Last week the ridiculously popular AVATAR was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. You know the movie that you couldn’t walk two feet without hearing about when it came out in theaters? With the oooh and the ahhh? Being the semi-impoverished parents of two young children, my husband and I weren’t lucky enough to get that 3D theater experience so I was thrilled when I got the opportunity to review the DVD.

Yesterday my copy finally came in the mail and my husband and I could not wait another night so despite it’s 2 and half hour run time, we stayed up late last night to watch it together. Totally worth the couple hours of sacrificed sleep, I have to say. My husband was just in awe of this movie – he had that giddy “I can’t believe how awesome that was!” glow that not many movies bring out in him – think Kill Bill good or Across the Universe good.

If you’ve been living in a box up until now and haven’t heard of James Cameron’s epically popular AVATAR yet, here’s a brief summary as borrowed from IMDB:

In the future, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture … In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na’vi people with the use of an “avatar” identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand – and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

A lot of people are comparing AVATAR to the story of Pocahontas and I can see the similarities – a scene in the beginning with a waterfall had me singing “Just around the river bend,” to myself – but then the last scene of the movie made me think of The Lion King so I might have just been over-tired. :OP

My husband and I both agreed that despite a plot that has been vaguely done before – it was a really remarkable movie. It definitely has a very strong plot, fantastic actors and actresses and the special effects were of course stunning. The movie really drew us in and had us rooting for the survival of the Na’vi. Suffice it to say I now want my own dragon to fly and kind of want to go hiking this weekend and get in touch with mother nature a bit – never a bad thing.

All in all, I’d give this movie a solid A+ and strongly encourage anyone who hasn’t gotten around to seeing this movie to do so immediately!

“The storyline of Pistachio created the perfect opportunity to teach children the importance of family and listening to their parents,” said Greg Fritz, SVP of Sales and Marketing at Big Idea. “Everyone knows the story of Pinocchio and how he became a ‘real boy’, but Pistachio has a clever VeggieTales twist that incorporates elements of truth from the classic tale, while emphasizing the father-son relationship and the strength of family. Parents will resonate with the desire of ‘Gelato,’ who only wants to do what’s best for his child, while kids will see that there’s ultimately great reward in listening to them.”

My son and I both really enjoyed this cute story. It had a lot of catchy music and funny moments. The brand new Silly Song, “Where Have All The Staplers Gone,” was hilarious and gets stuck in my head a lot. It’s another great hit from Big Idea, Inc. that you’ll want to add to your collection for sure. I’d also note that this DVD is much more PG than the Disney classic it was inspired by. I know several scenes in the Disney movie have made me pause and think, “Am I really letting my three year old watch this?” but Pistachio manages to get across a similar message in shorter time and in a much more age appropriate way.

DVD Synopsis

Once upon a time in the small town of Bologna-Salami , there lived a lonely toymaker named Gelato and his assistant Cricket. Gelato had no children of his own, so one day he decided to carve a little boy out of wood. Imagine Gelato’s surprise when he learned this little boy could walk…and talk…and definitely had a mind of his own! When Pistachio tries to do things his way, he lands in a “whale” of a situation! Will he decide to listen to the wisdom of a loving father in time to save his whole family from becoming fish food? Find out in this all-new adventure with a lesson about the importance of family and learning to listen.

Thanks to Big Idea, Inc. for this review opportunity. Although I did receive a DVD to review with my son, I was not monetarily compensated in any way.

Valentines Day : “A diverse group of Los Angelenos navigate their way through romance and heartbreak over the course of one Valentine’s Day.” This one is starring so many big names that we love like Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts, Taylor Lautner, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher… The plot seems a bit cliched and of course these GAGILLION HUGE STARS movies have been done before, but I tend to like them, so… could be fun.

When In Rome: Kristen Bell (aka Veronica Mars) and Josh Dumahel star in this cute romantic comedy. “Disillusioned with romance, an ambitious New Yorker travels to Rome, where she plucks magic coins from a special fountain. The coins attract an assortment of odd suitors, including a sausage merchant, a street magician and an artist. But, when a persistent reporter throws his hat in the ring, she wonders if his love is the real thing.”

Sherlock Holmes: “Robert Downey Jr. brings the legendary detective to life as he has never been portrayed before. Jude Law stars as Holmes’ trusted colleague, Watson, a doctor and war veteran who is a formidable ally for Sherlock Holmes. Rachel McAdams stars as Irene Adler, the only woman ever to have bested Holmes and who has maintained a tempestuous relationship with the detective…” The english major nerd in me is anxious to see this one and it’s got enough “guy stuff” to interest the hubby. He’ll watch chick flicks with me with little complaint, but he might honestly prefer a “guy” movie. Not sure…

Avatar: Everyone is talking about this movie. From what I hear it’s the New Big with “the oohhh and the ahhh” according to Craig Ferguson. “AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home…”

Which of the above movies would you most like to see in theater for Valentines Day?

Kailani @ An Island Life takes it easy on Fridays by posting a simple question for you to answer – and she invites you to do the same. Just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

I’ve been a fan of Veggie Tales for almost ten years now. Long before becoming a mother, in spite of a skeptical view of organized religion, Veggie Tales has always enchanted me. I might not agree with the guys behind the cucumber on everything, but I do agree with them when it comes to ethical living and having a good sense of humor. I have enjoyed every Veggie Tales movie I’ve ever seen – those guys are creative geniuses – and I think the moral lessons they provide are invaluable to their young audience. The fact that my three year old has become a hardcore Veggie Tales fan is just icing on the decadent chocolate cake.

Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving is the first new Veggie Tales holiday DVD released in seven years. The movie tells the story of Saint Nicholas aka Santa Claus played by the newest VT character, Nicky the Pepper.

The movie opens with Junior Asparagus overcome with glee, trying to decide what to buy with the gold coin his grandparents have given him and anticipating his Christmas morning loot. Meanwhile Laura Carrot’s father finds himself in danger of losing his job on Christmas Eve – right before they are supposed to finally go shopping for their Christmas Tree. When Junior comments that they should ask Santa Claus to help Laura, Bob asks them what they think Christmas is really about and who exactly they think Santa Claus really is. Don’t worry – they aren’t planning to ruin Chistmas for anyone – rather Bob decides it is time to tell the children (and Larry) the story of Saint Nicholas, who made a discovery in Bethlehem as a child that changed Christmas forever.

I really enjoyed the overall moral lesson to this movie – Santa Claus and stockings and presents are fun, but the power of giving to someone in need is even better. Tis better to give than to receive. I wholly agree that the Christmas season gets overly commercialized and that teaching kids the importance of giving back to the community is a great idea. This year, why not give Christmas away?

Like all the Veggie Tales movies, Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving entertained me, humored me, moved me and had me questioning my beliefs. And regardless of whether I agreed with everything they said, it got me thinking and in my opinion, that’s really all that matters. It features some great new songs like “Give This Christmas Away” which was written by the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Matthew West and performed by West and Grammy Award-winning artist Amy Grant (love her). And the newest silly song “Donuts for Benny” which is performed by Mr. Lunt was just hilarious.

I also really enjoyed browsing the special features on the DVD which include:

• “Give This Christmas Away” Operation Christmas Child music video
• Behind The Song with Matthew West and Amy Grant
• Art Gallery
• Audio Commentary
• Sing Along with Larry
• Discussion Guide
• Family Activity – “Bob & Larry’s Sugar Cookies” (see recipe at the bottom of this post)

And when the story was over, I found myself jumping onto the computer to look for volunteer opportunities near me. I think that’s the sign of a successful message, don’t you? As for my three year old – he has been quoting this movie ad nauseam since we bought it and asks to watch it daily. Luckily I love it, too, since it’s in constant rotation here now.

I think this DVD would make a great Christmas present for any young or old Veggie Tales fans in your family. You can buy the DVD along with some great Saint Nicholas stocking stuffers at Big Idea’s website. Merchandise includes a Saint Nicholas Little Golden Book, plush toy versions of Larry, Bob and Nicky, two adorable ornaments and shoes and shoe charms from Jibbitz™, a subsidiary of Crocs™. A 10-song Saint Nicholas album will also be available exclusively at iTunes, which includes “Give This Christmas Away.”

Turn your purchase into an opportunity to give:

If you purchase the Saint Nicholas DVD (which retails at $14.99) you will receive an offer inside the DVD to give a FREE VeggieTales DVD to a friend in need! Just use the information inside the DVD to log onto a special website and get a free Veggie Tales DVD to send to a friend (there is a $2.99 shipping and handling charge).

Operation Christmas Child Partnership

From “What If December Looked Different This Year?” by Deborah Evans Price and Big Idea:

“This fall, Big Idea has teamed up with Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, to help collect gifts for needy children throughout the world. More than 65,000 churches across the country will hold shoe-box gift collection events. Church leaders have the opportunity to hold a screening of Saint Nicholas where kids and families will be encouraged to “share the spirit of giving” by donating shoe-box gifts.”

“Right after watching Saint Nicholas, in the wake of being so inspired to give, that’s the perfect time to put a shoe box together,” says GRAMMY Award-winning recording artist Amy Grant, who has teamed with singer/songwriter Matthew West for the Saint Nicholas theme song “Give This Christmas Away.” “It’s love in action. It’s active learning with a great example of the joy of giving through the life of the real Saint Nicholas. And what better way to say, ‘Hey kids, we could change a life, too. We could do something just that special.’”

Are you a fan of all things Bob and Larry? Be sure to check out the Veggie Tales Facebook page and declare your fandom today!

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Bob & Larry’s Yummy Christmas Cookies

• Prep Time: 20 Minutes
• Cook Time: 15 Minutes
• Ready In: 30 Minutes
• Servings: 30

“Christmastime means cookies are in the oven just for me! The smell of yummy morsels makes me want to hum “Deck The Halls” while my tummy starts to grumble.” says Larry the Cucumber ” I like to paint my cookies with colorful icing – or if time’s a wastin’, simply sprinkle ‘em with colored sugar.”

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup butter
• Decorations

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl combine the flour and salt with a wire whisk. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well blended. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add the flour mixture. Blend on low speed just until combined. Do not overmix. Gather dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Refrigerate one hour until firm. On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. With cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Decorate with colored sugars or sprinkles. Bake for 13-15 minutes, being careful not to brown. Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface.

A special thank you to the Family Review Network and Big Idea for this review opportunity.

I’ve been dying to take MM to see Where The Wild Things Are since first seeing the previews ages ago. It’s a favorite book in our household so he was very excited when we told him we were going to see “The Max Movie” in the big theater – and being able to have lunch at the same time meant killing two birds with one stone and lowering the odds of a melt down in the middle of the theater if he got tired or hungry.

I’ve read some bad reviews of this movie, taking fault with the backstory (i.e. why Max was in such a wild, disagreeable mood) and overall plot deviations (how Max arrives at the Land Where The Wild Things Are and what he does while he’s there) that Spike Jonze fleshed out for the movie, and I disagree. I think Jonze did a really good job taking a 10 sentence story and turning it into a 100 minute movie. I really think they did an excellent job recreating the original ebb and flow of this story. One of my favorite things about the book is the sort of circular story telling and how the Land Where The Wild Things Are closely resembles the day Max had been having before going there. They do a similar thing in the movie, really showing how Max’s imagination creates a story loosely based off his own life, dealing with the same problems he was having at home.

I’d been worried this movie would be too scary for my three year old – I mean there are giant monsters thrashing about, and it does get a bit intense at moments but MM still loved it. He laughed and cried and stared in awe of the whole thing and when it was over he asked if we could watch it again. I think my favorite thing about this movie was my son’s experience of it. It was amazing to watch him watch it. It was the first time my husband and I were able to really witness him show empathy. He cried at the sad parts and really seemed to understand what was going on and while there were moments he looked afraid, the movie did a good job showing that those huge monstrous looking creatures were not something to be afraid of. Older children might catch on to the idea those creatures, in their own way, are just like them.

And if you remember the story, yes you will notice some changes, but the crucial blueprint of the story remains the same. From house to boat to the wild to the boat to the house again. It’s all there – even the warm dinner waiting for him when he gets home. And I have to say, in some ways I think the change to some plot points was a nice thing, because you didn’t know exactly what was going to happen the whole time – it allowed you to be surprised occasionally, to feel suspenseful when you weren’t entirely sure how some things would pan out but still feel the comfort of some of those well known lines, like “Let the wild rumpus start!” or “I’ll eat you up, I love you so!” from the original story, guiding you along from beginning to end.

Overall I’d give this movie a solid B+ and our movie experience an easy A. If you are ever in Stoughton, Wisconsin, I highly recommend the Stoughton Cinema Cafe for a unique movie experience and some really delicious pizza (we had sausage and cheese).

• ALIENS: An unplanned pregnancy leads to complications.
• BATMAN: Wealthy man assaults the mentally ill.
• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Peasant girl develops Stockholm Syndrome.
• BEOWULF: Colonists hire assassin to drive natives from land.
• BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S: Pretty redneck girl fools socialites, flirts with gay gigolo.
• DRACULA: Immigrant clashes with locals.
• FRANKENSTEIN: Scientific advancement proves unpopular with general public.
• JURASSIC PARK: Theme park’s grand opening pushed back.
• KARATE KID: Boy gains acceptance through violence.
• KILL BILL: Irresponsible mother wants custody of her child.
• KING KONG: Endangered animal stolen, shot.
• LABYRINTH: Girl is negligent baby-sitter
• LORD OF THE RINGS: Midget destroys stolen property.
• MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL: British comedy troupe inadvertently creates language lab for nerds.
• RATATOUILLE: Vermin infest restaurant until it is forced to close doors.
• ROBIN HOOD: Disgruntled veteran protests taxes.
• TERMINATOR: An unplanned pregnancy leads to complications.
• THE X-MEN: Minority group seeks overthrow of social order.
• TITANIC: Crazy old widow disregards lifelong memories of husband, children, and grandchildren in favor of that one time she fucked a bum.
• TWILIGHT: Girl gives up college for stalker.
• BREAKING DAWN: Native American guy is romantically obsessed with ex-girlfriend’s baby.

I have mixed feelings about this new movie starring Adam Sandler. While Bedtime Stories is certainly a family friendly movie (rated PG) it was not exactly what I thought it would be. Yes, it’s a movie about bedtime stories coming true – but not in the fantastical sense that the previews might lead you to believe – for the most part, there seem to be perfectly rational explanations for a lot of things – nothing just pops out of thin air in a magical way – it’s more like the stories become premonitions for Sandler’s character’s real life.

Sandler plays Skeeter  Bronson, whose father built and ran into the ground the hotel he now works in – as a janitor. It had always been his father’s dream for his family to inherit the hotel, but when he proved to be a not so great business man, he ended up selling the hotel to a man who promised to give his son a job running the hotel someday. And then of course, he didn’t quite keep his promise. But with the help of Skeeter’s adorable niece and nephew, a bug eyed guinea pig, and some imaginative bedtime stories, things start to change – and in true family movie fashion, he manages to turn his life around.

I think the only thing that bothered me about this movie is that, despite being funny, Skeeter’s character isn’t terribly likable. He is pretty rude and, well, crude. Don’t worry about inappropriate material – that’s not really an issue – it was just a little disappointing this his character was never really admirable. I guess you could say he was an underdog, but I couldn’t help but feel like he often deserved his underdog status. And even by the end of the movie when he “turns his life around” and learns the lessons that make him a better person – it isn’t really as rewarding as it could have been – he just sort of pulls things together and comes out okay – he gets the girl, but you can’t help feeling sorry for her for that.

I don’t know – I think I’m being overly critical – Sandler certainly has his style of humor and he excels at it – and the movie was good – I laughed all the way through it – it was really just the mom in me who said, “But wait – ” at the end. Your kids will probably love the silly antics – and you grown ups should enjoy it, too. Netflix deems it appropriate for kids ages 7+ and I think I’d agree with that.

I give Bedtime Stories 3.5 out of 5 stars.

We rented In Bruges to watch tonight – it’s about some guys who are hiding out in Bruges, Belgium after committing a murder that went wrong – as if a murder could go right. My husband was really enjoying the movie so I humored him despite being a bit bored. I can deal with movies about serial killers – usually you can kind of suspend that belief that nobody actually deserves to be murdered and run with the good guy / bad guy theory. This wasn’t the problem. I was doing fine while the main character murdered a Catholic priest for unknown reasons other than the known fact that the main character is a hit man and this was a job. But then after he’s shot the priest we find out that a stray bullet also hit a small boy, school aged, but very young. In church.

I’m six months pregnant and emotional and already have a problem with aforementioned dying of parents and children so we know this is going to go poorly for me. I had to make Dan turn the movie off – even if the subject wasn’t mentioned further – and maybe especially if it wasn’t – the damage was done. I’ve seen that now. It’s tainted a part of my heart, added another irrational fear to my list of things to worry about despite my lack of ability to control such a situation. That boy did nothing wrong but was in the wrong place at the wrong time – except that wrong place was a location most people could never even dream of fearing. It’s like the worst thing to fear ever basically – because to actually let a fear like that control you would mean being unable to simply function in life.

And I know I’ll be fine – for the most part – by tomorrow the image hopefully won’t be haunting me anymore and by the time I fall asleep tonight the urge to burst into my son’s room and just hold him for dear life will have been resisted – you know that’d make for a bad night, my son hates being woken up! But it’s still there – I honestly wish I’d never ever ever seen that. I can remember a similar moment in the movie Crash, except that it didn’t really happen – and the child was okay and despite my heart stopping for a few minutes, it was okay, because those sweet, kind directors let me get off the hook – and assured me that no, that didn’t actually happen and everyone is fine. Everyone should do that – if only for my sake!

I look at how sheltered our kids are now compared to generations past, just due to the large amount of information mothers have now, how can we let our kids have the freedoms we did or our parents did? How can we let them just walk off into that dangerous world where bullets fly and hit people they weren’t intended for and mean, bad people do mean, bad things? We know they are out there and it’s our job as parents to protect them from those truths. We can’t pretend that it isn’t real and that it’s just a script that can be rewritten. And I accept the fact that bad things happen for no good reason and that I can only protect my children so far – that I cannot protect them from things over which I have no control. I can make peace with that – but when I’m watching a movie or tv show to unwind and relax and let my mind be entertained – I can only deal with so much of that. I am going to need a lot of Teen Disney-esque distractions and magazine flipping to get through those few minutes of In Bruges and be able to sleep tonight.

I know some people like these kinds of plots that make your heart maybe jump a little and have you thinking on a different level, like wow those things happen and isn’t that deep. Me? I worry about those things without the influence of tv and movies. I’ll take stereotypical teen heart throbs falling in love and singing to each other about it while fighting masked bandits who never actually hurt anyone and maybe they become a princess at the end. I’ll take a break from my brain which already fears anything and everything hurting my babies or taking me away from them. I do that on my own – I don’t need a talented, overly imaginative script to add to my list, please and thank you.

Don’t get me wrong – I like smart movies – a lot – I just prefer they avoid that whole area where my uterus starts crying for things that haven’t happened. Stimulate my brain – talk religion, politics, money – any other vice is fair game – just don’t hurt those imaginary moms and dads and kids who can only ever make me think of my own brood – leave them alive please. And their pets – let them live, too. And I know this a long shot and you movie makers not reading this have no control over it, but if my husband could get the job with Dream Company that’d be great, too. Because I just started flipping through the premiere issue of Fresh Home magazine which I’m reviewing for Momma’s Review and it’s awesome and I want a subscription but first we need a home address for it to be delivered to and a job to pay the subscription cost. Feel free to deliver that message to the appropriate gods, mkay?

What about you? Anyone else share my inability to deal with kids dying in movies and on tv? Or is there some other don’t go there topic that you avoid like the plague?

While I’m being all sacrilegious I’ll continue…

• I do not love Edward.
• I do not wish my husband was more like Edward.
• To be honest, I’d never ever want to date Edward. He’d annoy me. He’s perfect for Bella. But (although we’re similar) I’m not her.
• I will probably never reread the books. Don’t get me wrong – I loooooooved every single one of them – but I don’t reread books. So it probably won’t happen.
• I think Robert Pattinson is uggggly and looks nothing like Edward in My Mind. Also he annoys me. A lot. I really think he thinks this whole thing is just a joke. He takes this movie about as seriously as if he were acting in Superbad. He probably wishes he were.
• Kristen Stewart isn’t much better. Both of them need to clean up their acts because they’ve been found guilty of sucking. These books are incredible and I really think they are making a mockery of them. I hope New Moon proves me wrong and is awesome and they are awesome because I miss squeeing.
• I think my real favorite scene in the movie was when “Edward” makes that nasty disgusted face because he smells Bella for the first time and she smells her BO. That was pretty great. But so not worthy of being a favorite scene. Thank god for vampire baseball.

Some positive notes:

• Ashely Greene (Alice) and Taylor Lautner (Jacob) were fantastic. They are my favorite characters in the movie (and sometimes the books, although for me the books are all about Bella – hence my angst with Kristen Stewart).
• Did I mention I am a fan? I swear I do love the books. In fact, if I didn’t love them, the disappointment of the movie wouldn’t bother me at all, would it?
• You should take pity on me at least a little bit because I’m a pregnant woman with a sprained foot and I really want a snack. Send cookies.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ayWe6ebOWc

I’m officially a John Mayer funny video junkie so if you come across one you think I’ll like, please comment to let me know or send me an email at mommablogsalot (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Have you ever wanted to make your own font but had no idea how to go about it? Yourfonts.com is a free online font generator that lets you create your own fonts in minutes. You’ll print a sheet that you will fill in with your handwriting, then scan it in and within 15 minutes you’ll have your very own font that you can use on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. You can make as many fonts as you want!

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Speaking of free stuff, RedBox is offering a coupon code for a free movie every Wednesday in March. Just visit their blog, RedBlog on Wednesdays for the code. The blog itself is pretty cool, too, with articles about upcoming movies, DVD reviews, behind the scenes info and other  fun things for any movie fan. I added it to my RSS feed and have been having a lot of fun perusing their archives. Definitely a great read!

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Have you heard about the new Pepsi Natural (or maybe seen it in a store)? Sold in glass bottles for the slightly exorbitant price of $4.69 for a four pack of 12 oz. glass bottles, they do look very pretty and might intrigue people with the information that these versions of Pepsi contain no high fructose corn syrups and are sweetened with plain old sugar (42 grams of sugar I might add!). Still I’m not sure I’d spend that much for something that, at the end of the day, is still soda and still not great for you. How about you? Would you spend $12.50 per gallon (regular pepsi runs for $3.69 per gallon just to compare) for “natural” pepsi? For more great information about the new Pepsi Natural, check out keacher.com for a great review.

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That’s all for this weekend – don’t forget Sunday is Daylight Saving Time – time to Spring Forward! For more information on DST check out this neat article at Blissfully Domestic and also timeanddate.com for some easy information.