Kim's Thoughts

OK — so I had to see a holiday themed movie this weekend to kick off the holiday season — my choice: “Fred Claus”!!! I wasn’t sorry — I liked it! It was fun and entertaining! Very funny, good story, a nice holiday and family spirit message, and, yes, I even got a little teary eyed in a couple of the more sentimental scenes!!!! Vince Vaughn was really good as Fred Claus, Paul Giamatti makes a great Santa Claus, and I loved seeing Kathy Bates as Mama Claus – the woman who helped make sure that young Fred could never quite live up to his little brother Nick with comments like “why can’t you be more like your brother” delivered only as Kathy Bates could deliver them!!!

There is a backdrop theme of the age old story of the threat that Christmas will cease to exist and Santa’s North Pole will be shut down forever. But the real story is one of brotherly love and family loyalty. It starts out with young Fred on the day his little brother is born. He immediately loves his brother and promises to be the best big brother ever! But, he soon finds that promise difficult to keep — his brother, Nick, turns out to be PERFECT and his parents (especially his mother) are openly proud of everything Nick does and consistently let Fred know that he is far from being the boy his brother is. In fact, Mama Claus refers to Nick as a “saint”!!! Fred becomes increasingly resentful of his brother and distances himself from the entire family – especially once Nick fulfills the prophecy of becoming Santa Claus!!!! Nick gets himself arrested in a hysterical scene where he is chased by a crowd of Salvation Army bucket bell ringers dressed in Santa costumes! He calls his brother for bail – a call which is answered with “yes, but you have to come to the North Pole and earn the money!” The rest is a roller coaster of funny and emotional scenes leading up to the much welcomed happy ending!

The music is great, too — not just the Christmas music (of which there isn’t as much as you may expect), but also the other music that is used to set the various scenes. The score folks really did a great job of picking the songs that frame each scene!!!!

I liked the whole movie — yeah, so I admit there was a point where it started to get a little boring and I thought it was time to move it along, but it didn’t spoil the movie at all and it didn’t last long! But, the scene that stuck out for me (not necessarily my favorite scene, but the one that stands out as memorable) was when Fred was in a support group meeting for guys who have to live in the shadow of highly recognizable brothers who made it big — in the support group were Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, and Stephen Baldwin – each had a story about how hard it is to live up to their brothers………….it was a riot!!!!

Anyway — I recommend this one as a must see sometime during the holiday season – it is an entertaining couple of hours!

I had a lovely day today — I lounged around the house, played with the girls, relaxed, some friends came over to visit, I went for a manicure/pedicure, and then went to the movies! Seeing a movie was in the “plan” for yesterday (Thanksgiving Day), but by the time my friends and I were ready to go, we were all so tired from getting up early and cooking all day that we decided to pass. The movie we were considering yesterday was “August Rush” – I would like to see that one, but really wanted to see “Enchanted”!!! So, off I went…….here are my thoughts about it:

“Enchanted” was, well, enchanting!!!! Yeah, I know — not very imaginative or creative description and even kinda corny! BUT — it’s the best and most perfect word I could think of to describe this absolutely wonderful movie! It is a perfect mix of Cinderella and Snow White with an interesting twist. Amy Adams is adorable as the fair maiden Giselle. James Marsden does a great job of portraying the total airhead Prince Edward. Patrick Dempsey is delightfully dapper as Robert. And Susan Sarandon is absolutely PERFECT as the evil Queen Narissa. Together, they tell an amazing fairy tale and keep the audience completely entertained! The story kept moving and held my attention for the entire time – no slow parts where I thought they should just move on! I was totally entranced and felt a part of the story!

It starts out as an animated fairy tale that takes place in a land called Andalasia. Giselle is the fair maiden looking for her one true love with the help of her friends – all the animals from the woods. While hunting an ogre, Prince Edward hears her singing and breaks into song to demonstrate that they are meant to be together. The ogre also hears her song and runs to make her his dinner. The Prince rushes to her aid and saves her. They declare their love and he proclaims her as his bride. Not everything is perfect, though……Prince Edward has a step mother who just happens to be the evil Queen Narissa. Queen Narissa has vowed to keep Edward from marrying because if he does, then she loses her crown! She won’t allow that to happen. So, when Giselle arrives at the palace to wed her Prince, Narissa poses as an old woman who lures Giselle to a wishing pool so that she can wish for her heart’s desire. When she leans over to gaze into the pool, the old woman pushes her in and she is banished to a world where “there is no happily ever after” – modern time New York City!

Giselle arrives in NYC in her white wedding gown and immediately finds that she is no longer in fairy tale land….including the fact that she is now a real person – all the animation stays in Andalasia!!! After a few unpleasant encounters, she is “rescued” by Robert and his daughter. Robert reluctantly takes her into his home and helps her. They proceed through a series of hysterical and entertaining activities – including a delightful musical production in Central Park! Robert’s daughter adores Giselle — but, his girlfriend is not so happy that she has entered their lives!!! Soon, Prince Edward arrives to search for his love and he is soon followed by Nathaniel – the Queen’s henchman – who is tasked with finding her, gettting her to eat a poison apple, and keeping her from reconnecting with the Prince. When Nathaniel fails, the Queen comes to finish the job herself. In the mean time, Giselle and Edward find each other and Giselle begins to wonder if he really is her one true love – or if it is actually Robert………hhhhhmmmm………what will she do????? (Personally, I would pick Patrick Dempsey over James Marsden any day of the week and twice on Sunday!!!!!)

I won’t spoil it all — so far, I haven’t given anything away that you can’t figure out from the previews or write-ups and most happens in the first few scenes. But – suffice it to say that in true fairy tale form, good triumphs over evil and everyone lives happily ever after — except, of course, the evil Queen Narrisa!!!!!

The entire theater laughed out loud often and when “The End” was displayed, we all broke into an enthusiastic round of applause!!!! Go see this movie — everyone, young and old, will find something to love about it — it is funny, endearing, and, yes – enchanting!!!!