Movie Review: Earth to Echo

Title: Earth to Echo
Author: Disney
Release Date: 2014
Genre: adventure, sci-fi, family, friendship
My Rating ****
Official Rating: PG for action, peril, and mild language
Age Group: 8+ (my only concern for this age group is the bar scene, mentioned below)

Summary
Tuck, Alex, and Munch. They're best friends, and suddenly, per a government ruling that a freeway will be built right through their neighborhood, they're forced to part. The boys are devastated and are pretty sure this is going to be the end of their friendship. But when their phones "barf" the day before they're all scheduled to move, the boys decide to have one last adventure together. They're going to figure out what is going on with the phones, no matter what it takes.
Tuck will, of course, film the whole thing. Always gotta have a good home video!

Word of Warning

• The boys all lie to their parents about where they'll be so they can run off to the desert, alone. Later, they're joined by a girl, who also lies. Another issue with this is how easily the boys get away with this, and for how long. It's clear that while their parents probably do love them, they're not paid nearly enough close attention.
• The group soon learns that in order to complete their mission, they need to break into various places where havoc results--not by their direct doing, but they do enable it.
• One of the places the group ends up at is a bar. People are partying and drinking, and an older woman at the bar buys some of the boys drinks (they bravely resist, and are luckily able to escape before they're forced to drink).
• One character goes on and on about how her father is a drunk (or an addict...it was hard to hear) and how she just wants to get away from him and her poor mother....All as a lie to distract someone whom she doesn't want asking questions. The whole story is completely made up and mumbled through fake tears.
• Someone gets left behind and caught by a security guard. He's rescued, and nothing bad happens aside from a mildly-harsh scolding from the guard, but this experience is traumatizing for the kid who is an orphan and living with foster parents. He has a fear of being left behind, and this experience does NOT help matters.
• The kids are eventually "captured" by government agents. They're questioned and while the most fearful of them breaks down and sobs out every answer asked for, the others don't seem nearly as scared. The agents themselves behave as children would imagine them to, not telling their parents and forcing them to do things against their wills.
• One of the boys tells a story about how he and a girl at school kissed in the bathroom. He rates the kiss as ok, saying that "he's kissed girls in better places" but this comment seems much more related to the bathroom setting than it does to other possibilities.
• One of the boys remarks that he'll be sleeping over, "In your mother's bed. Not playing video games", a comment meant to be inappropriate but honestly just really funny to an older audience because of how innocent and ridiculous it sounds.
• The kids end up at a teen party where there is clearly under-age drinking, passionate kissing, and one guy is passed out in the bathtub (fully clothed, alone, no implications made).
• Under-age driving.
• The boys, having met an alien, decide to do whatever they can to rescue it. Sometimes this means just following a map, but eventually it means breaking into places, trespassing, and breaking various other laws. At the climax, they decide to trust the alien, at the risk of hundreds of human families, and give it what it wants. It's not clear whether they expect the alien to harm the hundreds, but they do know it's a very real possibility. While this might seem honorable in terms of friendship, it's childishly short-sighted.

My Thoughts
There are a few texts that I am honestly impressed with their make up or structure. Finding Neverland captures J. M. Barrie so well and has such a beautiful supportive structure that, as a whole, it's a wonderful work of art. Sea of Tranquility uses alternating narration to navigate difficult issues in a way that is very human but also honest and open. Chasing Shadows blends narration with comic strips to give a sense of urgency and intense emotions. Salt to the Sea uses multiple narrators, finally circling each other in a fascinating way, to tell a story so horrible and yet so full of goodness you cry at the end, even if you're not a crier for anything else. And The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society uses letters to tell a great story, adding an edge that the story could never have in classic narration form. While there are others, they are sadly few and far between.

But this movie joins those ranks. Tuck is proposed as the "author" of the story, narrating, filming, and apparently later compiling the videos to create the final product. We're given his camera, the other boys' cameras, and the alien's camera. We're convinced that these are just boys adventuring, and honestly, it's so genuine I don't even know how someone wrote this. It makes me wonder if they handed the boys cameras and said, "You find an alien and it needs help" and let them go from there.
I know that's not what happened, but that's how well-done this movie is. It fits well as a whole. The dialogue, the characters, the structure, the camera, the music, everything--it comes together as an incredible whole that is worth seeing.

Movie Review: Prom

Title: Prom
Author: Disney
Release Date: 2011
Genre: teen, high school, friendship, romance, drama
My Rating: *
Official Rating: PG for mild language and a brief fight
Age Group: 12+

Summary
Nova, and everyone else at her high school, has been waiting for this night, preparing for it, and everything has to be perfect. Prom is going to bring them all together. Knock down boundaries. Help them find love. Everything will be perfect for one night.
Until Nova's sort-of date cancels on her. And Jordan's boyfriend cheats on her. And Floyd can't even get a girl to go with him. And, and, and. Things fall apart. The decorations burn to the ground. Nova is devastated. This was supposed to be perfect.
So Nova does what she always does. She tries to pull things back together. She gets some unlikely help, and prom ends up happening after all. It's just not what everyone expected.

Word of Warning

• Prom is glorified as being the best thing every, something everyone needs to go to, something that will change lives. This outlook on prom is promoted through the entire movie to the point where it becomes really annoying because everyone watching knows that's not true.
• A student jokingly flirts with his teacher, suggesting they run away together.
• Backhanded reference to girlfriend as a "hot girl"
• Kisses. One from the back that's not visible. At least four others that are visible. One passionate and rather disgusting kiss involving lots of head tilting.
• Guys with no shirts on (letters painted on their chests)
• Girl tends to wear low shirts that reveal a bit of cleavage and short skirts (these aren't as much of a problem since the camera spends most of its time too high to see her legs)
• Mention of serial killers in relation to letters being cut out to create a message. This is meant as a joke.
• Someone mutters, "Oh God"
• A guy is randomly, and with no explanation, in the girls' bathroom. He acts like it's completely normal.
• One kid remarks to his friend that he had better check his breath to make sure he doesn't have "butt mouth" before talking to a girl
• One of the teens has a girlfriend/date who is out clubbing late at night (we do not actually meet her until the end of the movie). This same girl wears a dress which has a slit right down the center. Someone says of her dress that she would have to be a Victoria Secret model to pull it off.
• Guy cheats on his girlfriend and lies about it. He then lies to the other girl he likes. Basically, he lies a lot and manipulates girls.
• Girl tries on a lot of prom dresses (most tight, strapless, low, one with a high slit in the skirt, etc). The guy with her tries to get her to try on a little (very little) black one. She refuses.
• Father listens in on his daughter's conversation with her friends. He then threatens/guilt-trips the guy who likes the daughter into not asking her to prom.
• Brief fist fight. One kid gets beaten and has a bloody mouth. He seems fine otherwise, and the others do as well.
• Parents are awful parents. They are more friends than anything, and when they are parents, they are stressing the child go to a certain college and not mess up any of her plans.

My Thoughts
Um. What to say? It was funny. The best parts were Floyd trying to get a date, the funny things Jesse said, and Lucas and his best buddy Cory (the sophomores).
The writers tried to balance out the sparkly and glorious view of prom with a more negative one, proposed by Jesse, who says prom isn't all that great after all. But even he caves under Nova's dreams for a perfect night.
It's break. I have lots of time, but I do regret spending it watching this movie. Luckily it wasn't very long. It felt pointless. It had its funny moments, yes, but it felt like I was being indoctrinated. Prom is wonderful. Prom is perfect. Everyone loves prom. Everyone goes.
But, content-wise, it wasn't so bad. And as a junior in college, I am clearly not the target audience. And I never went to prom, so who am I to say this movie is wrong?
Maybe it's not. But it is empty. The plot is broken. The character development is nearly nonexistent.
There's nothing to it. It's one of those movies you watch when you're sick because you can't process anything.

Movie Review: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Release Date: 2014
Genre: family, comedy
Author: Disney
My Rating: ***
Official Rating: PG for rude humor including reckless behavior and language
Age Group: 12+ (I would like to say 8+ because that seems to be the target audience, but the content doesn't fit in that category)

Summary
Poor Alex has a tough life. Things just never go his way. The girl he likes thinks he's crazy, someone schedules a birthday party the same day of his, and he sets the school lab on fire. That's only the beginning, but multiply it by ten and you might get the idea.
Alex has a great family. They all love each other. But they just don't understand what it's like to have an awful day. In fact, their lives and days work out so well that Alex feels left out.
So in the middle of the night, celebrating by himself with a cupcake and the school Guinea pig, Alex makes a wish: that everyone would know what it's like to be him and have an awful day.
Oops. When he wakes up, Alex's seems to have come true. Alex feels bad and tries hard to help his family avert disaster, but one thing leads to another, and the day spirals into a black hole of awful.
What's a family to do when nothing goes right?

Word of Warning
 Note: I was pretty disappointed with some of the content. For the most part, they were funny and almost innocent jokes. But then there were the other ones that made me wish my younger siblings weren't sitting there. Made me wonder how much they were picking up on. It wasn't comfortable.

• Alex starts the movie by saying his parents are wrong
• A girl pukes three different times during the movie
• Slow motion of a 12 year old girl
• Term "sexist" is used out of context
• Character has a shirt that is too low in the front
• We see briefly pictures of models in bikinis and other tight short clothing
• 12 year old boys use the word "boobs"
• The term "Faummy" which means "father-mommy" which sounds sweet at first. But then it makes you wonder: why isn't father enough? Why must a father, who is someone who looks after his children, be seen as playing the mommy's role when he changes the baby's diaper or drives the kids to school?
• We see a little kid on a potty (no detail)
• Kid starts a fire in the science classroom (no one is hurt)
• A man sticks his hand in the garbage disposal to pull something out. Nothing happens, but this is a very bad idea in real life
• The kids are rude to their parents and, for the most part, the parents do not scold them
• "Hot" in reference to a girl
• Alex complains that another kid sent "butt thong" pictures to the whole school (these were Photoshopped, but the point here is the term)
• Parents kiss briefly twice
• Naked baby bottom more than once. also, the baby pees on the kitchen floor and later in the sink.
• Mother stubs her toe on the door and mutters "motherhood" in a tone that suggests she wanted to say something very different. My objection here is choosing to say such a beautiful word in such a tone.
• Mother walks in on teenage son in the shower (he is, presumably, completely undressed)
• Mother says, "I have seen every penis in this car" when she is in the car with her three sons and their father
• When talking about a classmate having chicken pox, a kid says that the spots are everywhere, even "in his butt crack."
• Near disaster/car crashes avoided, more comical than scary
• Anthony has apparently been waiting all year to "make out" with his girlfriend in the car. "Make out" isn't defined, but the parents respond by saying they didn't want to know that and leave it at that
• A girl guzzles cough syrup and it makes her high (more or less)
• Father's sleeves catch on fire (he's fine)
• Alligator in the house
• Male strippers were accidentally hired for a kid's birthday party. Luckily, disaster is averted and the men are told to keep it PG. The parents find this mistake amusing and are glad they caught it in time. The kids don't even know.

My Thoughts

It was funny--kind of. This may sound like an odd critique, but the laughs were short lived. They weren't those deep from-your-belly laughs that leave you sore and exhausted and feeling good after a movie. Not the kind that, if someone were to quite that line from the movie, would cause you to laugh when you remembered how funny it was. They were in-the-moment funny. Which is fine, but not satisfying, and not what I expect from a comedy.

Also, the parents weren't parents. As in, even though they ran the house and worked jobs and all of that, they tended to interact with their kids more on a buddy-buddy level. This was evident when Alex reveals Anthony has been waiting all year to make out with his girlfriend. Instead of speaking to Anthony about this, the parents just shrug it off and say with a little shudder, "I didn't need to know that." What? That's not what a parent is supposed to do, is it?

The movie did have some good points, however. The family dynamics were not the classic bickering family you see in shows like this. (Indeed, "show" is what it felt like. An episode from a TV show, not a well-thought out movie.) The family members really did support each other, and the teen characters were not your typical selfish creeps. Anthony does what he can to keep his girlfriend happy but eventually *SPOILER* breaks up with her to be with his family. They all ban together to create a really awesome birthday party for Alex. They don't want to tear each others' throats out, they want to help each other out. In addition to family dynamics, or maybe in elaboration of, the father sees his role as to protect everyone from harm and bad days. Which is, I think, a revelation of a great truth movies like this often neglect to point out.

I don't regret watching it. But I watched it on break with a week ahead of me. I wouldn't watch it again. I did laugh. Some parts made me squirm. Some parts made me smile.
Three stars seems about right.

Movie Review: Meet the Robinsons

Title: Meet the Robinsons
Author: Disney
Genre: family, adventure, sci-fi, future, animation
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: G
Age Group: 8+

Summary: Poor Lewis is an orphan who is full of great ideas for inventions that, well, just don't seem to work. He's feeling pretty down and out and is about to give up inventing altogether when he meets a strange boy named Wilbur. Wilbur informs Lewis that he (Wilbur) is from the future. Then he kidnaps Lewis into a world so much better than the one Lewis was living in.
As Lewis helps Wilbur fight off the evil Bowler Hat Man, he comes to love Wilbur's family very much, especially since he doesn't have one of his own. Time is ticking though and Bowler Hat Man needs to be stopped. Wilbur is desperate; Lewis is distracted by the family life he never had.
Can the two boys succeed in saving the world from the terrible fate Bowler Hat Man wants to bring down upon everyone?

Word of Warning

• A mother leaves her child on the orphanage steps. This being left behind haunts the child forever and he feels unwanted.
• A man turns red and swells up, reacting to peanuts. It's done more as comic relief than something serious. We find out later that he's alright, but before that his wife stabs him in the leg with an Epi-Pen (also comical).
• There is a cartoon explosion but no one is injured.
• A caffeine patch allows its wearer to stay up for days. The woman wearing it comes across as slightly crazy.
• A man is attacked by fire-ants (again, comical).
• A kid pushes another kid off a building--onto an invisible ship.
• Kids crash a flying machine but are fine.
• The line "Mom and Dad will kill me, and it won't be done with mercy" is said seriously in a mourning tone but is obviously meant to be funny.
• A kid remarks that his family is going to bury him alive and dance on his grave. He then admits that this might be a bit of an exaggeration.
• A pillar falls on a guy. We are left to assume he's fine, but really don't know.
• A frog wears a man's dentures. The owner takes them and puts them back in his mouth without washing them.
• Insults: puke face, booger breath
• Frogs go to a frog-bar and order "one dragonfly on the rocks."
• An old man is seen in boxers.
• A dinosaur tries to capture and eat a kid. This results in an episode which involves the family humorously, but seriously, trying to save the kid's life.
• A frog cries, "I gotta go pee!"
• A kid turns into smoke and blows away (because he no longer exists because the past has been changed).
• People run from mind-controlling bowler hats.
• People try to attack the main character because they are being controlled by the hats.
• A building is a giant hat which chases a kid who flees using a flying ship. The giant hat-building is clearly trying to kill the kid.
• A man claims his clothes aren't on backward, his head is.
• The last twenty minutes of the movie have a very dark tone to them as things happening in the past ruin the future and make it absolutely miserable.
  

My Thoughts
At first, I thought this was just another cute movie that involved a poor kid who doesn't feel wanted. There would be some sort of adventure, then he would learn he was wanted afterall.
And that all happened of course. But as the movie progressed it became darker. Not dark as in dark magic, but dark as in more solemn and serious and scary. Granted, it wasn't that scary, but in contrast to the first part of the movie the darkness was shocking.
Overall though, a great cute movie that can be shared with nearly the whole family. It's full of laughs, a great but crazy family, and a boy who finally learns that if he never gives up, he will eventually get something good--even if it's not what he had originally hoped for.

Movie Review: Tangled

Title: Tangled
Author: Disney
Genre: animation, fairy tales, princess movies, adventure, romance, animals
My Rating: ****
Brother's Rating: **** (with the understanding that this is only a comparison to other Disney princess movies)
Official Rating: PG
Age Group: 6+


Summary
"This, is the story of how I died" begins the male narrator. Indeed. This is the story of Rapunzel, with a few twists. The queen is sick, and only a magical flower, come from a seed from the sun, can save her. Unfortunately, a selfish old woman keeps the flower hidden. When the kingdom sets out to search for the flower and save their queen, they find it. She recovers, and gives birth to a beautiful little girl. The selfish woman is outraged. She used the flower to keep her young for decades (possibly centuries). She kidnaps the child and raises her as her own in a desperate attempt to avoid death and aging.
But when the girl turns eighteen, a thief happens upon her tower. She uses blackmail to force him to take her to see what she calls the floating lights.
A thief, a girl with long hair named Rapunzel, and a crazy old woman. Not exactly a recipe for a peaceful life.


Word of Warning
I must admit that I was shocked when I sat down and actually took notes on this movie. It's one of my favorite Disney princess movies (granted, I haven't watched many), and I had conveniently ignored all the problems it has. Here is the list I recorded:

• For those who might object, the flower is magical. It can make one never age, it can heal wounds, and we really don't know what it can't do.
• The old lady clearly fears death and old age. She wants to remain young and beautiful and goes to extremes to do so. She is selfish, hides the flower, then kidnaps a girl, and lies to her. Then when that girl disappears, she goes even farther. This includes flirting with two criminals (intending only to double cross them), lying, breaking her "daughter's" romance up because she wants the girl's powers to herself, and more.
• The movie makes the thief look like a swashbuckling hero. Thievery eventually gets him in jail and almost hung, but overall his crimes are not looked down upon very much.
• The hero is selfish, arrogant, a criminal, totally not above using the girl to get what he wants, and player (we can assume). Among other weaknesses, of course.
• The "mother" character is always "teasing" her daughter but not in a kind way. It ends up sounding a bit cruel. She doesn't listen to the girl and what she wants, scolds the daughter playfully, lies to her constantly, and claims that she knows best and the daughter should not object to anything she says.
• Cannibals are mentioned briefly, with the image of a doll in a frying pan with chopped up carrots (this is used as an illustration for a song).
• The mother is clearly using her daughter. Not only that, but she apparently sees nothing wrong with using the girl for her power. This makes it necessary to run the girl's life and protect her only for the mother's personal gains, which she does readily.
• The hero betrays fellow criminals without a second thought. He's shot at with arrows and falls over a cliff. He is also hit on the head several times with a frying pan (this knocks him unconscious) and encounters a few swordfights. He is, after all, wanted dead or alive.
• The girl is also manipulative. She  blackmails the hero-thief to get her worldly adventure. She breaks her mother's rules and leaves the tower, feeling a bit guilty but not planning on returning any time soon.
• The hero claims that a little rebellion and adventure is good, possibly even healthy. Sure, it might hurt the girl's mother very deeply, but that can't be helped. Or so he says.
• The hero-thief continually takes advantage of the girl. He uses her innocence and naivety to hurt her, frighten her, and try to get out of the original plan.
• There is a bar full of dangerous-looking men who turn out to be sweet and have high dreamy hopes for a better life. It's made clear that they've killed in the past, and the hero is in danger of death for much of the scene these men are in. Since the girl is so naïve, this scene is not nearly as frightening as it could be. In fact, it ends up being more comical than anything.
• In the bar, an old man wears a diaper and no shirt or pants. He is clearly drunk and flirts with a younger women (who happens to be the mother, but he doesn't know that).
• Two characters nearly drown. They're aware of their near-death situation and tell each other secrets, clearly preparing for death.
• The hero gets a cut on his hand. It's not very serious, but it does hurt.
• The mother insults her daughter.
• A horse and the hero are often participating in comic violence, even after shaking hand/hoof on getting along for twenty-four hours.
• Low cut necks on dresses, particularly on the mother, form fitting clothing, and ridiculously unrealistic "perfection" in the animated figures is seen throughout.
• The girl takes a stand against her mother, and is chained and kept prisoner because of it.
• A man is stabbed and dying. There is blood on his shirt, he coughs and gasps and can hardly talk, and it's pretty plain that he's suffering quite a bit. He resists efforts made to heal him in order to save a girl from being a prisoner forever.
• The mother/old woman falls out a window and dies in a poof.
• The hero dies.
• There are two almost kisses. And two "real" (animated-real) kisses.
• A sun-type burst from the dead man's body looks a bit frightening to younger kids (they've actually told me this themselves).

My Thoughts


And yet even with all that, I genuinely enjoy this movie. It's possible that that is because the hero-thief does a 180 character development wise. At first, he's selfish and far from being a gentleman. By the end of the movie, he's been captivated by a girl and is willing to sacrifice his life for her even though it means a lot of physical pain--his willingness is taken advantage of and exactly that happens. Then there's the charming naïve girl who finds joy in everything. It's a refreshing outlook on life to see the girl happy to simply walk in the grass with bare feet.
And of course the entire thing is a great adventure, full of laughs, and with just enough "awwww" moments to make it a Disney princess movie.


Disney movies always have a message, and often the message is the same. In this one, it's that one should have something to live for, to dream of, to chase. Then they miss the point and add that once you've reached your dream, you can get another one. True, yes, but the ultimate dream would be heaven, and you don't really need a replacement dream for that. Little dreams along the way to help you get there? Absolutely.


From a Catholic standpoint then, this movie just misses the mark (at least, on the message). But that doesn't mean it's not a really great story.

Movie Review: Tuck Everlasting

Title: Tuck Everlasting
Author: Disney
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance
My Rating: ***
Official Rating: PG
Age Group: 14+

Summary -
Winnie Foster is tired of her stuffy, rich life. She has been pampered and prodded into what society considers womanhood, but she feels confined, like she's never lived. Finally, she's had enough and runs away, only to stumble into the Tucks, who have a secret that they can't risk having discovered.
Jesse Tuck and his brother Miles kidnap Winnie and bring her back to their parents, and the Tucks, unsure of what to do with the girl, keep her as a permanent guest.
But one man knows the Tucks' secret - they became immortal after drinking magical water. And this man means to exploit the secret for the good of society (and his own pocketbook).

The Bad - (In chronological order)
 - Winnie disobeys her mother and plays baseball, and she refuses to be sent to boarding school.
 - Jesse endangers his family's secret against his father's orders.
 - The villain remarks to Winnie, "You find trapping suitors more interesting anyway."
 - Winnie runs away from her family.
 - The Tucks kidnap Winnie.
 - Miles is surly and grumpy. He causes a lot of conflict within his family.
 - We (and several male characters) see Winnie in her (1800's) underclothes.
 - The villain is searching to sell immorality, and admits to a priest/preacher that he is playing God.
    He unashamedly takes pride in this blasphemy.
 - Jesse falls in love with Winnie almost immediately. While their romance is entirely innocent, several of the situations they get themselves into are not. They go swimming together (in their underclothes), and Jesse helps Winnie to swim. Winnie dances suggestively for Jesse, though it's obvious that he has no bad intentions during this scene. They spend the night in the woods together, talking for the most part. They kiss several times, but are interrupted by Miles. This (innocent) night in the woods is mentioned later, and out of context the comment is inappropriate.
 - Miles gambles and is obviously drunk. He cheats in the card game.
 - We are shown various images of non-bloody accidents.
 - Miles' wife left him because she though he was in league with the devil.
 - The Tucks are accused of witchcraft.
 - Jesse is shot by the villain.
 - Mrs. Tuck kills the villain in self-defense.
 - Mr. and Mrs. Tuck are sentenced to hanging.
 - Winnie lies in order to help the Tucks escape.
 - Jesse and Miles purposely get shot so that they can pretend to be "undead".
 - Swearwords are limited to one heck, one h**l (in context), and one use of God's name in vain.

The Good -
Tuck Everlasting is essentially about growing up; it explores some really cool ideas, like the effects of immortality, the importance of living life to the fullest, the value of old age, and the beauty of responsibility. And for the most part, the movie comes to the right conclusion about all of these things.
The Tucks see immortality as a curse. Miles especially is bitter about his fate, but the other Tucks are more accepting of their situation. Mr. Tuck tries to explain to Winnie the many downfalls of immortality, and urges her to live her life instead of just existing, like the Tucks must.
Jesse, completely in love with Winnie, doesn't see the uselessness of immortality, and urges her to drink the magic water so that they can live together forever. Winnie is obviously tempted, but the knowledge that she will never be able to actually live the life she has been given stops her.

Conclusion -
The movie ends with Jesse, dressed in modern clothes and driving a motorcycle, approaching a gravestone marked "Winifred Foster - Beloved Wife, Beloved Mother."
When I first watched this movie a few years ago, I was inclined to be more in sympathy with Jesse than with Winnie. How could she abandon him!? Why didn't she drink the water like he asked!?
But as I sat watching it the second time, I understood Winnie's decision.
While the Tucks lived on and on, forever, Winnie chose death. It's a strange thought, but what point is there to living if we don't end up dying?
During the movie, I cringed at the acting and the awkward love story and the overlong nature scenes, but thinking back on it, Tuck Everlasting is probably one of my favorite movies. It's incredibly beautiful, and even the sad ending isn't depressing, but rather a wonderful reminder.
"Be afraid of the unlived life."

Movie Review: Sleeping Beauty

Title: Sleeping Beauty
Author: Disney (animated)
Genre: Children's, Fairy Tale, Animated films
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: G
Age Group: 8+

My Summary -
When King Stephan and Queen Leah finally announce the birth of their daughter, Aurora, the kingdom is ecstatic. A royal feast is prepared, and all the most important people are invited (including Aurora's betrothed, seven-year-old Philip). Included on the guest list are the fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, who all decide to give Aurora a special fairy-gift. But before they have time to cast their spells, an unexpected guest crashes the party.
Malificent is utterly evil, and utterly angry at being ignored by the king and queen. In a rage, she too casts a spell on Aurora: on her sixteenth birthday, the girl will prick her finger on a spindle and die.
Horrified, the royal couple look to the three good fairies to fix the situation, so they spirit the little baby away into the woods, where for sixteen years she lives, hidden from all society.
Until she meets a young man.

The Bad:
This movie is really early Disney, so there's nothing "bad", per se. A few things deserve caution for younger children, however.
Malificent is by far the most scary Disney villain; she doesn't have an ounce of goodness in her, and the scenes with her in them are dark and menacing. While there is little violence (Philip pushes around her evil minions, as does Malificent, and the Prince throws a sword into her at the end), she is completely creepy.
We see three men drinking champagne and fall into various stages of cartoon drunkenness (one even falls asleep).
The three fairies bicker with each other over silly things.
Aurora is extremely innocent, as is Philip. They literally fall in love at first sight, and after five minutes are ready to marry each other. Philip's advances are not bad in any way, but could be taken so by a modern audience (the movie was made over fifty years ago, and I think we tend to read more into certain situations than people back then). Their relationship is more ill-advised than anything.
Philip kisses Aurora while she is asleep.

The Good:
This is a real, Chestertonian, Tolkienian fairy tale that was not ruined by any attempt to make it more interesting or realistic. In fact, its charm lies in the fact that the characters ARE unrealistic, idealistic, and completely good (except for Malificent, who is said to be completely evil). It's a traditional battle of good and evil, with the Shield of Virtue and the Sword of Truth helping Philip to defeat the dragon (yes, he literally has a Sword of Truth).

My Thoughts:
From a film critic's point of view, this movie is a complete flop according to today's standards. The characters have no depth, there's random and drawn-out music sequences, and the plot is full of holes (the animation was very impressive, however).
But somehow, this movie has become a classic - it basically IS the epitome of Disney fairy tales.Very few Disney fairy tales directly address the fight of complete good against complete evil, and for some reason, the fact that this one did makes it more endearing than the rest.
I like Disney movies (the old ones, anyway), but I never actually saw this one until last night, and it instantly became my favorite. Maybe I'm an idealistic sap, but this is one good story.

I do advise parents that this movie probably isn't appropriate for anyone under the age of 8 just because of Malificent (quite honestly, I was rather afraid of her myself).