Home Media Magazine - June 22-28, 2008 - (Page 20)

REVIEWS KID’S VIEW Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I 64 ZOO LANE Prebook 6/25; Street 7/29 PorchLight, Animated, $14.98 DVD, NR. I I ALICE UPSIDE DOWN: THE MOVIE Prebook 6/26; Street 7/29 Anchor Bay, Family, $19.97 DVD, NR. Stars Alyson Stoner, Lucas Grabeel, Luke Perry, Penny Marshall, Ashley Drane, Parker McKenna Posey. n today’s world of short-attention span computer-generated cartoons, it’s nice to see the old-school animation of “64 Zoo Lane.” Based on a series of children’s books by An Vrombaut, the show features 9-year-old Lucy, who lives next door to a zoo. However, this doe-eyed cutie doesn’t just have a nice view. Every night, she slides down the neck of her friend Georgina the giraffe and is treated to a bedtime story by the zoo’s inhabitants. W alter Mitty goes to middle school in this welltold story of adolescent angst. Based on Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s popular young-adult book series, Alice Upside Down is the story of a pre-teen girl whose mother has died and whose father and brother, though well-meaning, are not always well-equipped to help Alice as she turns into a young woman. The family moves to a new city so Alice’s father can open a music store. But that also requires Alice to attend a new school where she knows no one. Dropped into the jungle that is an unfamiliar middle school, Alice’s vivid imagination takes over. For each difficult situation she encounters, she envisions a scenario in which she ends up the heroine. Unfortunately, real life is a little rockier. Alice’s flights of fancy bear no resemblance to the confusing reality she faces daily. Stoner (Cheaper by the Dozen), as the somewhat disheveled, somewhat belligerent Alice, is a very convincingly confused adolescent. Former teen heartthrob Perry is surprisingly effective as Alice’s bewildered father, trying to recover from his wife’s death while still caring for his children. The biggest surprise is Marshall as a demanding teacher who, it turns out, is very motherly. Alice Upside Down is a surprisingly un-sugarcoated look at the ups and downs of early adolescence in which both boys and girls of a certain age will see themselves. Fans of the book series will certainly enjoy this film. But even kids unfamiliar with the source material will find a lot to like here. – Anne Sherber I THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES Street 6/24 Paramount, Fantasy, B.O. $71.2 million, $29.99 DVD, $36.99 two-DVD set, $39.99 Blu-ray, ‘PG’ for scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements. Stars Freddie Highmore, Mary Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger, David Strathairn, Nick Nolte. Voices of Seth Rogen, Martin Short. he Spiderwick Chronicles isn’t your average fantasy movie. Consequently, the bonus features aren’t your run-of-themill director interviews either. Most people in my age group, myself included, find a director droning on about various actors unutterably dull. In fact, I don’t know of anyone who likes that. But the bonus features for this movie are different. For one thing, they keep the illusion that all of these fantastic things really happened to someone. They detail how to keep yourself safe from these imaginary creatures and whether T they can be helpful or harmful. I felt like I could just stumble upon something magical any second. Very few movies make me feel that way, much less bonus features. Another thing I liked about these features was that you saw everything: the use of CGI to make the special effects, the actors talking about their experiences in making the film, a look at the authors (Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi) of the books on which the film is based, the amazing sets … the list goes on and on. Speaking of the actors’ experiences, these added a great deal to my enjoyment of the special features. Everything from learning to fence to learning American accents is described, sometimes with hilarious results. The bonus features for The Spiderwick Chronicles are purely magical and add greatly to the understanding and enjoyment of the film. – Maxine Donnelly, Age 14 Characters include Nelson the elephant, Adam the armadillo, Herbert the warthog, Wally the wombat, Pauline the pelican, Gary the dromedary and many more. Each has a lesson to learn and share, through a variety of cartoon shorts. One thing the cast does not share: Anything about their role in the animal kingdom. While sharing, responsibility, friendship and other lessons are nice, it seems like an obvious wildlife lesson was overlooked. A bit about the actual animals (do kids know dromedary?) could have kept older kids entertained. However, with an animation style that mirrors Vrombaut’s books, there’s little for adults and children past the age of preschool. “64 Zoo Lane” originally aired in the United Kingdom as part of BBC’s CBeebies lineup. The show currently airs Stateside on Nickelodeon’s Noggin network. One interesting note is that the U.S. version has received a bit of a makeover, so that little Lucy has an American accent; however, all of her animal counterparts still boast their British roots. – Rachel Cericola 20 Home Media Magazine June 22–28, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - June 22-28, 2008 Contents News In Focus TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - June 22-28, 2008

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