Last night a group of us sat down to watch Unaccompanied Minors on DVD.   For adults this story started off with some hope but quickly lost its appeal.   The kids did sit through the whole movie and it was truly kid safe.  For children ages 4 to 10, it kept their attention and was fun.  My four year old had some laugh out loud moments too. 

Now for the review on a grown up level.  If you are looking for something to rent for the kids, this will be safe and friendly rental.  But for us grown-ups, be aware that this movie is about 20 minutes longer than your patience.  

While I love Lewis Black (went to see him in concert a couple years ago) as a comedian, he has yet to really show his stuff on film.  He does a great job as a likeable and unlikable protagonist to a group of children caught in an airport during a snowstorm ...without any adult supervision.   It was a bit of a downer as the kids explained how they got there and their lives were not so great because of divorced parents, but more and more it seems this is the norm in our society.  So it only made sense that a rag tag group of unlikely friends would think of each other as family by the end of the film.   The plot was essentially one young man is separated from his sister whom is at a lodge right next to the airport on Christmas Eve and he wants to get her a doll from Santa before the night is out so her belief in the holiday is not destroyed.   While trying to escape the Passenger Relations Manager Oliver Porter played by Lewis Black they all learn about each other and eventually get the best of their adversary.  

Wilmer Valderrama of That 70's Show gets to play ...   more »

How many of us can sit through a movie for children and be glad we did?  Stardust achieves this because in short is a fairy tale for grown-ups.   Like most great fantasy stories that are not remakes or Hollywood adaptations from classic novels, Stardust is brought to the big screen via the world of graphic novels, a.k.a. comic books.  Written by Neil Gaiman (DC Comics, The Sandman), Stardust is not quite a period piece, where the village of “Wall” (England) shares a walled border with a magical Kingdom of Stormhold.   Note that Neil Gaiman is far from just a hero to adult comic book readers, he has penned American God’s making him a serious novelist as well.  Some even say that J.K. Rowling stole great ideas for her Harry Potter books from Neil’s work.   True or not, the point I’m making is that for those of you that don’t understand the value of comic books (graphic novels), you are missing out on some of the best stories and writers.

There are adult concepts that very young children won’t grasp, and although I needed to lean over and explain some things to my four year old, the characters, visuals and action were balanced enough as to keep him happy in his seat.  But as I mentioned, this is an adult fairy tale, which if you think about it ...consider Grimm’s fairy tales; they had some grim situations and outcomes that can make a mom or dad squirm when read to a child.  This story is PG but as acceptable as any of Grimm’s fairy tales.

Unlike most fantasy fairy tales, this one quickly departs from prince rescues princess concept immediately despite there being a ...   more »