Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is often asked what book she loved most when she was a child and she always answers The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. It is the story of a little girl named Maria Merryweather who goes to live with her uncle in mysterious Moonacre Manor and goes on a magical adventure.
That story has inspired a movie called “The Secret of Moonacre,” with Dakota Blue Richards (“The Golden Compass”) as Maria and Ioan Gruffudd (“The Fantastic Four,” “Amazing Grace”) as her uncle. There’s an uneasy mismatch between the sumptuous and imaginative visuals and the sometimes-inert pacing, but the story of the young girl who has to save the day and unite families who have been at war for centuries is engaging and fans of fantasy will enjoy seeing the characters come to life.
I have one copy of the movie to give away to the first person to sends me an email with “Moonacre” in the subject line — don’t forget to include your address!
This tender tale of a loyal dog is inspired by a real story about a dog who has become a beloved legend in Japan and is memorialized in a popular statue.
Richard Gere plays a professor who finds an abandoned Akita puppy at a railroad station. He and his wife (Joan Allen) keep the dog, and while Hachi never learns any of the usual tricks, he shows his devotion by coming to the station every night to meet his master, even after a tragic separation.
Though it has top stars, a heart-warming story, and an outstanding director (Lasse Hallström of “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and “The Cider House Rules”), the movie never got a theatrical release. You can see it this weekend on the Hallmark channel and it is available on DVD. (NOTE: a sad death, sensitively handled)
I loved “Babies” and I am very honored to be able to give away three copies of the Blu-Ray/DVD.
As I said in my review,
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.
It’s about babies, but it’s also about families and about our common humanity.
The Blu-Ray and DVD have lots of great extras including an update showing the babies today with their families watching themselves.
BONUS FEATURES EXCLUSIVE TO BLU-RAYTM HI-DEF: Unleash the power of your HDTV with perfect picture and purest digital sound.
BD-LIVETM: Access the BD-LiveTM Center through your Internet-connected player to watch the latest trailers and more!
MY SCENES: Bookmark your favorite scenes from the movie.
pocket BLUâ„¢: USHE’s groundbreaking pocket BLU app uses iPhoneâ„¢, iPod® touch, iPad®, Blackberry®, Androidâ„¢, Windows and Macintosh computers to work seamlessly with a network-connected Blu-rayTM player and offers advanced features such as:
Advanced Remote Control: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-rayâ„¢ player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Liveâ„¢ functions with ease.
Video Timeline: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in their favorite film.
Mobile-To-Go: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-rayâ„¢ discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there’s a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
Browse Titles: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLUâ„¢-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-rayâ„¢ Hi-Def. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
Keyboard: Enter data into a Blu-ray player with your device’s easy and intuitive keyboard.
BONUS FEATURES (DVD and BLU-RAYâ„¢):
THE BABIES РTHREE YEARS LATER FEATURETTE: Director Thomas Balm̬s revisits all the babies Рwho are now four years old Рand their parents.
EVERYBODY LOVES… YOUR BABIES SWEEPSTAKES WINNERS: See the winning photos and videos from our fans – whether it was their first words, playing with siblings, or simply sleeping.
If you’d like to submit an entry, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Babies” in the subject line. Include your address (used for prizes only, I promise) and tell me the cutest thing you ever saw a baby do. On Oct 2 I’ll pick three winners at random. And if you’d like to try for the grand prize, a Complete Air Convertible Car Seat, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Car in the subject line and give me your address and your favorite music to listen to with the baby in the car. Good luck!
Ushpizin is a quietly moving drama set in an almost-unseen world. It takes place in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem during the fall holiday of Sukkot, which falls this year on Sept 22-29. During Sukkot, families build tabernacles called sukkahs out of organic materials and decorate them with harvest fruits and vegetables to celebrate and give thanks for the bounty of the season. Observant Jews eat their meals and sometimes even sleep in these huts, which have their roofs open so that the people inside can see the stars.
“Ushpizin” was made by the formerly secular actor Shuli Rand, who is now a part of the community where it was made, and which has never been shown on film before. Because of the restrictions on male-female contact in the Orthodox community, Rand’s wife had to play his character’s wife. Even though she had not acted professionally before, her performance is one of the movie’s highlights. She immediately engages our interest and her sweet sincerity makes her utterly captivating.
Rand plays Moshe Bellanga, a Hasidic Jew who is married to Malli (Michal Bat-Sheva Rand). They are devoted to each other and to their religious practice, but very poor. They are not even able to pay their landlord. And then a miracle happens. Through an American charity, they receive a special grant of $1000. Moshe’s religious dedication is so passionate that instead of spending the money on their daily necessities, he wants to use it to realize his dream. A part of the celebration of Sukkot is the waving of the lulav (a palm frond) and the etrog (a lemon-like citrus fruit), and the freshest and most beautiful specimens are sought after. Moshe dreams of a truly magnificent etrog, and this money makes that possible.
Meanwhile, some friends from Moshe’s past life arrive. He warmly welcomes them and invites them to stay in his sukkah, not realizing, or not caring, that they are thieves running from the law. The title of the film is an Aramaic term for “guests.”
The glimpses of life in this community are as interesting as the story, which unfolds in a direction that differs from the usual movie conventions of order being confronted by chaos. It is a tender, touching, and inspiring story of love, faith, and genuine goodness.
On the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Jews study the story of Jonah and the Whale. The Jewish educational and outreach group AISH says
In a certain sense it is very much the story of Yom Kippur’s essence — return to God. It teaches us about our voyage and ourselves.
You can almost see God’s thought-process here: If Jonah can bring such will and determination and even a certain nobility of spirit to ignoring me, how much more valuable will he be once I turn him to my ways? The further Jonah runs, the more he convinces God that he’s worth chasing after. And that’s what I think the satire is meant to get across in the Book of Jonah: We can go to any lengths, make ourselves ridiculous as possible, in your efforts to escape God, but the very intensity and absurdity and even the painfulness of our flight shows God how much potential passion we have lacked inside us, to say nothing of how much we must actually want and need him. And seeing that, God may laugh at us a little, but he will not abandon us.
Certainly one element in telling this story each year is that it puts some of the day’s meaning in terms children can understand.
The beautiful Rabbit Ears version of the story, narrated by Jason Robards, is only available on VHS, but I hope someday the entire series will be released on DVD. The Veggie Tales version has the company’s trademark silly charm.
is a quietly moving drama set in an almost-unseen world. It takes place in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem during the fall holiday of Sukkot, which falls this year on Sept 22-29. During Sukkot, families build tabernacles called sukkahs out of organic materials and decorate them with harvest fruits and vegetables to celebrate and give thanks for the bounty of the season. Observant Jews eat their meals and sometimes even sleep in these huts, which have their roofs open so that the people inside can see the stars.