Following today's literary theme, the Los Angeles Times blog 24 Frames reports on the big box-office success of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movie, inspired by the book series by University of Maryland grad Jeff Kinney.

The blogger says the movie earned $22 million at the box office last weekend, and shows that stories for preteens can turn into big-earning films -- despite several recent examples to the contrary.

My kids love the graphic novels and are eager to see the movie. What's your opinion of it?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Here's a preview of the new Twilight movie, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," coming to theaters in June. Will you see it with your tween/teen daughters or sons?

Apparently, it's not just teenagers who love the "Twilight" series. Check out this Facebook group for fans who are moms.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Movies
        

What's this the Los Angeles Times tells us -- that Disney is actually down on princess movie themes after a less-than-stellar box office performance from "The Princess and the Frog"?

It seems that boys are turned off by movies with "princess" in the title. So for its new version of the Rapunzel story, coming out in November, Disney is calling the tale "Tangled" and ramping up the role of "the infamous bandit Flynn Rider." (Huh?) Rapunzel herself is being made into a "feisty teen."

As transparent as this marketing move seems, as the mom of both a girl and a boy I'm cheering this development, and I know my daughter will, too. At the age of almost-9, she's not only over princesses, she's adamantly opposed to them. (She showed shades of that even when she was 3, when I told her the story of Rapunzel and she supplied a surprise ending.)

(Disney Enterprises photo)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Movies
        

My daughter has always been a huge fan of "Alice in Wonderland." We even made it the theme of her sixth birthday party. The highlight was when my husband dressed as the White Rabbit and passed out Easter eggs, then was chased madly through the party by a pack of guests who wanted to know who was in the costume.

It's a little traumatic for my daughter to think about, even three years later.

But she still loves the story, so I was a little surprised at her lackluster response when I asked whether she was interested in seeing the Tim Burton version of the movie that will be out this weekend.

I got the same kind of reaction when I suggested the tricked-out version of "A Christmas Carol" last holiday season. The kids were just as happy to stay home with us and watch a classic, black-and-white "Christmas Carol" on TV.

I wonder if my kids are outliers, or whether they're actually on to something. Are the tricks of the new versions of classic tales actually robbing them of their power to stimulate the imagination? Is it more fun for a child to watch a stripped-down movie that lets the story shine through?

(Courtesy Disney Enterprises, Inc./MCT)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Movies
        

What will we have to do with the kids this snowmaggedon weekend but watch movies?

I asked Baltimore Sun critic Michael Sragow for his favorite picks for family movies that could be watched at home. Here they are, in a handy photo gallery, with some blurbs from his reviews.

Now just make sure your favorite DVD source has them in stock...

If you have recommendations to add to the list, we'd love to hear them!

Photo: "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill"

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Movies
        

A made-for-TV movie called "The Pregnancy Pact," about a group of high school girls who made a pact to get pregnant, will air tomorrow night. Columnist and Garden Variety blogger Susan Reimer watched a preview and brings us this guest post:

In the summer of 2008, "Time" magazine reported that 17 high school girls in a struggling Massachusetts fishing town made a pact to get pregnant, and the news rocked the nation.

The nurse at the high school in Gloucester said she administered more than 100 pregnancy tests and some of the girls, none older than 16, showed disappointment when the test came out negative and others high-fived their friends when the test was positive.

The TV trucks arrived and turned the crisis into a circus.

For the national media, it was an irresistible story line, and it quickly became a "Law & Order" episode, a novel and now, the movie, which will air at 9 p.m. Saturday night on Lifetime.

The movie takes the line that such a pregnancy pact did exist, although that would come into serious doubt after the "Time" magazine story appeared. But that is the only question the movie answers for its viewers.

The why - why did these girls get pregnant at 15 and 16? - is never clear. But the consequences of those pregnancies is on vivid display in the movie, as are the trials of teen parenthood.

"The Pregnancy Pact" is not a public service announcement. The complexity of the characters and the dialogue do not have that hollow sound of a script trying too hard to make a point. And the confused thinking of these teens is real.

The producers had some help with that.

Marisa Nightingale, from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies, was on hand to bring some resonance to the story of these girls. And some facts to the debate the movie chronicles.

"It isn't two hours of trying to find out was there or was there not a pact," said Nightingale. "It is about how do you get to a point where one girl, let alone, 18, wants to get pregnant as a teen."

Nightingale said she had more access during the production of this movie, which stars Nancy Travis as a conservative mom and Camryn Manheim as the school nurse, than she has had during all of her 13 years of helping television and movie people tell accurate stories about teens and sex.

"They didn't want it to be cartoonish," she said. "They wanted it to be complicated and complex and have different points of view."

There are moments when you can hear the voice of the National Campaign. Video blogger Sidney Bloom, played by Thora Birch, who returns to her old high school to chronicle the epidemic of pregnancies, can sound like she is testifying before Congress sometimes.

But there is a drama arc in the movie and there are secrets that are revealed. If there is a bad guy, it is the media. (Ouch.) The girls who conspire to get pregnant are not sinister. One girl gets pregnant and she is scared enough to want her friends to go along with her. Another is hoping to keep a boyfriend from leaving for college. Another wants something to love her back.

But all their heads are filled with magical thinking about raising their children together, about matching outfits and playdates and home-cooked meals.

And the parents, if stressed by the poor economy of their town, are guilty of what so many of us are guilty of: telling our children to wait for sex without telling them how to wait; telling our children to wait without telling them why - that they have a future that is worth postponing pregnancy for.

The movie is a teachable moment for parents and teens - in a very real sense.

"The abstinence only mom thinks she is really clear about things with her daughter and then her daughter gets pregnant on purpose," said Nightingale. "It shows that you have to do more, talk more. That this is a very complicated issue."

You can learn more about the movie and get resources for talking with teens about pregnancy here.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Movies
        

You always suspected there was a lot more going on in those kids' movies than met the eye, and now a guest poster on my colleague Matt Brown's In Good Faith blog has confirmed it.

The Rev. Jason Poling, pastor of New Hope Community Church in Pikesville, finds that the movie has a deeply spiritual component.

Do you think the kids will get that, though?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Movies
        

"New Moon," the latest movie in the "Twilight" series, is out. And despite some negative reviews, teenage girls are expected to flock to it this weekend.

This story from the Vancouver Sun says a study of "Twilight" fans shows that girls are actually attracted to the series because it celebrates a "traditional romance" in which the principal characters don't have sex.

Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella, feels her character is a good example for girls.

Do you?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Movies
        

I've been waiting and waiting for the movie version of "Where the Wild Things Are" to come out. But I was surprised to learn that the only person interested in seeing it with me was my husband.

My kids have certainly seen the trailer plenty of times. They even correct my husband when he proclaims: "Let the wild rumpus begin!" (It's "Let the wild rumpus start, Dad," says my 8-year-old.)

Yet when we offered to take them to the movies last weekend, the kids voted for "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," a film it's best not to discuss any further.

My daughter said "Wild Things" looked like it was only for boys. My son, a dead ringer for the actor who plays Max in the movie, just acted bored by the whole subject, even though he liked the Maurice Sendak book.

Turns out that lots of people who have seen the movie say adults are, indeed, shaping up to be its primary audience. Warner Brothers reports that the movie's opening-weekend success came largely from those over 18, not kids.

This mom and film writer, who did take her kids to the movie, got a similar reaction from them. And she explains why very well. We adults experience the free-spirited, fantastical world of the wild things through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, but to a kid, imagination gets taken for granted.

I have another (sad) theory: While adults of a certain age remember vividly the time they spent exploring in the woods and daydreaming adventures, kids today rarely get to venture beyond their backyards unsupervised. They're not used to feeling like wild things.

Have you seen the movie?

(AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Matt Nettheim)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Movies
        

We don't plan much beyond the weekend ahead here at Charm City Moms, but over at Consuming Interests, there's a great list of opportunities to see free and cheap movies in the Baltimore area all summer long. Many of them are kid-friendly, and some are outside (and some are in the air-conditioned comfort, if you prefer, of libraries and theaters).

Print out the list and save it; I know I will.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Movies
        

I woke up to find out it's Star Wars Day because ... wait for it... it's May 4th. As in, May the 4th be with you. Har har.

Don't you love that there's a day for everything?

I wouldn't bother with this "news" except that it brings up a question I've been pondering lately. When is a child old enough to see "Star Wars"?

I loved the movie when I was young (I was 11 when it was released in theaters). But I still remember the scene when Luke Skywalker finds that the uncle and aunt who raised him have been killed by stormtroopers as somewhat scary. And Darth Vader was very scary. So my 5- and 8-year-old have not seen it yet.

But some of their friends have seen all the "Star Wars" movies, and are big fans, with no apparent ill effects.

Should I let them watch, and watch with them? Wait a while?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (41)
Categories: Movies
        

My kids didn't get to stay up to watch Slumdog Millionaire win best picture, but they did get a glimpse of the movie's adorable child stars on the red carpet. I was curious about how they became part of this much-heralded movie, and found this YouTube video that explains. Looks like they earned their communal Oscar...

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Movies
        

I got a press release recently about a new DVD of Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle, coming out from Scholastic this month. It reminded me of all the time I spent during summers with Beverly Cleary books as a young reader, eating up the antics of Ramona the Pest.

Now lots of classic tales are being presented as DVDs, and I'm wondering what effect that might have. On one hand, if kids are going to watch "TV," it might as well be a great, educational story with themes to help them grow. On the other, does this make them gravitate to the DVD at the expense of the book? Or could an argument be made that it might it get them interested in reading the book, too, when they might not have otherwise?

I'd love to know how your kids have reacted to classics on DVD, and how it has affected their interest in reading the stories.

(Photo courtesy of Scholastic)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Baby Mama, the new film about a single woman who hires a surrogate mother that stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, opens today. Our critic Michael Sragow gives it a C. Here's his review, along with a trailer of the movie, if you haven't seen that yet.

Even before Sragow weighed in, I wasn't very hopeful for this movie, even though both Fey and Poehler can be wickedly funny. Fey plays Kate, a single, "Type A-plus" (according to Sragow) businesswoman who commissions a baby from the character played by Poehler, who is less moneyed and more fertile.

I've had enough friends suffer through fertility problems that I know there's really nothing funny about it, so that colors my view. What do you think about making fun of this subject?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Movies
        

Web-surfing Sunday is taking a break this week so that I can bring you some old-media ways to learn about Ireland with your children.

My all-time favorite movie about Ireland -- and pretty much my favorite children's movie in general -- is The Secret of Roan Inish, a 1995 John Sayles film. The lead character is a strong-willed, whip-smart girl named Fiona, who's all about reuniting her family with a lost baby brother. (Warning: the scene when baby brother is "lost," while not violent, may be upsetting to some children, and even generate a tear in soft-hearted parents. But it's worth it in the end.)

The soundtrack is also wonderful, and never fails to get my daughter dancing.

The Parents' Choice Foundation, a national resource in Timonium that reviews a range of children's toys and media, has compiled a short list of classic Irish books appropriate for children.

I'd like to know about your family's favorite books and movies for learning about Ireland and celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Please tell us about them below.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)