A snowstorm at Christmas time makes a busy woman stop and reconsider her priorities when she is stuck in her apartment with two people she has just met: a little girl who does not want to be there and a homeless man who tried to protect her from some muggers.
Catherine Mary Stewart plays Kathleen, a successful restaurant-owner. Ever since she was a little girl, when her father walked out on Christmas, she has hidden her hurt and feelings of abandonment with a brisk and businesslike manner. She is not unkind, but she is brusque and unapproachable.
And then the single father she is dating asks her to take care of his little girl, Lucy (the terrific Cameron Ten Napel). And a homeless man named Sam (Muse Watson) with a quiet, peaceful demeanor is hurt when he tries to protect her from some muggers, so she brings him back to her apartment, just for one night. And then the three of them get snowed in.
Snow has a way of helping us separate the urgent from the important. The weather outside may be frozen, but Katherine begins to thaw. And as communication with the outside world is cut off, communication inside her apartment begins to bloom. When Sam reads aloud his favorite passage from the Bible, Simeon’s words on seeing the infant Jesus, a small place of peace begins to take hold of all three. And without electricity or phone they return to the simpler pleasures of the past including the meaningfully named s’mores and a board game called “Break the Ice.”
But there is still a hard pain in Kathleen that she just can’t let go. Sam has one more lesson for her that will help her understand that the only one who is hurt by a refusal to forgive is the one holding onto the anger. This is a touching story with humor and heart and a little wisdom, too.
Rated PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images, and brief mild language
Profanity:
Brief schoolyard language, reference to "breastplates"
Alcohol/ Drugs:
None
Violence/ Scariness:
Fantasy action and violence, characters in peril, scary monsters with lots of teeth, fire-breathing dragons
Diversity Issues:
Diverse characters and a strength of the film is the portrayal of three strong, capable, brave, disabled characters
Date Released to Theaters:
March 26, 2010
Date Released to DVD:
October 12, 2010
Amazon.com ASIN:
B002ZG97YM
The sheer exhilaration of flying along with our hero on the back of his new best friend, a dragon, is exceeded only by the exhilaration of top-notch film-making with a witty and heartwarming script, endearing characters, dazzling visuals, and a story worth cheering for. The movie is in stunning 3D but it is the 4th dimension — heart — where it truly excels.
Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruschel) is a puny misfit in his Viking village of Burke located “north of freezing to death,” where burly warriors battle dragons. His father, Stoick (voice of Gerard Butler), a mountain of a man and the leader of the village, is confused and embarrassed by his son. Because he thinks Hiccup is not strong and brave enough to battle with fire-breathing dragons, Stoick has asked his closest friend Gobber (voice of Craig Ferguson) to take him as an apprentice. Gobber, who lost a hand and a leg to dragons in battle, is now in charge of forging weapons and training the next generation of dragon-fighters.
Hiccup is something of an inventor and when a catapult he designs hits the fiercest and most terrifying breed of dragon, the Night Fury, he cautiously tracks it down. He discovers that it has been wounded and cannot fly. And he discovers that it is not fierce or violent but as scared of him as he is of it. He names the dragon “Toothless” and creates a prosthetic flap for its tail. As they get to know one another, they learn that Toothless can only fly with Hiccup’s help. Meanwhile, Hiccup is accepted into Gobber’s training program. So his days are spent learning to fight many different dragons and his nights are spent learning to tame — and be tamed — by one.
The screenplay by directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders and others is exceptionally literate and witty (Night Furies are described as “the unholy offspring of lightning and death”) and the visuals are intricate and imaginative. The stirring score by John Powell and first-rate voice work by an outstanding cast bring energy and spirit to the story. DeBlois and Sanders make excellent use of the 3D, not just in the soaring and vertiginous flying scenes and the battles but in the use of space and ability to make us feel included in the quietest moments. Those moments have a delicacy, a tenderness, even a grace that gives this film a power that resonates as only the best movies can.
In honor of Special Education Week, watch this touching film with your family:
Milly (Lucy Deakins), her mother, Charlene (Bonnie Bedelia), and her brother, Louis (Fred Savage), move into a new home, still feeling bereft over the loss of the father of the family. Milly sees a mysterious boy (Jay Underwood) on the roof next door. She finds out that his name is Eric, and that he is autistic. He has never spoken, and ever since his parents were killed in a plane crash when he was five, he has apparently thought he was a plane. He lives with his alcoholic uncle, who confides to Milly that Eric really can fly. Adjustment to the new environment is difficult. Charlene is overwhelmed by the computers at her new job. Louis is terrorized by neighborhood bullies who won’t let him ride around the block. Even the dog Max is vanquished by the neighborhood Doberman.
At school, Milly befriends Eric, and when an understanding teacher (Colleen Dewhurst) sees that he responds to Milly, she asks her to work with him as a project for school, telling her that he doesn’t need a doctor as much as he needs a friend. Milly spends a lot of time with Eric, reading him stories and trying to teach him to understand and not just imitate. He does not speak, but when a ball is thrown at Milly’s head, he protects her by catching it.
Milly falls off a bridge on a class trip, and insists that Eric saved her by flying. A psychiatrist (Louise Fletcher) tells her that her mind played tricks, and gently gets her to admit that her father killed himself when he found he had cancer.
Eric is sent to an institution. He somehow escapes, and he and Milly run away from the guards sent to retrieve him. They are chased up to the roof of the high school, where we discover that he really can fly. Eric and Milly float off together, to the astonishment of the entire community. Eric speaks at last, telling Milly he loves her, and flying away forever. She realizes why he had to leave when the scientists and journalists arrive the next day. Eric’s influence continues. Charlene masters the computer. Louis triumphs over the bullies. Max even scares away the Doberman. “He made us believe in ourselves again…We’re all special. We’re all a little like Eric. Maybe we can’t soar off into the clouds. But somewhere, deep inside, we can all fly.”
Discussion: This is a charming fantasy with a lot of heart and outstanding performances by three terrific kids who keep up with some of the finest adult actors in movies. Eric and Milly heal each other by responding to each other. For him, she provides the first reason he has ever had to try to make contact with another person. For her, he provides a reason to feel, and to give to another person, especially important after the loss of her father.
Questions for Kids:
Why was Eric so important to Milly? Why was she so important to him?
What did Eric teach Milly’s family?
Where do you think he will go next?
Why did Louis get so upset about his action figures being out in the rain?
Connections: Writer-director Nick Castle also directed “The Last Starfighter.” Bonnie Bedelia, who starred in “Heart Like a Wheel,” is the aunt of former child star Macaulay Culkin. Many of the other performers are better known for television appearances. This was the first movie appearance for Fred Savage, who went on to star in television’s “The Wonder Years,” and appeared in “The Princess Bride.” Fred Gwynne will be familiar to old-time television fans as Herman Munster and as Officer Muldoon of “Car 54 Where Are You.” Mindy Cohn starred for many years in “The Facts of Life.” And if you pay close attention, you will catch a glimpse of future “90210” superstar Jason Priestley as Gary.
Activities: This is a fantasy, and is in no way intended to be an accurate portrayal of autism. But kids who want to know more about this mysterious disease may want to read books like An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks (of “Awakenings”). “David and Lisa” has a more dramatic portrayal of two disturbed teenagers reaching out to help each other. Teenagers will appreciate Dustin Hoffman’s Oscar -winning portrayal of an autistic savant in “Rain Man.”
Until they make a movie entirely consisting of raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, Hallmark cards, and puppies in the window, this will hold the record as the most awwwwwww-inspiring movie ever made.
Director Thomas Balmes and his crew take us into the lives of four brand-new people and their families, babies in Tokyo, Mongolia, Namibia, and San Francisco. And that’s it. Babies sleeping, babies getting dirty, babies getting clean, babies crying, babies being comforted, babies smiling, babies playing, babies learning, learning, learning — and babies teaching everyone around them, too, to the narration-free accompaniment of a wistful score from “Coraline’s” Bruno Coulais.
Each of the stories is touching. The deepest part of our nature as humans wonders at and cares for these magical creatures, who zoom from newborns to people who can walk and talk and have views in a matter of months. The connections between these babies and their families are a powerful reminder of all we share, but the contrasts are a powerful and sometimes disturbing reminder of the distance between us. American parents who carefully strap our babies in car seats and boil their pacifiers every time they fall on the floor will find it unsettling to see all four members of the Mongolian family climb on a motorcycle and the Namibian baby sucking on a bone she dug out of the dirt. And they may wince at the casual plenty of the American baby’s books and toys or the casual smugness of the music class where the parents and their babies sing a Native American song in some reach for the kind of authenticity the African baby comes by naturally — and pays for with limited opportunities for health care and education. The credit sequence gives us a glimpse of the babies today (age 4). Our greatest wish for these babies may be that before they are old enough to be rocking their own children to sleep we find a way to do more to protect the health and safety of all of the world’s children.
Tinker Bell has found her voice in a popular series of DVDs that give Peter Pan’s sidekick a chance for her own adventures in her home town of Pixie Hollow. She and her fairy friends Rosetta, Silvermist, Fawn and Iridessa help to make the four seasons vibrant and beautiful.
In this episode, for the first time Tink makes a human friend, Lizzy, played by Lauren Mote. Lizzy and her affectionate but distracted scientist father (voice of Michael Sheen of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Frost/Nixon”) move into a small house near the woods. Tinker Bell and Lizzy find a way to communicate with each other about their different worlds. And they have to help each other when Tinker Bell is at risk of being captured and Lizzy needs to find a way to remind her father that all work and no fun is, well, no fun, and not very healthy for families either.
The design is rich in texture and detail, showing the influence of Pixar head John Lasseter, who produced, and the story is charming, with top-notch voice talent and a sweet message about friendship, integrity, and family.
