Wild Kratts: Shark-Tastic

Posted on April 13, 2015 at 8:00 am

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: All Ages
MPAA Rating: NR
Profanity: None
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: Mild peril and some bad guys
Diversity Issues: None
Date Released to DVD: April 14, 2015
Amazon.com ASIN: B00S2SYUD0
Copyright 2015 PBS Kids

PBS’s Wild Kratts is one of my favorite series for families. I love the relationship between the two real-life Kratt brothers and their enthusiasm and sense of adventure. The episodes have a nice balance between adventure, humor, and information about animals and nature. They have some fun and educational online games as well.

Their latest DVD, available April 14, 2015, is Wild Kratts: Shark-Tastic.

It includes these episodes:

1. Stuck on Sharks – Exploring the mysterious great white shark.
2. Octopus Wildkratticus – The team must save a 7 tentacle octopus.
3. Tortuga Tune-Up – The team learns from a hawksbill sea turtle how to defend against a tiger shark.
4. Speaking Dolphinese – The teams learns the dolphin language.

I have a copy to give away, along with a supplementary booklet! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Kratts in the subject line and tell me your favorite undersea creature. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only) I will pick a winner at random on April 20, 2015.

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Cinderella

Posted on March 12, 2015 at 5:58 pm

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: All Ages
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for mild thematic elements
Profanity: None
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: Fantasy violence, tense confrontations
Diversity Issues: Class issues
Date Released to Theaters: March 13, 2015
Date Released to DVD: September 14, 2015
Amazon.com ASIN: B00UI5CTE2
Copyright Disney 2015
Copyright Disney 2015

Here’s what’s magical — a fairy tale told in 2015 that is true to the spirit of the classic story by Charles Perrault but is still fresh and real despite the dozens of re-imaginings and the seismic shifts in culture in more than a century since it was first published.

Director Sir Kenneth Branagh and screenwriter Chris Weitz have done just that, and the result is enchanting. Recent post-modern versions like Drew Barrymore’s “Ever After” and Anne Hathaway’s “Ella Enchanted,” deftly took on the question of why Cinderella stayed in a home that had become abusive and added a bit of “Shrek”-style post-modern air quotes. But as its title suggests, this version of “Cinderella” is fundamentally traditional, neither po- nor mo-, and entirely comfortable as a fairy tale.

They get a lot of help from the design team including triple-Oscar winners Sandy Powell on costumes and Dante Ferretti on the sets and overall look of the film. This is Disney at its Disney-rific best, a magical setting so arrestingly imaginative and comprehensively envisioned that it is easy to imagine that it is a peek into a gloriously gorgeous world that really exists, if we could just find out way to it. And Ella herself is a winning heroine, kind and wise.

For a fairy tale, though, the actual magic is pretty limited. In the early scenes, magic would be superfluous, as Ella lives a real-life happier and more filled with love than any wish could grant. Her doting parents (Hayley Atwell and Ben Chaplin) make her feel cherished and understood. Her natural sweetness is enchantment enough, and the world around her seems safe and understandable.

But her mother becomes ill, and has just time to give Ella one piece of advice before she is gone: kindness and courage will bring her anything she needs. It is her natural generosity and her wish to obey her mother as well as her longing for family that lead her to stay with her wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett), and simpering, mean girl stepsisters (Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger), after her father’s death.

We get a brief glimpse of what is behind Lady Tremaine’s misery and why she takes it out on Ella, but this is no revisionist “Maleficent.” Lady Tremaine may be more angry and desperate than evil but she is all villain here as she insults and humiliates Ella and forces her to wait on her spoiled, arrogant stepsisters.

When her kindness is met with cruelty, Ella does not know what to do. And then, just when she is utterly devastated at being left behind on the night of the prince’s ball, her mother’s dress torn to shreds. Her fairy godmother (Helena Bonham-Carter) appears just in time to transform the servant girl into a radiant princess. The special effects for the transformation are dazzling, especially the pumpkin coach and the lizards and mice who become her human attendants. No more magic is needed after that. She’s on the way to happily ever after.

Be sure to arrive on time as before the film there is a seven-minute mini-sequel to “Frozen,” complete with new song, and it is pure joy. I won’t spoil it; I’ll just say that when Elsa gets a cold, she has very funny frozen sneezes.

Parents should know that this film includes sad parental deaths and an abusive stepmother.

Family discussion: Why did Ella allow her stepmother to treat her so badly? Why didn’t Ella’s fairy godmother come back to help her again? How can you show courage and kindness?

If you like this, try: other versions of the story including Disney’s animated “Cinderella,” “Ella Enchanted,” and “Ever After”

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Interview: David Milchard of Russell Madness — Plus Copies to Give Away!

Posted on March 9, 2015 at 3:27 pm

Copyright Air Bud Entertainment 2015
Copyright Air Bud Entertainment 2015

David Milchard stars in “Russell Madness” as the father of a family who inherits a wrestling arena.  But I think he would agree that the real stars of the film are the talking monkey and dog.

He took the time to talk to me about making the film, which is a lot of fun .  I have copies to give away!  Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Russell in the subject line and tell me  your favorite movie dog.   Don’t forget your address!  (US addresses only).  I’ll pick a winner at random on March 16, 2015.  Good luck!

They always say that actors don’t like to work with animals or children. You managed to do both in this film so tell me a little bit about what that was like.

A dog and a monkey!  A monkey is an animal but some people will say it is also a human. And I work with CGI which means there’s nothing there at the time. So I feel like I can do anything.  I have been through the hurricane class of acting.  Crystal is the name of the monkey.  I like Crystal. She was fantastic to work with.  It was a great experience; it was actually funny; the very first day on the set, I hadn’t met the monkey yet. And we were kind of in an important scene in terms of like how to get it done so it was a crash course on how to handle a monkey. Getting the monkey up on my shoulder and then acting as though I always had the monkey upon my shoulder, like it is totally normal. And then every now and then a monkey does what a monkey does which is like really screech loudly in your ear. But for the most part Crystal was a professional. Very well behaved and it was super fun to work with Crystal. And then I learned that if you ignore the monkey just a little bit they adore you more. So that is what I did.

What was it like to work with CGI, or, rather, to pretend that what would be inserted via CGI was there?

Copyright Air Bud Entertainment 2015
Copyright Air Bud Productions 2015

We were moving very quickly so sometimes they would film the dog and then they would remove the dog. The dog would do some crazy flip.  And then you had to react to a dog flipping but there was no dog. So it was challenging but it was fun and working with the Director, Robert Vince, was great because he was very honest. If it was working, he would be like “Perfect, great!”  If not, he would say, “No, we are going to do that one again,” and then he would explain if I was looking in the wrong spot or whatever but it was really great. After that, I’m definitely capable of handling anything right now. Give me any sort of situation actingwise, I am ready.

Your co-star is John Ratzenberger (“Cheers”), and I know he loves to improvise.

Yes and I love to do improv, too. I actually performed in a place called the Vancouver TheaterSports League and that’s where I get my chops for improv over the last, I guess 10 or so years and it was great.  Yes, John and I would mess around a little bit.  He kept me on my toes for sure.

You were very believable as a dad.  What did you do to help the kids in the film get comfortable with you?

It was lots of fun.  Working in the “Conversations With” Web Series was very helpful because it is not shot like a traditional TV set or anything like that.   And being an improviser I have worked with lots of kids on stage in front of a live audience, which is very exciting and dangerous if you will. And so I felt quite prepared when I got on set and the kids were great. I mean everyone was super fun and Mason Vale Cotton was a consummate professional.  He was very prepared. And he was also very adaptable.  I mean it is hard acting with the dogs and animals and stuff but he was patient and he was fantastic.

I’m glad you mentioned the very funny “Conversations With” on YouTube, where you played the role of a 2, then 3, now 4-year-old, saying exactly what she said to her father.  Tell me how you psych yourself into that role.

I think there is more kid in me than I realize. I always want to try and get what I want when I want it. And so I definitely tapped into that. But basically, being an improviser you just sort of say yes to situations and also you observe a lot. So I spent a lot of time watching my brother raise his two kids and like I said I taught improv as well so I have worked with kids in that way. And then just watching Coco, I studied her sometimes and see what she does. And then I take some creative license.

I like the way you capture the temperament of a child without having to use an exaggerated baby voice.

Yes, Matt Clark, my friend and my partner in crime in the series, we talked about that at length actually when we were starting. We were like “Well, how much like a kid do I play it?”  We try to find a fine line about what makes the most sense.  Sometimes I do act like a kid because it feels right and then other times I feel like no, this is an adult moment, this is when maybe Coco’s exploring the world of what it is like to be older.

One of the things that I particularly enjoyed in the “Russell Madness” movie was the set.  It was just gorgeous.

When I walked on to that set, I was like, “Oh my goodness! I’m in a real movie!”  The set was amazing. And we were all really sad when we had to go to the modern version, but that was amazing too.  Everyone loved it. And then we were all kind of like joking that we could just leave it up and start a wrestling league here.  We were all sad when we had to leave that set.

What do you think families will talk about after they see the film?

I think people are going to love this movie because it has got a great little story.  The parents will be happy with the family message: family first, family is the best tag team. And I think that is a great element of it.  The monkey talks and we hear the monkey and that is super fun. And then of course we have got the dogs so if you like dogs, you are in. If you like monkeys, you are in. You kind of got it all and the kids were both talented obviously and super cute. So it is fun.

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The Sound of Music Celebrates its 50th Anniversary

Posted on March 9, 2015 at 8:00 am

A glorious new 50th anniversary Blu-Ray edition of Sound of Music is out this week, featuring commentary, behind the scenes footage, and all kinds of extras — sure to be one of your “favorite things.”  

This box-office champ is one of the all-time great family musicals, a Rodgers and Hammerstein triumph based on the true story of the Von Trapp family’s escape from Austria.  

140223073354-von-trapp-family-1946-story-bodyMuch of the story is true.  Maria was a postulant, sent by the convent to become a tutor for one of the ten (not seven) children of nobleman and Naval officer Georg Von Trapp. They got married, but it was seven years before the Nazis took over Austria.  Maria always insisted, though, that Georg was not at all like the stern, humorless character of the early scenes.  And they escaped by train, not by the mountains.  A new book about the real story behind the family and the film is a lot of fun: The Sound of Music Story: How A Beguiling Young Novice, A Handsome Austrian Captain, and Ten Singing Von Trapp Children Inspired the Most Beloved Film of All Time.

The movie musical is still one of the all-time greats.  And you can visit the Von Trapp grandchildren and great-grandchildren at their resort in Stowe, Vermont, where they are still singing.

Their home in Austria is also now a hotel.

A&E Biography did an episode about the Von Trapps.

Here’s a glimpse of the children from the Broadway cast on the game show, “What’s My Line?” (They’re at the end of the show.)

Julie Andrews performed a duet with Maria Von Trapp.

And here is one of my favorite songs from the movie.

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