OT: Movie-goin' mamas--Who saw "Cars" this weekend?

[nicoleandjackson]

...and what did you think? DH and I are thinking that this could be DS's first movie to see in the theater, but first I wanted to get an idea of how kid-friendly the movie was (as opposed to the Disney movies of late that have parent humor). I try not to be the Bad Media Cop, but I won't even let DS watch Toy Story, since they call each other names ("stupid", "idiot", etc.) The longer I can keep DS in my monitored media bubble, the better :)!

However, "Finding Nemo" is one of the greatest films EVER! If "Cars" is like that--we're there!

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02

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[spanannie]

My DS loved it, but he's already very into the Cars...we knew the story from the books, etc.

Finding Nemo bored my son, unfortunately. Cars kept his attention for the entire 2 hrs, and I'm sure he'll watch it over and over again when it's out on DVD.

Lightning McQueen does call another car "idiot" once when he's on the track racing. I think they could have done without that, but my son didn't seem to pick up on it...yet.

[egoldber]

We went and Sarah liked it. But DH and I LOVED it, especially because we're huge car racing fans (though not NASCAR fans, but a lot of it carries over). There were tons of "inside" racing jokes that were REALLY funny if you knew they were there. I will say I think it is quite a long movie, much longer than Toy Story or Nemo. DD got restless for the last 10 minutes or so.

Personally, I think its probably a better movie for an older preschooler or at least a kid who has been exposed to car racing in some way. I think my DD may have been the only kid in the theater who got the Michael Schumacher reference at the end, LOL!!!

ETA: If you don't like Toy Story, I don't think you'll like Cars. A lot of the cars are "mean" to each other in various ways.

[muskiesusan]

We saw it and loved it (well, all but Alex, he isn't into movies yet and it was way too long for him, so he snacked a lot!).

I don't know if you are familiar with www.kids-in-mind.com, but it goes over all movies in great detail. Here's a link to the overview of cars.

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/c/cars.htm

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[LD92599]

We saw it and LOVED it. DH sat through the whole movie aside from one potty break. We can't wait to see it again! Mind you, DS loves cars alot and i grew up in a "car" family and am President this year of our local antique car club, so it's in his blood!

I didn't like the 20+ minutes of previews beforehand.

Laura
Will is three...and doesn't sleep :-(

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[farsk]

We went this weekend too! Ellen loved it....got the biggest kick out of it.

I liked it much better than Over the Hedge!

[nicoleandjackson]

Thank you so much!

Yikes--what is up with that field cutter-tractor-thingie?!?!

Scarier than when Marlin and Dory had to get away from the sharks and/or the anglerfish? Discuss...

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02

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[Queensgirl]

Okay, I'll be the voice of dissent (although not a mom yet-work with kids & have been taking kids to the movies for a long time -seen every "kids" movie in the last 10 yrs). Personally, I thought it was LONG for an animated film. DH and I went to a 10:20pm showing (yes, my DH & I are total dorks) and didn't get out until 12:30 am. And boy, we're we surprised to see so many young children at such a late showing!
Anyway, the film has some visually beautiful scenes. The racing scenes were also great, but there were many parts that could have been shortened.

The kids in the theater loved the racing scenes (apparent from the cheers) and there were some funny, cutesy bits (which kids also liked-apparent from the laughs), but overall it was long. In typical Disney fashion, there were too many musical /song numbers (which seemed to bore many of the younger kids) and I didn't really feel the whole "cars as humans" bit (I think it's a little difficult to translate that-I also think the animation and storyline was subpar to "Nemo" & "The Incredibles")

My suggestion is too take DC to an early show (preferably after naptime), visit the restroom beforehand & have snacks ready. I think your son, at four, is old enough for the movie, and if he's into cars then he'll enjoy the premise. Honestly, IME, kids aren't that picky when it comes to films (especially when you take them to the theater!).
Have fun
:-)

[egoldber]

Hmm. My DD didn't find that part to be particularly scary. There was another part that she did find mildly scary that surprised me, but I'm drawing a blank now on when that was. Definitely not as scary, IMO, as the shark scene in Nemo.

[noahsmommy]

My DH and I had the same concern as you did, and our DS is only 2. But my husband is a car fanatic, and our DS loves cars, and loved watching the trailers on the disney website. It's a great movie. I thought it was tame enough for my DS, considering that he hasn't seen anything beyond the level of Blues Clues! Also, there was only one scene that could be qualified as "scary" and I thought the Shark seen in "Finding Nemo" was so much more frightening. And, I liked how there wasn't alot of parent slapstick humor in it compared to "Over the Hedge" and some other Disney movies. Overall, I thought "Cars" was a great first movie for my son.

My only concern was a film in the previews. Steven Spielberg has decided he just has to movie his horror films into the childrens genre of films, so there is a preview of his upcoming animated child adapted scary flick. As if children don't have enough sources for nightmares.

Ann


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[R2sweetboys]

DH took the boys to see it on Saturday afternoon and they loved it-even him! We were going to go that night all together but it had been raining for days and my husband wanted to get them out of the house early.(and gave me a break-yay!) Both of the boys really enjoyed it and my 5YO is already asking to go again. We have a movie theater here that serves meals and drinks while you sit at a table in these cushy leather seats that recline. It's such a fun way to do the movies!
Oh, I just wanted to add that it annoys me too that they use those negative words in children's movies. I love Finding Nemo too but one of the lines that I really dislike is when Nemo says to his father "I hate you." :(

~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03

[Corie]

Laura,

I totally agree about the previews!! If the movie starts
at 4:30pm, then I want 'Cars' on the screen at 4:30pm.

Don't they realize that I am on borrowed time?? As soon
as the popcorn is gone, my daughter thinks the movie is over! :)

Regarding the movie 'Cars', I thought it was great!! I actually
laughed out loud several times. My daughter thought it was good
too. She gave it a thumb's up!

[Thatchermom]

Haven't been yet, but I think we will. We usually check pluggedinonline.com It's from a Christian-based organization, but seems to be pretty thorough and un-biased in reviews. I love that they tell both the good and bad, and it helps me feel like I am making an informed decision for my kid.

Linky for their review of Cars:

http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0002737.cfm

[new_mommy25]

We went. DS enjoyed the movie though DH falls asleep. It got a little slow in the middle with the love scenes.

[nicoleandjackson]

<I love Finding Nemo too but one of the lines that I really dislike is when Nemo says to his father "I hate you." >

...Totally! At our house, when that line came up, either me or DH would turn to DS and say, "Oh, my! That's not a nice thing to say." Now DS will shake his head and mutter a "tsk, tsk" under his breath when it comes on, LOL :)

Hope you enjoyed your alone time!

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02

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[nicoleandjackson]

Thank you! That was also very helpful.

Why, oh why do they have to include two instances of profanity in a CHILDREN'S MOVIE! I can't tell you how that irritates me, especially since DS is such a little parrot! *UGH!* :(

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02

http://b5.lilypie.com/nD9Jm5.png

[nicoleandjackson]

I think we might try to go to a matinee on Father's Day. We'll see how it goes! :)

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02

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[jasabo]

We took our boys yesterday. I thought it was way too long for a kids' movie. Dh had to take the boys out halfway through to let them run around for a while. Other then the length, they seemed to enjoy it, but not as much as other movies we've seen. I didn't care for it that much....I thought it was boring and the last half really dragged.

Also, I was really mad that there was profanity - the word "hell" was used twice, that I picked up on - I may have missed some other times b/c I left for a while. I mentioned it to dh after the movie and he didn't even notice it. When I told him the context - it was something like "I'm caught in redneck hell" or something like that - he disagreed that it was a curse word. He thinks it's more of a place. But I was raised thinking that the word "hell" is a curse word, and I certainly don't want my kids saying it. At any rate, that really made me mad especially considering it's a G-rated movie.

In hindsight, we should have skipped it and saved the $30 it costed us to see the movie....argghhh!!!....don't even get me started on my "movies are so expensive" rant!!! ;)

Lisa - mom to 3 yr old twin boys