Movie Reviews for Families

Ratatouille is a delightful movie that is entertaining for the entire family. I have watched it a dozen times and never seem to get tired of it. Ratatouille is also the type of film where you can discover something different every time you watch it. It is the creative works of Disney and Pixar, which are the leaders in children’s films and animation.
If you are looking for a good summer film for your kids or for that weekly family night, here are 5 reasons to watch Ratatouille.

1. Ratatouille has a great plot that focuses on a young rat (Remy) that wants to cook. He is influenced by a top chef in Paris that says anyone can cook. Remy experiments with different herbs and spices to make small creations, but is constantly reminded by his family that he is just a rat and rats don’t cook.

2. There are a cast of excellent characters that help make Ratatouille a terrific movie. When Remy is separated from his family, he ends up in the city of Paris in front of the French Chef’s restaurant. He befriends Linguini, a want to be chef that just does not have any talent. Throughout the movie Remy helps Linguini secretly cook extraordinary meals among some of the best chefs. I enjoyed all of the characters such as the food critic, the shady chef, the woman chef and Remy’s family. All of them are notable characters.

3. The third reason to watch Ratatouille is to learn how to cook. The movie gives an introduction about which herbs and spices should be added to different meals. I never used Saffron before watching this movie but now I’ve taken an interest in using some of these strange spices to traditional meals.

4. Ratatouille has a lot of action and special effects. Kids will love the explosive beginning when the old woman is shooting throughout the house in a mad rage. And the high speed chase from the streets of Paris to the riverboat will keep everyone in their seats.

5. Finally, create a Family Night with your kids. Ratatouille is a treat you’ll want to enjoy over and over. So get a large bowl of buttered popcorn and share the moment.

Hugh Jackman is one of the sexiest men alive! Australian born and a quality actor. I like him because he appears to be tough and rugged, not at all like the pretty-boy stereotype. So I decided to watch X-Men Wolverine for a couple of hours to drivel over Hugh and follow the new saga. To my surprise, I did not enjoy this film. So here is my honest movie review of Wolverine.

First of all, the plot was horrible and unbelievable. The writer’s decided to use the mad scientist theme, which has been over used too many times. The mad scientist is usually someone the characters trust who has a secret mission to betray them for his or her own personal gain. Hence, in X-Men Origins the mad scientist wants to create a superior mutant prototype that has a combination of everyone’s abilities.

As the mad scientist is working secretly in his lab. He sends two federal agents and Wolverine’s estranged mutant brother on a roundup to seize other mutants. As I was watching this I felt that this part of the storyline was very choppy and unclear. It really gives the appearance that Wolverine’s brother was on a quest to kill his own kind, when he was just doing the dirty work for the scientist.

Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is the only believable character in the film. He struggles with dark nightmares that keep reoccurring as he tries to adapt to a new life. Suddenly, his wonderful life is disrupted when his wife is killed. This is later revealed to be a lie.
Wolverine goes on a quest to avenge his wife’s death, but only to find out that it was a set up. This takes you on a chase of who done it until you get to the falling action of confrontation and special effects. If your like me, this is the most exciting part where there are non stop action scenes.

Finally, I did not enjoy the plot but felt that Jackman did an average job playing Wolverine. I think for die hard X-Men fans they will appreciate the last scene on the mountain, the fight between good forces and evil.

Adam Sandler movies are the greatest in family entertainment. He really created a winner with his latest film, Bedtime Stories. Last week, I showed the film to my seventh and eighth grade Art Class as an introduction to a Children’s Book Project. After watching the film a dozen times, I still feel excited about sharing this Bedtime Stories Movie Review.

This Adam Sandler movie is loaded with action packed scenes that will keep kids engaged without getting bored. It is also G-Rated for the little ones to enjoy as well. I like that the plot has a fantasy theme about Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) who wants to regain his father’s hotel business. When Skeeter’s school principal sister (Courtney Cox) is fired, he has to look after his niece and nephew and become a surrogate parent temporarily. I have to admit, families will love watching how the main character adds his own bizarre twist to some original bedtime stories. I would also suggest to have a family night with lots of buttered popcorn and gumballs.

Keri Russell plays the school teacher that finds Skeeter to be annoying and childish. The two make a connection towards the end to save the demolition of Courtney Cox’s school. So kids learn to support their community for a good cause; Life Long Learning versus Big Business.

Throughout the movie there’s a reoccurring theme of living happily-ever-after, until Skeeter’s niece and nephew realize life does not always have a happy ending. Skeeter’s niece and nephew also learn that life has it’s ups and downs, which is true in the real world. I think this is a teaching moment for younger kids to understand the difference between reality and fantasy.

This film has plenty of weird storytelling magic that should not be missed. Some of the highlights are Bugsy - the pop-eyed guinea pig exercising on a treadmill, the classic raining gumballs scene, the Red Ferrari Fantasy and the quality time you can spend with your family. My suggestion is to get Bedtime Stories for your home video collection. It’s fantastic!

Last Friday afternoon, I had the chance to see Liam Neeson’s new film “Taken.” My sister Saundra had raved that it was one of the best action films. So a couple of friends and I headed to Berkeley to catch an early matinee. To my surprise, we were able to find a park and get to the show on time. If you are familiar with downtown Berkeley you could spend your entire day riding around looking for a park. Nevertheless, the parking fairy was good to us, so we did not have to rush.

My sister was right the new movie Taken was a great film. Honestly, I am not a die hard Liam Neeson fan nor do I recall watching any of his past movies, but I was impressed with this one. Liam plays a retired ex-military, former US Intelligence guy. He is a divorced father that is trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter. Neeson’s ex-wife is an estranged character that goes to all lengths to prevent him from connecting with his daughter.

The plot moves slowly in the beginning but starts to pick up after Liam agrees to let his seventeen year old daughter travel with a friend to Paris. This was unbelievable to me because no one in their right mind would allow their teenage daughter to travel without an adult chaperone in today’s society. Well, after the girls arrive in Paris, they are targeted by a wealthy market of thieves that kidnap young girls and sell them into slavery. Wow! This was a very good plot. Liam Neeson gets to show off some of his military skills as he is trying to find his missing daughter.

Most importantly, I think it’s the theme of the movie that intrigued me. Trafficking young girls is not something new. It was the wealthy investors that shocked me. They were common people that you would least expect to be involved in this sort of trade.

Since I’m the movie reviews for families expert, I would definitely recommend this movie for adults and teenagers. However, I would strongly recommend parental guidance for children twelve and under. Some of the scenes are too graphic for young eyes.