Phillips And Mcn

Birthdays, Cowboys, Aliens and Apes « Movie City News

Hey, it’s Monday! Whaddya know?

We had a big Summer Birthday Bash for Veda, who just turned 10, and Luka, who just turned 8, over the weekend, and I’ve been so busy with the mass double-night sleepover that went along with that, that I didn’t realize it was Monday until afternoon. Oops.

We tend to do Veda and Luka’s birthday parties together because they’re only a couple weeks apart, and it’s hard to find one weekend in late July/early August when most of their friends can come AND we have all six of our kids here at home, much less two. So far, neither of them seem to mind sharing a party; the Venn Diagrams of their individual friendship circles have multiple intersections. They each got to pick their own cake, and party decor, and pinatas, and a good time was had by all.

Tonight the three younger kiddos are off with their other parents, so we’re taking the older three out for burgers and a movie. I’m advocating for Rise of the Planet of the Apes , in no small part because I’m kicking myself now that everyone digs it for not making the press screening. From the trailer, I thought it looked like Project Nim: Nim’s Revenge, but apparently it’s actually GOOD. Huh.

Neve would like to see Midnight in Paris again, but she’s also in favor of the boys’ pick … Cowboys and Aliens . So here I am, arguing with teenagers over why they should see the reportedly intelligent and philosophical Apes now and catch Cowboys and Aliens in a couple weeks at the $3 theater. The crux of my argument? “But all my film critic and film blogger colleagues think Planet of the Apes ROCKS and Cowboys and Aliens? Not so much.”

Who says no one pays attention to the critics? I’ve almost got the kids convinced …

“I wouldn’t quarrel (as some people have) with a white woman’s choice to write in the voices of black women or to say what black women of fifty years ago felt. A writer should be able to write in any voice she likes, and invented feelings may have a power and an authenticity that transcend literal accuracy. The only issue is whether the results are any good… The behavior of the young white women is vile, but the story lapses into a viciousness of its own. Hilly isn’t only a bitch, she’s an idiot, and the movie takes her down again and again, culminating in a baroquely obscene comic insult. Yet this broad attack is likely to make the movie a hit—happy laughter echoed through the theatre when I saw the picture. (Revenge is sweet.).