Nancy’s Reads & Reels: “Brave,” “Snow White and the Huntsman” & “Moonrise Kingdom”

Went to see Brave with my granddaughter, Celia, and her mother. I don’t know which Celia enjoyed more, the movie or her popcorn and Arctic Blast. Some scenes in the movie were quite scary and I prefer an evil stepmother to a huge black bear. We were glad we didn’t see it in 3D and have those arrows and bears headed out of the screen toward us. Celia wanted to stay until all the credits went by and as always I am impressed with how many people it takes to make such a movie.

I’ve seen so many kid movies but I have to say Toy Story 3 is my all time favorite. Next on my list would be Charlotte’s Web — I remember taking Celia’s mom to that one. My two other older grandkids talked me into seeing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and it surprised me with how much I liked it.

I went to see Snow White and the Huntsman and once again I was reminded that Walt Disney knew how to scare a kid but in a good way. I always loved the dwarfs but in this movie they were not lovable in the least. And, come on, Charlize Theron is not a proper witch. Have to say Kristen Stewart was, as the Huntsman says, “quite fetching in mail” as they storm the castle—much violence ensues. Not really a kid movie, PG13.

Moonrise Kingdom was a pleasant surprise. It’s a Wes Anderson movie (Rushmore & The Royal Tenenbaums) so right away you know the characters are going to be weird in an amusing way. Two troubled kids go missing and scoutmaster Edward Norton and police chief Bruce Willis set out to find them. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand are the parents of Suzy (Kara Hayward) and have all sorts of kookyness about them. The other kid, Sam (Jared Gilman), is an orphan. Another PG13 movie that’s not recommended for kids.

I hope I never get too old to take in a kid movie now and then — with the emphasis on now and then.