Author: Annie

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Posts by Annie

November 5, 2010

Megamind

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 05 Nov 2010

The first thing that I want to say about Megamind is that it was much better than I’d expected. The second thing that I want to say is that this not a movie for all small children. It …

June 10, 2010

Marmaduke

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 10 Jun 2010

We were actually surprised by how much we liked Marmaduke the movie because, frankly, we didn’t expect to like it. There are some scenes that are a bit intense, and if you take a younger child to see …

February 1, 2010

The Spy Next Door

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 01 Feb 2010

It’s kind of hard to write a review of “The Spy Next Door” without saying up front that what you see is what you get. If you’ve seen the previews, then it should be obvious to you that this …

January 30, 2010

The Tooth Fairy

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 30 Jan 2010

The Tooth Fairy is a movie that is heavy on message, and full of silly gags that give it several funny moments. That said, unfortunately they were unable to offset the “does this tutu make my butt look big”, …

December 28, 2009

Inkheart

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 28 Dec 2009

The movie Inkheart, which is shockingly rated ‘PG’, should be rated at least PG-13. It is goulish, and gruesome, with slavery, weapons, violence, and monsters galore.

The Princess and the Frog

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 28 Dec 2009

Why is it that Disney insists on always, always, always killing off one of their main characters in just about every children’s movie? As if children’s feelings aren’t jerked around enough just by the fact of growing and learning, …

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 28 Dec 2009

We were really looking forward to seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and for the most part we weren’t disappointed. However there are some scenes that were entirely inappropriate, and language that was disappointing, neither of which were …

November 26, 2009

Old Dogs

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 26 Nov 2009

The mainstream reviews of Old Dogs, starring Robin Williams and John Travolta, have been extremely mixed. This is a movie that reviewers either really don’t like, or really do. Put us in the latter camp.

November 20, 2009

Planet 51

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 20 Nov 2009

I liked Planet 51 much more than I’d imagined that I would. In fact, we’re going to see it again tomorrow, and I am looking forward to it. That said, I wouldn’t take a child of below 9 …

November 1, 2009

Where the Wild Things Are

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 01 Nov 2009

I had high hopes for the movie Where the Wild Things Are, as the previews were awesome. So, sadly, we were really disappointed - the movie was much darker (thematically, not illumination-wise) then I’d expected, and it left me …

September 21, 2009

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 21 Sep 2009

We had really looked forward to this movie. The book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is an old family favorite, which we’ve read - repeatedly - with both of our children. From the previews, we know that …

September 2, 2009

Aliens in the Attic

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 02 Sep 2009

Aliens in the Attic has a funny gimmick: aliens using video game controllers to control humans (they first have to shoot a mind control plug into the back of the human’s neck, and it only works on adults). Unfortunately, …

Shorts

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 02 Sep 2009

Shorts was pretty much exactly what you’d expect from the previews (whether you think that’s a plus or a negative), with the added layer of a contrivance that we - including the child with us, found really annoying: the …

February 4, 2009

Bedtime Stories

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 04 Feb 2009

I was absolutely disgusted by Bedtime Stories, a movie that I had been told by someone whose judgement I (once) trusted, was completely appropriate.

January 18, 2009

Hotel for Dogs

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 18 Jan 2009

This is a review of the movie “Hotel for Dogs” for parents. We were very pleasantly surprised by this movie, as given the subject, we’d expected a lot more potty humour than there actually was. Yes, there is …

January 2, 2009

Marley and Me

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 02 Jan 2009

I’m going to tell you right off the bat that we have not gone to see Marley and Me (although I have read the book), and I’m going to tell you why.

December 30, 2008

Bolt

Filed under: Animated, Movies, Non-Fiction, Picture Books - 30 Dec 2008

The movie Bolt was a surprise. Unlike The Tale of Desperaux, which was an unpleasant surprise, Bolt was actually a pleasant surprise!

The Tale of Despereaux

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 30 Dec 2008

Everyone knows that movies are never as good as the book, but we were willing to take a chance on The Tale of Despereaux because, well, because it’s so rare for a G movie to come out, and because the …

November 14, 2008

Madagascar 2

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 14 Nov 2008

Madagascar 2 was a huge disappointment. Not only is it full of violence, but it generally is a poorly done movie. As is so often the case, the sequel doesn’t come close to the original.

July 20, 2008

Space Chimps

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 20 Jul 2008

A parental review of “Space Chimps”

July 19, 2008

Get Smart

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 19 Jul 2008

A Parental review of Get Smart

July 17, 2008

RV

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 17 Jul 2008

A Parental review of RV, starring Robin Williams

July 16, 2008

Kung Fu Panda

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 16 Jul 2008

A Parental Review of “Kung Fu Panda”

July 15, 2008

Nim’s Island

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 15 Jul 2008

A Parental Review of Nim’s Island

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 15 Jul 2008

A Parental Review of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

July 14, 2008

Wall-E

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 14 Jul 2008

A parental review of Wall-E

January 19, 2008

The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 19 Jan 2008

We were stunned at the amount of genuine violence in The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie.

Now, granted, it is a ‘pirate’ movie, but it is, we thought, first and foremost, a VeggieTale movie, and as such …

December 31, 2007

Enchanted

Filed under: Animated, Live Action, Movies - 31 Dec 2007

A parental review of Enchanted

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 31 Dec 2007

A Parental Review of The Legend of the WaterHorse

September 15, 2007

Madagascar

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 15 Sep 2007

A Parental Review of Madagascar

Arctic Tale

Filed under: Documentaries, Live Action, Movies - 15 Sep 2007

A parental review of Arctic Tale

August 22, 2007

Firehouse Dog

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 22 Aug 2007

A parental review of “Firehouse Dog” - not as bad as I’d heard, and with a somewhat sweet storyline!

August 4, 2007

Mac and Me

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 04 Aug 2007

A parental review of the movie “Mac and Me”

Cool Runnings

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 04 Aug 2007

A crunchy parental review of the movie “Cool Runnings”

Babe

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 04 Aug 2007

Review of “Babe”, the movie about a pig who wants to be a sheepdog.

July 23, 2007

Hairspray (2007)

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 23 Jul 2007

Review of “Hairspray” (the 2007 version) starring Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken

July 22, 2007

Happy Feet

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 22 Jul 2007

Review of “Happy Feet”, the movie starring Robin Williams, Robin Williams, Robin Williams, a few other people, and a lot of animated penguins.

June 30, 2007

Ratatouille

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 30 Jun 2007

A parental movie review of Ratatouille (pronounced “ratatooey”)

June 22, 2007

Rascal, the Movie

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 22 Jun 2007

Review of “Rascal” the movie, based on the book by Sterling North.

Evan Almighty

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 22 Jun 2007

Review of “Evan Almighty” starring Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman

June 19, 2007

Surf’s Up

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 19 Jun 2007

A review of the movie “Surf’s Up”

June 17, 2007

Flushed Away

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 17 Jun 2007

Review of “Flushed Away”, by Aardman and DreamWorks, the same team that brought us Wallace and Gromit and “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”.

May 29, 2007

Aani and the Treehuggers

Filed under: Books, Non-Fiction, Picture Books - 29 May 2007

A review of “Aani and the tree Huggers” by Jeannine Atkins.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Filed under: Books, Fiction, Picture Books - 29 May 2007

A crunchy review of the book “Cloudy with a Chance of Meat balls” by Judi Barrett

Meet the Robinsons

Filed under: Animated, Movies - 29 May 2007

Meet the Robinsons with Angela Bassett, Daniel Hansen, Jordan Fry, Matthew Josten, Laurie Metcalf, and Bowler Hat Guy.

May 27, 2007

Charlotte’s Web

Filed under: Animated, Live Action, Movies - 27 May 2007

A review of the new “Charlotte’s Web”, with Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, Dakota Fanning, Robert Redford, John Cleese, and Oprah Winfrey

The Last Mimzy

Filed under: Live Action, Movies - 27 May 2007

Review of The Last Mimzy with Rhiannon Leigh Wryn and Timothy Hutton