Birthday Date Night and Oz The Great and Powerful

The weekend before last we went out for my birthday and had a super fun time.  It was really nice to have a night out, it doesn't happen very often.  We decided to do the dinner and a movie date backwards, and I liked it a lot better.  We dropped the boys off at John's parents and headed off to an earlier showing of the movie.  I had been debating between Oz The Great and Powerful and The Amazing Burt Wonderstone, but I really really wanted to see Oz, and so we did.

John and I both loved the movie, but I was very surprised to find out a few days later that it was only rated PG.  John and I actually commented when we got to the theater about how surprised we were at all the little kids in the audience.  I'll try to not give away any spoilers, but proceed with caution if you haven't seen the movie and want to.  Perhaps I am getting older, but in my personal opinion I don't think I would take anyone younger than about 10.  But obviously you know your children better than anyone.  There is no blood or gore, but there is violence, death, and those flying monkeys (baboons actually) are really very scary (seriously, I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares).

Ok possible spoilers start here (I'm not giving away any big plot points):  At one point the monkeys attack a field of what turns out to be scarecrows, but they are frighteningly vicious about it.  And although the destruction happens off screen, Oz comes across a demolished town where the only survivor is a little girl, and you know that her whole family has just been killed.  Since having the boys I've become a lot more sensitive to things like this though. 

Alright, end of possible spoilers.  The cast was great, and honestly, I really loved their costumes.  I read that the costume designers based the clothing on the period that the books were written in (the 1930's I think) and were made a bit over the top for the land of Oz.  The movie starts out in black and white and changes to color after arriving in Oz.  It's obvious that they flexed their movie magic muscles for the scene where Oz arrives in Oz.  John thought that it was a little too much, but I thought it was almost breath taking.  We saw it in 2-D, but it was filmed in 3-D.  After watching it in 2-D I think I would like to see it in 3-D, which is saying a whole lot because I really am not a fan of 3-D (hello migraine!)  So if you enjoy 3-D and are on the fence about how to see it, I would go 3-D.  Overall John and I really enjoyed it, but perhaps it should have been rated PG-13.  So just be aware if you plan on taking your kids.    

After the movie we headed to Red Lobster, yum!  I grew up in New England and loooove seafood.  I really like Red Lobster, but I do miss the seafood back there, it's just not the same here (you know, living in a landlocked state in the middle of the country).  And let me tell you, it was so nice to be able to just sit and enjoy dinner and not have to worry about making it to the movie on time.  I think we should do date night like this more often!  Unfortunately I had caught a bit of a bug earlier in the week and was still feeling kind of yucky.  While my taste buds loved my dinner, my stomach not as much, so I didn't eat a whole bunch.  But I took my leftovers home and they were just as yummy the next day when I was feeling better.  It was my birthday, so on top of our appetizer and dinners I ordered the lobster bisque and managed to eat all of it.  I've had it before and it is so yummy, I love lobster bisque.  It is delicious and not something you find often when not on the coast.  Oh man, I am soooo going to be craving seafood later.  It also doesn't help that yesterday at the store they had perfect looking swordfish (omg yum!) and even at $11.49/lb I was sorely tempted, but didn't end up getting. 

Anyways, other than feeling kind of yucky still, backwards date night for my birthday was great, we had a such a nice time!