What happened after Dorothy went back to Kansas with Toto? How did the Tin man, Lion and Scarecrow get on with being rulers of Oz? Was Eveline the Wicked Witch of the West really gone for good?
This cartoon introduces us to a small flying monkey, one of the very flock that scared us in the original movie, though this little fellow is far from scary. In a land of magic, it's no surprise that witches don't always stay 'melted' and when Eveline commands her flying monkeys to search for her hidden magic, trapped safely inside a broom, things get complicated.
I really enjoyed this film, although it's obviously aimed at kids. There is a fair bit of fighting, dungeons and chases, which may or may not be to your taste (I know some small boys are over keen to emulate movies!) but the plot is the usual good vs evil one, with the added problem that one of the flying monkeys is questioning the whole 'follow orders even if they are bad', thing....
There are nods to other movies throughout and I enjoyed spotting them, of course my favourite was this nod to Deadpool as a search was underway...
Though this little reminder of Monty Python and the Holy Grail made me snigger too..."is it behind the rabbit?"
Harry Potter was evoked in the flying broom chases, and even King Kong got a look in - I'm sure there are lots more - I'll leave you to spot them all.
It's a fun family movie, made all the better for the total lack of musical numbers (in my opinion) and while it might help to have seen the original Wizard of Oz, it's not essential.
The Guardians of Oz is out on DVD from 13th February.
See the trailer here
Disclosure : I was sent a copy of the DVD for the purposes of this review
One of the things I like at Camp Bestival is watching movies in a tent in a field. It has that childlike joy of the Saturday morning pictures with the added benefit of being able to have a beer as you watch.
This year I was pretty excited to discover the movie they chose to show was Disney's Pete's Dragon. I assumed it would be the old Micky Rooney version from 1977 which I love (I own it on VHS!) , but imagine my excitement when it was the 2016 version with Robert Redford! (released in the UK on 12th August)
I was a teensy bit worried that glossy CGI would spoil the joy of Elliot the Dragon but I need not have worried, his face even resembles the cartoon version, and his expressions and quizzical noises just as good and sweet as the original.
The film started pretty slowly, and there are a lot of 'in the dark' scenes (they may be easier to watch without sunshine leaking in around the edges of the tent), and obvious omissions are the rough hillbilly family that used Pete as a meal ticket in the original, in this version he is just a lost child. There is also a fairly well signposted 'eco message'.
The plot bumps along following fairly closely to the original though, and both DD and I wept at both sad and happy scenes even though we knew the ending!
The finale of this new version was better than the 1977 version in my opinion.
You can watch the trailer here.
For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon. Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon” opens in UK cinemas on 12th August 2016.
Smaller children may prefer the 1977 version, with a colourful clowning dragon and plenty of musical numbers, but older children and adults will no doubt enjoy the more realistic (!) 2016 version.
Pete’s Dragon flies into UK cinemas on August 12, 2016
I was sent a preview dvd of the Oscar winning movie, Room , to watch. It is a movie I had seen advertised but the subject matter had put me off watching it. I like kids films, adventure films, sci-fi, comedy but gritty realism isn't usually my choice. And the theme of Room, is a difficult subject, especially for a parent of a teen daughter to watch.
Room tells the story of a 5 year old boy and his mother, trapped in a single room. As the film progresses we discover why they are in the room, how they got there, and what their life is like. The film manages to show the horror of their existence in a calm way that never strays into the salacious. Somehow the understatement of the awful abuse and horrific nature of their imprisonment makes the situation all the more ghastly. A situation that should be your worst nightmare has become commonplace and routine.
But amazingly this film is not depressing, it shows the strength of love, the power of the human spirit and is ultimately extremely uplifting. Don't be fooled, you will cry, I cried 7 times (and one of those times lasted through several scenes) but it really is a great film and well worth a watch. An adult film with very adult themes, it is not suitable for young children (it has a 15 Certificate in the UK, an R is the US) .
There are many scenes in the movie that provoked very strong emotions in me. I think as a parent I identified most with the mother who lost her daughter, rather than 'ma' the girl in Room. But in the early part of the film I did feel for her and the way she tried to keep her son happy, the way she made things about him, and stayed strong through routines. She is shown in such a powerful way, despite her seemingly powerless situation. The normal anger of a child rebelling against his mother when we, the viewer, know what she is going through is heartbreaking. To see her cope with his rage at her is difficult. And to see things through his eyes as he pretends to sleep in Wardrobe at night when Old Nick visits is clever as we are left to know the horror while he does not.
The thing that made me cry the most (and there were a lot of tears) was when we see the bedroom of the lost daughter, still the same as the day she left, 7 years before. The hope her own mother always had that she would return. I held DD and wept.
While it was Brie Larson who won the Oscar (for Best Actress) it is Jacob Tremblay the 8 year old Canadian child actor who plays Jack that stole the film (and a piece of my heart). His brilliant acting on first seeing the sky outside of Room was just wonderful, totally mind blowing.
But I mustn't tell you the whole film, you must see it for yourself.
STUDIOCANAL is delighted to announce the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the multi award winning ROOM on May 9th 2016.
Directed by Academy Award® nominated Lenny Abrahamson (Frank) with a screenplay by Emma Donoghue that she adapted from her best-selling novel, ROOM stars Brie Larson (Kong: Skull Island, Free Fire), Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen (The Bourne Ultimatum), William H. Macy (Fargo) and Sean Bridgers (Trumbo), ROOM is one of the most highly acclaimed films of the year.
Remember how I fell in love with Deadpool and then with Morphsuits? So much so that I decided that if Morphsuits supplied the suit I'd wear it to the movie?
Well, it all came to pass, almost. The only difference was that Dd declared the suit 'empowering' and loved wearing it, so much so that I barely got a look in after my initial try on.
So we set off, DD looking sleek and dare I say sexy , in the Morphsuit. This being Britain we got only the odd sideways glance and barely a comment; though in popping into Frankie and Benny's for a snack we did frighten the proprieter as Dd loomed out of the dark night.
The movie theatre itself was oddly quiet, partly due to the late nature of the showing and partly as the movie had been out for 4 days, and we received less attention than I suspect she hoped for. Some giggiling and sneaky phone photos seemed about the limit.
Of course we adored the film. Both of us want to see it again and I've already ordered the DVD
We both have bits of the soundtrack on our phones so that we can walk the streets, headphones in, silently singing "sexy mother f***er"...
I feel I am an excellent role model as a parent.
Have you been to the movies in a Morphsuit? I recommend it - we will be taking it to festivals over the summer too, and maybe adding a Stormtrooper to our Morphsuit 'stable'...
