A twofer!

I've got two movies today. I'm gonna keep it short and sweet as much as possible, too.

Happy Feet

Well, aside from the not at all subtle message of religious intolerance, a great movie. A great lesson on being yourself, not letting others decide for you who/what you should be. This is difficult, though. Because moral and societal limitations do exist. For instance, if being yourself means being a criminal, then you're not going to be accepted as such by most people, and that's not a bad thing. But, no need to get preachy here. With young children, the lesson is clear that we should all walk our own paths, and use the gifts we have, not bemoaning the gifts we don't have. The gifts we have are for a reason, and they serve us, and our families and loved ones, well if we use them correctly. A happy movie.

Parental notes. The songs used are old 70's 80's 90's songs rewritten just a smidge to fit the themes, so while the general wording of the new songs is fairly clean (no cussing or direct sexual references), you will notice that some of the originals weren't so clean. But remember - your kids don't necessarily know the originals!

Pursuit of Happiness

Will Smith is wonderful, as is his son, in this film. It will touch the heart of anyone who has suffered through really hard times, and/or sacrificed a lot in the present for the hope of a greater future. A great testimony to the power of hope and determination.

Parental Notes. No sex, only some partial nudity not at all displayed in a sexual manner (mom getting ready for work while talking situations). The language isn't horrible, but the F-word is displayed on a graffiti wall, and later repeated by the son. Less harsh curse words sprinkled throughout.

Actually Took the Kids to the Theatre for a Change...

this weekend. We went to see TMNT at the twilight show, which thanks to Regal Cinemas restoration of the twilight pricing is again somewhat affordable at $4/person. What can I say about the Turtles? I ADORE the Turtles. A little piece of my childhood that even 2 hideous sequels to the live action film years ago couldn't diminish. This new film - back in animation, well CGI - held true to all the attributes about the Turtles that I hold dear. The underlying theme remained as always about the importance of family. The personalities of the Turtles remained intact, although there really was way too little seen of both Mikey and Donatello. The focus stayed on the relationship between Leonardo and Raphael - the reluctant leader and the cranky, critical "loner" who appears to want to neither follow nor lead. The only thing that bothered me was that April O'Neal is all of a sudden some sort of treasure-hunter specialist instead of a reporter. Huh? When did I miss that? But still, it didn't really diminish my enjoyment.

Now about the CGI. In a day and age where everyone is looking for something bigger, better and more spectacular around the corner, this was nothing to write home about. I, however, don't really care about bigger or better. i care about the overall essence of the movie. This was a movie about the much loved for generations Turtles. Not about cool and cutting-edge CGI. So IMO, it's wonderful that they didn't sidetrack from the storyline with over-the-top effects. The animation was clean, precise, and served to allow the focus to stay simply and easily on the story unfolding on the screen. A superb job in my book.

I think it maybe goes without saying that this movie is indeed family-friendly. But, each parent has to choose for themselves, so in that spirit I will render a few slight spoilers (I don't really they are spoilers but someone else might.) There is OF COURSE going to be fighting. No CGI blood splatters, though. There are monsters, and there is one short kiss at the end between April and Casey - who are still girlfriend/boyfriend. Oh, and they do appear to live together, although it doesn't really play that up.

Now, are there any lessons to be learned/discussed with your children afterward? I think that a very good illustration is made on the point of what makes a good leader? Is it a good fighter? Not always. A big part of the enmity between Leo and Raph is Raph's feeling that he must be somehow lacking since he isn't the leader. That if just given a chance maybe he could be a better leader than Leo. It could be a good lesson in how leaders are chosen/made, and why not being the leader doesn't always mean that we aren't "as good" as those who are chosen. Biblically, those chosen to lead were rarely those that the average person would have chosen, or thought could possibly be a good leader. Gideon comes to mind right off the bat. So, yeah, a leadership lesson. If, after watching, you think of any other good lessons PLEASE feel free to share them here!

Been a LONG while

I admit it. I'm lazy. Extremely so. Therefore, while I have been watching many movies, and playing many games, I haven't felt the least inclined to post. Bad me. Only slightly in my defense is that I have recently moved up from 2 part-time jobs to about4 part-time jobs PLUS I am now taking a Korean Martial Arts called Hap Ki Do. Which are all good things, just leaves me much less "me" time on the computer, and the call of Guild Wars is strong!



So, what I've watched most recently is Eragon. Now, while my husband and daughter have both read the book, I have not. And I decided not to read until after I saw the mivoe. Why? you may ask? Because of experience with Jurassic Park. I knew people who had read the book and were so disappointed with the movie. I hadn't read the book and loved the movie. After that I read the book, and saw of course all the major differences. But, since I saw the movie first, I enjoyed bith the movie and the book as separate entities instead of comparing them to each other. I'm hoping the same will stand with Eragon. That said, I suppose I enjoyed the movie. It really did feel as if things were missing, though. It's like, even without having read the book I could just tell that I wasn't being told everything. I'm very familiar with the time limitations that make adapting a book to film difficult, leading to alterations in character, timing, plot twists, etc. Things like that generally do not bother me as long as the changes aren't contrary to the gist of the whole work. I get the idea from my family that big changes like that weren't the problem, but that somehow, as Durza says of Eragon himself, they just expected something ....well ..... more.......

Now, as far as appropriateness goes. In the general categories of sexuality, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Nary even a kiss to be had between any characters. Violence, well we are talking about dragons and battles and good versus evil. Yeah, there's violence, although the battle sequences were few, short and rather bloodless as it goes. The only consideration would be for those kids who trouble with "disturbing images." The sight of Durza's minions is a bit, shall we say, creepy. And Durza himself, especially once he is presented in full light as opposed to shadowy caves, is also a little beyond creepy. Now, a little more for those who harbor opposition to the use of magic. Yes, this is a fantasy movie, and dragon lore itself tends to always lean towards the magical. In this case, the dragons are pure magic, and the dragon-riders become magicians through their connection with their dragons. So, yes, magic figures somewhat prominently into the equation in this movie. So, unless you have issues with the last two items mentioned - I can safely reccomend this as a family-friendly movie!