2014: Week 22: Maleficent

Maleficent

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Family

Main Players: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley


General Gist: A twist on Sleeping Beauty, from a totally different point of view.

Deb's Take:
I'm a sucker for fairy tales.  I think 2 years ago a handful of fairy tales told from a different point of view flooded the screen.  I liked them, so I figured I would like this one too. 

I have never been a real big fan of Angelina Jolie and her acting abilities.  Whenever I watch her I always just get more of a feeling that she is a presence more than an actor.  She doesn't have many lines in the movies I watch her in.  I was a little nervous she might ruin this one for me.  Luckily, her role required more of a "presence" and not much talking, so she fit it perfectly.  I was impressed with the makeup work on her (or digital work as it may be).  I liked how this played on the fantasy, and told a pretty good back story.  I liked Sam Riley's character, and felt like he was Angelina's other side.  Almost like he had the words she didn't.  Elle Fanning was very princess like.  This movie was quite enjoyable.   I'm not sure how younger kids would do with it however.  I know it's a Disney movie, but a few parts may be on the scary side for those 5 year olds, but all in all it had all the things a good Disney movie needs.

Deb's Rate: Matinee

Tiff's Take:
I too have been enjoying the twists on the old fairy tale classics.  This one had an interesting point of view.  Obviously more depth to it then the original Sleeping Beauty.

I don't necessarily love Angelina Jolie but I don't really dislike her either so I didn't go into this one with as much skepticism as Deb.  And I wasn't really surprised at how well the role fit Jolie.  The other actors were good and got the job done.  Overall, it was a good movie but not sure what demographics it was trying to pull in.  I thought about taking my 6 year old but glad I didn't.  I'm not sure it was "young" enough for her.  And my 9 year old didn't have any interest in seeing it although he probably would have liked it better then he thought.  (Not too princessy)  But as a thirty something women who likes fairy tales it was worth watching.

Tiff's Rate: Matinee

Preview: We both finished the book "The Fault in Our Stars" so we took our posse (ok two others who also finished the book and a few more who didn't read it) with us!

2012: Week 31: Diary of a Wimpy Kids: Dog Days

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Genre: Family, Comedy

Main Players: Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Steve Zahn, Peyton List

General Gist: Third movie of this great book series!  This one is about "The Wimpy Kid's" summer.

Deb's Take:

Well, we took the whole gang this week. My family has seen the two prior so we were excited for this one.   The story lines always seem to hit home with each member of our family.  This movie was even more “real.”  I guess the ages of the characters sort of fell in line a little more closely with my kids (the two oldest at least.)  The parents’ characters were pretty hilarious too!  My husband and I laughed quite a lot during this movie, and shared moments of knowing smiles and nods.  All the characters did well,  I will say that the main character, Zachary Gordon, looked a little too old for a 7^th grader though.  He is 14 in real life, so not too off, but for some reason I wasn’t convinced.   I think this movie was just a great family show to laugh and enjoy.  My three kids of 9, 12, 15 seemed to enjoy it.  I will be curious what Tiff says her kids thought.  Much younger crowd to please there. 

Deb's Rate: Matinee -Great family time

Tiff's Take:
I couldn't help but draw similarities between this movie and Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer.  My kids for whatever reason really got into that movie so I've seen it at least a bazillion times.  Both story lines are about a kid in their tweens trying to figure out what to do during summer.  I have to say that this movie wasn't nearly as enjoyable.  At least from a parent's perspective.  It was funny but I didn't think it was hilarious by any means.  And I just didn't think it was as interesting.  Also, since my kids are younger (4 and 7) I was very aware of how much they were enjoying it.  My 7 year old said he liked it but my 4 year old started to get restless towards the end.  I don't really think this movie is intended for a 4 year old audience but mine absolutely loves Judy Moody so I thought this might work.   

I really wish I had seen the first two movies.  I see the advertisements for them and think they look hilarious but it's not really something I would go rent for my own benefit.  I'm not sure if seeing them would change the way I felt about this movie.  Most likely it would but as a stand alone movie I wasn't overly impressed.  When we got out of the movie my husband said, "Judy Moody was way better."  Ha. We watch too many kids movies!  

Tiff's Rate: Rent It

Preview: Going to see Moonrise Kingdom.  Not really advertised much.  We'll see how it goes!

Bonus Review: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Genre: Animation, Family

General Gist:  A boy goes in search of a long forgotten tree in hopes of impressing the girl of his dreams.  In the process he finds out about this world that use to be and tries to bring it back. 

Main Players: Voices by Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito, Betty White, Ed Helms

Tiff's Take:
Like Deb's bonus review of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, this movie was an opportunity to spend some time with my son.  He's been talking about going to this movie and since my husband was out of town and my daughter was getting quality time with her grandparents we decided to go.

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie and pleasantly surprised at how well it kept the attention of my 7 year old.  This movie wasn't overly funny with constant kid humor to keep them glued to the screen.  For this very reason I was really surprised that my son didn't tap me on the arm halfway through the show asking if it was almost over.  In fact, I didn't sense any boredom out of him at all.  Now that's a good kids movie!

Not only did everyone seem to enjoy it but it also had a good message.  Basically it promotes a healthy environment and being good to the land and all the living creatures on it.  I think this movie could bring out the inner tree hugger in all of us.  It did me!

Preview:  Gone review up next.  And don't forget to enter our Giveaway!      

Week 52: We Bought a Zoo

Any normal person might think this is our last post in our quest to see a movie a week in 2011.  After all, it is week 52.  Well, as it turns out it is not.  We just saw our last movie yesterday and it wasn't this one.  How can that be you ask?  Well, if you recall January 1st was a Saturday.  We went to a movie that day and called it week 1.  Technically it probably wasn't week 1.  But alas, that's what we did so we managed to defy the western calendar and actually have 53 weeks of movies this year.  Not to mention a few extras.  As far as movies are concerned it's been a pretty darn good year for us.  Now that the accountant in me has justified week 53 I'll continue on.

This past weekend we saw We Bought a Zoo for week 52.  We chose this one to satisfy all the family needs since we made this one an all family event.  Christmas day movies are the best.  Going to a movie on Christmas has always been a tradition in our family.  Anyone else?

This may not have been my first choice of a movie to see but I was interested in seeing it.  I love Matt Damon for one.  And two...well I love Matt Damon.  How can you go wrong with that?  This movie is about a guy who is working through the loss of his wife and decides to move his kids to a new place to get a fresh start.  They end up buying a house that includes a run down zoo.  They put in a lot of money and hard work to get it open again and of course learn some life lessons on the way.  Pretty much a nice wholesome story. 

Matt Damon was of course good and so was Scarlett Johansson who played the main zookeeper.  I'm not sure that the two had the best chemistry but it was okay.  The kids were played by Colin Ford and Maggie Elizabeth Jones with another role played by Elle Fanning.  They were all good especially Maggie Elizabeth Jones.  She was so cute it was hard not to consider her the standout. 

Overall I thought this was a cute movie.  It had funny and touching moments and a good story.  I'm not sure I would say it's one of my favorites but good entertainment for a night.  The kids seemed to enjoy it but it was a little slow for my six year old. 

To Sum it up:  A warm, fun story with heart.

Another Bonus Review: Dolphin Tales

So, this must have been the week of movies...yes, I actually went to three movies this week...and I am not ashamed at all, I love movies and I am glad I get to go. (Ok, so maybe I overkill movies some, but oh well)

I took the family to see "Dolphin Tales". All my kids were just dying to see this movie and couldn't wait for it to come out, so we saw it the second day after opening. Brian and I were a little excited to see it as well, the previews looked good and I like movies based on true stories.

The story is about a dolphin who gets caught in a fisherman's trap and loses his tail. The dolphin, Winter, is found by a boy who makes a connection with the dolphin. The dolphin is taken to a rehabilitation center for sea animals, and the movie follows the dolphins journey to recovery and the lives of all those who are helping him.

The main characters, besides Winter the dolphin, in this movie include the boy, Sawyer-played by Nathan Gamble, his mom, played by Ashley Judd, the vet-played by Harry Connick Jr and his daughter, played by Cozi Zuehlsorff.

Again, kind of like Moneyball, the story really plays the movie more than the actors. The movie was well played and all the characters were very natural in their roles. I like Harry Connick in movies, he is sort of a low key natural. I was pretty impressed with Cozi, who played the 11 year old daughter. She will probably be seen in more movies in the future I am guessing.

My kids really like the movie as well. An inspiring story, and neat to see the real clips at the end as well as find the website following Winter's progress.

Highly recommended family movie with good vibes and happy endings! See you soon