Strollerderby : films

Contest Seeking Super-Short Birth Documentaries

Miriam Axel-Lute — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:33:00 GMT

Got something to say about "evidence-based maternity and delivery care," and a good feel for the attention span of the YouTube generation? (That's about four to seven minutes apparently.) Get your camcorder (or cell phone) and start shooting.

And then send your finished product to Birth Matters Virginia, an organization that works "to improve the culture of birth in Virginia by promoting an evidence-based model of maternity care and supporting care providers who practice mother- and baby-friendly care," for their documentary film contest.

Deadline: Mother's Day. Prizes: $1000, $500, and $100. Judges: Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, filmmakers behind the acclaimed documentary The Business of Being Born and Sarah Buckley, M.D., international birth expert and author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering. More details: here.

The brilliance behind this, as I think someone else figured out before me though I can't find the reference right now, is that given enough entries, it provides the opportunity to flood YouTube with educational videos about birth and maternity care, possibly helping to counteract the influence of the Dr. Phils of the world. On the other hand, if you search for birth on YouTube right now, you already get "twin VBAC home birth" among the top hits. Then again, cool as that is, that's probably a little more specific (and a little more full of religious overtones) than the Birth Matters folks are looking for.

Photo by mil8.

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Kid DVD of the Day: Tugger Tugs at Their Hearts

JeanneSager — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:23:00 GMT

Who knew there was room left on the family DVD shelf for yet another movie about a talking vehicle? Who knew Carrot Top could not be annoying and kid-appropriate all at the same time?

Believe it. Tugger: The Jeep 4x4 Who Wanted to Fly has its hunka-junk moments, just like the animated World War II era car that lends its name to the film. But overall, the worst thing about the Jim Belushi and Carrot Top vehicle (come on, I had to throw that one in there) is that no one's heard of it.

Voiced by Belushi, the decomissioned 4x4 has dreams of flying - fueled by a creative Army soldier's quick thinking on the front lines that left Tugger with an airplane propeller inside the hood to help cool down his engine. Tugger lands at an airport, where he's supposed to pull in the planes, but inevitably ends up driving the owner a little nuts. Unlike that other talking vehicle movie that one or two kids might have heard of (yes, I'm talking about Cars), this is a movie peopled by humans, talking vehicles AND talking radios (hence Carrot Top's entrance), even a set of talking gas station pumps.

Belushi breaks into song one time too many, but the tale itself is solid, if a little cliched. Believe in your dreams kids, and the impossible might not exactly come to be (did you really think the Jeep 4x4 would suddenly sport a set of wings?) but pretty darn close.

The bottom line is for kids who love moving vehicles, this is fine family fare with a happy ending and a positive message. It hits shelves today, so check it out.

Image: Amazon

Disney movie to feature black princess

Brett Singer — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

This would belong in the "who cares" pile except that this is the first time that Disney has had an African-American princess in one of their films.

The folks at Yahoo! Shine are pleased, but have this to say: "We somehow doubt there was a woman named Tiana living in 1920s New Orleans, where the story is set, but we’ll let that slide as we have a bigger issue with the new trailer: the toothless narrating firefly. Yeah."

"The Princess and the Frog" is due in 2009. Here's the trailer. What do you think?

Source: Yahoo! Shine

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Babble Film Review - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

editors — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:09:00 GMT

There's something a little off about these Narnia movies. Anyone who loved the books as a kid remembers how real Narnia seemed: It encompassed both the magical wonder of childhood and the frightening unknowns of the adult world. So why does the cinematic Narnia feel so flat and lifeless? Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, filmed in Slovenia, where I suddenly have the urge to relocate. But between the uninspired child actors and the unrealistic-looking CG characters, the Narnia of Prince Caspian has little more weight than a cartoon. Our child heroes alternate giggling and furrowing their brows, without any sense that they're coming of age, or even that their actions have consequences. The formidable figure of Aslan the Lion has been reduced to an affable animal pal, like Mickey Mouse with a propensity for self-sacrifice.

In this second installment of The Chronicles of Narnia, the four Pevensie children are summoned back to their beloved magical land, only to find that hundreds of years have passed and their kingdom is in ruins. With the help of a reluctant dwarf, they learn that an evil (and inexplicably Hispanic) rival nation has conquered Narnia, forcing dwarves, talking animals, and all other mythical creatures into exile. It's up to the children, and a displaced prince, to reclaim the kingdom.

Aside from filming in Slovenia, the film's creators have made two very smart decisions: the casting of Peter Dinklage as sarcastic dwarf Trumpkin and Eddie Izzard as the voice of swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep. But those same creators added an extraneous love story (which turns a competent female character into a damsel-in-distress) and several excrutiatingly drawn-out battle sequences. The result is a film that wants to be all things to all viewers, at the expense of its rich source material. -- Gwynne Watkins

Five Summer Movies for the Kids

Jen Chaney — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:32:00 GMT

It may feel like spring break just ended, but I've got news for you: Summer vacation is right around the corner. How do I know? Because "Iron Man" comes out in two weeks, and that officially kicks off the summer movie season. And once the blockbusters start, long, hot days with kids underfoot can't be far behind.

If you're already concerned about how to keep the little ones entertained -- and no, "Go outside and time how long it takes until you get sun poisoning" is not an appropriate parental response to the situation -- take a look at this list of five summer flicks you can take your children to see. Keep in mind that release dates, as well as my assessment of these films once I see them, is subject to change.

5. "Speed Racer": The Wachowski Brothers, makers of "The Matrix," aren't usually associated with family-friendly fare. But as Cole noted a few weeks ago, this is indeed a PG-rated film. The trailer makes it look like a movie that's very likely to induce seizures, but if it's a rainy day and your son has just dumped a Costco-sized box of Cheerios all over the kitchen floor, you might be willing to take the risk. Release Date: May 9.

4. "Space Chimps": This animated outer space adventure may be total crap. But there are monkeys in it. And kids love themselves some monkey humor. Release Date: July 18.

3. "Kung Fu Panda": A PG-rated cartoon about pandas who can do Kung Fu, featuring the voices of Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman. This is either a colossal train wreck or box office gold. Release Date: June 6.

2. "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl": Yes, this looks a little shmaltzy. And little Abigail Breslin has not had the best track record since her breakout role in "Little Miss Sunshine." But this is the first feature film based on the American Girl dolls. And as we all know, the American Girl dolls are a force that can't be stopped. To top it all off, the movie goes into wide release just in time for the July 4th holiday, so if you don't take your daughters to go see it, you're letting the terrorists win. Release Date: Limited on June 20, wide July 2.

1. "Wall-E": At this point, Pixar is practically infallible. After giving us "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," "Cars" and last summer's "Ratatouille," the animation geniuses turn their attention this year to a robot who falls in love. I hate to sound like one of those cheesy movie trailer voiceovers, but ... if you take your kids to just one movie this summer, this is the one to see. I like monkeys and pandas as much as the next person but the people at Pixar have cinematic gifts that are pretty much untouchable. Release Date: June 27.

Photo: Pixar Via The Daily Mail

Sex on Screen: Girl Stereotypes in Kid's Media

Karen Murphy — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:39:00 GMT

My daughter claims she's a ninja, and I believe her. She also has an older brother deep into some semi-imagined ninja culture. Coincidence? Hardly. Today, though, she put her ninja mask aside and is dressed provocatively as Padme Amidala in her homemade version of the outfit at right. At 8, does she know it's sexually provocative? I hope not. But my kid, along with yours and everyone else's is constantly assaulted by a barrage of sexually-stereotypical images in kid's film and TV. Here are the numbers:

Actor Geena Davis got pissed off at the dearth of strong female images (or indeed, female images at all) when she began watching media with her kid and created the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Children in the Media (GDIDM), tasked to take apart everything kids watch and determine things about gender and roles. Out of 15,000 individual speaking characters across the rating spectrum of G-, PG-, PG-13, and R-rated films, they discovered that males outnumber females nearly 3 to 1 in movies; male narrators outnumber female narrators 4 to 1. Okay, so tell us something we don't already know.

What was worse, though, was the types of roles displayed by the few females in the media: they were 5 times more likely than males to be shown as adornment or as sexually enticing and three times more likely to be dressed in sexually alluring clothing. Moreover, most females portrayed displayed traditional-role motivations (marriage, children, etc as being the eventual outcome of relationships), whether they were animated puppies or the Queen of Naboo. And, three times as many female as male characters were shown as having unrealistically perfect bodies.

Disturbed by this? You betcha. What can we do as parents? How about using the power of our dollar to vote our desires? It's not easy, but I'm going to try to concentrate on independent media sources to find a better range of choices for all my kids to watch, not just my daughter. And maybe it will make a difference.

Photo: starwars.ugo.com

Taking Kids to Adult Films

Karen Murphy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 14:15:00 GMT

I still suffer the nightmares: as a kid I went regularly with my parents to movies, and it wasn't just "Winnie-the-Pooh" at the drive-in, either. No, I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (see an old-movie sci-fi trend here?) and worst of all, The Lost Continent, a movie that has inhabited my dreams ever since with its weird sentient seaweed that attacked people through ship portholes but that you could walk over while wearing huge balloons attached to your shoulders. [shudder]

So if I was so affected by these movies, I got to thinking after reading this little blurblet about kids and movies: how okay is it to take kids to films that aren't for kids? Do you? How do you know what's okay and what's not?

Madeline touched on this a few weeks ago, quoting a New York Times piece that says, go 'head, yer kids'll be fine, but I don't know...

I admit, I've been a little protective of my kids and all media sources. After all, we were ensconced for years in the media-free zone of the Waldorf world, and my kids happen to be uber-sensitive: I took my son to the Babe sequel when he was three and he freaked. But I figure that's my kid and not every kid is like that. And, surely you can only stand so much kid-fare yourself, you know?

So what do you do? Do you take your kids to not-so-kid movies? (Mine have seen all the Star Wars films; does that count?) And the flip side, do you have any I-was-a-kid-scarred-for-life-by-a-movie stories? Or I-was-a-kid-and-watched-everything-and-I-was-fine stories?

Photo: www.impawards.com

Babble Talk: Ricki Lake

editors — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:44:00 GMT

With the national release of her documentary The Business of Being Born, Ricki Lake is getting a new round of reviews (from glowing praise to immature "ewww..."s) and scandalized coverage (she's naked! in a bathtub! giving birth!). We spoke to Ricki and her director back when the film was making the festival circuit -- check out the Babble interview here.

Holiday Movies With (Popcorn) Balls

Kelly Mills — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:06:00 GMT

I'm not a very sentimental person, so most of the traditional holiday movie fare doesn't do it for me. I generally prefer films with a dark, snowy backdrop and occasional Santa suit mishaps and plenty of bitterness or big explosions to the kind where the true meaning of Christmas triumphs over some dark force as the music swells. The Poop had this great, great post with comments on fringe holiday movies you can bust out and make part of the season. Films like Die Hard and Trading Places and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. And apparently, I must watch the Hebrew Hammer very soon.

Of course my favorite movie for the season is one you can watch with kids, and while it isn't as edgy holiday as the ones listed here, I feel like it should get a special mention since the director just had a baby. Nightmare Before Christmas--I mean, how can you go wrong with a wonderfully-animated, surreal musical? By far one of Tim Burton's best movies ever, and of course, congrats to him and Helena Bonham Carter on the addition of a baby girl on Sunday. I just hope Sweeney Todd is as good.

Any films we should add to the rotation?

Child Rape on Film: Young 'Kite Runner' Actor Protests

Alisyn — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:22:00 GMT

Last year's cinematic-child-rape-controversy was Hounddog, the Dakota Fanning film that has yet see a national release. This year it's The Kite Runner, the film adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's hugely successful and devastating novel. Is it unrealistic of me to hope that there won't be a controversial child rape scene in the movies next year?

Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada was the 12-year-old boy selected from thousands to portray Hassan, a young Afghan whose life and relationship with his best friend, Amir, is transformed when he is raped by the neighborhood bully, and Amir does nothing to stop it. Ahmad's family claims they only learned of the rape scene just days before it was to be filmed, and that they are worried about Ahmad being teased for portraying a rape victim, and worried about offending the people of Afghanistan, who "do not understand that it's only acting... They think it actually happened."

The scene has already been filmed and the movie is scheduled to be released this November. Ahmad Jaan Mahmidzada, Ahmad Khan's father, says the film's producers agreed to cut the scene when they protested that rape is "against Afghan dignity and culture." The producers say when they visited with the child actors and their families in 2006, they were "fine" with the content of the scene, "as long as [the rape] was portrayed in a sensitive manner."

For the two people in the world who have not read this book, the rape scene is the crux of the entire story - without it, there is no point to making the film. I find it hard to believe that the boys and their families were kept in the dark about this. I also find it hard to believe that they had no idea what this world-renowned book was about before they signed their kid up to act in it. I do not find it hard to believe, however, that the film's producers said whatever they had to say to convince the boys' families to let their sons participate - even if it meant saying one thing ("we'll totally cut the scene, guys!"), and doing another ("um... we changed our minds. Sorry!")

The Kite Runner is a truly remarkable piece of literature, and I hope that the Afghan people are proud of the story and the author, himself a Afghan ex-pat living in California. That being said, I would never be able to, in good conscience, give my own 12-year-old permission to be in the film. I just couldn't. But I don't think it's fair to protest the inclusion of a pivotal scene in a hotly anticipated film, after the fact. Why didn't these people get a copy of the book first??

Babble Talk: Summer Film Guide

Gwynne Watkins — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 13:38:00 GMT

With the first summer heat wave approaching, shouldn't you be spending your time enjoying someone else's air conditioning? The Babble Summer Film Guide gives you a rundown of this summer's kid-friendly fare, plus a few R-rated selections prominently featuring parents. In addition to Knocked Up (Have you seen that yet? Seriously, call the sitter and go.), the most promising picks include Pixar's Ratatouille, the superdark new Harry Potter, the Hairspray remake (John Waters for kids!), the documentary Arctic Tale and The Simpsons Movie. Things get a little dire in August (The Bratz movie -- shudder), but Neil Gaiman comes to the rescue with his fantasy film Stardust. Check out the complete list here.

Rock Mama Films Presents: "Rock n' Roll Mamas" - A Documentary

Alisyn — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:07:00 GMT

Break out the popcorn and the biggest box of Raisinettes you can find - this is one film I am not gonna miss, and you shouldn't, either. Wanna make it a date?

Rock n' Roll Mamas is a documentary by Portland, Oregon-based director Jackie Weissman. Her goal in exploring the public and private lives of such well known musicians as Kim Gordon, Patti Smith, Kristin Hersh, Corin Tucker, Liz Phair and more, is "to bring mothers together in the solidarity that we are all indeed rock star moms just by trying to remain true to ourselves while parenting our children." Hell, yeah!

The film isn't due out until September 2007, but you can buy the Rock n' Roll Mamas CD for a mere $10, with proceeds going directly to the film. If you absolutely can not wait until September, check out an excerpt of Corin Tucker's interview on Babble's main page, or watch Jackie Weissman's trailer here.

Disney Going Retro with Hand-Drawn Animation

Karen Murphy — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:39:00 GMT

I ooh'd and ahh'd over the new 3-D computer-animated movies like "Toy Story" like everyone else did. After all, they were smart and funny and the new wave of animation, right? And look what a bunch of talented people could do with a computer! But a part of me longed for the human touch, the painstakingly artistic beauty of, say, "Fantasia", now over sixty years old but still retaining its original breathtaking splendor.

So when I heard that Disney plans a return to hand-drawn animation, I rejoiced. I might even unlock the TV and let my kids watch one of the new movies, too.