Heavy Rotation

Barnyard (2006) is currently topping the charts on my son's movie play list. Which means I've probably seen parts of it twenty-five or thirty times in last few weeks. Not that I'm complaining. My wife's exposure is likely at least double that.

This is the sixth movie that's caught his fancy since he really started politely asking demanding (you don't see the words "polite two-year old" together for a reason) to watch particular films. Once he's locked in, he'll usually go for at least a few weeks of almost exclusively viewing one movie. As a parent, you quickly learn to appreciate movies that wear well and grow to despise those that don't. Here's a recap of what we've picked up so far:

Barnyard: Very good the first time you see it and so far it's holding up pretty well. The animation (or whatever you call it now) is excellent, there's decent humor, and the music is good. If you only watch a movie once, you may not ever notice the music. When you see it thirty times, you start knowing songs by heart.

Shark Tale (2004): One of the rare movies that I actually came to enjoy more after repeated viewings. Initially I wasn't all that impressed, but it grows on you. The humor is above average and the music is too. I'm surprised that it wasn't more popular when it was released.

Madagascar (2005): Good but not great. My son really dug this one for a while, so we've watched it A LOT. Again, the humor is good and the tunes are too, especially the dance scenes. There's a point beyond which it's very difficult to get anything more out of a movie and we probably reached it here.

Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006): Blah. This movie was mediocre the first time around and it didn't take long to get annoying in a hurry. A dull plot, lifeless writing, and characters we don't care about combine to make this a very long slog, especially when viewed repeatedly.

Finding Nemo (2003): A decent movie that holds up surprisingly well. Great graphics definitely help. The only downside is that at one hour and forty minutes, it's way too long. The last couple of scenes were unnecessary and made the ending anti-climatic.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004): Let me start by saying that my son is a HUGE SpongeBob fan (as to a lesser extent are my wife and I). I've noticed that when it comes to SpongeBob, people either love it or hate it. In my opinion, the differences are between those who get it and those who don't, but now's not the time for that debate. If you like SpongeBob, you'll like the movie. The animation is pretty weak (except for the creatures in the trench), but no one watches SpongeBob for that anyway. The writing is very good and the music grows on you. I was a little surprised that I was still able to enjoy it after multiple viewings, but it has held up well. At least so far.