wailing. We beat a hasty and ignominious retreat to the car. Maybe next year.

Gotta dance!

Tha’s what Mary tells me. She is obsessed with “Singin’ in the Rain.”

But also, it seems to be true.

Mary says,

“Moses supposes his toeses are roses.”

movie rec and gossip!

Two items: first and foremost, my friend Linda is engaged! I approve of her choice, which is of course of the utmost importance. So yay!

Second item: if you have not seen the film “Be Kind, Rewind,” you really, really should. But not if you’re really looking for plot. People I expect to love this movie include Suz, Liz, and Kevin. But maybe not anyone related to me–you would probably think it’s weird, sort of like “The Life Aquatic.”

Wednesday reading: toddler discipline books

So I’ve just read “Parent Effectiveness Training,” by Thomas Gordon, and “The Happiest Toddler on the Block,” by Harvey Karp, and I’m 2/3 done with “Raising Your Spirited Child,” by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka.

Thumbs up on “P.E.T.”–not so useful at Mary’s only-partly-verbal stage, but interesting. And so far it’s great in the classroom and in student conferences! I recommend it for anyone with kids, although you may also need another book or two for toddler ideas.

That book should not be “The Happiest Toddler on the Block.”

It’s not that it’s an awful book (that would be “ToddlerWise,” no doubt). It’s just not the kind of thing that I am comfortable with. It advocates a lot of techniques that I find manipulative, unfair, and authoritarian, although I should make immediately clear that it is not promoting anything abusive or even heavy-handed. I’m just not happy with ideas like bribing my kid with soda to get them to take medicine. Perhaps more to the point, Karp is probably great with toddlers…because he treats his readers like they’re toddlers. I have never felt so patronized since I was in Catholic marriage classes. And his jargon–all of it made up by him–is insufferable.

“Raising Your Spirited Child,” which is also aimed at kids somewhat older than Mary (although it starts with toddlerhood, it’s really based on dealing with more verbal children), is quite good so far. I have gotten a lot out of it in terms of improving transitions between activities and that sort of thing. I think it’s going to be very useful. This is the one I’m going to suggest that Conor should read. (I vet these kinds of books because I read faster than he does.)

A special bonus Wednesday movie review: “Lars and the Real Girl.” Thumbs down! This movie is too saccharine and unrealistic to be realism, but not magical enough to be fantasy. I thought it was lame. And too long.

STOP TORMENTING JANE!

We are watching “The Jane Austen Book Club.”

Stop laughing at me. It was loaned to us. By Grandma. What was I supposed to do? Say “No thanks–I don’t watch movies about Jane Austen because they make me twitch?”

It is torture. It is awful. These people should not be allowed to discuss Jane Austen. Aaaaackkkk….make it stop.

Bye, Paul Newman.

We just finished watching “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” What a great movie, and what an amazing career he had.

Burn After Reading

I liked it–you should go see it.

Are you impressed that we saw it the day it opened? Conor, Mary, Wesley, and I saw it with Mike, Sandy, and Zak. Wesley only cried SOME of the time. Clearly he is not going to be the champion moviegoer that Mary was at his age.

Anyway, I enjoyed it. It’s very funny and has a few excellent performances in it: Richard Jenkins and J.K. Simmons were my favorites. (Plus, I get way too much amusement out of seeing Brad Pitt as a huge dork.)