The North Star…And More Stories About Following Your Dreams
Posted on May 30, 2011 at 7:00 am
B+
Lowest Recommended Age:
All Ages
MPAA Rating:
NR
Profanity:
None
Alcohol/ Drugs:
None
Violence/ Scariness:
None
Diversity Issues:
Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:
May 30, 2011
The latest from my very favorite series of DVDs for families has one of my very favorite books, Swamp Angel, in a collection of stories about lifelong learning and following your dreams.
The stories are:
THE NORTH STAR (Written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, narrated by Tim Curry) In this classic storybook about lifelong learning, children of all ages will be inspired to navigate their full potential and follow their dreams.
THAT BOOK WOMAN (By Heather Henson, illustrated by David Small, narrated by Walker Harrison) This is the moving story of the Pack Horse Librarians, whose bravery and commitment helped rural children find something wonderful in books.
PLAYERS IN PIGTAILS (By Shana Corey, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon, narrated by Zooey Deschanel) One brave girl proves that she’s in a league of her own as she strives to become a player in the first-ever All-American Girls Professional Baseball league.
YO! YES? (Written and illustrated by Chris Raschka) Two lonely boys who don’t know each other meet on a city street with a simple greeting in this heart-warming tale of friendship and cooperation.
SWAMP ANGEL (By Anne Isaacs, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, narrated by Alison Moorer) Angelica, or “Swamp Angel,” the greatest woodswoman in Tennessee, takes on a huge ravenous bear known as Thundering Tarnation. Can she tackle this beast?
I have one copy to give away. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Star” in the subject line and tell me your favorite story about a dream. Don’t forget your address! I’ll pick a winner at random on June 6.
Rated PG-13 for some sexual references and smoking
Profanity:
Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:
Drinking, smoking
Violence/ Scariness:
None
Diversity Issues:
None
Date Released to Theaters:
May 27, 2011
Date Released to DVD:
December 20, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:
B005MYEQ4U
Woody Allen’s best film in years is a nostalgic tribute to nostalgia. And this is one you’ll enjoy more by knowing less, so consider this entire review a spoiler alert and stop now if you want to preserve all of its surprises.
It begins with postcard Paris, a series of shots of iconic locations and a rueful jazz score.
Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a successful Hollywood writer who longs for something richer and more challenging. He has come to Paris with his fiancee, Inez (Rachel McAdams, doing her best in a thin role), and her parents, caricature Californians who prefer Napa Valley wine and American movies, even when they are in France. A character calls him Miniver Cheevy because he romanticizes the Paris of the past, when Hemingway and Fitzgerald wrote and drank and things seemed — at least in retrospect — simpler and filled with promise. It all seems even more appealing as he struggles to do the writing he says he wants to do and fumes as Inez seems enthralled by Paul, a fatuous know-it-all (Michael Sheen).
Okay, now spoiler alert again — stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens. One night, when Inez has gone dancing with Paul and his girlfriend, Gil goes for a walk. Just as the clock chimes twelve, a car pulls up and he is beckoned inside. At first, he thinks he has happened upon a costume party, but then he realizes that he is not talking to a couple dressed as Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston and Alison Pill); he is speaking to the legendary writers, and seeing them when they were young and happy and excited by the world around them. He meets his heroes. They accept him as one of them. He begins to live the life he believes he was meant to live — but only at midnight.
And there’s a girl. Marion Cotillard plays a free-spirited but warm-hearted girl who has had relationships with some of the now-legendary names of the era. And Gil is engaged. But she and Gil are drawn to each other and suddenly the only thing he can remember that he has in common with Inez is a fondness for Naan bread.
Allen makes no attempt to re-create the historical Paris of the lost generation. Part of the charm of the story is the way that it is very much Gil’s idealized dream of the era, with all of the now-famous names friendly and obliging. Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) is perfectly happy to read his novel (about a man who owns a nostalgia shop) and give him both encouragement and constructive suggestions. Just from reading what Gil wrote, a famous author (portrayed with great wit and gusto by Corey Stoll) has insights about Inez that Gil could not see. In a Jungian sense, each of the real-life characters is here simply as a manifestation of some aspect of Gil, a way for him to think through things he has been too successful to consider. When the story takes an “Inception”-like inverted twist, Gil begins to understand, like Dorothy Gale of Kansas, that the power is inside him when it is time to go home.
The retro scenes are brimming with charm, an all-star parade of early 20th century luminaries, charmingly written and beautifully portrayed. They may be Gil’s projections, but they are enchanting. The opening postcard shots shimmer into the dream of Paris and we embrace it as happily as Gil does, swept up in the bittersweet nostalgia you can only feel for something you never really experienced. Those midnight excursions for Gil are what movies like this one are for us, an emotional vacation that, if we are lucky, provides respite, clarity, and renewal. Allen continues his exploration of the great capitals of Europe next year with Rome. I’m nostalgic for it already.
I love the silly songs from Bob and Larry and the Veggie Tales gang!
The first-ever live show DVD from Big Idea entertainment is this delightful collection of the silliest silly songs ever sung, including my two favorites, “The Hairbrush Song” and “Endangered Love” (which we refer to as “Barbara Manatee” in our house). The live show has classics like “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” and some new songs, plus dancing, bubbles, confetti, some peeks backstage, and some lessons about sharing and friendship. It won’t be out until next month but I have one DVD to give away to a lucky fan. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Veggie” in the subject line and tell me your favorite silly song. Don’t forget your address! I’ll select one winner at random on June 1. Good luck and stay silly!
The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
Posted on May 16, 2011 at 8:00 am
B+
Lowest Recommended Age:
Middle School
Profanity:
Colorful pirate talk
Alcohol/ Drugs:
Characters drink rum, get tipsy
Violence/ Scariness:
Action violence, characters killed
Diversity Issues:
Strong female lead character, one strong minority supporting character
Date Released to Theaters:
2003
This week’s release of the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie is a good time to catch up with the original.
Avast, me hearties and come hear the tale of a terrible pirate curse.
No, not the one about the curse on pieces of gold that turn anyone into the walking undead, revealed as skeletons when touched by moonlight. This is one about the curse of the pirate movie, which has been known to turn fine actors into eye-rolling, scenery-chomping over-actors and empty the bank accounts of movie studios faster than real-life pirates pillaged their victims.
It takes a lot of courage to take on a pirate movie following notable critical and box-office catastrophes like Roman Polanski’s “Pirates” and “Cutthroat Island” with Geena Davis. This one’s origins as a Disney theme park ride didn’t seem too promising.
So maybe it is those low expectations that made this movie seem surprisingly enjoyable.
That is, if swashbuckling, rope-swinging, plank-walking, yard-arm-spinning, rum-drinking, double-crossing, colorful sidekick-joking, and all-around yo-ho-ho-ing sounds like fun, and especially if you know the theme park ride well enough to appreciate a couple of sly references, including a replica of one of the ride’s most memorable moments.
Elizabeth Swann, daughter of the Governor (Jonathan Pryce) is fascinated by pirates. On their voyage from England, Elizabeth helped rescue a boy named Will Turner. While he was unconscious, she took his gold medallion with a skull and crossbones.
Now grown up, Elizabeth (“Bend it Like Beckham’s” Kiera Knightley) is still wearing the medallion and is loved both by Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport) and by Will (“Lord of the Rings” heart-throb Orlando Bloom). When the dreaded pirates of the Black Pearl, led by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) sack the town, Elizabeth offers them the medallion if they will leave. They take it, and take her, too. Turner takes off in pursuit with the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), with Norrington and his men right behind them.
It turns out that the medallion is the last of the cursed pieces of gold that turned Barbossa and his crew into the walking dead, always hungry and thirsty, but unable to eat or drink. By restoring the gold to its chest — with the right person’s blood — the curse will be removed.
There are advantages, though, in being a pirate who cannot be killed.
Just like the theme park ride that inspired it, the movie’s greatest strengths are its atmosphere and art direction. The production design has that splendidly imaginative synthesis of classic book illustrations and some innate collective unconsciousness that gets the essence of every detail right, from the curve of the sail to a pirate’s pet monkey. Then come the action sequences, both energetic and entertaining. The script has some nicely creepy twists and some nicely saucy lines. Johnny Depp falls prey to the pirate curse, speaking as though he is recovering from dental surgery and at times seeming to be acting in his own movie completely separate from everyone else. But he is undeniably fun to watch. And with Lord of the Rings heartthrob Orlando Bloom as the hero, you get the two best sets of cheekbones in Hollywood on screen at the same time.
Parents should know that this movie has a lot of violence for a PG-13, and while it is not especially graphic, there are images, including the literally skeleton pirate crew and a false eyeball that keeps coming out, that may be disturbing to some viewers. There are some revealing bodices and some mild sexual references, including prostitutes (not explicit and no nudity or sexual situations). There is some strong and colorful pirate language. Characters drink rum and get tipsy.
Families who see this movie should talk about the rules/guidelines distinction and the movie’s many broken promises. How did the various characters decide which rules they would follow?
Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy pirate classics like “The Crimson Pirate” with Burt Lancaster and Errol Flynn’s “Against All Flags” and “The Sea Hawk”. Fans of pirate movies with truly over-the-top pirate performers must see Robert Newton’s definitive Long John Silver in “Treasure Island”. For a landlubber version, any version of “Zorro” — with Antonio Banderas, Guy Williams, or Tyrone Power — is swashbuckling fun. And every family should watch “The Princess Bride”. Disney’s “Shipwrecked” is a sort of “Home Alone” with pirates, a neglected delight starring Gabriel Byrne. Fans of musicals will also like the Gilbert and Sullivan gem “The Pirates of Penzance”, with Kevin Kline as the Pirate King and the delightful “The Pirate” with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.
“Drop Dead Diva’s” second season is out and it is even more fun than the first. The delightful Brooke Elliot plays a beautiful slender model whose spirit takes over the body of Jane, an overweight but very successful lawyer. Only her best friend (April Bowlby) and guardian angel (Ben Feldman) know who she really is. Every episode features clients with legal problems and Jane’s progress in getting used to her new life while trying to connect to the fiance from her old one. The second season features the “Devil Wears Prada”-with-a-twist story featuring one of my favorite young actors, Laura Breckenridge. Here are some glimpses of the show:
I have one copy of the DVD to give away. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with your name and address. Put “Diva” in the subject line and tell me which episode is your favorite. I’ll pick a random winner a week from today. Good luck!
