Enchanted

It's been years since I ventured out on Black Friday. I hate, hate, hate shopping under normal conditions, so you can imagine how the chaos and looniness of "ringing in the shopping season" affects me. My eye twitches; my skin crawls; it isn't pretty.

Anyway, we all seemed to have cabin fever on Friday, and Scott convinced me that an outing to the movies was just the cure. Reasoning that seeing a movie was not at all the same as shopping, I agreed to go. Except that the movie theater is at the mall. Off we went; the kids absolutely giddy at going to the movie theater and me determined to make the best of what would undoubtedly be a brutal, harrowing nightmare: trying to find parking at the mall.

To my surprise, the parking lot was bearable. It was definitely busier than usual, but we found a spot within the first few minutes. It was a hike to the theater, but not far enough that either child wanted to be carried.

We got our tickets for Enchanted, got popcorn, chose seats and settled in, hoping that the movie would be good enough to hold the kids' attention. Here's my review: FIVE STARS. This movie was better than I expected. When's the last time you saw a movie that was better than you expected?? It was sweet...and funny...and clever...and charming...and entertaining. There was action, romance and comedy, so it was good for little girls, little boys, and parents. Although there were a few de rigeur scenes, it was never completely predictable. I just loved it. Based on the smatterings of applause throughout the movie, and especially at the end, I was not alone. I liked it so much that I'm looking forward to shelling out again when it's released on DVD. The last few childrens' movies we've seen, I've groused not only about the ticket prices but also about knowing I'll have to spend almost that much again when it comes out on DVD so I can have the ::cough, cough:: "pleasure" of viewing it any time.