Strollerderby : kids movies

Disney Pixar's UP - Quickie Movie Review

Brett Singer — Sat, 30 May 2009 23:51:00 GMT

I don't want to spoil anyone's fun, so I'm not going to get into too many details. Let me say that there's a lot more to the film than what you saw in the trailer. And if you, like me, are bummed out after the first few minutes, just wait. Trust me.

This is probably the best kid flick I've seen since I had children. It's also one of the better films I've seen in recent years. Admittedly, I don't get out to the movies much. But I doubt any of the Oscar-nominated films this past year were this much fun.

Seriously, "Up" has great action sequences, a good story, moments that tug at the heartstrings -- and by far the cleverest talking animals you will ever see. I don't mean that they say funny things, although they do. I mean that the usage of said animals is a million miles ahead of anything you've seen before.

I'm going to go a little over the top and say that I think "Up" will get a nomination for Best Picture and also Best Screenplay. Yes, it will probably be nominated for Best Animated Feature, and like every other Pixar movie, it wil win. But it's better than that, and I think it will be recognized as such. So you heard it here first -- "Up" for Best Picture.

I don't want to build it up (no pun intended) too much. But it's really good. Go see it and don't let your kids talk too much.

Image: Amazon

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Will Smith Remakes The Karate Kid, Casts His Son in Lead

Cole Gamble — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Here is some more news on that Karate Kid remake that's gonna kick your precious childhood memories right in the nuts:

As you can imagine, any Karate Kid remake will require going through the paces of the original, such as the “wax on, wax off” scene. Except now they’d be updated with modern, yet even more tired references like, “Turn the Internet history on, turn the Internet history off. Clean the hard drive, side to side.” And you can bet you’ll get a Nintendo Wii product placement in that training sequence.

Not helping matters, the new Miyagi is reportedly Jackie Chan, who will deliver all this eastern wisdom with the mush mouth diction of the Elephant Man doing Jello shots on his birthday at Hooters.

More by this author:

10 WORST. BABY. PRODUCTS. EVER! (Part 1)

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10 Things You May Not Know About Pregnancy (and might shock you)

Cute Overload: White Tiger Kitten and Monkey are Friends (PICS!)

Men with Baby Heads

The 26 Most Disturbing Kids Movies Ever

What do you think? New Karate Kid: Sign of the apocalypse or tolerable idea?

Giveaway: Win Tickets to "Kung Fu Panda: The IMAX Experience!"

editors — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:01:00 GMT

You know your kids want to see the movie with the kung-fu fighting panda. You know they do. And hey, you deserve a night out, right? So how about this: we'll take your whole family to the movies. Absolutely free. Read on for details!

Thanks to the kind folks at Paramount Pictures, we have 10 sets of 4 tickets to Kung Fu Panda to give to ten lucky readers. You can use them at any date, at any IMAX theater (Yep, they're IMAX tickets. Those ain't cheap!). Just send your full name, mailing address, and the name of your favorite family movie to babblecontest@gmail.com to enter. Winners will picked at random and contacted on the film's opening day, Friday June 6th. Good luck!

What Would PETA Do? 101 Dalmatians – Giveaway!

editors — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Disney is letting another one out of the vault tomorrow, March 4th and this time it’s those lovable dogs fingered for fashion in 101 Dalmatians. This Disney classic and cautionary tale of over-breeding is available on DVD in 2-Disc platinum style, and we’ve got some to give away! What do you get with the limited edition package? Fun artwork, enhanced picture and sound and trivia like this:

If you added up all the spots on every drawing or cel of all 99 puppies plus Pongo and Perdita, you'd have a total of 6,469,952 spots.

That’s a lot of excruciatingly detailed pen work! Check out this clip of Cruella de Vil attempting to enforce her evil plan, and enter at babblecontest@gmail.com to win with the subject line: '"I live for fur. I worship fur". – April Peveteaux

80's Kids Shows to Movies: Which Ones Would You Choose?

Kelly Mills — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:31:00 GMT

I guess there's a live-action Transformers movie coming out. (As you can probably tell from my enthusiasm, I'll be camping out at the first showing to get tickets.) A little Wikipedia-ing told me Transformers have been around in one incarnation or another since 1984, but I think I was a little old for the original show, or just not that into cars that could become robots or what-have-you. However, at least one child of the 80's has a whole list of nostalgia shows she'd like to see made into movies (although I have to correct and say Ghostbusters was a movie before it was a show, oh 80's child.) On the list are G.I. Joe (if it hasn't been explicitly done, I think we've come pretty close with about a bajillion war movies), Jem (yup, truly, truly, TRULY outrageous), and the Smurfs (everyone inserts the Smurfette porn joke here). Also mentioned are Rainbow Brite (god help us) and Thundercats. Uh, thundercats, ho?

This list made me realize first and foremost that my child watches waaaaay better T.V. than I ever did, tricked out with Tivo as we are, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before she's all into some poorly drawn, badly written program designed to sell merchandise. I'm not really heavy on the nostalgia-fix myself, but maybe there are one or two programs I wouldn't mind seeing as films. 1. Sigmund and the Seamonsters, which was 70's, not 80's, and is already live-action, but I watched it in the 80's and I wanna see a movie of it so get off my back, will ya? 2. Um, did we have any good T.V. back then? Mr. Rogers? Help me out here, people!

Are "Kids" Animated Films Getting Too Grown-Up?

Alisyn — Sat, 19 May 2007 15:11:00 GMT

Shrek 3, Meet the Robinsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ratatouille - those are the names of just a few of the animated movies slated for release this spring/early summer, and honestly, I wouldn't consider taking my child to one of them. While the slick animation and colorful characters might hold her attention for a few minutes, I know most of the plot would go right over her head, the innuendo would be lost on her, and she would be trying to crawl back into my uterus every time the villain came on screen - there's always a villain. The movie ads and promotional tie-ins follow us everywhere, whether we're at Target, driving past (okay, through) a McDonalds, or browsing in the bookstore. We're supposed to want to see the movie - we get it.

I know how it works; I know that "kids" movies have to appeal to the adults accompanying them to the theater on some level, or they wouldn't do well - but when did attracting mature viewers become the focus of the the youth movie machine? And what does that mean for kids?

Well, it means they're exposed to mature-themes situations like, violence (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), subtle drug references (Shrek 3), sexual innuendo (Ratatouille), and child abandonment (Meet the Robinsons), for one thing. I guess that's cool. Some may argue that they'll learn about those things sooner or later, which is true. But why explain Mr. Incredible's mid-life crisis and implied infidelity to your 4-year old over a $5 bag of popcorn? Why take little Billy to a movie you know he's not going to fully understand or enjoy, since the eeeeeeeeeeeevil adversary scares the living shit out of him every time he slinks into the frame? Why not wait until little Susie hits kindergarten before she has to wrap her head why Lightening McQueen's is freaking out over his lack of corporate sponsorship?

I understand the need and desire to chill out at the movie theater with the kids. It's nice to have that kind of quiet time together, and the exciting anticipation of the film's release makes the night you finally go to see it together really special . And some kids really do like and "get" the plot lines - in my experience it's been the older, slightly more mature grade schoolers. I fantasize about the time when our whole family can hit the town for dinner and a film that everyone understands and enjoys. I'm hoping that Disney Fairies movie will be watchable for the under 6 set, but word is there's a violent, destructive hurricane, and a scary dragon. Sigh.

How do your kids react to the animated films in theaters today? Is your family first in line at the theater for a new release, or do you steer your kids clear of the "kids" movies they're supposed to like? Have you been able to find a middle ground when your kid wants to see a movie you don't think is appropriate for them? Have you taken you little one to a "kids" movie, only to have to leave half-way through?

Happy Feet: Who Knew it Was About the Environment?

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 14:01:00 GMT

My daughter has been Happy Feet-crazy ever since she watched it in my mom's hotel room a couple of weeks ago when she was visiting. For two weeks it's been Happy Feet this, penguins that... "Look how I can dance like a Macaroni Penguin..." We've been in a Cars-induced fog for the past six months so I had no clue what Happy Feet was about.

The movie was released on DVD this week and I pre-ordered a copy which arrived yesterday. We sat down to watch it and I was all prepared for it to be some lame cartoon about dancing and singing animals and...okay it was, but it also has a very overt environmental message. So much so that it's been called an animated version of An Inconvenient Truth.

My first clue was the Seafood Watch pocket card that fell out of the DVD case, a masterful piece of co-marketing if I do say so myself. Then as you watch the film the singing and tap-dancing take a backseat to the real message of the movie which is ~~that by being true to yourself you can make all the difference in the world~~ stop stuffing your pie hole with Chilean Sea Bass. (Or, as my daughter puts it, "If we stopped fishing then the penguins would have something to eat.")

P.S. You really haven't lived until you hear Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman's rendition of Prince's "Kiss" in the opening montage.

"High School Musical" Franchise is Unstoppable

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:03:00 GMT

I'd admit it. I haven't paid a lick of attention to the whole High School Musical frenzy. A quick Googling pulls up a description about a high school girl who meets a high school boy while on vacation. Romance ensues, then they part ways. Then she gets transferred to a new school which—surprise!—is high school boy's school. But she's a geek and doesn't fit in with his jock-ly world and...hmmmm...something sounds not-so-vaguely familiar.

Ooh! And, it's directed by Kenny Ortega, better known as the man behind the sexxxy dance moves in both Dirty Dancing and Xanadu.

Anyway, apparently this musical thing is is a huge phenomenon, and with the release of two new movies, it shows no signs of stopping. Disney has announced plans for not one, but two sequels. Haunted High School Musical, "an all-new musical adventure," is set to be released in theaters next year. But Haunted High School Musical will actually be the third installment in the saga (stay with me now), as High School Musical 2 (with cameo appearances by Michelle Pfeiffer and Maxwell Caulfield...I kid!) is scheduled to air on the Disney Channel this summer.

I can't keep it all straight but your tweens probably can.