Family

Get a Clue

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 9th, 2005

Lindsay Lohan plays sassy Nancy Drew wanna be Lexy Gold. When one of her teachers goes missing (played by Ian Gomez), Lexy enlists her “hip” friends to help her crack the case. Another vehicle for Lohan. It’s a little boring, and the mystery plays out on the level of a Saved By the Bell episode. The point of the movie is to point out they sassiness of Lohan. She’s sooo hip. Like…totally.

Audio

The mix is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Not much originality in the mix. Some …
Read More

Parent Trap, The (1998)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 6th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

The Parent Trap is a remake of the Hayley Mills classic. It stars none other than Lindsday Lohan. She’s actually pretty good here. In a pre-sex appeal role, Lohan plays two twins who have never met, but then do. They concoct a plan to switch identies on their respective divorced parents. Lohan pulls off both twin personalities quite well. The movie also stars the always reliable Dennis Quaid and the extremely talented Natasha Richardson. It might be fun for kids, and Lohan fans, but this is NOT a case of…
Read More

Racing Stripes

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Racing Stripes is a “family film” about a zebra (with the original name “Stripes”) who’s only dream is to race with the other horses. Stripes, you see, was abandoned and then rescued by horse farmer Nolan Walsh (played by Bruce Greenwood). Nolan’s younger daughter, Channing (played by Hayden Panettiere), takes the young zebra under her wing, and she helps Stripes realize his dream: to race with the horses. Stripes’ litany of zany friends include a pelican, a lazy bloodhound, flies, roosters, a wise goat, an…
Read More

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 9th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Alice Through the Looking Glass is a 1998 television version of the Lewis Carroll classic. Now this is NOT Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Looking Glassis Carroll’s lesser known follow up. There’s no mad hatter or chasing white rabbits. But there are white queens, talking insects, and discussions of the Jabberwocky. This is a fairly faithful adaptation.

The story is simple. Alice, through her magic mirror, enters Carroll’s world of dream logic and nonsense. Kate Beckinsale (re…
Read More

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 26th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is one of the worst movies ever made. At least…that’s what I keep reading. Reviews have torched this movie, and I must concur. This movie is bad. And I don’t think the first one was much of a hit either. So why make this dreck?

The plot of the movie revolves around our little genius heroes saving the world from an evil TV mogul played by Jon Voight (need a paycheck?). This baddie wants to submit subliminal messges through kiddie TV and control children (and baby ta…
Read More

Two Brothers

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 20th, 2004

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

We are in the 1920s. Two young tiger cubs live in what seems to be the tiger version of theGarden of Eden. Then Guy Pearce comes along to ruin everything (though he will subsequentlyrepent). He kills the cubs’ parents, and sells one cub to the circus. The other is also captured andwinds up as the beloved pet of Raoul, the colonial governor’s son. The tension resides in whetherthe brothers will eventually reunite, and will they be allowed to live their lives in peace?

< ...
Read More

Where the Red Fern Grows

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 20th, 2004

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Kris Kristofferson narrates the story in flashback, telling the story of his younger self (JosephAshton) during the Depression. The young boy dreams of owning a hunting dog, and afterslaving away on odd jobs for two years, he finally acquires two: “Old Dan” and “Little Ann.”Together they become an unbeatable team, and have various adventures in a setting that is bothbucolic and poverty-stricken. The film is handsomely mounted and genuinely performed (with,interestingly, Dav…
Read More

Mary Poppins

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 12th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

If you don’t know what this movie is about, you grew up in a cave. If you’ve never seen it,ditto. This is the tale, it need hardly be said, of Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), the nanny whoarrives to take charge of two children whose imaginations have been repressed by theirexcessively proper father. In the care of Mary, and accompanied by chimney sweep Bert (DickVan Dyke), the children bounce from one magical mix of dance, live action and animation toanother.

A more…
Read More

Eloise at Christmastime

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 22nd, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Eloise (Sofia Vassilieva) is a six-year-old who runs rampant through NYC’s Park PlazaHotel. Her only adult supervision is in the form of the eccentric Nanny (Julie Andrews). The plottakes the form of a series of incidents as Eloise races from one adventure to another, meddlingwith the best of intentions in the lives of all around her, with emphasis, as the title suggests, onthe Christmas spirit this time around. Specifically, she’s helping out with a Christmas wedding,and e…
Read More

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 17th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

The original Around the World in 80 Days is known for its spirit of adventure, wild cameos, and also one of the weaker movies to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Disney’s remake of Around the World still has that sense of adventure, has a few funny cameos, and is in no danger of winning Best Picture.

Based on the Jules Verne book, Around the World in 80 Days stars British actor Steve Coogan as the infamous inventor Phileas Fogg. His famous balloon is supposed to go around the wo…
Read More

Beyond Christmas

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2004

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Three philanthropic businessmen — the boisterous Irishman, the English Gent, and theOklahoman Grump — live together on Central Park South, tended to by exiled Russian countessMaria Ouspenskaya (best known today for her turn as Bela Lugosi’s mother in The WolfMan). One Christmas Eve, they experimentally toss wallets out into the snow to see if theyare returned. A young man (Richard Carlson) and a young woman (Jean Parker) turn up andunder the happy gaze of our lovea…
Read More

Miss Lettie and Me

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 3rd, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Sometimes, when I am writing my review and I come to the “genre” section, I wish I could find an entry marked “crap”. If there was ever a serious film effort that deserved such an entry, this is it. Let’s be honest… made for TV movies have a bad reputation for a reason. For that matter, so do films that have child actors as their star. This film suffers from the unenviable fate of being both. Mary Tyler Moore and Burt Reynolds may be on the cover, but the kid is in nearly every frame of the film.

This is on…
Read More

Moto X Kids

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 12th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Lorenzo Lamas is the coach of a group of motocross-racing kids. When an evil biker gangthreatens to take over the good guys’ track, a race is proposed, winner take all. The bikers don’tplay fair, however, and our heroes lose both their top rider and their bikes. Fortunately, as far asthe rider is concerned, a chimpanzee is able to fill in.

Groan. This is “family viewing” in the form of the worst kind of pabulum. But then, wat doyou expect from a film that tosses a m…
Read More

Peter Pan (2003)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 28th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Surely we all know the story. The Darling children — Wendy, Michael and John — are visitedby the ever-young Peter Pan, and they fly off with him to Neverland. There they battle thevillainous Captain Hook, and deal with the fact that, sooner or later, everybody (with oneexception) has to grow up.

Infinitely better than the bloated Hook, this is a first-rate adaptation of the tale. Theartistic design and cinematography are glorious, and the film is constant f…
Read More

Cat In The Hat, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Universal got it right a few years ago when they adapted The Grinch who Stole Christmas. Jim Carrey was perfectly cast as the heartless Grinch, the costumes and set design were excellent and the mild deviations from Dr. Seuss’ classic were appropriate and added more heart to the story. The most important aspect that was captured was the moral of the story – that being angry and miserable leads to a unsatisfying life of loneliness and that an act of kindness can fill the world with joy.

Now take all…
Read More

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 8th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Come join the Baker family (all twelve of them) for a fun, entertaining and albeit crazy ride through their life. While trying to manage twelve kids and a job Tom and Kate Baker (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) manage to do it all, while still staying somewhat sane.

With a great cast of Hollywood veterans and up and comers “Cheaper By the Dozen” offers something for kids and adults of all ages. The dynamic between Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt presents a real sense of family togetherness and even the idea that a…
Read More

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 29th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Hot on the heels of The Great Race, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines was a bit of silliness and fun for 20th Century Fox. The Monty Python-styled opening credits set the tone for this British humor film, also known as How I Flew From London To Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes. If the film suffers at all, it is the length. At almost 2 1/2 hours, it takes quite a while to get to the race. It’s almost 2 hours before the meat of the film begins. While there are many clever and memorable…
Read More

Secondhand Lions

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

I can only imagine what it might have been like to be a child during the heyday of Disney’s live films division. Going to see The Parent Trap or Mary Poppins as a young girl must really have been exciting. Experiencing Pete’s Dragon or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the theater must have been a thrill for young lads.

Unfortunately, Disney has not lived up to those high standards in its later days. Part of the wonder of those films was that they were not children’s films, as much as s…
Read More

MXP – Most Xtreme Primate

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 28th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Jack is supposed to accompany his chimpanzee family and human minder to Mexico, but amix-up at the airport puts him on the wrong plane, and he winds up in Colorado. There hebefriends the new kid in town, and they become snowboarding champions together. Lessons offriendship are learned by all, amid rigidly carboard performances and lackluster comedy. Theanthropomorphisation of Jack and the other chimps reaches such an extreme level that it wouldbe disturbing if the film were…
Read More

Santa Clause 2 – The Mrs. Clause

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Tim Allan is back as Santa Clause, and this time he is on a mission… to find a wife. The Santa Clause 2 is a good family Christmas tale, and though it is not as effective as its predecessor, it still has Christmas charm and a number of cute scenes. The story is a little flawed, and many scenes rely on childish antics to survive, but those elements add to the family-friendly nature of the film.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 11th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Dick Van Dyke, the unaccountably American father of two very English children and theson of the equally English (and doddering) Lionel Jeffries, retools an abandoned early-1900s racecar into the gleaming, flying Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Off they go on a series of adventures,most particularly involving the imaginary kingdom of Vulgaria. Based on a book by Ian Fleming,the creator of James Bond, the film is produced by Albert Broccoli (who also produced the Bondseries) and fea…
Read More

George of the Jungle 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

George and all his pals return for this second installment in the George of the Jungle Series…

Christmas Wish, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 16th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Jimmy Durante and his family, penniless circus performers, move into a run-down rentalhome. Also living in the house is Rupert, a trained squirrel (brought to life primarily throughstop-motion animation). The miserly owner of the rental is stashing money in his walls, and asfast as he can do this, Rupert halls the money out and dumps it into the rental living room.Durante’s wife (Queenie Smith) sees money floating down from the ceiling, and thinks it is theanswer to her pra…
Read More

Holes

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 30th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Disney has done a very good job bringing the children’s novel Hoels to the big screen (or little screen for this DVD release). This film contains a good story with some solid moral values being taught to the young viewers. The story and acting are both quite good, creating a film that can be enjoyed by both children and adults.

Escape to Witch Mountain

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 9th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Tony and Tia Malone are different from the other kids at the orphanage. They can makethings move just by thinking about it. Tony can levitate. Tia can talk to animals. They come tothe attention of evil millionaire Aristotle Bolt (Ray Milland, doing his patented Mean Rich Guyroutine), who dispatches Donald Pleasance to bring the children to his isolated mansion.Realizing what Bolt wants to exploit them, Tony and Tia escape, and, with the help of crusty-but-good-hearte…
Read More

«< 3 4 5 6 7 >