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NOAH (Blu-ray combo)

July 8, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

NoahcoverGrade: C-
Entire family: No
2014, 138 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief suggestive content
Paramount
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1, “enhanced” for 16×9 monitors
Featured audio: DTS-HD MA 7.1
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, UV
Bonus features: B-
Trailer

Darren Aronofsky’s Noah has sparked all kinds of criticism for it’s looser-than-loose interpretation of the story of The Flood that’s recounted in The Bible. The film was banned in China on religious grounds, condemned by Muslims for the way it treats prophets, and branded by the official Vatican newspaper as a “strange” and “perplexing” movie that adds up to a “missed opportunity.” Christian audiences have generally decried its inexplicable departure from the traditional Bible story.

But let’s be fair. There are a number of perplexities in The Bible, none of which have anything to do with Darren Aronofsky (The Black Swan). Adam and Eve are supposed to be the mother and father of all humanity, but the Book of Genesis tells us that they begat Cain and Abel—no daughters. And when Cain is confronted by God after murdering his brother he worries that he will become a fugitive and that whoever finds him will slay him—which implies that people exist apart from Adam’s lineage. Later we’re told that Cain “knew” his wife and begat children of his own. Where she came from is not specified.

As for Noah, The Bible says he was 500 years old when he became the father of three sons, and 600 when God commanded him to build an ark and take into it his sons, their wives, and two of all the beasts of the air and ground. There was no mention of fantastic mud-and-rock creatures called “Watchers” helping him to build this massive boat, as we see in Noah.

When it comes to Hollywood, I don’t expect film adaptations to be exact. I didn’t, for example, mind that the land Noah traverses looked more like a desolate apocalyptic wasteland than the arid, olive tree-filled Holy Land we typically see. But I do expect filmmakers to operate in the general vicinity of truthfulness or reality. Infusing Noah’s story, however fictional or true you believe it to be, with the kind of rock creatures we saw in GalaxyQuest is like trying to tell the story of Geronimo with an E.T.-like alien turning up in the Apache desert to offer his assistance. It’s too over-the-top and, because it stands in such sharp contrast to the biblical account and the kind of God-talk that Aronofsky includes, it’s also more than a little hokey.    More

TEACHER’S PET (1958) (DVD)

June 27, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, PG rated, Romantic Comedy Leave a comment

TeachersPetcoverGrade: B+
Entire family: Yes (except for the very young)
1958, 119 min., Black-and-white
Not rated (would be PG for adult drinking)
Warner Bros. Archive (not available elsewhere)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: Dolby Digital Mono
Bonus features: None
Trailer

If you believe that a steady diet of contemporary films ought to be supplemented occasionally by an interesting foreign film or black-and-white classic in order for the kids to have a broad sense of culture, you might consider Teacher’s Pet for a family night movie.

Along with Pillow Talk it’s one of Doris Day’s most delightful and enduring romantic comedies, and the kids get a two-for, since she’s paired with pop culture icon Clark Gable.

Yes, eyes will roll as Day sings the cheesy (albeit catchy) title sequence song, but in the first scene the Internet generation gets an introduction to old-school newspaper production. We watch a group touring the New York Evening Post and see what they see: presses rolling and the chaotic excitement of the newsroom. The film’s theme is introduced in this early sequence when a mother who had snuck onto the tour begs city desk editor James Gannon (Gable) to fire her son so he’ll go back to school. Gannon, who never went to high school, is convinced that real job experience is more worthwhile than college.

Most of Day’s romantic comedies depend on an opposites-attract formula that pits the former band singer’s screen naiveté and virginal attitudes against a more promiscuous male, and while there’s a little of that here, the main contrast is still college instructor Erica Stone’s belief that journalism can be taught vs. Gannon’s resistance to education.  More

JUSTIN AND THE KNIGHTS OF VALOR (Blu-ray)

June 26, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Animation, Entire Family, PG rated Leave a comment

JustincoverGrade:  B-
Entire family:  Yes
2013, 96 min., Color
Rated PG for mild action and some rude humor
Arc Entertainment
Aspect ratio:  Letterboxed 16×9
Featured audio:  English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features: D
Trailer

Samuel Johnson once told an aspiring writer, “Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.”

I thought of old Sam as I watched the animated Justin and the Knights of Valor, which, as I told my wife, had its moments. Unfortunately, that included a moment when a horse started behaving like a dog and it reminded me of Disney’s Tangled, or the main character was blindfolded as he learned how to become a knight and I thought of Luke Skywalker, or the same lad set astride a crocodile with mechanical wings strapped to him gave me How to Train Your Dragon flashbacks, while a swordfight by a giant wheel had a Pirates of the Caribbean look and feel. And so on.

In this new age of computer animation, films like Justin and the Knights of Valor prove that you don’t have to have the resources of a Disney or Pixar to create great graphics with a superior production design and accomplished animation. But those high-quality production values also got me thinking about the difference between films like this one from KANDOR Graphics (Spain) and mega-budget studios.

There’s a whole host of intangibles that keep adults and older children in their seats for a major studio production, while a film like this that’s entertaining, if you give it a chance, may prompt teens and ‘tweens to wander off, one by one, or pull out their hand-held devices. And if you ask them why they’re not watching they’ll shrug, “I don’t know. I just couldn’t get into it.”   More

FATHER GOOSE (Blu-ray)

June 3, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Entire Family, PG rated, Romantic Comedy 1 Comment

FatherGoosecoverGrade: A-
Entire family: Yes
1964, 118 min., Color
Not rated (would be PG for some peril and adult drinking)
Olive Films
Aspect ratio: anamorphic widescreen (16×9)
Featured audio: DTS-HD MA Mono
Bonus features: None
Clip

Father Goose is one of those rare films that appeal not only to lovers of the genre—in this case, romantic comedy—but others as well. There’s humor and WWII adventure in this amiable 1964 film, which will appeal to boys in the family. The girls, meanwhile, will be won over by the seven schoolgirls of varying ages that are rescued by a reluctant (and still very funny and attractive in his second-to-last film) Cary Grant.

Grant plays teacher-turned-beachcomber Walter Eckland, who dropped out of the world and in return just wants the world to leave him alone. Though war in the Pacific is raging all around him, he’s determined to be neutral and uninvolved. We first meet him when he turns up at British-Australian naval base that’s under fire, and, bothered more by a pelican that keeps hitching a ride on the boat he recently bought than by shells exploding nearby, he proceeds to try to “borrow” cans of gasoline and rations.

FatherGoosescreenThat plays right into the hands of the dockmaster, an old friend named Houghton (Trevor Howard) who’s been ordered to evacuate and set up shop coordinating more than 30 coast watchers spread across the Pacific islands. He needs one more coast watcher and Walter needs supplies, so they strike a deal . . . which Walter had no intention of abiding by, until Houghton “accidentally” rams his boat and forces him to make for the island. Then, to get Walter to actually report Japanese airplane and ship movements, Houghton hides bottles of scotch whiskey and gives Walter the directions to a bottle for every confirmed sighting.

Walter never gets drunk, and his drinking is played for laughs, so most parents won’t find it objectionable. After all, there is a war on, and when Walter ends up rescuing a pretty young teacher (Leslie Caron) and her charges, she immediately sets about trying to reform him. He may be gruff, but he’s still a likable fellow that the girls find as appealing as their teacher does.

Sparks eventually fly, and the action intensifies, and in no time at all you’re rooting for this pair of opposites to come together in spite of all that’s happening in the world around them.

It’s one of the better Cary Grant films to introduce children to, and a darned good “starter” romantic comedy because of all the other distractions. Don’t expect a laugh-out-loud comedy—just a lot of smiles, and a little tension, too, as the world threatens to tear this couple apart before they can even come together. It’s a fun, light adventure that’s perfect for family movie night.

ERNEST & CELESTINE (Blu-ray combo)

June 1, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, PG rated , , , , Leave a comment

ErnestandCelestinecoverGrade: B-
Entire family: Yes
2012, 80 min., Color
Rated PG for some scary moments
GKIDS/Cinedigm
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: English (dub) DTS-HD MA 5.1
Included: Blu-ray, DVD
Bonus features: C+
Trailer

I’m sure you’ve heard people say, as I have, that they were “ruined” somehow by the relentlessly chipper, happily-ever-after romanticism they absorbed during a steady childhood diet of Disney cartoons and animated features.

Well, there’s a cure for that. Start with a dose of irreverent Warner Bros. classic cartoons, and then be sure to watch occasional animated features from different countries, where you’ll discover a world that’s not so black and white, morally speaking.

That’s certainly the case with Ernest & Celestine, which received a 2014 Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Ninety-eight out of 100 critics at Rotten Tomatoes pronounced it “fresh,” and Ernest & Celestine won a number of prizes, including Best Picture at Amsterdam Cinekid Festival, Prix SACD Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival, Best Animated Film at the César Awards, People’s Choice Award at the Dubai International Film Festival, and Best Film (the first animated feature to win) at the Magritte Awards. In other words, people loved this film.

My family, on the other hand, was not as enamored. Maybe we’re just too Disneyfied. A reviewer for People Magazine called Ernest & Celestine “Fantastic! Delightful! Adorable!” and we’d concede that there were fantastic, delightful, and adorable moments, and that this film had the kind of sweetness and charm that you find in watercolor-illustrated children’s books. But there were also kind of creepy parts, and the wholesome theme of friendship that critics have seized upon is balanced by the not-so-wholesome thieving ways of the two main characters.   More

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: SEASON 4 (DVD)

May 27, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Drama, TV-14 Leave a comment

PrettyLittleLiars4coverGrade: B-
Entire family: No (way)
2013-14, 1046 min. (24 episodes), Color
Not Rated (would be TV-14 at least)
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Bonus features: B-
Season 4 preview

“All of my friends watch it.”

Every parent gets that at some point, and Pretty Little Liars is exactly the type of show that will draw such comments, because its central characters are teens—though they look, dress, and act more like twenty somethings. And they’re all beautiful people . . . even the corpses.

I haven’t watched the entire series, only Season 4, but Warner Bros. makes it possible for people to jump right in and get up to speed by screening a full recap episode that takes you through the first three seasons. It automatically kicks in if you select “Play All.” And from what I’ve seen in recap and this season, the writers treat the girls as if they are twenty somethings.

We don’t see any parents or family life to speak of, except for brief turns involving Alison’s mom, another “skanky” mom who sleeps with a cop to get her delinquent daughter off the hook, and few more siblings. The emphasis is all on these four girls and their little individual dramas that interweave with one very large one. Meanwhile, for high school students, this group of teens sure has a light schedule. The only scenes involving school or classes come from one girl’s illicit relationship with her English teacher. Yeah, not a lot of role modeling going on in this show.

Still, Pretty Little Liars, now in its fifth season, is a popular series that inspired the spinoff Ravenswood. As with The Hunger Games, this ABC Family show is loosely based on a series of young-adult novels (in this case, by author Sara Shepard), and there’s plenty of killing—though not as graphic as in The Hunger Games films. Part murder mystery and part soap opera, it’s what you’d get if you created a teen version of Desperate Housewives and concentrated less on relationships and sex than on the mystery of the group’s “frenemy”—in this case, Alison, the clique’s leader, who disappeared in Season 1.

Alison (Sasha Pieterse) knew all of their secrets and had been using that information to get artsy Aria (Lucy Hale), brainy Spencer (Troian Bellisario), athletic Emily (Shay Mitchell), and loser-turned-popular girl Hanna (Ashley Benson) to do whatever she wanted. And after she’s gone, the girls start receiving text messages from someone who seems to know all of those same secrets and signs each note “A.” Is it Alison? Someone Alison knew? Someone who killed Alison?   More

FALLING SKIES: SEASON 3 (Blu-ray)

May 21, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, TV-14 Leave a comment

FallingSkiescoverGrade: B+
Entire family: No
2013, 440 min. (10 episodes), Color
Rated TV-14 for some violence and peril
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Included: Blu-ray discs (2), UV copy
Bonus features: B+
Season 3 preview

Falling Skies is as out-of-the-question for younger children as any monster or war movie would be, because it’s essentially a combination of the two. But families with older children will find it easy to get hooked on this series about a group of humans who’ve survived an alien invasion and are now fighting as an underground unit to reclaim the planet and perpetuate the species.

My ‘tween daughter isn’t a big fan of sci-fi and she’s definitely squeamish about violence. Yet, like my teenage son, she loves Falling Skies, which is produced by Steven Spielberg. Maybe one reason is that there are certain “shooter” games on the X-Box that she’ll agree to play with my son, and the sci-fi violence on this series tends to resemble what they see as they’re blasting away in the basement.  More

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: SEASON 2 (Blu-ray)

May 17, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, G rated, TV Drama, Western Leave a comment

LittleHouse2coverGrade: B/B+
Entire family:  Yes
1975-76, 1080 min. (22 episodes), Color
Lionsgate
Not rated: Would be G
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Featured audio: DTS-HD MA 2.0
Includes: Blu-ray (5 discs), UV Copy
Bonus features: C-
Today Show reunion clip

My ‘tweenage daughter doesn’t like historical dramas, isn’t a fan of westerns, and loves fashion so much that it’s like fingernails-on-the-chalkboard to watch the Ingalls girls parade about in their dowdy homemade calico pioneer dresses and bonnets. But she liked Little House on the Prairie: Season 2 enough to want to keep watching one episode after the other, and to shelve it in our collection for future play.

This wholesome family TV series from the ‘70s still has broad appeal, as you can see from the clip of the cast reuniting on The Today Show (link above) to promote the release of the Blu-ray on Season 1 and now Season 2.

The first season was more the authentic pioneer experience, as Pa and Ma Ingalls (Michael Landon, Karen Grasse) moved their brood of three daughters from Wisconsin to Kansas and finally Minnesota. There were Indians and hardships of every kind, and the emphasis was on the family’s journey and settlement.

The popular series was based on the juvenile books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that told of her family’s adventures on the newly expanding American frontier—books like Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, and By the Shores of Silver Lake. The TV series ran for nine seasons, but by Season 2 the plots were already shifting from pioneer-specific storylines to ones that viewers may have seen elsewhere and could actually identify with better.   More

SOPHIA GRACE & ROSIE’S ROYAL ADVENTURE (Blu-ray combo)

May 16, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Children's, Comedy, Entire Family, G rated 1 Comment

SophiaGracecoverGrade: C
Entire family: Theoretically, but . . .
2014, 75 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated G
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.0
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, UV Copy
Bonus features: C+/B-
Trailer

There are three types of people who will go for Sophia Grace & Rosie’s Royal Adventure: people who are charmed by the duo’s YouTube videos, fans of Toddlers & Tiaras, and Ellen DeGeneres. And if only some members of your family fall into any of those categories, you can be sure that the rest will groan or complain all the way through this film.

I was thinking about why Sophia Grace & Rosie’s Royal Adventure has more limited appeal than the old Shirley Temple movies, and maybe it’s as simple as the difference between watching Shirley Temple perform “On the Good Ship Lollipop” or watching another little girl imitate Shirley Temple. It’s the difference between being cute and acting cute, and television is famous for giving us way too many of the latter. Then too, even when Temple was being cute, she was sweet. And there will always be a broader audience for sweetness than there is for attitude, even if we describe it euphemistically as “precociousness.”

Sophia Grace and Rosie first appeared on Ellen in 2011 when they were eight and five years old, respectively, and the older girl performed Niki Minaj’s “Super Bass” while her younger cousin went through the motions alongside her because it made her less nervous. More appearances (and many more YouTube videos) followed, with the pair acting as mini-journalists and doing Red Carpet interviews—always in their trademark pink princessy dresses and tiaras. Then they were recruited for two episodes of the Nickelodeon sitcom Sam & Cat, in which teen stars Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande’s characters had to babysit two two-faced “BritBrats” and later had to deal with the “Revenge of the BritBrats.” Even without watching those episodes you can see how the girls’ onscreen personas have been shaped.

Now they’re on their own with no Ellen and no teen stars. Can they carry a movie? Yes indeed, if you happen to like them. If not, it’s like being trapped in an elevator with a valley girl who’s a nonstop chatterer intent on giving you a play by play as she scales Mount Inanity.

SophiaGracescreenIn their Royal Adventure, Sophia Grace & Rosie are sent to Switzelvania as correspondents for Ellen in order to report on the coronation of a new queen, but when they arrive they find that three princesses are scheming to get that crown. And so these “journalists” decide to make the news instead of reporting it by plotting and coaching so that the best candidate wins. Of course the humor is played over-the-top and since the film is a showcase for Sophia Grace & Rosie they don’t have to steal each scene—it’s handed to them on a silver platter.

Though they overact in the manner of way too many child actors, Sophia Grace & Rosie still impress with their ability to memorize scenes and play to reaction shots. I mean, they’re still only 11 and eight years old, and they really do an amazing job of just being professionals. But over the past three years it seems that the older cousin has gotten more full of herself and therefore more annoying . . . unless you’re a fan of Toddlers & Tiaras or are big fans of Sophia Grace & Rosie because you like their act. Very little girls who are into pink and all things princess will enjoy this movie as well. But for everyone else? It’s like watching a Shirley Temple imitator at a talent contest who tries to act cute, rather than being cute and not knowing it. They’re great in small doses, but the girls make this 75-minute feature feel a lot longer.

THE RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN COLLECTION (Blu-ray)

May 15, 2014

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, G rated, Musical Leave a comment

R&HcoverGrade: B/B-
Entire family: Yes (well, two-thirds, at least)
1945-1965, 838 min. (6 films), Color
20th Century Fox
Rated G
Aspect ratios: 1.37:1, 2.55:1, 2.20:1
Featured audio: DTS-HD MA 7.1, DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 4.0, DTS-HD MA Mono
Bonus features: B-

Rodgers & Hammerstein are Broadway legends, having won a total of 34 Tony Awards for their work. They’ve done all right with film adaptations, too, earning 15 Academy Awards. So if you’re a fan of old musicals and want to share that with your children, it might be tempting to pick up this collection. But don’t do it because you think it will be a good resource should your children get a part in a future high school musical. According to The Broadway Scoop, not one Rodgers & Hammerstein musical ranks among the Top 10 Musicals currently being performed by high schools.

Does that mean they’re dated, or as corny as Kansas in August? Some of them, yes. For that reason, it might be better to wait (right now four out of six are only available through this collection) to buy these titles individually, rather than as an eight-disc, six-film collection, because while two of the films are surefire winners and two are entertaining-enough slices of rural Americana to where they will be of marginal interest to younger viewers, the remaining two musicals feature topics that won’t engage children much.

The King and I and The Sound of Music, with 10 Oscars between them, are the most likely to have wide family appeal. They’re colorful spectacles, and both of them have a large cast of children that will interest young ones.

Set in the 1860s, The King and I features Yul Brynner as the King of Siam, who, in his desire to become a more “scientific” ruler, has decided to educate himself and to hire a teacher to instruct his many children. Deborah Kerr is the English widow who arrives with her son and falls in love with the children (as we do). Audiences also love the give-and-take sparring between her and the KingandIscreenking, while everyone around him is so fearful of his authority. She helps him put on a state dinner for visiting western dignitaries to prove he’s no barbarian, and he charms her with his own grace and gratitude. The costumes are lavish, the songs are wonderfully catchy—like “Getting to Know You,” “Shall We Dance,” and “I Whistle a Happy Tune”—and they have core messages that will resonate, even with children. The ending is sad and it might take some discussion to frame it for your youngest, but The King and I still has wide appeal. Unfortunately, the film isn’t out on Blu-ray except in this collection.

The Sound of Music is already available as a stand-alone Blu-ray title, and in fact if your family likes bonus features the stand-alone is the better buy. That’s because the second disc of bonus features on the stand-alone is not included in this set—an unfortunate omission. But the film is a triumph. It overwhelmed audiences from the start with its story of the von Trapp family singers, who fled Austria for Switzerland during the Nazi occupation.

SoundofMusicscreenExteriors were shot on location, so there’s a beautiful authenticity to complement a storyline that’s classic: a woman studying to be a nun (Julie Andrews) doesn’t seem particularly suited to the convent and is sent to serve as governess to the children of a widowed Austrian captain (Christopher Plummer). There, she reintroduces song into the household, becomes beloved to the children, and falls in love with her employer. How do you solve a problem like Maria? Especially when she becomes part of a romantic triangle in this blended family tale set against the backdrop of war? The songs are some of the best that Rodgers & Hammerstein ever produced, including “Maria,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “The Lonely Goatherd,” “Climb Every Mountain,” and a song written especially for the film that’s so convincing as a national anthem that it almost brings tears to your eyes when Capt. von Trapp leads the crowd at the Salzburg music festival in a chorus, right in front of Nazi officials. It’s as stirring a moment as those dueling national anthems in Casablanca.   More

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