We’ve seen three movies in theater over the last few months that were all good enough to gush about but I’ve been busy so I haven’t had a chance to give you guys the skinny. I thought I’d do a quick review of all three of them with some feedback from their primary target audience, my seven year old daughter and 10 year old son.

MOANA

“I love it so much that I listen to the radio music a lot! Moana’s adventure was very mysterious! I also loved Moana’s grandmother  because she cheered Moana up in every way she could.” – BB, Age 7

When I saw the trailers for this one I was kind of ambivalent – they honestly just don’t do it justice. I think a way better taste for this movie is this clip of one of the best songs in the movie:

But honestly, all the songs are fantastic. Like, ‘I bought the soundtrack and listen to it on my own sometimes’ fantastic. Add to this information a heartwarming ‘bring your tissues’ story that isn’t focused on a girl winning a guy’s heart / mixed with ridiculously funny characters and antics and you can kind of understand why our entire family became obsessed with this movie after seeing it in theater over Christmas vacation.  The love affair is still going strong and I’m anxiously awaiting the DVD release.

“Moana is cunning and adventurous. No matter what she faced, she didn’t give up. And Maui was funny and crazy!” – MM, Age 10

SING

“I enjoyed it. I loved Ash, the Porcupine. She was my favorite character.” – BB, Age 7

How about a star studded spectacular in which a group of rag tag singers with modest dreams audition for a singing competition that seems failed from the start? Both my kids loved this one and I was really into it also. I liked that it balanced hopefulness with reality and wasn’t too stereotypical. Great music to be found in a very balanced mix of genres so no worries that this will be all pop music / no substance. A killer soundtrack and a good story.

TROLLS

“I loved it a lot! Music made the trolls happy because music was one of their favorite things to do and it spread on all trolls.” – BB, Age 7

I took my daughter to see this at the budget second run theater over the weekend when the boys were off on a cub scout sledding trip. It was so good that we rented it on DVD the next night so the whole family could watch it. Again, the music is excellent. My daughter has not stopped singing since. My husband was very pleasantly surprised that the movie wasn’t sugary sweet fluff but had a real story and plenty of humor and self awareness. The back and forth between the main characters, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake), is basically magic.

“I really liked how Poppy was always happy about everything. I loved the “I’ll Just Get Back Up Again” song! That was a really funny song.” – MM, Age 10