Liv's top movie list with a little help from Mommy

Now that Olivia has informed us she’s a “big girl” her taste in cinema has changed, ahem, elevated. Out is Peter Pan, Finding Nemo and Yo Gabba Gabba *which makes Mommy sad* and in is this list. These are Olivia’s top movies at the present moment. She changes her mind constantly and has already informed me she wants The Little Mermaid for Christmas. I’ve been waiting ten years to buy it so I’ve pre-ordered it, the release date is October 1st.

Cinderella

My least favorite Disney princess, of course would be Olivia’s favorite. She fucking loves her some Cinderelly. The story of a girl who’s forced to serve her evil stepmother and stepsisters but does it will a smile and a song. She dreams to find love and with the help of her animal friends and her fairy Godmother, she has the night of her life dancing with the Prince. In the end, having freakishly small feet comes to her advantage. The cutest thing is Liv sings most of the songs. She can only watch this movies while wearing her own gown and gwass swippers.

Crown and wand made by Daddy

The Iron Giant

The story is of a boy with a rather interesting name *Hogarth*
who stumbles upon a giant robot in the woods. They develop a bond and
he does his best to teach the robot love all while the robot is being
hunted by a government agent. Olivia is riveted by the robot. It has
some moments that young kids may find scary but not Liv *who loves robots!*

Monsters Inc.

A tale of a monster-led society where the celebrities are “scarers” who extact children’s screams as a source of power. Mike & Sulley are the top scarer team who are on track to breaking a scare record but another monster wants to take the top spot and will cheat to do so. An adorable child ends up in the monster world and Mike and Sulley have to get her back unharmed. Monsters University is just as sweet but not on dvd yet. Liv loves this one and so do I.

Alice in Wonderland

This has been my favorite Disney movie for years. The story of a curious girl who wanders into Wonderland in pursuit of a white rabbit. Her nosiness and poor decisions cause her to get into predicaments but she finally wakes up and finds it all to have been a dream. Sorry for the spoiler but I’m sure by now everyone has seen it. Did you know that Mel Blanc had a small uncredited role as Dinah the cat? Besides, it would be child abuse if I didn’t share this old school Disney classic *with the stunning artwork of Mary Blair* with my kid. Still working on Snow White and Bambi, they are a little slow for Liv’s taste.

Wreck-it Ralph

This movie is fantastic! I had no idea what it was about or who was in it when we took Liv to see it in theaters but we were all pleasantly surprised. The story of Ralph who is the bad guy in a video game. He’s been the bad guy for 30 years and he’s tired of it. He tries to change and become the good guy but gets into trouble in another game. He has to help a little girl win in her game so he can earn respect in his own game. He makes a mess of things but he changes and becomes friends with the girl and she turns out to be what was missing in his life. The cast is superb *John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer* Olivia is obsessed with the soundtrack and even sings a song in Japanese.

The Incredibles

The story of a family of superhero who has to blend in with the world after being forced to hide their powers. A villain threatens the world and the hero has to save his family and the world. Liv loves any movie with kids in it. She tells me through the movie, “look Mom, your gonna miss it!” This is Antz favorite kids movie so he’s very proud.

Spirited Away

This one is hard to explain briefly, but I’ll try. A girl ends up in a secret Spirit World because her parents were being dumb and greedy so they got turned into pigs. She makes reluctant friends and has to outsmart a witch to break the spell on her parents. She is super adorable and spunky but most of it makes little sense since it’s Japanese. Liv is a sucker for movies with kids, even though she has not idea what the plot is. It has an amazing soundtrack and a dragon. Liv really loves dragons, too bad she has zero interest in My Neighbor Totoro, maybe when she’s older.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

This is one of Mommy’s movies, one day Liv joined me engrossed by it. “I like your video game movie Mom.” Based on a comic book with a silly plot about a guy in a band who has to defeat the girl he likes seven evil exes. The music is rad and Liv loves the action. It’s brilliantly directed by the great Edgar Wright and has a pretty awesome cast *Kieran Culkin is the best* it’s edgy enough but still PG-13!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Sadly, this one isn’t the amazingly weird Gene Wilder campy/awesome 70’s version but the monstrosity that Tim Burton remade and Johnny Depp pedobear-ed all over. It’s the story of a poor lad who wins the chance of a lifetime to visit the strange and mysterious chocolate factory. Four other horrible children join the tour and one by one they fall victim to their own terrible circumstances which end in Charlie winning the factory as the grand prize for being awesome. The Oompah Loompahs suck the most. It’s an embarassing remake but when my daughter grins at me and says “I’m a winner!” *a phrase she learns from gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde* how can I say no to that?

The Nightmare Before Christmas

I know, I talked a lot of shit about Tim Burton a second ago, but it comes from the frustration of how incredible this film is compared to the other. This film is so unique and creative. The story of Jack the Pumpkin King of Halloween town who wants to try a new holiday for a spin. He enthusiatically brings Christmas to his town but sadly it’s almost too late by the time he realizes he has made a mistake. With the help of a girl who is secretly in love with him, they fix everything just in time. The puppetry and Danny Elfman score are impeccable. Liv loves Jack.

Oz the Great and Powerful

This is Liv’s movie. We took her to see it in theaters, a bit cautious thinking it may be too scary for a two year old *flying monkeys and homicidal witches* but she loved every second! It’s the prequel to The Wizard of Oz and kinda tells how he came to rule the merry ole land of Oz. This womanizing circus performer ends up in hot water and escapes an ass whooping but ends up in a tornado that delivers him to Oz. He meets a chick *the witch of the west before she was wicked* but ends up dissing her for a hotter one *Glinda*. She and her sister declare war and he wins by doing what he does best, lying and cheating. I prefer the original but it’s a well told story and visually stunning. I am relived there’s no singing, well the munchkins sing a song briefly.

The Goonies

Score big time for my kid! I LOVED this movie as a kid, it’s sooo rad she likes this movie. The Goonies is a gang of teens who are on the verge of being forced out of their homes so a country club can be built on their land. They end up going on an adventure that may end in finding treasure so they can help their parents but they have a group of criminals on their tails. I let Liv chose a movie to watch per day and I get really excited when she picks this one *because I have had my fill of Cinderella!* It’s such an endearing 80’s movie and you can’t help but root for the Goonies to prevail.

**Rocky Horror Picture Show

Liv calls this the lips movie. Lately she’s been asking me to watch the lips movie to my simultaneous dismay and delight. The absurd musical is about a naive young couple who end up stranded at a castle. They interrupt a professor’s latest invention, a creation named Rocky. The movie is very risque and we turn it off before any of the, ahem, bedroom scenes but Liv loves the Time Warp and I can’t deny her Tim Curry in drag.