Princess and the Frog

Planet 51

When Chuck the astronaut (Dwayne Johnson) lands on a distant planet filled with little green people, he is surprised to discover that we are not alone in the galaxy. But he gets the shock of his life when the residents of Planet 51 mistakenly believe that his presence is the start of an alien invasion of the human kind! Luckily, Lem (Justin Long) quickly realizes that Chuck is friendly and makes it his personal mission to help him return safely to his ship.

Featuring the voice talents of:  Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Sean William Scott, John Cleese to name a few.

Rating:  pg 




This is one of the reasons why I love owning a video store.  Even though my children aren't old enough to watch these films, I still get to view them as part of my "work". 

This was a moderately funny film.  While some cast up the fact that it's not a Pixar film and all that, I enjoyed the bright colors and clear graphics.  Yes, they are very 2 dimensional but still they are fun.  I especially enjoyed the way they portrayed the aliens and how the added a lot of kitchy 1950's style into the Alien world.  Indeed the very opening of the movie is reminiscent of those early 1950's cheesy, horror flicks.

I would definitely say that the pg rating is accurate.  The opening scene consists of a film of their planet being attacked, lots of shooting and fight scenes with aliens being disintegrated.  Also, in many scenes the Astronaut is considered to be dangerous and there are a lot of references made about eating brains and turning into mind zombies and is repeatedly shot at.  The main point of the aliens in capturing the astronaut is killing him and removing his brains.

Otherwise, there is very little else that could be questionable in this movie.  There is one use of the word "friggin" and in one scene an alien stumbles over the word astronaut saying "ass" when another alien quickly jumps in with "stronaut", so it's barely noticeable.  Two aliens in the end scene kiss.  That's about it. 

If your children watch mildly violent shows already like batman etc, then this film would be fine for you.  Personally I waver on this type of film but when I think about the number of questions that are certainly to crop up with my children like "why do they want to take out their brains" etc, I think it's best to wait awhile.

Movie Mama

Meet Me At the Corner Review

Just wanted to give you a heads up on a great site for kids called Meet Me at the Corner. 


Literally, it's virtual field trips of fascinating people and places around the world.  These free podcasts are short and simple and best of all are submitted by children.  Initially the podcasts highlighted New York City but has now grown to include podcasts from California, Colorado, North Carolina, Texas and Maryland.  


Want to see your home town on that list?   Meet Me at the Corner are always open to new video submissions.  Simply head over to their site, create an account and start exploring.  


What I liked about this site was that my children were able to see places that I know we probably would never get to visit in real life.   My son loved to watch the San Diego Railroad Museum and to see all the model trains.  Plus seeing the kids hosting these videos, I think is encouraging to other children and shows them what they too could do.  It encourages children to get out there and discover their own community in order to share it with others. 


I think this would be a great resource for homeschooling parents.  


Job well done!

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

When Flint Lockwood's latest contraption accidentally destroys the town square and rockets up into the clouds, he thinks his inventing career is over.  Then, something amazing happens as delicious cheesburgers start raining from the sky.  His machine actually works.  But when people greedily ask for more and more food, the machine starts to run amok, unleashing spaghettie tornadoes and giant meatballs that threaten the world!  Now it's up to Flint, with the help of weather girl Sam Sparks and Steve, his talking monkey assistant, to find some way to shut down the machine before the world is covered in super-sized meatballs!

Starring the voice talents of:  Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T., Bobb'e J Thompson, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Al Roker, Lauren Graham for full list see http://www.imdb.com/

Rating:  G

I thought this movie looked like fun.  Unfortunately I personally did not get to watch with my children.  Insteand my husband and I had previewed the film the night before.  Maybe that's why we weren't all that thrilled with it, maybe we just weren't in the right mood for it. 

Sure the premise is fun and the animation as usual is very well done.  It's just that the story left us feeling that it was an odd film.  It was ... okay.  An underlying theme through this movie is the difficult relationship that Flint has with his dad.  Flint and his dad are two completely different people and as often happens conflict arises.  A second theme through this film is the one where success initially goes to Flint's head and he turns his back briefly on what he should be doing.  In the end he gets everyone out of the jam but if he had made different choices in the first place, none of it would have happened.  A hard lesson.

The next day my husband let the kids watch it and sure enough, they all thought it was great.  This is definitely one of those movies that kids enjoy more than the grownups.  It was just silly enough to engage their interest.

As for content, it was full of the usual cartoon violence.  No one gets hurt and it's mostly for comedic affect. For language there was one each of damn, hellhole and crap.  As for frightening and intense scenes, several roasted chickens in the end come alive and starts attacking the main characters, with the last 35 minutes of the film being the most intense as the main characters are attempting to shut down the machine and the people in the town are trying to avoid being crushed by the large piles of food. 

This movie is probably recommended for seriously younger viewers but from say 4 and up I think this film is just fine. 

Nightmare at the Museum 2 - Battle at the Smithsonian

It's two years later and Larry Daley has moved on from night time security guard to head of Daley Devices. Although he is a corporate big wig now he still finds time to check in on the old gang at the Museum of Natural History. He soon discovers that the Museum is being closed for renovations and many of the old exhibits are being sent on to storage in the Smithsonian. Mayhem at the Smithsonian quickly ensues and it's up to Larry Daley to come to the rescue once again. Many of the characters from the original film are included as well as new characters from history such as Amelia Earhart, Al Capone, Napoleon and Ivan the Terrible.

Starring: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Owen Wilson, Alan Chabat, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, John Bernthal, Patrick Gallagher, Jake Cherry, Rami Malek, Mizuo Peck etc..

Rating: PG

If you enjoyed the first Night at the Museum you will certainly enjoy this one. It had a bit of everything. It was full of action, drama, intrigue and even a little bit of romance. It was basically fun for the whole family.

Things I really enjoyed about this movie:

* We actually got to see the inside of the Smithsonian. I mean being from Canada

I had no clue how big this museum was and how absolutely awesome it would be to go there. Apparently no other movie has ever been allowed to film in the Smithsonian until this movie.

*Larry drops what he is doing to go and help out his friends albeit little people who

aren't really real and only come to life because of a special magic tablet. He

could just walk away from it, but he doesn't.

*That even though Larry had achieved what he thought he wanted in life he

realizes that it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, that some things

and people were just more important.

I won't say too much more. It would just give away the film. Let's just say that I felt the story was strong and just as fun as the first.

As for the parental advisory. You could probably stretch that a little to include 6 and up. The action and violence are very mild. There are some fight scenes but no blood or wounds. Some of the exhibits coming to life may be scary to really young views but I sincerely think my daughter probably could have handled this movie.

If you are particularly concerned "Oh my God" is said quite a few times, "damn" is said at least twice and "sucks" is said once. As for sex and nudity, there are a couple of kissing scenes and a couple of naked cherubs where you see their butts but that is it. Nothing they don't see they parents doing.

So over all, it was a great film. Worth checking out!

Movie Mama

Santa Buddies - The Legend of Santa Paws

Join The Buddies (Budderball, B-Dawg, Rosebud, Buddha and Mudbud) in a wonderfully wacky twist on a classic Christmas favorite. When Puppy Paws, the fun-loving son of Santa Paws, gets tired of the North Pole, he finds Budderball on Santa's naughty list and figures he's just the dog to show him how to be an ordinary pup. But when the magical Christmas Icicle starts to melt and the world begins to forget the true meaning of the season, it's up to Puppy Paws and his new found Buddies to save Christmas.

Starring: Christopher Lloyd, Craig Anton, Andrew Astor, Tom Bosley, George Wendt, Field Cate, Tim Conway, Chris Coppola, Josh Flitter, Ben Giroux, Skyler Gisondo, Zachary Gordon and many more.

Rated: G

Just when you thought you had enough, they bring out another Buddies movie. I have to admit though that this film does have it's charms. My children loved this film very much and watched it beginning to end several times over the weekend. It's not often a movie captures their interest that long.

For the grownups, it is definitely watchable at least one time. The story is pretty good. Talks a lot about the spirit of Christmas and what it means. That Christmas is more about giving than receiving and the buddies have to work together as a team in order to save Christmas. In doing so they help transform some of the lives of the people around them, one grumpy dog catcher played in particular.

There is a part or two where the flow doesn't really jive. You see Eli (a real elf) giving a kind lecture to a fake elf about the spirit of Christmas etc and yet you don't see how that ties into the movie. The fake elf wasn't a grump, there were no scenes (unless they were cut) where that Elf lacked Christmas spirit.

I can't really think of any potential warnings for parents. There is some mild action as the puppies are being chased by the dog catcher. In one scene the puppies try to escape and the dogcatcher gets knocked over and falls on his back. That's about all I can think of.

I should add that if you are a Christian you will find the message in the movie falls sadly short on the true meaning of Christmas. However, as always, there are many teachable moments that you can share with your children if you are sitting along with them watching this film.

Movie Mamma

Up

Carl Fredricksen, a retired balloon salesman, is part rascal, part dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to Carl, Russell, an overeager 8-year old Wilderness Explorer who has never ventured beyond his backyard, is in the wrong place at the wrong time - Carl's front porch! The world's most unlikely duo reach new heights and meets fantastic friends like Dug, a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, the rare 13-foot tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle, Carl realizes that sometimes life's biggest adventures aren't the ones you set out for.

Featuring the Voice Talents of: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft and many other talented voices.

Rated PG for some peril and mild action.

Lovely, lovely, lovely movie. I just loved this film. Can you tell? It was altogether delightful and charming. The balloons are such a whimsical touch and there is just something about the graphics and colours in this film that I really love. Not too bright, more pastels. I don't know, it's just lovely.

I was surprised at the PG rating. Roadrunner has more peril and action than this film. Having said that; however, there are a couple of parts that I felt would be too heavy for my oldest (6) to watch and so we did not let her watch this film.

Parents note that this is not just a film for the kids but for the whole family. The beginning starts out with the old man, Carl, as a young child when he meets his wife, Ellie. It then progresses into a silent movie style clips, showing the ups and downs of their lives together. While this may be over many the heads of younger children, some more sensitive children will pick up on the meanings behind some of the sadder clips. Not to say that is necessarily a bad thing. I just recalled a scene from another movie in Meet the Robinsons where a baby is left on the steps of an Orphanage. That had actually upset my daughter quite a bit to imagine a baby being left like that. So when I saw the beginning of this film I thought perhaps it was not for her.

Likewise further into the film, as with most movies, a bad guy develops and is out to get the good guys. There are several small incidents of violence, with bullets being shot at the main characters, while there are no injuries, this may be more than you want your children to see. Oh and there is reference to people being eliminated in a general way. Again, if your child watches anything like Scooby Doo or Roadrunner this movie will be fine for them.

On a side note... if you have Blu-Ray player and are thinking of purchasing this film... buy it on Bluray. The Blu-Ray version has extra features and a short film clip that is not available on the DVD. I was disappointed with this. I think it may well be a sign of the way things are going to go in the technology arena. Blu-Ray will be pushing out DVD's before we know it.

Movie Mamma