Phase 4 Films Movie Reviews!

Recently I was given the chance to review a ton of great films by Phase 4 Films.  It was a great chance to see some new movies, especially with some of the rainy summer days we had---my kids were never bored! 

We really liked most of the movies, but my son (who is 5) really loved the movies Space Dogs  & Freddy Frogface.  Space Dogs was released in June and is based on the true story of 2 dogs sent to space in 1960

---we have watched this movie many times! While the movie is fun & entertaining, it was also a great reason to look up information about the real space dogs. My little guy couldn't believe there were really 2 dogs sent up into space a long time ago!

Freddy Frog Face was released in July & centers around 10 year old Victor & his friends, who are thrilled when the circus comes to town & Freddy gets to perform!  (This movie has a bad guy, who kidnaps Freddy's show dog but wasn't too scary!)  My son laughs at the funny parts & isn't afraid of the bad guy, which I appreciate. We watched this with my son's friend who also enjoyed the movie---and anything that can keep 2 active 5 year old boys entertained for an hour is a win in my book!

My daughter (almost 9) was really into a new movie Rockstars which was just released in August!  It is abut 2 earth worms who discover a disco record ---they become super stars!  The movie is cute & features the voice of Glee's Jane Lynch and was nominated for the Robert Award for Best Children/Family Film of 2012! 

We also had the opportunity to see Donkey X (which I thought was cute but didn't keep my kids attention as long), Smitty, another one we all liked and My Friend Bernard, which was just released and we all thought was fun! 

If you're interested in purchasing the Phase 4 Films movies listed above you can find them at Phase4films.com, Amazon.com, Walmart & Target. 



Disclosure; I received copies of the films at no cost in order to facilitate my review-as always, opinions are all mine! 

“May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor” ... my thoughts on the Hunger Games

Ok, so I absolutely loved The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. I read all three books in less than a week. I have been waiting and anticipating the release of the movie, since hearing about its making. I only for a second thought “Man, I hope I am not disappointed by the movie, (as I often am with movies based on books I love, such as One for the Money...based on Janet Evanovich's book--another favorite author of mine).

I couldn't wait.... when I realized it was being released on the same day as the charity event I have been working so hard on, I was disappointed. I wanted to see it as soon as I possibly could. This actually doesn't happen often for me.– I see it when I see it.

Well, I decided to go to the midnight showing after the charity event. (the night before, when it was released at 12:01, I was still working on the event, in fact, I stayed up until 4 am finishing up preparations).

So that night I got just 3 hours of sleep, got up the next morning and worked all day. I then went to the community center to set up and run the event. I went from the event (which was very successful by the way) with my friend/ neighbor who told me to read the books, to the midnight showing of the movie.

We were not disappointed at all! The movie was great. Yes, some variations from the book, but they worked. Obviously some things were changed and had to be cut down on for time constraints. The movie was almost two and a half hours long, but honestly didn't feel like it all. The time flew by.

I didn't get to bed until almost 4 am again for the second day in a row, but didn't care. It was so worth it. I didn't even regret it when my 4 yr old woke me up at 5:30 am with a fever and chills – my son was actually hallucinating from his high fever, and I of course thought of the tracker jackers from the movie. Weird, I was definitely frightened by this happening with my son, but I couldn't help but to refer back to the movie I had just seen.... so after a couple of long and very eventful days, here are my thoughts on the movie :

It was very fast moving, maybe too fast, I felt myself wishing they would have shown a little more in a few parts like showing how close Katniss and Gale are, the scenes with Rue, and the finale of the games seemed a bit short too. The movie could have been longer and still left me wanting to see more. It was THAT good! I can't wait to see the rest of them! Despite some changes movie vs. book: Definitely a must see! Very well casted and well played. My favorite characters in the movie were aligned with my favorite characters in the book: Jennifer Lawerence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna.

The thing I found to be most obviously different was the origin of the mockingjay pin (which is a very important symbol in the movie). In the book, Katniss got it from Madge, (District 12's Mayor's daughter) and she took it as the one token from home she was allowed to take with her to the games. In the movie, she got it from a vendor at the Hob (black market) and gave it to Prim before the Reaping, telling her it would keep her safe. Well, it didn't keep Prim safe. Prim was chosen and of course Katniss volunteered to take her place. When saying goodbye, Prim gives Katniss the pin back to keep her safe during the games... so it is different, but it works well in the movie. The pin symbolizes a lot in the story. Starting off as a symbol of the sister's love and protection...their connection, and later Katniss's connection with Rue, and then again with Katniss's rebellion, and eventually everyone's rebellion.

Even though I knew what was coming from reading the books, I still cried & was startled in some spots. The anticipation was great throughout the movie.

The story is morbid, when my friend/neighbor first gave me the book to read and I read the description, I said, “No thanks, this sounds terrible, why would I want to read a book about kids killing each other”? But she insisted and actually dared me to not finish once I started the books. She was right! The books were (despite being about a dark, morbid game) were definitely fast paced, and a can't put it down read.

The movie does a good job with keeping it pg-13, not showing too much blood & gore. The movie pulls your attention to the people and focuses are more on the relationships of the characters than the gore of the killing. There is blood and death, but not over done.

Yes - I will be seeing it in the theater again! Yes- I will be re-reading all the books, and yes -I will see the next movie as soon as it comes out!

(I was not compensated in any way for my thoughts on the movie)

Did you see the movie? What did you think?

preview of The Hunger Games movie HERE

The Lorax Movie Review

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday, I'm sharing my family review of The Lorax-which is in theatres starting today (March 2nd)!

The Lorax movie is of course based on the classic Dr. Seuss Book, The Lorax.   I loved that they used quotes from the book-my favorite quote  "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

The movie takes place in Thneed-Ville, a town made of plastic that receives its fresh air in bottles-there are no trees left because they've all been cut down to make Thneed ( a nice faux garment that everyone must have). The Onceler tells the story to a young boy who is looking for a real tree---because his crush wants to see a real tree "more than anything." The Oncerler recounts the tale of the Lorax, who speaks for the trees & how the Onceler is actually the one responsible for the trees being gone.

The movie kept with the ecological theme throughout, which I also liked. The characters were fun & entertaining, there is a bad guy of course. Both of my children sat & watched the entire movie-my 4 year old even wore the 3-D glasses for most of the movie. The movie is rated PG for mild language but I think there we only a few, not nice words, no cursing that I recall.

While both my children did like the movie, I do not think my four year old understood there was an environmental message. My 8 year old did, but in the book it is obvious, in the movie, the environment kind of fights with a boy & his crush for screen time.

Overall, this is a great family movie, that most of your family will enjoy. My husband and I like it, so did the kids. It wasn't too long & the characters are cute & often funny.

If you go to see the movie, let me know what you thought too!

Journey 2-Mysterious Island in 3D-Watch Out for the Lava

Having not seen the first movie in the series, the most I knew about this movie, as a parent, ironically enough, was that The Rock, sorry, Dwayne Johnson was in it. Also, having never finished a Jules Verne book, I was somewhat less familiar with the plot, other than my familiarity with the author and his genre. I think those caveats qualify me to review it pretty well from an 8 and 4 year old perspective, as well as a parent.

First, from a parent perspective, this movie was all fantasy/sci-fi, with a set of modern family issues serving as the plot, but I guess there has to be some antagonism to keep the movie moving, and it was ultimately wholesome, and not to overwhelming. The special effects, coupled with the theme did manage to jerk me back, and I mean way back, to a time when I used to actually read and even maybe use my imagination.

As for the kiddos, they both seemed to enjoy the movie, in terms of both shear attentiveness as well as appreciating the adventure theme, and understanding most of the comedic relief. My four year old wasn’t all that crazy about having to wear 3-d glasses, but managed to put them on a couple times. My older 8-year old daughter really enjoyed the movie, and definitely liked the 3-d. And I think the real sign that the both enjoyed the movie, was that upon returning home, there was a lot of pretend adventuring going on, with hardly a spot to walk, on account of the lava. The most important point that all of you probably want to know is that the kids were both entertained, and that this was a good movie that you can enjoy as a parent, with an 8-year old girl, 4-year old boy, or both.

Big Miracle-Movie Review

I had the opportunity to take my son, daughter & daughter's friend to see the preview of Big Miracle this past weekend. The movie is based on a true story about a family of grey whales that becomes trapped in the ice in Barrow, Alaska- is rated PG & now playing! Click HERE for the movie website.

This story is a heart warming tale about the efforts to free the animals, unlikely friendships and never giving up. My favorite line in the movie is when Adam Carlson (Krasinski-aka Jim from The Office) says to Rachel Kramer (Barrymore)"There is nothing you can do." Rachel replies with a "There is always something you can do." A great idea & lesson for all of us to remember.

This movie was great, I loved it, the two 8 year olds loved it and even my 4 year old watched & he made it through the whole movie (which can be kind of a Big Miracle too!). My recommendation would be this is a movie for a little bit older kids-probably closer to 6 if you're watching it in the theatre. There is a curse word or two, but I felt this was an overall great family movie.

The scenes were pretty amazing, lots of snow & ice, they looked cold for sure& I felt the characters were really emotionally attached to the whales & the outcome.  Oh & the whales-very cool too!!! One surprising twist to the movie-was my daughter's questions about what was real, what didn't really happen but made a good story & finally asking how we could find out more-I am so excited that the movie inspired her to want to learn more about these real life events-we're not calling it history or research yet but that is exactly what she is doing!  We came home & I purchased the book right away-I'll read it first, but she is excited! Here it is on Amazon!

If you go to see the movie, please let me know what you think-I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

PS. If you're a crier  take a few tissues there are a few scenes that will have you teary eyed for sure!