So, you’re looking for some cool all age comic books to stuff the stocking with? There are a couple great ones this week, as well as a couple nice titles from previous weeks that’ll fill that big sock by the fireplace. Over in the podcast and on Youtube we’ll chat about Star Wars, a great DC/Hanna-Barbera team-up, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and more. For now let’s look at three titles that will interest readers as young as 5.
Minions
Minions, Viva La Boss, #2 is out and this mini-series will
enchant readers as young as 5. That’s the age when one of our boys really
started to like Minions. This comic book’s sweet spot is 8, simply due to its
presentation and the fact that the art is not identical to how they look on
screen. This is one of those great all age comic books that are great for boys
or girls.
Betty & Veronica
Betty & Veronica, #1 of #5 is out from Archie Comics and
hits the demographic of girls in middle school and up. This is not as moody or
dark as the television show, nor is it as bubblegum poppy as the 60’s version of
Archie. If anything it’s more cut from the cloth of the show, but it skews just
a bit younger than that. Ages 10 and up should enjoy this mini-series that
concentrates on Riverdale’s two leading ladies.
Jim Henson Beneath The Dark Crystal
We love The Dark Crystal and Jim Henson Beneath The Dark
Crystal is a mini-series from Boom! Studios. Issue #5 of #12 is out and will be
a great blast of Ember Queen fun and dealing with the Throne of Mithra. The art
in this mini-series is beautiful and steps back into that world seamlessly. The
art and story combine to make this a great comic book for middle school and up.
It is understandable for movie goers to be skeptical of Mary Poppins Returns. Mary Poppins is irrelevant. It’s a character better known fora classic movie that blazed technological trails 50 years ago and is one of the bright lights in Mickey’s castle. It’s not the kind of movie or character that one associates with having ‘continued adventures’. Our son wanted to see Mary Poppins Returns, even though he’s never seen the first one. On the way into the theater I told him that the first movie was made over 50 years ago and was a technical masterpiece then.
From the first frames of Mary Poppins returns it’s obvious that there’s something different about this film. For starters, audiences will watch the credits at the beginning of the film. That’s a subtle nod to the original and the way that films used to be shown. “When does the film start”,our 9-year old asked after the movie started, while we were watching the credits.
The film takes its direction from that point and continues down the path without hitting any lamplighters or bicycles. Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family, this time to take care of the adult Banks children. It’s hard not to think of Doc Brown from Back to the Future at the end of the first movie. You know, the offhand remark about “I’m not here about you…it’s your children”, he said after visiting the future. While our son certainly didn’t catch this it raised my warning antennae on the film.
If I ever saw Mary Poppins I do not remember any of it. I recall seeing the images and scenes from our trips to Walt Disney World, but the rest is chim, chiminey forgotten. Here the Banks children; specifically Michael, is on the verge of losing his home. His wife passed away a couple of months ago and he’s never really gotten over it, despite obtaining a job at bank, that conveniently has the loan that is now being called due.
Overall Mary Poppins Returns is utterly charming. The dance and song numbers, for the most part, are uplifting and will bring in even those in the audience who have never seen a musical. Our son, who has never seen, actually he’s actively avoided musicals, really enjoyed the film, especially the more up-tempo numbers.
Mary Poppins Returns is a little too long and very diverse. It’s obviously diverse, so much so that it’s distracting and that’s something that filmmakers,especially Disney need to be wary of. Disney became very Princess heavy a couple of years ago, which if great; they needed to balance the scales of their characters, both in regards to their sex and their background. However, by making the heroes or villains the same cookie cutter format movie after movie they’re falling into the same trap that made The Last Jedi so bad.
Granted, the fan base between The Last Jedi and Mary Poppins will not be the same, nor will they have the same criticisms. Mary Poppins Returns is an entertaining film, it just feels hollow. It’s obvious that the filmmakers loved the original and did as much possible to stay true to its spirit.The result is a lovingly created vehicle that has a (very) slightly different story from the original and shows up at your doorstep 50 some odd years later asking you to love it just as much. You’ll like it, maybe buy a box of cookies,but it won’t stick too long in your memory.
The other view: when my nine-year old son and I were leaving the theater he said: “I can’t wait to see the next one in 50 years”. If that’s the reaction that the film makers were going for then they’ve hit a home run.If they’re looking for film that will return its investment and a little bit more then they’ll probably accomplish that.
I still love board books. Board books are those thick-paged books intended for toddlers through pre-k with thick pages. They’re essential to children having fun while discovering books because it give them control of how they look at the look, as well as the free time to be alone with the book. All Is Merry And Bright is a board book by its page description. It’s also the largest and brightest board book that we’ve ever seen.
All Is Merry And Bright is the largest board book we’ve ever seen. Its Christmas theme, vivid colors and reflective nature will intoxicate readers 1 through 5.
All Is Merry And Bright is by Jeffrey Burton with illustrations by Don Clark. This is a statement book whose colors and reflections you’ll be able to see from across the room. It’s almost like a Where’s Waldo book, except here readers are simply tasked with the job of having their eyes go over the pages. As you look over the pages you’ll have to, yes, simply have to touch the text and art work because there are hundreds of elements on each page that are embossed so that they pop off of the page.
When you turn the page those embossed elements sparkle and reflect the light. Combine the bright colors on the page, play some EDM and you’ve got a Christmas rave for the crawler through pre-t set. The text in All Is Merry And Bright is simple and geared for that age. Board book parents know that they key to any great book is how thick its spine is and well the book is constructed. To that end All Is Merry And Bright is a tank. The spine of the book is as thick as the pages and is tightly woven together so that even the most destructive toddler won’t be able to destroy it.
This is a keepsake book. To my frugal parents (like me!) out there, you’ll know that’s just code for “it’s more expensive” and it is. All Is Merry And Bright retails for $24.99. Yikes, for a board book that’s off the charts. However, it’s so intoxicating, bright and inviting the book is like a spinning vortex that dissuades your frugal nature with the graphics and happy colors. I shouldn’t like this book because of its price point, but I can’t help it. If you’ve got a newborn through three-year old and are looking for a board book that will tingle their senses check this out.
Vice is the story of Dick Cheney and it’s from the director
of The Big Short, Adam McKay. It’s being released on December 25 and has
already been nominated for 6 Golden Globe Awards, as well as, 23 other awards.
The cast reads like an actors and actress fantasy lineup, Christen Bale at Dick
Cheney, Amy Adams ad Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Sam
Rockwell and George W. Bush, Tyler Perry as Colin Powell and many others. The
film is rated R for language and adult situations.
This is a film that adult will crave and most people under
18 would avoid. The exception to this would be those high school students that
want to see the story of Dick Cheney’s background and how he reshaped the Vice
Presidency.
The Atlanta sneak preview of Vice is Tuesday, December 18 at
7:00. We’re giving away 25 pairs of tickets to the show. If you want to be one
of the first people, outside of the award circuit, to see Vice just RT this:
There are two 9-year olds and a 7-year old at my kitchen table playing with Thomas and Friends, Big Loader. 15 minutes later: There are still two 9-year olds and a 7-year old at my kitchen table playing with Thomas and Friends. I wasn’t expecting this. All of these kids are a couple years beyond enjoying Thomas the Train. Dare I say it, they’re in the demographic where they mock children who enjoy Thomas the Train, yet, here they are,eagerly playing with Big Loader. If that’s what my skeptical and surly crowd does with it, just imagine how kids who actively enjoy Thomas and Friends will react.
Big Loader is a train set that features Thomas and Percy as they move about 8 feet of track dumping loads and picking them up. Thomas goes down the ramp, maneuvers two curves and then into a holding bay where the chassis transfers from him to Percy. Percy then goes backwards where he triggers a loading platform that dumps gray balls into its cargo bin. Now that Percy has the cargo he goes to a dumping station where it’s offloaded down a zig-zag maze that empties into a green quarry. Percy moves back to the chassis transfer station and docks while the chassis goes back to Thomas.
Thomas goes to the quarry where he transfers the chassis to the brown loader. The brown loader then moves the grey balls up the bin where they fall back in to Thomas’s cargo hold. At which point the brown loader goes backward, stopping at the chassis transfer which allows Thomas to go back up the hill, dumping the grey balls into the loading platform bin.
I even found myself watching Big Loader. It’s hypnotic and kids will have an absolute blast playing with this toy. There are ways for kids to control the train once it’s on the track too. On some pieces of track there are switches that make the train change directions if they’re pressed as the train hits it. Hit the piece of track on its new direction and the train will go towards the intended direction. If you leave the train alone it will continue to run until the kids lose interest, which will take a long time.
Big Loader is well constructed and relatively easy to put together. Putting the train track in its course will take a combination of reading the instructions and looking at the photograph on the box. Once the course is put together be certain the flick the metal stud on the bottom of the trains down. If you don’t flick them down then you’ll wonder why the trains keep running off of the track. That will lead you to curse toy designers and children’s toys, when in reality, it’s just you who didn’t read the instructions.
I get it, you want to put the toy together quickly so that the kids can enjoy it. However, just exhale a moment….put Big Loader together and let the kids have the hours, upon hours of fun that the toy will provide. Thomas& Friends Big Loader retails for $39.99 and is intended for ages 3 and up,however, their older siblings (and you parents) will easily be ensnared by its charm.
I’m in a coffee place and two middle aged guys are talking. “I wasn’t familiar with the plot. But, I saw the movie in IMAX and it was amazing. The special effects were incredibly detailed and its steampunk elements were things that you really need to see on the big screen”, one said to the other. I didn’t need to ask them what film they were talking about. I knew that it was Mortal Engines.
The scope and scale of Mortal Engines is beautiful. See the film in IMAX, it’s worth the extra money to see it on the really big screen. It’s rated PG-13 for intense action sequences.
I was not familiar with the books, they’re a 4-part series by Phillip Reeve about a post-apocalyptic world where…..hey hey, eyes up here.I know that the whole ‘post apocalyptic’ tag line is over used. You’re expecting Jennifer Lawrence or some pasty faced vampire in the film just to lock down its middle school street cred. Mortal Engines is a different kind of end-of-the world tale, this is steampunk on the grandest scale that’s ever been displayed on the big screen.
From the opening moments Mortal Engines establishes what you
might already know from the trailer. London is a massive city on wheels that
consumes other smaller cities on wheels for their resources. As we dig deeper we learn that there was a 60-second
war that shifted the crust of the Earth which somehow mandated that our cities
are built on iron wheels.
Don’t get bogged down in the details. Mortal Engines is a
fun, high quality popcorn time at the movies. If you’ve read the books you’ll
notice that most of the downbeat under currents aren’t mentioned and that’s ok.
If the film had spent any time on the elements that were not big machines,
majestic mountains or big machines it would’ve tripped upon its good
intentions.
Mortal Engines rarely lets its foot off of the gas and
that’s a great thing. The only time that the film stumbles is when viewers get
a moment to actually question why this or that is happening. How can his
daughter be so trusting? What happened to that other guy who was helping her?
Stop, don’t ask any question, just enjoy the film and everything will be fine.
For us the biggest let down was the ending music. The soundtrack during the film is strong and very effective. When the film ends the soundtrack goes soft and all but requires the audience to exhale. It also leaves you feeling let down, which the complete opposite of what the film did.
If you read our giveaway that we did for tickets to this film you’ll know that I was skeptical. A non-jokey animated superhero film can’t possibly be good can it? Teen Titans GO! To The Movies was successful because it was the exact same format and voices and the excellent television show. But Spider-Man has multiple incarnations, lots of films and more. That mythos is one of the first things that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse dispels with. Get over what you know; this is not that story, that’s basically what the film sets up in its trailer and within the first two minutes of it. At the end of the film I was correct and an animated superhero film can’t be good, it can be superior and better than most of the films out now from any angle that you look at it.
There are a couple of book series that firmly hammer things home to those who are in elementary school. One of the most popular series of books in that category is Geronimo Stilton. Our oldest (currently in 3rd grade) has been reading this series since he was in first grade. The books started out with us reading them to him and for about the past year he’s been reading them by himself. Geronimo Stilton, The Phantom Bandit is book 70 in the series and continues to entertain the elementary school set like few others.
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