Jumanji (the old one)

We love getting together with family to celebrate New Years Eve but we always find it a bit hard to fill in the time between about 8pm and midnight; especially with lots of kids milling about who want to stay up but start to run out of steam once it gets dark.  So watching a movie always seems like a great idea to have fun together and help pass the time till fireworks and the countdown. 
 
This year we were camping with the extended family and talking about old movies we liked.  The topic of Jumanji came up as the new one had just been released and we decided to re-watch the old one.  Someone hung a sheet on the washing line, put the projector on an outside table and jerry-rigged a speaker out of an old transistor radio (I love my tech savvy family) and we all sat on our camping chairs and watched Robin Williams save the day.

The original Jumanji movie is based on a fictional board game which possesses great power - the power to bring the items in the game to life!  It sucks a young boy into itself before being rediscovered years later by a brother and sister.  They play the game, the young boy (now a man) comes out and helps them finish the game and defeat the wild creatures which are brought to life. 

The effects are wild and imaginative and while many of the 1995 computer special effects don't stand the test of time, the practical ones are pretty awesome still and you don't really mind how fake they look as they are still charming and imaginative.


Rating: We enjoyed the imaginative aspect of Jumanji but it was a little repetitive (much like the board game as we later found when we received an old copy for Christmas), however none of the kids seemed to mind or notice.  They loved the surprise of which wild creature was going to come out next and what they were going to do.  By the end of the movie there is an impressive amount of damage to the house and the town and they loved the chaos.  We had some fairly young kids in our party (age 3 and up) and none of them were worried or scared but if your child is sensitive they would find Jumanji frightening as the animal scenes are pretty intense.  We will watch Jumanji again sometime in the future but not for some time.

Naughty bits: Apart from the animal violence/frightening scenes there is a fierce hunter who stalks the main characters with a gun.  However there is very little bad language and one kiss so overall Jumanji is as clean as Carl Bentley's cop car in his first scene (after that, not so much).

Snacks: Animal Biscuits and jelly snakes

Family In-quotes: (when someone farts) Don't be fooled, it isn't thunder / Staying put would be a blunder"

Related Goodies:
The Board Game (based on the movie!)
Top 10 Robin Williams Performances (not all for kids)

Studio Ghibli Weekend: My Neighbour Totoro

On Friday night we watched Princess Mononoke with kid 1 so on Saturday afternoon we thought we could show kid 2 some Studio Ghibli magic too.  We chose My Neighbour Totoro for its sweet and innocent look at childhood in rural Japan/Ghibliland.


Satsuki and her little sister Mei move to the countryside to be closer to their mother who is in hospital.  They discover all kinds of magical and mysterious spirit creatures live in and around their old farmhouse and they befriend them.  And in return Totoro (the largest and cuddliest of the creatures) and his friends help Satsuki and Mei in their time of need.

Rating: My Neighbour Totoro is a very simple and slow moving story.  Suitable for a 4 year old who needs some down time on a lazy weekend afternoon.  The older members of the family found it too slow but we enjoyed having it on in the background and watching the occasional snippet of Cat Bus or Totoro.  Kid 2 wanted to watch it again the next day and we wouldn't object to her having a repeat viewing.  Except that now she wants a Totoro soft toy... of course!

Naughty bits: Cat Bus is a little scary/creepy at first so if your child is sensitive then My Neighbour Totoro is best left on the shelf till they are older but our 4 year old was not worried at all.  Other than that Totoro is as clean as your house once you have cleaned out all the soot sprites.

Snacks: Corn on the cob

Family In-quotes: "Come out, come out, where ever you are!"

Related Goodies:
Cat Buses in real life
Cat Bus Rail Puzzle Game

Studio Ghibli Weekend: Princess Mononoke

My husband and I first watched Princess Mononoke in our mid 20's Anime phase.  It's a phase that we've not really grown out of to be honest but the volume of consumption has definitely dwindled this side of parenthood.  As Studio Ghibli is one of the more broad audience orientated studios we thought Princess Mononoke would be a good introduction to Anime's often unique form of storytelling for our children so we sat kid 1 down one Friday night so see how it would go down.  She loved it!  We however, didn't find it quite as satisfying the second time around although Studio Ghibli always have a certain magical quality to their productions.


Princess Mononoke follows the adventures of Ashitaka as he travels far from his homeland to find the cure for his curse from the legendary Forest Spirit.  When he arrives in the western forest he finds himself caught up in the battle between the ambitious humans and the disturbed forest creatures led by the beautiful Princess Mononoke and he struggles to help them both live together in peace. 

Rating: We enjoyed the film but we [the parents] probably won't bother seeing it again.  However kid 1 liked it more and would see it again.  The theme of environmentalism is a bit belaboured but it gives a good opportunity for discussion afterward.


Naughty bits: Princess Mononoke is on the more mature end of Ghibli productions.  There is quite a bit of gore and violence and plenty of weird blobby creatures.  This really is for older children or teenagers because the likelihood of nightmares and awkward conversations are rather high if your kids are sensitive or younger than double digits.  The language is mostly clean though and there is not really any sexual content.

If you are unfamiliar with Anime or Japanese film-making you need to be aware that their spiritual outlook is quite different to traditional Western spirituality and this heavily influences the content of their films.  This is fine if you are happy to introduce your kids to different worldviews and perspectives but parents who are unaware of this may find it unsettling.

Snacks: Blue Jelly and marshmellows

Family In-quotes: "Ugh, I smell like a human"

Related Goodies:
Studio Ghibli Museum

Harry Potter: All the movies!

The children in our big kid's class at school have been discovering the magical world of Harry Potter this year and talking about it plenty.  Our kid is not the world's keenest reader so we decided to do things the fast way and get to know the world through film.  Over the Christmas holidays we had plenty of late nights available so we sat down every night for a week and watched the entire series together.


In case you have been held hostage by an obscure tribe for the past 20!! years and are unfamiliar with the Harry Potter saga, it tells the story of a young man who discovers he is a wizard and is whisked away from his ordinary life to a magical world where he attends wizard school, makes great friends and discovers an evil wizard that he must confront and defeat.  The world depends on it!


Rating:  We really enjoyed immersing ourselves in the Harry Potter universe; it truly is a magical place and we will definitely watch them again in a year or two.  There are wonderful themes of good vs. evil and friendship and love conquering all, even the glaring plot holes.  However the last book being split over two movies was a bit unnecessary and we did get a little bored in the second to last movie.

Naughty bits: There is some magical violence (killing/knocking out with spells) and a few kisses/teen romance but this is the tame stuff.  Harry Potter has some really creepy special effects and themes starting in the first film and things get darker and darker as the series goes on.  For this reason I would strongly recommend reading the parental advisory notes on IMDB and making sure your child is mature enough to handle them or you will be up for a few nights with crying and nightmares!!  For this reason we waited until our kid was at least double digits before even suggesting it and we described some of the creepy stuff to her to make sure she was OK.  She was; whew!

Snacks: Chocolate frogs (Freddo!)

Family In-quotes: "You're a wizard Harry"

Related Goodies:
J K Rowling Website
Warner Bros studio Tour (where it was filmed!)
The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

Halloween Special - The Addams Family

We dressed up and went out early on Halloween weekend to a party organized by a local community group.  Due to the younger kids being bored/tired we came home earlier than expected and were able to squeeze in a movie with the older kid before bedtime.  The least scary Halloweenish movie we could think of was The Addams Family (based on the 1960's TV series).



The Addams Family tells the tale of an unconventional family who are preyed upon by a pair of con artists but ultimately triumph using the forces of family, love and sheer quirkiness.  I was not expecting the love story between the two protagonists, Morticia and Gomez Addams, to be so prominent in the movie but it was sweet (and rare) to see an onscreen married couple still in love after many years (and a couple of kids).  Our kid loved the craziness of their household and the randomness that ensued, lots of the time it was like living in Opposite Land!


Rating: The Addams Family is a little harder to follow than most movies aimed at a tween audience because not all the plot points are handed to the viewer on a plate but there is enough fun to keep everyone entertained throughout.  It was a little slow to get going but once we got into it we enjoyed it and we will watch it again in a year or two and also the sequel.

Naughty bits: We were wary about this movie for the scare factors but there were very few "jumpy" bits and although it's a bit creepy the atmosphere (music etc) tells the kids there is nothing to fear here.  There is a gory scene near the end featuring LOTS of fake blood but it is in the context of a play so we all knew it was not serious. And of course there are lots of Morticia and Gomez lovey dovey moments Blergh!

Snacks: Halloween candy

Family In-quotes: "Don't be a baby, I know what I'm doing"

Related Goodies:
The original TV series
Morticia Addams Makeup Tutorial
Story Pirates Podcast "Field Trip to Oppositeland"

Labyrinth

At the risk of creating great division the most important question we need to get out of the way before we discuss Labyrinth in more detail is "who wore the pirate shirt better?  Jennifer?  Or Bowie?"  The next important question being "why did pirate shirts date badly in real life but not in fantasy movies?"  Oh the dilemmas.

I loved Labyrinth as a kid and wanted to pass this love onto my kids so last rainy Sunday afternoon we settled in.  We didn't do our usual Friday night thing because we wanted number 2 kid to join in.  She watched it all the way though with her fave bits being the baby crawling all over the M. C. Escher inspired stairs and the dog riding the dog.  I know, it's a fox but number 2 is four so I'm going to let it go.  Number 1 kid tapped out about half way through and went and did something else, occasionally turning round to see bits she liked and when asked for her review she said it got a bit boring in the middle and kind of lost the plot.  Plot was less important to me as a child!

Labyrinth tells the story of a teen who gives her baby brother to the Goblin King by mistake and then has to navigate the King's labyrinth to rescue him.  Along the way she gathers a small group of unlikely friends and meets many strange and unusual creatures.  The Jim Henson puppetry and creativeness is breathtaking, almost as breathtaking as Bowie's hairdo.

Rating: Maybe for the younger kid who is less concerned with story and just loves being immersed in a magical world as I did.  We will watch Labyrinth from time to time.

Naughty bits: If you have no objections to numerous fart jokes and other mild potty humour, you will enjoy Labyrinth.  However there are some scenes which might frighten more sensitive kids (a little dark and spooky with "jumpy" bits).  And then there is Bowie's codpiece...

Snacks: Peaches and cream

Family In-quotes: "Who do?" "You do!" "Do what?"  "Remind me of the babe"

Related Goodies:
10 Things you didn't know about Labyrinth 
Jemaine Clement does excellent Bowie 
It's not related, but the Labyrinth board game is a lot of fun