Horton hears a Who, the movie

I took the little guy (he's not so little anymore) to the movies the other day. We were trying to decide between the only available kid friendly (?) movies, Nim's Island or Horton Hears a Who. We went with the latter.

I've come to a couple of conclusions.

1) Jim Carey usually plays Jim Carey.
My two middle daughters loved the "The Series of Unfortunate Events" books, but felt the movie was marred by the fact Jim Carey played Count Olaf not as Count Olaf, but as Jim Carey.

Horton suffers a little from this as well.

2) Dr. Seuss books make very nice 30 minute TV specials. Stretching them to an hour and a half is... well.. a stretch.

Nice parts:

The son and I both chuckled at Horton's Anime fantasy segment. No, you are not having a memory lapse. That sure WAS NOT in the book... but it was cute.

The Mayor of Whoville was delightful. This book character was fleshed out so much for the film, I'd say he was 'invented' by the team who did this movie. Steve Carrell did a wonderful job with this role. His son Jo Jo reminded me a bit of my youngest teen. This added story of the Mayor and his son was one part where the 'fleshing out' of the book worked very well. It was sweet.

The team from Ice Age who animated also did a wonderful job. Whoville was spectacular and very Seussish. The Whimsy in the Animation saved the movie. Loved Vlad the Vulture, Vlad the Bunny, and a few of the other minor characters added to the story.

Note for homeschoolers: There is a jab at homeschoolers in the movie. Sour Kangaroo wants to protect her child from evil things like Imagination, so she "Pouch Schools" her kid... and the kid breaks away from the oppressive parent at the end.

I couldn't really take offense to this, though. Sour Kangaroo seemed much more from the NEA than from any homeschool group I know. And Horton's "lessons" with the kids (he had some sort of teacherish role) early on was much more like a day in a homeschool than a day in a classroom.

I had a brief flashback to college, when a guy I was dating heard the Billy Joel anti-Catholic song "Only the Good Die Young." The boyfriend said, "that song is so true."

I said "Am I like that?"

He said "No."

I asked if another friend of ours, a religious Catholic, was like that. He said, "No."

I then asked if the crew from our Newman Center was like that. He paused, then said "Um.. No."

I asked if he knew any Catholics like that.

More silence. Followed by "Um.. No."

Actions speak louder than songs, or lines in a movie.

Overall, I'd give Horton a C+. Great animation, whimsy, and the wonderful line "A person's a person no matter how small."

That covers a multitude of silly filler.

Only in America....

Just watched the Pope touch down in D.C.

What hooting and hollering from the crowd! I loved it.
They all burst into "Happy Birthday" at one point.
Quite impressed that Bush went out to meet him.

Years ago I sat at Pope John Paul II's Mass, shortly after he was elected. Awesome experience.
One of my children was at an audience with Benedict, and another is going down to DC tomorrow.

It's cool to be Catholic. This is our Papa, and he's one of the good guys.

Taking a walk

Today my little guy and I took a walk. It's getting to be springtime here. Flowers are poking their heads up, trees are just beginning to blossom. Robins are all over the place, getting their nests ready.

How important walks are! I think my eldest and I learned more going on "nature walks" (even if all we saw were sparrows and ants) than we learned from any book.

There are always worksheets to do, and numbers to be tallied, and tests to be taken. They are all so much the same, and all so easily forgotten.

But the walks, we remember.

Harry Potter, again

I was thinking about the Potter series today, and the Christian themes within it. I was thinking of the way ordered, and disordered love was portrayed. How refreshing it was to read a book where families were cherished, and a large family which put children ahead of "things" was heroic. Where young people fell in love, got married, and had children. This love led to life, even though it sometimes required great sacrifice, even the ultimate sacrifice.

And we had some great examples of disordered love, and the tragedy it leads to. Some of the people involved were not evil, some greatly repented (Snape, for example), but the disordered love led to death.

There are few books where this is so clearly illustrated. It's in the natural fabric of the story. It's not preached. It just IS.

And that's a good thing.

Then tonight, I clicked on Sean Daily's "The Blue Boar" blog and found this:

http://theblueboar.blogspot.com/2008/03/shes-right.html#links

Many of us Christians really have missed the mark on the Potter books, and that is a shame on many levels.