DVD Reviews
The Pirates! Band of Misfits Review
Pirate Captain (voice of Hugh Grant) and his misfit crew, are on a mission…to win the ultimate pirate title: “Pirate of the Year.” More determined than ever to defeat his rivals, the Captain realizes he might not have what it takes to win the coveted award. However, things change when a young scientist, Charles Darwin, informs the Captain that his beloved parrot is really a dodo bird, and the last remaining one at that. Darwin convinces the Captain to take the bird to London and show the Queen, where he will receive reward money for the bird; which should be enough to win “Pirate of the Year.” Little did the Captain know that Darwin and the Queen have their own agenda, one that does not bode well for this hapless, carefree Captain. The Pirates!Band of Misfits is an appropriate movie for kids ages 8 and up.
Rating: 1 buckets out of 5
Release Date: April 27, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
Talking Points:
I was not a big fan of this movie, however there was one redeeming quality which was highlighted at the end of the film; the value of friendship and forgiveness. Captain Pirate thought he wanted fame and fortune, though he came to realize that’s not what makes you happy.
The animation and 3D effects were very well done.
I read that the director was asked if this was a kids’ movie; he responded by saying, “we make films just for people.” I felt the film wasn’t geared toward a target audience. There weren’t any cute, fun-loving characters for youngsters, while I think kids ages 10 and up will find it strange and boring.
Sexual Content: Mild
- One character wears low cut shirts and form-fitting outfits.
- One of the pirates is a women, disguised as a man. She has a crush on Pirate Captain.
Violent Content: Moderate
- There was a lot of slapstick, silly violence throughout the film.
- The Queen was cruel and evil.
- Charles Darwin gets tarred and feathered.
- We see a giant whale spitting out a pirate.
- There’s a sword fight scene between the Queen, and several other characters.
- Pirate Captain is almost beheaded by the Queen. This scene may scare young kids.
Crude and Profane Language: Mild
- We hear phrases such as, “hell’s barnacles,” and “banana butt.”
Drug and Alcohol Content: Moderate
- Character’s are shown drinking beer and wine in many scenes.
- We see Pirate Captain drunk after a night at a pub.
As I previously stated this was not a cute, fun animated film for kids. Parents need to be aware of some moderate violence. The film is appropriate for kids ages 8 and up.
The Odd Life of Timothy Green Review
Life brings many surprises, especially for the Greens. Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) are a happily married couple eager to start a family. However their dreams are shattered when the doctor tells them that conceiving a child will be impossible. While grieving their awful news, they fill a small wooden box with notes describing characteristics of what they hoped their child would be like. They dig a hole in their vegetable garden and plant their special wooden box. The next morning a 10-year old boy named Timothy appears at their house calling them “mom,” and “dad;” a true surprise, one they’ve always dreamed of. The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a Disney story about the trials and joys of parenting. This is a heartwarming film for the whole family.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 buckets
Release Date: December 4, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 6+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Maybe
Talking Points:
Parents will enjoy this film, and will be able to relate to Timothy’s parents. They wanted to protect him, comfort him and wanted the best for their son! Timothy’s mom (Jennifer Garner) says, “It’s not that we wanted him to be perfect, we wanted it to be perfect. His childhood.”
Timothy is an odd character, though an adorable, loving boy. In the movie they say, “it’s okay to be different.” A good parent/child conversation.
Though Timothy’s parents loved him more than anything, they made mistakes, and struggled with different parenting issues; as we all do at times. When asked what they would do differently, they said they’d make new mistakes, maybe even more of them.
Kids may get bored as the film has a mature subject matter about parenting. Having said that Timothy is cute fun loving boy, which kids will enjoy. There are some funny parts geared towards kids.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Timothy and Joni (a girl he has a crush on) almost kiss. They have a cute relationship.
- Timothy’s parents decide to give him, “The Talk,” however they get distracted by a family emergency.
- Since Timothy came from a garden, younger kids may have questions about where they came from.
Violent Content: Mild
- Timothy gets bullied by his classmates.
- Kids smear food and ice cream on Timothy’s face.
Crude or Profane Language: None
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Character’s drink wine.
Will Kids Like It? Maybe
- I interviewed kids ages 6 to 8 who liked the movie. Having said that I feel that this is more of a grown-up film, one especially for parents!
Overall this is a wonderful, endearing story. Because of the mature subject matter, I’m not sure all kids will enjoy the film. However the content is appropriate for kids ages 6 and up.
Moneyball Review
Moneyball is centered around the 2002 Oakland A’s baseball team, who were lead by general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) to a surprisingly excellent season, even though they had the lowest paid players in the major leagues. Instead of scouting and using more of a traditional method of obtaining a team, Beane used statistics and mathematical analysis into player evaluations, which was not well accepted amongst fans, coaching staff and media. However, with determination and perseverance, Beane, and his young adviser Peter Brand, make it all happen! Whether your a baseball fan or not, this is a wonderful inspirational movie, good for the whole family!
Rating: 5 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: September 23, 2011
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 8+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
See a clip of my review here, plus Abduction!
Talking Points:
This movie, as in most sport’s films, are not all about sports, it’s about the lessons instilled and the inspirational storyline. This is about Billy’s relationship with his daughter, his young adviser, and his team.
This is a story about perseverance, initially things weren’t going Beane’s way, and it looked grim for the Oakland A’s; even coaches and scouts thought Beane was crazy, but he stuck with his adviser’s strategy, and before you know it they began their huge winning streak. This could spark some great parent/child conversations about perseverance, and not giving up!
This is an appropriate film for kids, however parents need to know that there is quite a bit of swearing. Depending on the child, I think younger kids (7 and younger) may get bored due to the subject matter.
Sexual Content: Mild
- We hear a comment about a players sexual anatomy.
- In one scene two players are shown with their pants unbuttoned, however, you don’t see anything.
Violent Content: Mild
- When Billy loses, he gets very irate and irrational. He throws objects such as a chairs and radios; he even flips a desk over.
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
- The f-word is said a couple times while other swear words are used throughout the film such as: “a–,” “h—,”d–,” and “b–ch.”
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Moderate
- We see Billy drinking at home.
- Several characters are shown spitting out chewing tobacco.
I’m not a huge baseball fan, my kids don’t even play baseball, we’re a lacrosse family…but my husband, kids and I thoroughly enjoyed this inspirational film, and I especially enjoyed Brad Pitt!
Men in Black III Review
Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back; still wearing black! However in this third installment of the Men in Black series, Agent J travels back in time to the 1960‘s. His goal is to stop Boris the Animal, an evil, scary- looking alien, from killing the young, naive Agent K (Josh Brolin), and to save the future of the world. Men in Black 3 is a fun, entertaining movie with a 1960’s flare.
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: November 30, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 11+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes
Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back; still wearing black! However in this third installment of the Men in Black series, Agent J travels back in time to the 1960‘s. His goal is to stop Boris the Animal, an evil, scary- looking alien, from killing the young, naive Agent K (Josh Brolin), and to save the future of the world. Men in Black 3 is a fun, entertaining movie with a 1960’s flare.
Talking Points:
Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) are great characters. They’re devoted to each other as partners and friends.
There are some subtle messages woven through the film. One character says, “The bitterest truth is always better than the sweetest lies. Another says, “The most destructive force in the universe is regret.”
I read that this is one of the few movie series that’s directed by the same person; Barry Sonnenfeld. Having them go back in time added a unique twist to the series.
Since they went back in time, it was interesting to see the moon launch in the 60’s. Kids may like that.
Having not seen the first two movies in the series, I was a little confused by the storyline.
Sexual Content: Mild
- A woman wears a low-cut form fitting dress.
Violent Content: Excessive
- Boris the Animal may scare young kids, with his horrific face and awful teeth . He has a creepy spider which evolves from the palm of his hand. We see him torment many people as he continuously throws spikes into their bodies and heads.
- Agents J and K are involved in violence as well, with many gun shots and ray guns blasting throughout the film.
- We see a creatures head flattened from being hit so hard with a frying pan.
- We see Agent K kill a villain.
Crude or Profane Language: Moderate
- “Sh-t,” “d-mn,” “h–l,” and “a–,” are said several times each. “B–tard,” is also said once.
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Character’s drink mixed drinks and champagne.
Overall Men in Black 3 is a fun, entertaining movie, however parents need to be aware of the moderate profanity and excessive violence throughout the film. Depending on the child, I recommend this film for kids ages 11 and up.
THE MUPPETS Review
Walter, the biggest Muppet fan ever, and his friend’s Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA; travel to Los Angeles for a vacation, with great hopes to see the Muppet Theater. However, their dreams are shattered when they arrive; they discover that an evil oil man, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) plans to drill for the oil that was found beneath the Muppet Theater. When Kermit founds out about this awful ploy, he panics and recruits Walter, Gary and Mary to help gather the Muppet gang for a telethon; hoping to raise the $10 million needed to save the theater. THE MUPPET’S is a hilarious entertaining movie for the whole family!!
Rating: 5 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: March 20, 2012
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: Any age
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
See a clip of my review here, plus a review of Hugo!
Talking Points:
I grew up with the Muppets, as I’m sure many of you have too. Basically the film is about getting the gang back together; Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal and all the rest of the Muppet characters. Each character has moved on and have their own careers, which was fun and entertaining to see. Especially Miss Piggy, who works at a top fashion magazine in Paris with Emily Blunt, from The Devil Wears Prada, as her assistant.
I loved the cultural references and the great 70’s and 80’s music; the movie opens with the original version of Paul Simon’s 1972 hit “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,”a song I’ve always loved, another favorite song was Starship’s 1985,“We Built This City.” The original classic Muppet songs were sang as well.
The movie was filled with an all-star cast, besides our favorite Muppet characters, to name a few; Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Jack Black and Rashida Jones. There were Cameo’s of Zach Galifianakis, Selena Gomez, Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, and Rico Rodriguez, who play Manny from Modern Family.
Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary ( Amy Adams) play 2 very naive, innocent characters, ones you imagine seeing dancing on Disney’s Main Street. It brought on a great Disney feeling, of innocence and fun.
Sexual Content: Mild
- Women wear bikinis
- Character’s kiss
Violent Content: Mild
- Jack Black’s character is in an anger management class, he starts a brawl by punching other characters.
- A TV show called “Punch Teacher,” was shown in the movie, where we see a student punching a teacher.
- The evil oil man gets angry and throws a sword through a television set.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
- They say, “fart,” while a character wears fart shoes. The kids in the theater found that very funny.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Mild
- Characters are shown drinking alcohol.
- Hobo Joe was at the telethon, you don’t see him drinking, but it’s implied that he’s drunk.
Overall, THE MUPPET’s was a very funny and entertaining movie. Even if you weren’t a Muppet fan growing up, it’s not too late; take your kids to the theater, and maybe they’ll become a fan too. This is an appropriate movie for any age, even adults!