Monster House

I'm not a scary movie person but I thought "how scary could a kid's movie be right?"  It turns out that a kid's movie can be pretty scary! 

As Halloween draws near three friends are determined to uncover the secrets of the creepy house in their neighbourhood.  Their detective works leads them to uncover more than they bargained for.  Fear not dear parent, all is well that ends well but it is not without it's jump scares and creepy as moments.

 The CGI is not all that good but we got drawn into the story and atmosphere of the movie and didn't notice it after a while.

Rating: Monster House was a good movie and there was no way we saw the ending coming but it is not for the faint hearted.  We will probably watch it again sometime in the future for a few thrills around Halloween.

Naughty bits: If you and your older (10+) child enjoy scary things then you will like Monster House but your kid has to be a brave soul because this movie is seriously creepy!  Definitely NOT suitable for younger and sensitive children as they will have nightmares.  Monster House is rated PG but it's bordering on 13+.

Snacks: Individually wrapped candy

Family In-quotes: "Relax. Just be cool, like me"

Related Goodies:
Other kid's movies which turned out to be WAY more creepy than advertised:
Coraline
The Polar Express

Men in Black

In the late 90's Will Smith was the king of cinema and Men in Black is one of his best remembered blockbusters from this time period.  We remembered it being pretty fun so we dragged kid 1 down memory lane with us.

Smith plays an earnest cop who goes beyond the call of duty to get his guy but this time he gets more than he bargains for when his guy is not a guy, but an alien!  Shortly after this he is drafted into a super secret government agency whose job is to police the universe and all alien life; he becomes a Man in Black...  and part of this call of duty is to save the world, blah, blah blah... and save it he does!  With the help of his mentor Tommy Lee Jones, some fun alien tech and badass sunglasses.


What surprised us about Men in Black was that the special effects and humour held up pretty well.  Yeah the plot was paint-by-numbers but it was a pretty fun movie and we wished that more light hearted action movies like MIB and other 90's blockbusters were around today.



Rating: Like I said, we had a fun time!  And a fun enough time that we will probably watch MIB again in a few years time (with kid 2). 

Naughty bits: MIB is a more mature kids movie.  I would recommend your kid is in double digits before showing them. The language is a bit coarse, there is heaps of human vs. alien violence and the monster at the end is pretty gross and a bit scary.  Entomophobics beware; the bugs are plentiful and creepy crawly.

Snacks: Popcorn!  with green jelly

Family In-quotes: "Put up your arms and all your flippers!"

Related Goodies:
Men in Black spin off TV Series

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

This retelling of the classic children's picture book of the same name starts off pretty "paint by numbers irritating kid's movie" but give it a chance because as the family's bad day escalates so do the laughs.  By the end things are pretty surreal but hilarious and we were glad we persevered through the beginning.  And I really, really want a copy of Dick Van Dyke's book!  Nope, I'm not giving away the spoiler to that hint, you will have to find that comedy gold yourself.

Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner convincingly play 40 something parents struggling to balance mid life crisis', work and a bunch of school age kids and the kid actors are great too but Alexander's lisp is somewhat distracting (sorry kid!) rather than endearing.


Rating: We've never read the picture book so we enjoyed the movie for what it was.  We'll watch it again sometime in the future but likely to YouTube our favourite scenes more often.

Naughty bits: Alexander and the ... is suitable for above 5yrs or so.  There are lots of slapstick moments where characters appear to be injured (and would definitely be in real life) but no one is hurt so it's OK!  A little mild potty humour here and there spice things up a bit but overall a pretty clean family movie.  However nothing remains literally clean in this universe for long...

Snacks: Go out for Japanese BBQ together then come home and watch the movie.

Family In-quotes: "This day is so cursed"

Related Goodies:
The Book which inspired the movie

Prince of Persia

I'm no gamer but I married into a family of gamers so we were keen to see Prince of Persia when it came out.  As a side-liner of gaming culture I was familiar with Persia and it's beloved Prince but not enough to know the story-line of the game etc.  All that to say that whilst reviewers have criticized the movie for not being remotely close to the game except in name and hairstyle I came at it from a more ignorant perspective and this possibly increased my enjoyment of it.

The movie begins with the betrayal of Persia's youngest prince, Dastan, an adopted child of the king.  He spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out who betrayed him, and why, with the reluctant help of a neighbouring kingdom's lovely princess.

Ben Kingsley as the dastardly uncle and Alfred Molina as the ostrich racer steal the show with their campy performances and Jerry Bruckheimer pulls out all the stops to create some exciting action sequences and over the top sets.

Rating: Sometimes I think movie reviewers expect too much from a movie.  PoP is not a complicated movie; the plot is paint by numbers and the characters are fairly cookie cutter but this is to be expected from this sort of popcorn blockbuster.  If you don't sweat the details too much and settle in for a rollicking good time then you will have one.  We will watch it again in a few years.

Naughty bits: As to be expected with a movie based on a computer game there is a lot of fighting and plenty of people die but in a bloodless, goreless fashion so it's not suitable for younger kids.  Also if you hate snakes then you shouldn't watch this movie, there are quite a few creepy snake shots.  There is little sexual behaviour between the characters but the two headliners are often sensuously dressed so if you have teens who you won't want looking at Jake Gyllenhaal's muscles or Gemma Arteton's curves for most of the movie then you have been warned.  

Snacks: A platter of crackers, hummus, dips and olives

Family In-quotes: "Your whole plan is suicide!"

Related Goodies:
 The Game which inspired the movie

Descendants

From the people who brought you High School Musical those many years ago comes another teen high school dra-medy musical, this time with magic!  And amazing hair!  And an awkward hero!

If you loved the classic fairy tale characters which Disney lovingly brought to life in the past then you will love their descendants.  Get it?  Disney Descendants?  That's right, the sequel you never asked for has arrived.

So Beauty and the Beast have a kid and he grows into a handsome prince, a prince who is troubled with his world and so he decides to do something about it.  He selects four descendants of the villains from the forbidden villain island and gives them full scholarships to the high school for heroes and good guys' kids hoping that his kindness will change them from bad guys to good guys and he will have changed the world in some way.  However the bad guys come with agendas of their own and we are left waiting to see if good will triumph over evil... dun dun duuuunnnn!

Shout out to my main gal Kristin Chenoweth as the most outrageous Maleficent, she totally steals the show.

Rating: How you feel about this movie will hinge entirely upon how you feel about High School Musical and other camp musicals.  If you enjoy them then there is a very good chance you will enjoy this immensely, if you don't like them, this is definitely not for you.  I happen to enjoy camp musicals a lot and had a blast.  Even the big kid enjoyed this far more than HSM.  We will watch it again sometime for sure.

Naughty bits: This is a Disney production so it is as clean as Beast's kingly sash.

Snacks: Strawberries

Family In-quotes: "You do not want to be at my house at dinner time."

Related Goodies:
Disney Descendants 2 is out now too
And there is a spin off TV Series

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (the new one)

The Rock says "I'm lost in a jungle with my three classmates and we need to escape!!"  and so begins the reboot of the classic kids film Jumanji.

This time round Jumanji is a video game which sucks four teens into it's world and forces them to band together to solve each level to beat the game and "SAVE JUMANJI!"  (You'll hear that phrase a lot...)

Jumanji is packed full of action, massive creatures,  Jurassic Park like surroundings and great one liners.  Kiwi comedian Rhys Darby is great as the "epic NPC man" who helps them realise what has happened to them and Jack Black completely steals the show as teenage girl trapped in a middle aged man's body.  The Rock is in his element playing the hero and Dr Who star Karen Gillan is tough and hilarious.  Plus she can run just as awesomely as Tom Cruise; you might say she gives him a run for his money...


Rating: We really enjoyed Jumanji and will definitely see it again.  It has a lot of really funny moments and the character development is really good for a movie of it's type.  Jumanji is not a movie to be taken seriously but it is one to sit back, relax and have a fun time watching.

However if you're not too familiar with video games you might have to ask your kids about all the references, this is one of the best gamer movies I've seen so far.

Naughty bits: Having gushed about Jumanji so much there are some caveats:  this is NOT a movie for younger or sensitive kids.  Jack Black gets suddenly eaten by a hippopotomus and the other creatures are big and pretty scary.  Also there are teen angst moments including some sensual dancing and kissing so if you'd rather your kids didn't see that sort of thing then it's not for them yet.  I would recommend for tweens and above.

Snacks: A virgin marguarita

Family In-quotes: "I hate this game!"

Related Goodies:
Epic NPC Man
Tom Cruise running

The Rocketeer

Long before La La Land was lauded for bringing back classic Hollywood glamour a little known film called The Rocketeer had already done a bang up job thank you very much.  A mere 5 years since her awkward teenager Labyrinth persona Jennifer Connelly surprises us all as a drop dead gorgeous 1930's Hollywood bombshell (I adore her dress in the club scene) and Timothy Dalton plays a perfect Clark Gable-esque figure (with a twist - no spoilers!!).

Who is The Rocketeer?  This masked man of mystery?  The movie reveals that he is in fact Cliff, a young, impetuous pilot who discovers a jet-pack and after debuting it at an airshow finds himself in way over his head with all the bad guys hot on his tail.  They steal his girl and he has to do everything he can to get her back with the aid of his trusty mechanic sidekick/mentor.

Rating: We really enjoyed The Rocketeer and will watch it again sometime.  It is a good old fashioned action/adventure movie with some decent plot twists.  Cliff will get a bit annoying but he's really just a nice boy who is out of his depth so we'll give him a pass.

Naughty bits: This movie is suitable for kids double digits and older as the themes are more mature (war, kidnapping, gangsters, a couple of dead bodies) and there is quite a bit of gun violence (no blood).  I'm making it sound worse than it is maybe? so check the IMDB parental guidance page to see if your kids are up to it.  No sexy bits unless you count a couple of kisses and Jennifer's club dress!  And it does give an opportunity to talk about WW2 which is a good history lesson to pass onto your kids.

Snacks: Tomato Soup

Family In-quotes: "I do my own stunts!"

Related Goodies:
Real Life Jetpack
and there is a reboot in the works *groan*

Honey I Shrunk the Kids

My husband and I hadn't thought about Rick Moranis in years until we started listening to the Pop Rewind Podcast.  One of the hosts, Linz, has a soft spot for the bespectacled 80's actor and it got us thinking about his filmography.  Of course, Honey I Shrunk the Kids came up and we had to show it to our kid.
  
Honey I Shrunk the Kids tells the story of an aspiring inventor who is working on a shrink ray.  Things are not going well until an accident gets his invention working.  Unbeknownst to him the machine shrinks his kids down to the size of ants and they get lost in the back garden where they spend most of the movie trying to get home again.

Rating: Honey I Shrunk the Kids is heartwarming and funny and features an amazing animatronic ant.  I especially liked the cranky neighbour who is sooo like Jim Carrey (but isn't him).  We will watch this again sometime.

Naughty bits: Honey I Shrunk the Kids is as clean as the kitchen after the house cleaning montage (love those montages).  However I don't recommend for very young viewers as the insect scenes are pretty intense for little kids and might make them [more] scared of bugs and creepy crawlies.

Snacks: Cereal

Family In-quotes: "I'm not panicking. [shouts] Who's panicked? Nobody's panicked!"

Related Goodies:
Rick Moranis also starred in Ghostbusters (not for kids)
Make your own Shrink Ray
Where is Rick now?

George of the Jungle

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon and we were all lolling about the house.  A good time for a movie so we cracked out the late 90's comedy George of the Jungle, based on the late '60's TV series.




George of the Jungle tells the story of George, a Tarzan type character who was raised by apes in the jungle, and his inevitable discovery by a sweet young lady Ursula.  She persuades George to come with her back to civilization but George realizes the jungle is his home and returns.  When he arrives home he discovers that Ursula's dastardly fiance is trying to kidnap his friends! and George has do everything he can to rescue them.

Rating: We enjoyed George of the Jungle.  Sure it's super cheesy and over the top but that's its charm (and it's a kids movie people).  If you enjoy silly fun you will enjoy George of the Jungle.  We will watch this again in a little while.

Naughty bits: Not too much for the kids to worry about; some mild cartoon violence, a few kisses and some mild language but it's the mums you have to worry about in this film.  Brendan Fraser is looking mighty fine in this film and you see most of his hot bod for most of the movie.  You have been warned husbands...

Snacks: Bananas or other jungley food

Family In-quotes: "Watch out for that tree!"

Related Goodies:
The Original Series
Another great movie from the glory days of Brendan Fraser - The Mummy (not suitable for kids; too scary)
Tarzan - the animated Disney film

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

Who Am I?

Jackie Chan finally won an Oscar!  About time!!  I first discovered the legend that is Jackie Chan when my to-be-husband introduced me to his early work.  I was hooked and vowed to pass on this great filmography to my children.  Finally Friday night arrived, but which movie?  Onto IMDB's parent's guide to see which one was most appropriate.  Who Am I? fit the bill.

Jackie Chan plays a secret agent who loses his memory after a tragic accident.  He is rescued by a remote tribe before setting out to discover his true identity.  As he pieces together his past he discovers deadly secrets and a is helped by quirky journalist.  Who Am I?  delivers the classic Jackie Chan humour and legendary action sequences and some of the most outrageous stunt work you will ever see.
 
Rating: We will definitely watch this one again sometime.  Some of the acting is a bit odd due to the overdubbing (I think) but it adds to the charm rather than taking away.  If you enjoy action/comedies then this is a good introduction to the genre without worrying too much about violence/sex.

Naughty bits: There is a lot of fighting, a lot of fighting.  It is Kung Fu style and very little blood and guts but I would suggest older kids for this one (it is rated PG-13).  There is a gross dead body shot about 10mins into the film and if your kid is sensitive to that sort of thing (ours is) then be prepared for that and tell them to look away.  No romance to be found here either. 

Snacks: Coconut milk

Family In-quotes: "WHO AM I!"

Related Goodies:
For your older teenager: Rumble in the Bronx (more violent than Who Am I?)

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"

Get Smart

My dad loved the TV series Get Smart and I remember catching bits and pieces of it while he chortled away on the sofa but I really only remember Max's distinctive nasal voice, the famous door sequence and 99's sharp wit and bob.




In Get Smart, the movie, Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway attempt to re-imagine the series and make it relevant for today's audiences and we think they succeeded.  Sure it's a little slow getting started and Max is pretty annoying in the beginning but once things get going it's a fun ride and the Carell/Hathaway chemistry is surprisingly great.  This movie also features one of my faves, The Rock, as the superstar spy and when he and his megawatt smile enter the room it's truly fabulous.  The director hams this up too which makes it even better.

We watched some of the clips of the old show on YouTube after the movie and we all agreed the updated humour was much better than the original. The finale scene made us all laugh out loud so hard but I can't give it away, the reveal is just too good.

Rating:We were all highly entertained by Get Smart and there was enough plot that the kid had fun trying to figure out who the bad guy was.  We will definitely watch this again some time.

Naughty bits: There is some cartoon violence, some mild language and a couple of mild sexual innuendos but for the most part it is as clean as Agent 23's white shirt (how does he keep it soooo clean?)

Snacks: Ice cream cone of silence

Family In-quotes: "Missed it by that much"

Related Goodies:

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

There is a mighty 90's comeback (especially in fashion) right now so it seemed right to indulge in the classic film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.  While technically an 80's film it definitely inspired many great 90's sayings and fashion and starred a young Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter's abs; perfectly shown off by his crop tee.  Yes, a crop tee.  On a heterosexual man.  Hey people, it was on the cusp of the 90's.


Bill and Ted's is a time traveling sci-fi adventure buddy film about two besties who are failing history and have to come up with an epic final presentation so that Ted doesn't end up at military school, end their band and ruin the future.  It's a tall order and so to achieve that they end up going through time to bag them some historical figures.  Needless to say comic chaos ensues.

Rating: It's a little slow to get started but it's super fun and we will watch it again soon.  Next thing on our list is Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey

Naughty bits: There is one particularly awkward scene where sex is implied, some mild bad language and some fighting but nothing too serious. 

Snacks: A huge bowl of icecream - to share.

Family In-quotes: "Excellent!"

Related Goodies:
Wayne's World - full nineties buddy film awesomeness (not for kids though)