droolicious : movies

Get The Poster of Their Favorite Flick

JeanneSager — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:57:00 GMT

So you say your kid is obsessed with their favorite movie? Obsessed? Really? We can help.

Or at least, we can aid their obsession.

Just Movie Posters sells the poster from, well, their favorite movies. So you don't need to flex your Martha muscles to paint a picture of Mulan on their walls. You can just buy the real thing.

Not every movies on there, but they've got a variety, including a fair share of kiddie flicks. Prices vary, but most sit around $15 (with mini posters at $7) and if they're that obsessed, that's a small price to pay.

Get them from Just Movie Posters.

CES 2009: Pyro Army Chair From Pyramat

Chris Ford — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Here's a new gaming chair from Pyramat that I thought was pretty cool - the Pyro Army Chair. Like some of the other Pyramat chairs it has four speakers (two at the top, two at the bottom) and a big subwoofer. It's called "Army I suppose because of the camouflage patterns and has loads of pockets for whatever your son (most likely) wants to put in them.

What I liked the most about this version though is that it can be linked up to other Pyramat chairs - up to eight in total - so more than one person can enjoy the video game, movie, or whatever other audio source you have plugged into it. Each chair will have to have it's own separate power, but the audio plugs just into the first chair, and is distributed to the other chairs from the first.

The Pyro Army Chair should be available in four to six months an should retail for around $129.

CES 2009: New Portable Navigation From Alpine

Chris Ford — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Navigation systems are great for parents with a car full of kids and no room for error. The new portable navigation system from Alpine has all the normal dashboard nav stuff (turn by turn directions, maps etc.), with some added benefits parents can take advantage of.

The PND-K3msn Navigation System has the ability to connect with MSN Direct, which will give you up to the minute traffic data, weather, gas price information and even movie showtimes in your area. It also has Bluetooh hands free calling built in, which is actually quite good for similarly priced navigation systems.

The Alpine PND-K3 will cost about $500 and will be available February 2009. The subscription to the MSN Direct service will run you abotu $60 per month.

Read the press release here.

Star Baby: Angelina Jolie’s Kids Like to Dress Her In Diapers!

SunnyChanel — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:40:00 GMT

Angelina Jolie’s kids like to dress her in diapers! Well, not the mom and superstar Angelina herself, that would be a wee bit odd and pretty darn creepy. No, actually they like to put diapers on the Tigress doll, the character for which she voiced, from the film Kung Fu Panda. In Los Angeles for the release party for the DVD of the film, Jolie said about the movie “My kids do love it. They are very, very proud. They have mom dolls everywhere. They have the Tigress. They love Tigress. They have a big Tigress doll that they keep putting diapers on! They love Tigress!”

Glad to hear their love for mommy comes in many forms. To get your own Angelina Tigress doll you can go here and get one for $10.97 here (on sale!). And can you believe how amazing Angelina looks for just recently having twins!

Very Big Toys: Video Game Beanbag Chair - Pyramat Gamebag 2.1

Chris Ford — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:07:00 GMT

Getting your kids a special comfy chair with built-in speakers is kind of encouraging them to play video games, watch movies or generally waste time, but think of it this way. When they go to bed you'll have a totally sweet chair to waste time in too.

The Gamebag 2.1 is a bean bag type chair made out of "breathable microfiber fabric" that has surround sound speakers and a subwoofer in the seat. It's compatible with all gaming consoles (XBOX, PS3 etc.) as well as televisions, DVD players, hand held video games and iPod/MP3 players. There's even a smaller version (pictured below), the Gamebag Mini, that is pink only and is a little cheaper.

The Gamebag 2.1 is apparently available now at Linens N' Things for $89.99 and the Mini is available at Toys R Us for $49.99 (though nothing is available at their respective web sites yet). You can also check out products from Pyramat at Pyramat.com.

Sleeping Beauty Released From Her Deep Slumber In The Disney Vault Tomorrow

Chris Ford — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Tomorrow is a big day in our household. Sleeping Beauty, the favorite princess of my eldest daughter, is finally being released from the Disney vault tomorrow. Sleeping Beauty the movie that is, not the princess. But where is the best place to pick up your copy (assuming you haven't already pre-ordered it)?

If you're looking for extras, Best Buy has a special promotion going on for the release. If you purchase the movie (in either DVD or BluRay), you will get a free Sleeping Beauty Alarm clock (exclusive to Best Buy). If you purchase Sleeping Beauty with two other Disney releases (Tinker Bell and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning), you'll get a "free lithograph of the classic film's theatrical release." The price for the DVD at BestBuy.com is $14.99. Here's a link to the info about the promotion.

Amazon.com doesn't have any special promotions going on, just the same low price of $14.99 for the DVD and $23.95 for the BluRay edition (which also comes with a bonus DVD of the movie for playing in the car or in the kid's room).

Interestingly enough, the Disney Store online is selling the DVD for $19.99 with no special promotions, though I was in a Disney Store last week and they were offering a free lithograph (which quite frankly didn't look that great) with every Sleeping Beauty pre-order.

So I think the choice is clear. See you at Best Buy tomorrow.

Giveaway: Win 1 of 5 'Where the Wild Things Are' DVDs

Aaron Burgess — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:04:00 GMT

On Aug. 26, Scholastic Storybook Treasures will release an all-new DVD edition of Where the Wild Things Are... and 5 More Stories by Maurice Sendak, but we're giving five lucky Droolicious readers the chance to score their own free copy of the DVD now. Just send an email to babblecontest@gmail.com with your name, address and daytime phone number -- winners will be chosen at random on Friday, Aug. 29.

Previously available on VHS, this edition of Where the Wild Things Are includes the title classic and In The Night Kitchen, along with four other Sendak short stories -- "Alligators All Around," "Pierre," "One Was Johnny" and "Chicken Soup With Rice" -- all sung by Carole King.

In the event you don't snag a copy in our giveaway (or you just can't wait till we pick the winners), you can order the DVD for $12.99 at Amazon.

New DVD Set Rolls Eight Disney/Pixar Classics Into One Box

Aaron Burgess — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:11:00 GMT

You won't find anything in the way of new features or bonus material inside the just-released Disney/Pixar Ultimate 8-Movie Collection, but if you're tired of renting Pixar's Oscar-lauded flicks on family movie night, the set is a convenient way to score some of the best CGI films in recent memory in one shot.

The box includes Toy Story 10th Anniversary Edition; Toy Story 2; A Bug's Life; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Cars; and Ratatouille, but unfortunately doesn't pack the shorts and documentaries available on the films' previously released DVD versions. Given the release date, there's also no WALL-E, but at least you can still catch that one in theaters.

$110 (coming soon) from Amazon.

The Babble Review: Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake DVD

Chris Ford — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:15:00 GMT

Taking a break from the (sometimes) mind-numbing confines of Nick Jr. and Noggin can be a good thing, and if you've got a little girl who is deep in the throws of princess mania, you might want to check this out. Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake is a DVD aimed squarely at these little girls, and does something that I wasn't expecting. It doesn't try to teach ballet, nor does it present a professional performance of Swan Lake without explaining what is going on. What it does do quite well is convey the beauty and fun of ballet (and the classical music it is based on) without boring the kids watching it.

The forty minute program is broken down into two alternating parts - one that shows the individual acts of Swan Lake as performed by the Paris Opera Ballet, and then another that shows young girls (and one boy) performing the individual ballet steps. During the Swan Lake segments there is a voice-over explaining what is happening in terms of the story, which not only makes it easy for kids to understand, but also for those of us who don't make it to the ballet as often as we should. The other segments feature children from the School of American Ballet showing the ballet positions and other steps, as well as what those steps are based on.

My four year old daughter seemed to really enjoy the entire program, and even asked me to play it again after it was over. For her it's hard to miss with a princess story and video of young kids doing ballet. My two year old daughter was mildly interested, though it really wasn't the sort of program designed to keep the attention of someone her age. From my perspective, the voice-over (the voice of "Prima Princessa" herself) was a little annoying after a while and the overall production quality still has that "indie video" feel, but having a kids DVD where the soundtrack was entirely made up of classical music was a really nice change of pace.

Overall, I think if you've got a daughter or young girl in your life aged 3 or above who you suspect would probably enjoy something like this, it's a safe bet that she will. At the very least it's worth checking out a clip on the web site.

Check out Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake at PrimaPrncessa.com or buy it for $19.99 from Amazon.com.

First Day of School Propaganda from Sesame Street

Chris Ford — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:04:00 GMT

It might be three months too early for most people for this post, but if your child is going to be attending a pre-school summer camp for the first time (like mine will), this is a DVD you might want to check out. Sesame Street - Ready for School deals with the anxieties about going to school for the first time. And as I'm sure you can guess, Elmo and Baby Bear end up loving it.

This certainly won't be the most exciting DVD in your children's DVD arsenal, but my daughter loves it. And, although this may be complete wishful thinking, if it helps her deal with the moment when I leave her at summer camp for the first time, then it will have paid for itself many times over. At least it couldn't hurt, right?

Sesame Street - Ready for School, $10.99 from Amazon.com

CES 2008: Panasonic SD9 High Definition Camcorder

Chris Ford — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:18:00 GMT

If you're shopping for a new camcorder for that new baby, you may want to hold off for a few months, because I'm pretty sure the Panasonic SD9 is going to be worth the wait. It's fully HD and feature-packed, but I think it's the price that's going to make most people really excited.

The Panasonic SD9 is a 3 CCD camcorder that records full 1080P high definition video on small SD media cards. Getting about seven minutes per gigabyte, you'll be able to record about 224 minutes on one 32GB card (or 112 minutes on a 16GB card). The incredibly small media size also allows the camera itself to be incredibly small. I don't know if you can tell from the picture I took, but the camera is not much bigger than the palm of your hand. It basically feels like holding a lens with an LCD screen attached.

The camcorder also has a really cool face recognition feature. Basically, it notices when there is anything resembling a face in the view finder, and then automatically focuses and adjusts the lighting so that you can see the face. It even works in extreme backlit situations and seems like a really useful thing to have.

But like I mentioned, the best part is the price. The SD9 will have an MSRP of $799, which is considerably cheaper than what the current HD camcorders from Panasonic were selling for just a few weeks ago. According to the rep at CES, the camera should be available in the US sometime after May of 2008.

Check out the SD9 at Panasonic.co.jp.

From Our Gift Guide: The Princess Bride 20th Anniversary Edition -- $14.99

Erin Behan — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:00:00 GMT

It's hard to find a film more universally loved than The Princess Bride. Grown-ups appreciate its quirky wit; young kids love the over-the-top characters; and even at that age when boys' and girls' tastes tend to diverge, this fractured fairytale has something for both. This brand new edition is especially tailored to families, with a built-in videogame (more educational than Nintendo-like), a storybook with two retellings of the film, and three featurettes: one about fencing, one about fairytales, and a retrospective that will make you gasp at middle-aged Fred Savage. To skip it would be, well, inconceivable. Ages 6 and up. Get it at Amazon.

Find this and other great holiday gift ideas in the Babble Holiday Gift Guide.