Monday 22 March 2010

a very filmy catch up

I'm such a naughty girl. I've been a part of Think Parents for ages now, and they've very kindly sent me a bazillion films that we've watched - but I've neglected to blog about. So, here are some reviews of the movies we've seen, with many apologies to the lovely gang at Think Parents.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Disney film that started it all, the first feature-length animated film has come to Blu-ray. They've jazzed up the colours and backgrounds, and added some effects (like rippling water) that are conspicuously out of place. There is an option to watch the film in its original format (i.e. with a lot of black space around it to fit modern television ratios), or an option to watch it in "picture frame" format with backgrounds to compliment the film and fill in the black space.

It is, without a doubt, hugely dated. Even Jack (who's 5) immediately spotted that it was an old film. However, both Jack and Mia sat through the entire film and enjoyed it. Myself, on the other hand, wanted to rip my ears off after five minutes or so. The songs aren't exactly catchy (the dwarfs' songs being the exception, obviously) and the vibrato helium-sucking voice of Snow White should never, ever be inflicted on anyone. It's, sadly, one of those films that the kids may like but the adults will wander away to do the washing up or regrout the bathroom.

The bonus features include a Disney sing-a-long and game for the kids and, for the adults, a film showing how the original film was made.

Diamond Edition Featurette: Creating Snow White
http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?custid=1064&clipid=e56391&playerid=69&affiliateid=-1&bitrateid=378&formatid=10

Clip: Whistle While You Work
http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?custid=1064&clipid=e56385&playerid=69&affiliateid=-1&bitrateid=378&formatid=10

Santa Buddies, G-Force and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

Santa Buddies: terrible storyline, terrible script, terrible acting, but the kids absolutely loved it. It's almost the end of March and they still force us to put it on for them. It's dogs and Christmas - Jack and Mia couldn't ask for much more in a film. (and they won't get it in this one)

G-Force: another "cripes, is it over yet?" film for the grown-ups but again, the kids adore it. To be fair, it's got its moments and is slightly more clever than most kids' films out there. It does have a unique storyline and is filled with fighting spy rodents. Again, the kids couldn't ask for more.

Tinker Bell: Mia adores this one! It's actually good fun, the animation is fantastic (and is especially impressive in crisp, vibrant Blu-ray format), and I don't mind watching this one repeatedly. Think Parents sent along a pack of goodies to go with the film, so we could host our own Tinker Bell movie viewing party. As Mia was a little young for this, we've saved the Tink gear for her birthday this summer. She's a big fan, so she'll love the invites, napkins, etc.

And last, and certainly nowhere near least, the magnificent film Up. We saw this in the cinema, and the first 20 minutes made me cry. Then I laughed. Then I laughed a lot more. We got this on Blu-ray, watched it at home, and the first 20 minutes made me cry again. Then I laughed a lot again. And again. And again. (We've seen this film a few times now, to put it mildly.)

It's worth every ounce of hype it's received. Like "Wall-E", the beginning is mostly without dialogue, telling the story simply with beautiful animation and music. It's laugh out loud funny (the dogs are brilliant), genuinely moving, and thoroughly enjoyable. It's not as good/slick/innovative as "Wall-E", but I don't know if that was ever its intention. Kudos to Pixar for coming up with yet another film that we, as parents, will be forced to watch a billion times but we won't mind a jot.

Some clips:

Dug the dog

Russell meets Kevin

Russell

4 comments:

Lisa said...

Steady on ;) And welcome back.

Mrs Dee said...

Hee, thank you :)

Anonymous said...

We wasted two hours of our lives on G-Force. It didn't even hold the kiddo's attention. Having said that, I did download it on iTunes but that was an accidental click - I was trying to download Valkyrie at the time!

Mrs Dee said...

LOL that was quite the accident! Poor you...at least I didn't pay any money for it. Oh wait, yes we did - Paul took Jack to see it in the cinema when it came out. Damn.