A Cinderella Story

Long time readers of the blog will have realised that our family has girls so there will always be a girl bias when it comes to the movies we review.  With this in mind I introduce to you a movie from the golden years of Hillary Duff; A Cinderella Story.

A Cinderella Story is a modern remake of the classic fairy tale.  The movie is set in a 2000's Californian high school and features such modern technology as chat rooms, texting and flip phones.  This movie comes with so much cheese that you'll need more than a packet of crackers to get through it but it has a lot of fun too and the evil stepmother Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge) really steals the show - she's totally horrible, but fabulous.

Rating: As far as chick flicks go this one is pretty much by the book but it doesn't take itself too seriously and spurred lots of discussion with the kid about relationships and the dreaded "friend zone" etc.  We'll watch it again in a little while when Dad is out.

Naughty bits: There are a few big smooches but no violence or bad language.  If you want to use this movie as a springboard to talk about online safety that's not a bad thing either.

Snacks: Salmon sushi and a coffee

Family In-quotes: "Anything you say to me, you can say in front of my peeps"

Related Goodies:
The Friend Zone
11 Unrealistic moments in A Cinderella Story - but we love it anyway

Zootopia

We were so excited about this coming out that we had to go to the movies on the first Friday it was on.  And seeing as it's still playing in theaters I'll try not to spoil it too much for ya.

Zootopia tells the story of an enthusiastic bunny who achieves her dream to work as a cop in the big city before getting caught up in a mystery much bigger than she ever could imagine.  You would think that the moral of the story would be the usual Disney "believe in yourself" but refreshingly it doesn't go there but points to something deeper and more meaningful.  I won't say anymore except to say it's worth finding out for yourself.

The production design (it's a cartoon) is amazing; super colourful and jam packed with seemingly endless detail.  Disney have created a world I want to visit so bad!

Rating: We will definitely see/buy this when it comes out on dvd/internet buy.  If you remembered liking the classic "who done it" detective stories (Agatha Christie etc) then you will like Zootopia.  The plot is very much a guessing game of who done it, there are plenty of good jokes and the character development is really good too.  Repeated viewing for us.


Naughty bits: The movie is as clean as Judy Hopp's uniform but there are some scary and jumpy animal moments for sure.  Think the hyenas from The Lion King but more snarly.  We took our 3 1/2 year old and she had to tell herself to be brave but she pushed through the pain because she was enjoying it so much.  If you have kids which are sensitive about that sort of thing then they will hate it.

Snacks: Ice blocks

Family In-quotes: "You know you love me"

Related Goodies:
That amazing "Weaselton" reference from Frozen
Super cute cosplay

Spy Kids

It seems that the 2000's were a golden time of live action movies for kids.  These days they seem to be all animated, which is cool, but I miss seeing real people on screen.  Spy Kids is a live action sci-fi fantasy movie made just for kids and it made me wish that more movies were being made like it.

Carmen and Juni Cortez are just regular kids until their parents are kidnapped and they discover that their parents are actually *plot spoiler* spies!  The kids must use all their wits and gadgets to outsmart the bad guys and rescue their parents (as well as the world). 


Rating:  Some of the spy/sci-fi movies we've reviewed have been for older kids but Spy Kids has been created with the younger primary school age child in mind.  There are some tense moments and the kid robots are a little creepy but overall everything is done in an innocent and fun way.  Our kid is at the older end of the kid spectrum but she still loved it and asked to watch Spy Kids 2 the next night.  We didn't; the adults couldn't handle more Spy Kids.

Naughty bits:  Spy Kids is as clean as Alexander Minion's suit.


Snacks:  Microwave Popcorn

Family In-quotes: "Ooooh, shii... take mushrooms"

Related Goodies:
Spy Kids 2
The Spy Kids all grown up
Totally Spies TV series

Race to Witch Mountain

Race to Witch Mountain is a remake of a 1975 movie (Escape to Witch Mountain) which was an adaption of the 1968 book of the same name by Alexander Key.  So yeah, it has a history behind it.  I don't recommend watching the original movie; we couldn't get through 10 minutes of it, but we had a good time watching this remake.

The movie tells the story of a cab driver (The Rock - with a past) who picks up two teenagers who turn out to be *spoiler alert* aliens and the race is on for them to get back to their spaceship before the world ends.  And race they do; this is an action packed sci-fi movie which had our kid on the edge of her seat.


Rating:  This movie was rated low by Rotten Tomatoes and other review sites but I think they were a little harsh.  If you go to see a movie starring The Rock and it's by produced Disney I think you should expect a fun time without using up too many precious brain cells, not monumental cinema.  And this movie delivers that.  For kids, who haven't seen many movies, it's exciting for them to try and figure out what's going on and Witch Mountain is a good introduction to suspense and mystery storytelling.  We will watch this again sometime in the future.

Naughty bits:  There is a lot of violence, a couple of monsters and some sinister characters in this movie so I recommend it for older kids/teens.  Plenty of suspenseful "jumpy" bits too which more sensitive kids will not like.

Snacks:  Something gooey

Family In-quotes: "Don't go in the pimped out fridge, Jack..."

Related Goodies:
The book which inspired two movies

Easter Special - Diary of a Wimpy Kid marathon

Our brother reported that TV3 was running a Diary of a Wimpy Kid marathon this Easter and while we didn't get around to watching it at the time I thought it was worth throwing it in as a bonus post because we have enjoyed this trilogy immensely in the past.

Loosely based on the popular book series, D.O.A.W.K follows the trials and tribulations of middle schooler Greg Heffley.  He's a normal kid with normal problems but told in hilarious and often unexpected ways.  Zachary Gordon nails the awkward main character Greg but keep an eye open for the many of supporting actors and characters because they are standout (the dad especially). 


Rating:  This series of movies are perfect for family movie nights.  There is silly humour for the kids and quirky adult issues to make the parents laugh too.  We enjoyed part 2: Roderick Rules the best but we rate them all once in a while views.  We read one of the books and we actually enjoyed the movies better.



Naughty bits:  The Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies are as clean as Rowley's beach house so long as you don't mind a bit of mild toilet humour.


Snacks:  Cheese slices

Family In-quotes: We watched this when our youngest was a baby so there were plenty of cries of "Loded Diper" being thrown around

Related Goodies:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid wiki
Diary of a Wimpy Kid official site