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Posts Tagged ‘disney’
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Real Family Movies: The Sequel
By Daddy Clay Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012
In the months leading up to the holiday season, parents and kids alike are bombarded with ads for upcoming family films. As is Hollywood’s way these days, most of the offerings will be sequels, remakes or rehashes of familiar stories and themes. In this latest round of offerings, the studios have made an effort to produce films more accurately reflecting the realities of today’s family life. Read the rest of this entry »
Magic Underwear
By Daddy Brad Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Each year the good folks at Hanes assemble a group of bloggers called the Comfort Crew and treat them and their families to a week at Disney World in return for their thoughts about undergarments and how to build meaningful relationships with moms and dads. My family was lucky enough to be included in this year crew and we just returned from an incredible trip. I plan on posting more about our Disney experience over the next few weeks but I have a few initial thoughts to share while the pixie dust is still fresh in my mind.
Bolt From The Blue Must See 3 D For Geeky Dads And Kids
By Daddy Clay Monday, December 8th, 2008
Though there are certainly annoyances in Disney’s latest animated feature, I have not enjoyed a family movie this much since Pixar’s Monsters Inc. Bolt, while certainly enjoyable as a piece of narrative in its own right, also offers a peek into the future of the movie business.
As far as the storytelling goes, the plot is nothing special — a road movie. A straight ripoff/homage of Lassie Come Home, with a little po-mo movie-within-a-movie twist. Bolt thinks he’s a superhero because the crew of the TV show he appears on wants to preserve his method acting. When an evil executive attempts to corrupt the purity of the process, a shoot goes terribly awry, and Bolt is accidently shipped from LA to New York.
There he gets hitched to a saucy cat named Mittens. Rhino, a hamster of some kind voiced hilariously by animator Mark Walton, rounds out the samurai squad. They have cross-country misadventures before the inevitable reunion with those who care.
This may seem like a luke-warm review of a movie that I characterize as a “must-see.” did I mention that it is 3-D? Holy crap! Why on earth would a family of 5 with a gigantic plasma and surround sound at home, schlep to the local google-plex and pay outrageous box office? See Bolt in 3-D and that question will be thoroughly answered. The polarized 3-D here is absolutely gorgeous, completely immersing you in the animator’s world. The opening sequence is as thrilling as any ride at WDW. Seriously.
The effect here is not over-the-top constant missiles coming at your face (this movie has to work in 2-D as well, given the dearth of theaters rigged with the right projection gear). Rather, it’s the land and cityscapes that benefit the most from the technology. The environments are a silent character in this movie. And they rock.
The whole experience had me envisioning movie theaters of the future looking a lot more like theme parks — destination where families spend an afternoon. Maybe it was sticker shock. Taking my family plus two friends cost more than a Benjamin! Sheesh.
A few other quibbles. John Travolta drives me nuts; dude’s a Hollywood Scientologist Cyborg from the planet Smug Self Congratulation. But I got over it. Also, the final scene, where the heroes find peace with Miley Cyrus in the authenticity of the country, far away from the glare of Hollywood is obnoxiously patronizing and disingenuous. I’m sure everybody on that project has since plumped up and retired to a farmhouse outside Des Moines. Blech.
Whatever. Your kids will know better than to take this movie that seriously anyway. They’ll just have an amazing ride.
The Miley Issue
By Daddy Clay Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Is there really an issue here at all? I find the notion of taking trampy pictures of a fifteen year old to be a little distasteful, but how old are most models anyway? Would it put this in context if all models depicted in fashion magazines had their ages in boxes at the bottom of the frame? Miley would come in slightly below average, but not really by that much. In terms of talking to the kids about it, I’m probably going to steer my six-year-old away from her subscription copy of Vanity Fair this month. She’ll be crushed, I’m certain. Maybe I can distract her with a Cosmo.
I will own this much — I have let my daughter watch Hannah Montana from time to time. It’s a sure sign of my parenting decrepitude. Parenting fatigue. I was absolutely strict with Bubba about those live action tweeny shows that are all over the Disney channel. I even felt squeamish about High School Musical. It all seemed a little too cute boy/girl, kissy face subtexty to me. So I said no. But Hannah Montana, with the exception of the occasional appearance by Dolly Parton, is generally without any suggestive subtext whatsoever. It’s horrid, but it’s not horny. So I felt okay about letting her watch.
A Times blogger felt compelled to show the photos to her daughter, which gets a resounding “hunh?” from me. Pre-emptive exposure to arty photography? I don’t get it. What’s to be gained by actively exposing the kid to the photos? Other than getting material for your blog, which puts her actions in the same category as Achy-Breaky Boy. Thoughts?
