Published by deborah.woehr on 11 Jul 2008 at 06:42 pm
A Day Out with the Boys
I remember my childhood summers as periods where there were short bursts of fun, followed by long bouts of restless boredom. Summertime isn’t much different for my boys. Today was my first flex day since I returned from my vacation, so I thought I would treat them to a movie and some lunch.
They had no interest in seeing The Hulk, WALL-E, or Iron Man. So when I saw that Hancock starred Will Smith (an actor we enjoy very much), I decided to take them to see this movie. Based on the trailer I saw, I figured this movie would be a comedy about a reluctant superhero. Fifteen minutes into the movie, I debated with myself whether to take the boys out of the theater because of the adult themes and language. Hancock is a drunk with an attitude and supernatural abilities. Nobody likes him because of his attitude and inappropriate behavior.
At one point, he tells the son of a struggling PR man (played by Jason Bateman) how to deal with the bully on his block, using explicit language. He winds up getting thrown in jail because of all the damage he’s caused to buildings, cars, etc. While there were some funny parts, the gist of Hancock was about a man who was trying to come to grips with being different and unpopular because of his supernatural abilities. Overall the movie was good, but I wouldn’t take little kids to see it.
After the movie, we went to lunch, amazed that we were able to get a table during the lunch rush. I can thank the Apple store for that. We shook our heads at the long line of people who stood outside the store in order to buy the new iPhone. For all I know, they’re still standing there, waiting to get suckered and frustrated. My oldest subscribes to a blog from a man who stood in line for three hours, only to experience problems activating his phone once he got it. Here’s an article about today’s bumpy launch.
Scot on 13 Jul 2008 at 8:18 am #
“. . .short bursts of fun, followed by long bouts of restless boredom.” Oh, but what short bursts of fun those were. I remember my long days of summer when I headed out the door in the morning and not be back at home until lunch and dinner. After dinner, I wouldn’t be back home until the street lights came on. The entire neighborhood where I grew up was interconnected. Sometimes I would knock on the door of a friend; sometimes I would just walk right in. “Hi, Mrs. Jansen. Is John up in his room?” Yes, at times those few stretches of boredom would be tough to take, especially when it was raining out, but a few 45’s on the record player sometimes took care of that.
It is good to get out and about with your children. I haven’t seen “Hancock,” but it seems to be generating a lot of mixed reviews.
deborah.woehr on 14 Jul 2008 at 5:20 am #
My neighborhood wasn’t as friendly as yours, but we knew most of them. Today, we’re lucky to know the ones next door.
Your mention of 45’s brings back fond memories.
We would listen to records for hours to kill the boredom.
Hancock was a decent movie, although I was expecting more of a comedy based on the previews and Smith’s prior films.