Giveaway: ‘Flipped’

Posted on December 10, 2010 at 3:51 pm

I am delighted to have five copies of one of my favorite family movies of the year to give away. Flipped, directed by Rob Reiner has wonderful performances by Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe in a story set in the 1960’s about two kids who meet as second graders and go through a range of feelings about each other and their families as they reach their teens.

Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com and tell me the name of your 8th grade crush (first name only!). Don’t forget your address. I will pick five names at random on December 16. Good luck!

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Based on a book Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families Neglected gem

Fantasia

Posted on December 6, 2010 at 7:00 am

A+
Lowest Recommended Age: All Ages
MPAA Rating: G
Profanity: None
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: Some scary images
Diversity Issues: None (15-second segment removed from the original film in the 1960's for racist imagery)
Date Released to Theaters: 1940
Date Released to DVD: December 7, 2010
Amazon.com ASIN: B0040QTNSK
Fantasia-2000-Blu-ray.jpg

Disney’s glorious “Fantasia” and its sequel, “Fantasia 2000” are out for a limited time in a spectacular 4-DVD blu-ray package.

Considered a failure on its original release, “Fantasia’s” eight-part combination of images and music is now indisputably a classic. Musicologist Deems Taylor explains that there are three kinds of music: music that paints a picture, music that tells a story, and “absolute music,” or music for music’s sake, and then shows us all three. Highlights include Mickey Mouse as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, whose plan to save himself from a little work by enchanting a broom to carry the buckets of water gets out of control, the Nutcracker Suite’s forest moving from fall into winter (with the adorable mushroom doing the Chinese Dance), Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, with characters from Greek mythology celebrating at a festival and seeking shelter from a storm, and the Dance of the Hours, with ostrich and hippo ballerinas dancing with gallant (if overburdened) crocodiles.

It concludes with the scary Night on Bald Mountain followed by the dawn’s Ave Maria. The movie is perfect for blu-ray — it’s as though we can finally see the colors the way the artists could only dream of. The flying Pegasus family soars through the sky, the thistles kick like Cossacks to the Russian dance, the dinosaurs lumber to the Rite of Spring. This is one of the greatest movies in cinematic history, groundbreaking and timeless.

destino_dalidisney.jpg

And there’s more. Disney planned another musical segment designed by famous surrealist artist Salvador Dali, who came out to the Disney studio for eight months to work on it. But it was canceled due to financial setbacks at the company at the time, and Disney always regretted that it was not completed. It has become a legend, much speculated about and sought after. This splendid set includes Destino, with Roy Disney at long last completing Dali’s original vision, 58 years after he began it.

Roy Disney also supervised “Fantasia 2000,” the sequel, which includes a charming Al Hirschfeld-inspired Manhattan saga set to George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and a wildly funny flamingo/yo-yo mix-up (more like a pile-up) to the music of Saint-Seans.

Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 is a genuine family treasure, guaranteed to inspire and entertain all ages. Grab it while you can.

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Animation Classic DVD/Blu-Ray Pick of the Week Fantasy For the Whole Family For Your Netflix Queue Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families Music Musical Series/Sequel
Twelve Great Christmas Movies That Don’t Feature Clarence the Angel, Bing Crosby, Tiny Tim, or a Leg Lamp

Twelve Great Christmas Movies That Don’t Feature Clarence the Angel, Bing Crosby, Tiny Tim, or a Leg Lamp

Posted on December 3, 2010 at 3:59 pm

Reprising from 2007:

I love It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and A Christmas Story as much as anyone. I love the bittersweet struggles of George Bailey and never get tired of seeing him try to resist falling in love with Mary when they’re on that phone call to Sam “Hee Haw!” Wainwright. I love the way Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as Wallace and Davis preserve the old general’s pride when they help him keep the resort going. And I love the way that Ralphie and his family find that Christmas is not about neatly wrapped gifts and perfectly harmonized carols or even a turkey dinner. That last scene, when they all laugh, knowing that this will be one of their best Christmas memories ever, is one of my favorite moments in any film I’ve ever seen. I’ve already written about how much I love every version of A Christmas Carol.

So, let’s assume you’ve seen all those already this year and are looking for something else. Here’s a list with one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. And I’d love to hear about your favorites, too.


(From #6, Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Plus Halloween & Easter Celebrations)

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For Your Netflix Queue Holidays Lists Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families Rediscovered Classic Spiritual films

In Honor of William and Kate: Royal Wedding

Posted on November 16, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Cheers to Prince William and his bride-to-be, Kate Middleton! Celebrate with a classic Fred Astaire musical that features glimpses of his grandparents’ wedding back in 1951.

Fred Astaire and Jane Powell play a brother-and-sister act (inspired by Astaire’s real-life vaudeville performances with his sister, Adele). They go to London to perform and both fall in love, her with handsome Peter Lawford and him with Sarah Churchill, in real life the daughter of the prime minister, Winston Churchill. It doesn’t have much of a plot, but it has some sensational musical numbers, including a dance with a coat rack (showing that he always makes his partner look graceful) and the famous number that has Astaire dancing on the walls and ceiling, along with brief shots of the wedding of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. We’ll get a feature film take on the queen as a little girl next month with “The King’s Speech,” based on her father’s struggles to learn to manage his stutter so that he could address his subjects on the radio.

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For Your Netflix Queue Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families Musical

Happy 40th Birthday, Sesame Street!

Posted on November 10, 2010 at 3:36 pm

40 years ago today, I watched the very first episode of “Sesame Street” and I have been a big fan ever since. My dad, Newton Minow, helped the show’s creator, Joan Ganz Cooney, get the funding for its first season, and we spent many family dinners talking about how exciting and revolutionary it would be. But what made me fall in love with it on that very first broadcast was how much fun it was, how imaginative, how respectful of its audience.

Here is one of my favorite moments from “Sesame Street.” It still inspires me.

Here’s a classic moment:

And here’s a treat from the new season:

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