May 27th, 2010 Ryan
A big welcome to our guest reviewer Megan (insert applause here)! She took her boys to see a preview of Shrek Forever After last weekend and here is what she thought of it…
Disclaimer: I have not seen either Shrek 2 or Shrek 3, so I cannot say anything about the continuing storyline in the series. However, as a stand alone movie I will say that Shrek 4 is very funny. I cannot recall the last time a children’s movie made me laugh as hard as this one did. It was well written, had a great soundtrack and can be enjoyed by young and old alike.
Shrek (Mike Myers) has settled into a life of domesticity with Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and has grown weary of the day to day routine. He longs to be an ogre and instill fear in people as he used to. Meanwhile, Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) is still upset that Shrek rescued Fiona before he was able to trick her parents in to signing over Far, Far Away to him.Rumpelstiltskin plays on Shrek’s vulnerability and tricks him into signing a contract that exchanges a day from Shrek’s past so that he can have one day to do as he wishes.
Unfortunately for Shrek, Rumpelstiltskin chooses to take the day Shrek was born so it’s as though Shrek never existed. Although he starts out enjoying his day by scaring everyone as he used to, he soon realizes that he has been duped. None of his friends Donkey (Eddie Murphy) Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), who has grown fat and lazy and, more importantly, Fiona remember him. In the alternate version of Far, Far AwayRumpelstiltskin is now king and Fiona is the leader of a group of warring ogres who have been forced to hide underground because they are constantly hunted by a group of witches working for Rumpelstiltskin .
The only way for Shrek to void the contract is to share “True Love’s Kiss” with his true love. He must convince Fiona that she loves him. Along the way Rumpelstiltskin does his best to keep them apart by using his witches to battle them. Of course true love always prevails in the end.
Rumpelstiltskin was my favorite character – the perfect combination of greed and buffoonery. He had different wigs for different situations, such as when he called to his lackeys, “Bring me my angry wig.”
I definitely recommend the movie. It was enjoyable enough that I imagine we will have a repeat viewing at the theater before it’s gone.
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May 20th, 2010 Ryan
My wife and I, along with Nana, took my daughter to see Nickelodeon’s Story Time Live in Providence. The show was excellent (5 Stars) and I would recommend it to anyone with children who watch Nick Jr.!! This was the first time I visited the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) and was quite impressed with the venue. It was easy to get in and out of Providence and there was plenty of parking close to the theater.
The show was a musical adventure starring four of Nick Jr.’s top television shows and was hosted by Moose and Zee. First was “Ni Hao, Kai-lan,” followed by “The Backyardigans,” “The Wonder Pets,” and “Dora the Explorer.” Each of the featured shows had their own story which lasted about 20-25 minutes and there was a 20 minute intermission between Acts 2 and 3.
Kai Lan and all of her friends meet and sing with their favorite superhero, The Monkey King, and they help bring all the Pandas to his castle for a celebration!
The Backyardigans are forced to take part in Filthyham’s “Festival of Dirt” by Mayor Stinkypants and it’s up to “Robinhood the Clean” to free them of this dirty dictator. For kids who have seen this episode this one will be very familiar.
The Wonder Pets adventure was quite cool as well and I felt they had the best looking costumes. They tied in an “Alice in Wonderland” theme with their adventure as the WP’s used teamwork to gather the Mad Hatter, the Chesire Cat, and the Queen of Hearts to Ollie’s party.
The last act, and featured performer, was Dora the Explorer. She was easily the crowd favorite and had, what we thought, was the best performance of all. Boots was put under a sleeping spell and Dora had to become a Princess to save him.
All of the acts came out for the closing performance and sang a great version of “You make me wanna Shout.” They did a great job of engaging the crowd all night long, evidenced by very happy kiddos in the crowd throughout.
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May 13th, 2010 Ryan
Thanks to Larry, from our sister site, Crazy Kids Chicago, for this review.
Having enjoyed Iron Man 1 immensely, we just had to go see Iron Man 2 in the first weekend. With over $100 million in the first weekend, we weren’t the only ones who thought about it. Some of the the cast is back including Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper, Jon Favreau as the body guard, and Robert Downey, Jr as Tony Stark/Iron Man. They ditched Terrance Howard as Rhodey for Don Cheadle, brought in Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury, and Mickey Rourke as the bad guy.
First, the plot, well, the plot is kind of all over the place. The movie has about 6 sub plots: the energy that keeps Tony Stark alive is also poisoning him; Mickey Rourke wants revenge from the Stark family because they stole his father’s inventions; Hamme (Sam Rockwell) is trying to take over Stark Industries as the number 1 weapons supplier; the government wants Stark to turn over Iron Man to the government; Pepper is taking over as CEO of Stark Enterprises; and Nick Fury wants Iron Man to join Shield. None of these stories actually fit together really well and the movie bounces back and forth between the different story lines. Jon Favreau (director) said in an interview he was confused as why they had Tony Stark admit he was Iron Man at the end of the first movie. The confusion continues in Iron Man 2.
However, this is an entertaining movie. Robert Downey is great as the wise cracking Stark who doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. His dialogue is very funny and keeps the audience laughing. Definitely the best non-action scene, is Tony Stark being grilled by a Senate committe about Iron Man. The Committee leader is Gary Shandling and the back and forth between Downey and Shandling is hysterical. The action is of course great.
I always think that if they can’t put together a plot, just go crazy on action. This is not wall to wall action unfortunately, but the fights against Mickey Rourke, Whiplash, are very cool. And in another scene Don Cheadle, War Machine, fights Iron Man (Iron against Iron) and the hand to hand combat between the two iron men is really cool. Scarlett’s Black Widow action scene is really cool but fleeting. Mickey Rourke is just a gross bad guy who plays the part well. He wields an energy whip that cuts through everything but Iron Man’s suite so the fights are pretty intense, repulsor blasts against laser whips.
So I was really confused walking out of the theater. I was definitely entertained but really can’t call this a great movie like the first one. It was definitely not as bad as a flop as the second James Bond with Daniel Craig but they missed an important opportunity. It is PG-13 but it was really just comic book violence, no swearing, and not a difficult story to follow. You should see this in the theater with really great sound because of the flying and explosions are immense. And if you are really into the comic book, Marvel is doing some really cool things getting the Avengers together and tying the Hulk (Robert Downey was at the end of the last Hulk), Spiderman, Iron Man, and the soon to be Thor and Captain America movies together.
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May 6th, 2010 Ryan
Note: this is a guest post by Peggy, Crazy Kids Boston’s Editor-at-Large.
As an avid Jim Henson fan, I was quite excited to hear about the National Heritage Museum’s current exhibit titled “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World,” a traveling exhibit organized by the Jim Henson Legacy and funded by The Biography Channel. Touted as featuring “100 original artworks, including drawings, cartoons and storyboards that illustrate Henson’s talent as a storyteller and visionary” as well as “puppets and television and movie props, photographs of Henson and his collaborators at work and original video productions, including excerpts from Henson’s early career and experimental films,” the exhibit seemed like a Henson devotee’s dream come true. Having some free time over April vacation, I grabbed a fellow enthusiast and checked it out.
The National Heritage Museum is a modern, beautifully kept site founded and supported by a grant from the Scottish Rite Masons. There are tables outside for sitting and relaxing or enjoying food from the museum’s small cafe. The bright main atrium features a small gift shop and the cafe, as well as additional tables and chairs. The young lady who greeted us was friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, directing us to the various exhibits currently on display. We first took a walk through “Treasured Lands: The Fifty-Eight U.S. National Parks in Focus,” which featured gorgeous landscape photography by Quang-Tuan Luong, who traveled across the U.S. capturing our national parks on film. The photographs were beautiful and interesting enough to hold the attention of older children. The exhibit leaves you feeling the need to either pack and tent and hop on a plane or grab your camera and start snapping your surroundings. It was well worth the 15 minutes it took to stroll through.
Having read Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol mostly for the interesting historical (and pseudo-historical) tidbits he dispenses, as well as the mythology he builds around the Masons, I was excited to check out “The Initiated Eye: Secrets, Symbols, Freemasonry and the Architecture of Washington, D.C.” The exhibit is described as exploring “the Masonic ideals and symbols made manifest in our nation’s capital city.” It features Masonic artifacts, as well as “oil paintings by artist Peter Waddell based on the architecture of Washington, D.C., and the role that our founding fathers and prominent citizens—many of whom were Freemasons—played in establishing the layout, design and construction of the city.” While the exhibit does indeed feature those things, it failed to hold my attention – the colorful modern paintings divulged very few secrets, and I found myself wishing for a Brown-like guide to the exhibit which would point out the details of symbolism in a way the plaques next to the paintings did not. Having no connections to Freemasonry myself, the exhibit failed to deliver any sense of excitement, other than mild interest at recognizing certain places from recent trips to D.C.
Since we grew up in Massachusetts and feel thoroughly versed in the state’s role in the American Revolution, we elected to skip “Sowing the Seeds of Liberty: Lexington and the American Revolution,” described as “the Museum’s new cornerstone exhibition on Lexington and the American Revolution” which is “designed to stimulate new ways of thinking about the battle at Lexington on April 19, 1775.” We did check out the 200-year-old 15-star flag, displayed in a beautiful conference room, but then hurried on to our main event.
It did not disappoint. The exhibit features everything it promises and more. Organized chronologically, it consists mainly of sketches, drawings, storyboards, pictures, sales pitches and other printed material from all stages of Henson’s life, but the real treasures are the glass cases containing actual puppets Henson worked with, including Kermit the Frog, Rowlf, Bert and Ernie, and Fraggles Gobo and Cantus. There is also a room with props from one of Henson’s most popular movies, The Dark Crystal. Several screens loop videos of his early work, such as talk show appearances, commercials, and some little-known experimental films, and a small room shows a longer biographical film. While “The Muppet Show”, “Sesame Street” and The Dark Crystal are featured, the focus seems to be on Henson’s earlier and lesser-known works. Posters he created in high school, his commercial work, and his less-successful television and film attempts give Henson fans a fuller understanding of his body of work. It ends roughly where Henson’s life did (1990) and does not feature any of the later Muppet works done through Disney.
Children will be excited to see characters they know up close, but as photography is not permitted, and most of the exhibit’s interest lies in closely reading the materials, the exhibit is best for older children and those who are already fans or who want to know more about the fascinating man behind so many beloved characters and programs. I was most struck with the way every scrap of paper Henson touched seemed to have been preserved – doodles, ideas jotted on notepads, silly drawings, cartoons, early conceptions of well-known works – it all became fascinating in retrospect. How many of us think, when doodling in the margins of a notebook during a meeting, that our work could one day be displayed in a museum? Henson was truly a visionary, and the exhibit allows a full appreciation of his mind and work. More information on the touring exhibit can be found at http://sites.si.edu/henson/index.html.
The National Heritage Museum is located at 33 Marrett Road (At the intersection of Route 2A and Massachusetts Avenue), Lexington, MA and can be reached at (781) 861-6559. Admission to the museum and all exhibits is free, and hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 am to 4:30 pm, and Sundays from noon to 4:30 pm. More information, including special events and group information, is found at http://www.nationalheritagemuseum.org/. I would recommend both the museum and exhibit for ages 9 and up.
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