Weekend trip to the theater

Last Saturday, we decided to go see Thor and made the decision to bring Jason along.  He has previously been to the movies three times before, with varying results.  The first time was to see Monsters, Inc. when it first came out.  At the time he was obsessed with the Toy Story VHS, so we figured he would go for it.  He was fine until the lights went down and the previews started.  He clasped his hands over his ears, saying it was too loud.  Mommy ended up watching Monsters, Inc. while Daddy and Jason hung out in the hallway with a life size mock up of Mike and Sully.  The second time was to see Wall-E.  This time, he was the one asking to go, so we decided to give it a try, knowing one of us might end up in the hallway again.  He insisted on bringing his cousins, my brother's kids.  He was mesmerized the whole movie and absolutely loved it.  He even wanted to go to Target and buy the DVD that day.  It took some convincing for him to understand that the DVD wasn't out yet.  Of course, the day it was released on DVD, we had to run out and get it.  The third time was to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  He had seen the first Transformers movie while shopping at Best Buy.  It was playing in the Blu-ray aisle, and he sat down cross legged in the aisle and watched the last hour of the movie.  (We couldn't leave until he saw how it ended)  He ended up using some birthday money that he had to buy a copy of the DVD for himself.  So, when the sequel was announced, he wanted to go.  He saw the whole movie, but he didn't like it.  We were just happy that for the second movie in a row, one of us didn't spend two hours in the hallway.

With all that said, we felt comfortable taking him to see Thor.  He had seen and liked Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, X2: X-Men United and the entire Star Wars saga.  (Yes, he likes all six of them)  He gave a song and dance about not wanting to go, so I bribed him with pizza for dinner if he behaved.  Yes, I am not above bribery, call me Al Capone, cause Jason sure as heck isn't Eliot Ness.  During the previews, they showed Captain America: The First Avenger and Green Lantern.  When we asked him about those movies, he went to great lengths to hide his interest in Green Lantern, but his smirk told us what we needed to know.  He behaved during Thor and paid attention.  The biggest problem was the volume on the speakers when the thunder was being used.  Jason hates fireworks and thunder is barely tolerable, but magnified as it was, he wasn't liking it.  It was definitely louder than it normally would be.  When the movie was over and we were walking to dinner, we asked him if he liked the movie.  He said he thought Thor himself was cool, but he didn't like the thunder at all.  I was worried that I might have turned him off to the movie in general because of the noise.

After dinner, we went to Target for some stuff we needed.  Jason, as always, wanted to go to the toy section.  So I went with him, while Arlene got what we needed.  I was standing around looking at some stuff, when I found the Thor toys, including a hammer with button that lights up the hammer like it's shooting lightning and rumbles with recorded thunder.  Next thing I know, he's got one of the other hammers, and he's hitting me with it in exactly the same manner Thor was using it in the movie.  When I looked at him, he was giggling, saying "I AM THOR!"  So, I learned that he was DEFINITELY paying attention to the movie, and he wasn't so afraid he wasn't willing to take up the toy and pretend he was Thor.  Side note, Arlene asked me after the movie the real name of the actress playing Jane Foster.  I replied Natalie Portman.  She said, "I've seen her somewhere before."  I told her she was in Star Wars.  Jason chimed in with "She's Queen Amidala" just as I was saying that she was Padme Amidala.  Definitely was paying attention.  Good thing he didn't ask why she was kissing Thor when she's married to Anakin.