The Littlest Angel

Posted on November 21, 2011 at 8:00 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	All Ages
MPAA Rating:	G
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	None
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	2011
Date Released to DVD:	November 23, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:	B005J4N5G8

Based on one of the top-selling children’s books of all time, The Littlest Angel is a new film based on the classic story by Charles Tazewell, first published in 1946. A small angel cannot quite seem to fit in until a wise older angel realizes that the little soul will not be able to feel at home in Heaven until he can retrieve his precious box of treasures. So he returns to earth with his dog, Halo, just as Jesus is about to be born. Although he worries that it is not important enough to give to Mary’s new baby, he learns that the humblest gift becomes meaningful if given with a full heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS9YOoI0_5Q

I have one copy to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Angel” in the subject line and don’t forget your address. I’ll pick a winner this weekend!

Marilyn Starts a Heat Wave

Posted on November 20, 2011 at 1:14 pm

I hope that Michelle Williams’ exquisite performance in the new film, “My Week With Marilyn” inspires its viewers to go back and watch the inimitable original: Marilyn Monroe. Williams does a snippet of this song in the film though does not try to replicate the staging of the original. It’s one of my favorite of Monroe’s musical numbers, steamy but witty and shows what a gifted dancer and singer she was. One amusing note: in the original film, There’s No Business Like Show Business, one of Irving Berlin’s lyrics was censored for being too racy. Instead of saying, “She started a heat wave by letting her seat wave,” they changed it to “letting her feet wave”(!). In the Michelle Williams version, the original lyric is used. In both, her seat waves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe-45dj-aGo

That’s Donald O’Connor, Ethel Merman, Mitzi Gaynor, and Dan Dailey watching from the wings. The movie is just an excuse for a lot of Irving Berlin songs, but that’s enough to make it worth watching.

Here’s Williams:

Related Tags:

Classic Great Movie Moments Music

I’ll be on AWOP Tonight!

Posted on November 20, 2011 at 9:55 am

Listen to A World of Progress radio tonight at 8 pm Eastern to hear me talk about movies, corporate governance, and my dad!

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Media Appearances

Which Snow White Will Be the Fairest?

Posted on November 20, 2011 at 8:00 am

Next year will bring not one but two new movies about Snow White. One looks like an “Ella Enchanted“-style or “Shrek“-ish post-modern version, with Julia Roberts as the evil queen and Lily Collins (daughter of rocker Phil Collins, last seen in “The Blind Side”) as the beautiful princess. The other is a more haunting re-telling of the story, with the evil queen played by Charlize Theron and “Twilight’s” Kristen Stewart as Snow White.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbXC7JulCzE

What do you think?

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Trailers, Previews, and Clips

Woody Allen on PBS

Posted on November 19, 2011 at 7:57 pm

Roger Ebert reviews the new PBS two-part documentary about Woody Allen:

“Woody Allen: A Documentary” benefits from both its masterful construction and the willingness of Allen to offer commentary on everything from his oeuvre to his explosive divorce. Allen drives the narrative with wit, honesty and pathos, which Weide supplements with perfectly chosen clips, pictures and talking heads. The deft editing provides a seamless flow of ideas and concepts beholden to the central theme: An artist’s personal demons and compulsions can influence his body of work. Allen’s views on religion and mortality have a kinship with Martin Scorsese’s, even if the views and ultimate outcomes are completely different. Scorsese fears where he’ll go when he dies. Allen fears death, period, so much so that the documentary keeps returning to the topic in ways that are morbidly funny but never tiring.

Watch it tomorrow and Monday at 9 Eastern on PBS.

Related Tags:

Documentary Television