Winter Movie Reviews

For those of you weighing what film you'd like to see next, I'm including Nicholas' thoughts on the winter blockbusters. Please note: when he says, "Great!" he jubiliantly raises both arms over his head and smiles. When he says, "Scary!" he furrows his brow, scrunches his nose, and frowns. He may be only 2 1/2, but the boy knows what he likes.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: "Harry Potter - Scary!"

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith: "Star Wars - Scary!"

March of the Penguins: "Penguins - Great!"

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: "Wardrobe - Scary!"

King Kong: "King Kong - Very Scary!"

Nicholas came to his conclusions on the first two having seen the advertisemens on the sides of buses and in tube stations. His review for the latter three are more credible, having viewed "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" on Sunday and having seen the trailer for "March of the Penguins" and "King Kong" while waiting for the film to start.

Now those who have seen Nicholas on the town know that he is a superstar when it comes to the popular media. On Saturday, when London was blanketed with posters for "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Nicholas would spot one from 50 paces away and yell, "Wardrobe!" While I had my doubts that he would enjoy the movie, I thought his older brother, age 6, would love it. How wrong I was.

I spent most of the movie with not one, but TWO young boys clambering over me in attempt to hide. Nicholas kept saying, "Scary!" but not once did he ask to leave or even cry. From the very start of the movie, when Nazis are dropping bombs onto London, Andrew was saying, "I don't like this movie. I'm scared. I want to go home." He kept saying that even after the bombings had stopped and the children are being evacuated via a train. ("Now, look, they're at a train station," I said. "There's nothing scary about that. We do it all the time.") It took me about 20 minutes to talk him down from the ledge, and even then, he didn't seem to enjoy himself very much (though he stopped asking to go).

However, when the action would heat up, he'd say, "Cover my eyes Mom! I don't want to see!!" Which, of course, I did, but then he would move my hands so that he could still see, but the hands would still be on his face so he could move them back, if need be.

After more than two hours of this, the movie ended, at which time Andrew turned to me, "That wasn't so scary, Mom."

Perhaps seeing a scary movie as a six-year-old is like childbirth: once it's all over, you forget the pain and the fear.