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family movies

Sing Saturday – First 200 Moviegoers in Line at 200 AMC Theatres Willl See Sing Free!

15 November 2016 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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This sounds like a pretty cool event! The movie looks pretty funny, if only because I like seeing animals act like humans, speak in British accents. and perhaps do a little twerking too. I’m easily amused. Here’s the official info if you plan to go: 

 

Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures and AMC Theatres today announced a Thanksgiving weekend event for audiences of all ages: “Sing Saturday,” a celebration of free screenings of the new event film from Illumination at 200 AMC Theatres nationwide, on November 26.  From the creators of Despicable Me, Sing—in which Academy Award® winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon lead an all-star cast—arrives nationwide on December 21, 2016.

Tickets for “Sing Saturday” screenings are available on a first-come, first-served basis to the first 200 moviegoers in line at participating AMC Theatres on Saturday, November 26 (10 a.m. local time).  Audiences are encouraged to bring their family and friends of all ages and experience the film Variety calls “a game changer.”  Moviegoers must be in line to receive a ticket for the screening.

Sing Saturday

“We are so proud that ‘Sing Saturday’ marks the biggest advance-screening program in the history of Universal Pictures and are honored to join AMC as we kick off the holiday season with Illumination’s gift for moviegoers of every generation,” said Nick Carpou, President of Distribution, Universal.

“For the past several years, Sing has been a labor of love for everyone at Illumination, as well as the tireless performers who have poured their hearts into this movie,” said Chris Meledandri, Founder and CEO of Illumination.  “We know audiences of all ages will embrace the heart and the humor of this extraordinary film and can’t wait for movielovers to experience Sing over Thanksgiving weekend, throughout the holiday season and beyond.”

“For AMC movie-loving audiences of all ages who have cooked through Thanksgiving Thursday and shopped through Black Friday, AMC is thrilled to offer a holiday-entertainment treat with Sing Saturday,” said Elizabeth Frank, EVP and Chief Content and Programming Officer, AMC Theatres.

For more information and a list of AMC Theatres participating in “Sing Saturday,” please visit www.SingSaturday.com.  Broadcast quality clips from Sing are available at www.epk.tv, and stills are available at www.image.net.

 

About Sing

Illumination has captivated audiences all over the world with the beloved hits Despicable Me, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Despicable Me 2 and Minions, now the second-highest-grossing animated movie in history.  Following the release of this summer’s comedy blockbuster The Secret Life of Pets, Illumination presents Sing this holiday season.

With its highly relatable characters, heart and humor, the first collaboration between writer/director Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri marks the sixth fully animated feature from the studio.

The event film stars Academy Award® winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, alongside Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Grammy Award-nominated Tori Kelly.

Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Sing stars Buster Moon (McConaughey), a dapper koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times.  Buster is an eternal—some might even say delusional—optimist who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it.  Now faced with the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition.

Five lead contestants emerge: Mike (MacFarlane), a mouse who croons as smoothly as he cons; Meena (Kelly), a timid teenage elephant with an enormous case of stage fright; Rosita (Witherspoon), an overtaxed mother run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets; Johnny (Egerton), a young gangster gorilla looking to break free of his family’s felonies; and Ash (Johansson), a punk-rock porcupine struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo.

Each arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life.  And as Buster coaches each of his contestants closer and closer to the grand finale, he starts to learn that maybe the theater isn’t the only thing that is in need of saving.

Featuring more than 65 hit songs, Sing is produced by Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy.  Together, they have produced all of Illumination’s films since the studio’s inception.  Released by Universal Pictures, Sing arrives in theaters on December 21, 2016.  www.singmovie.com

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Filed Under: Giveaways, Movies & Books, Top Stories Tagged With: family movies, free movie screening, Illumination films, movie screenings, Sing movie, Sing Saturday

10 Things Parents Should Know About Disney’s John Carter

8 March 2012 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

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I was recently pointed to this article and thought it was a brilliantly written breakdown about the film, for parents and any adult wondering about the film. While I discuss my thoughts on John Carter here, this article gives a Q&A style top ten for those hesitant to see the movie:

John Carter

10 Things Parents Should Know About Disney’s John Carter

By Tony Sims (original article here at Wired.com’s GeekDad column)

 

I recently had the tremendous privilege to see an advanced screening of Disney’s John Carter. I know there have been many mixed signals in the media lately concerning this movie. I hope that the answers to these questions help our readers make a more informed decision for themselves.

1. What’s it all about?

The author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, wrote the John Carter series of sci-fi/adventure stories about 100 years ago. Burroughs was also the author of Tarzan and many other stories. The main character, John Carter, is transported to the planet Mars. On Mars, he discovers he has superior physical abilities, such as the ability to leap 100 yards and unmatched physical strength. He eventually wins the respect of the local population of alien creatures know as the Tharks. He also becomes involved in assisting the human-like royalty of Mars against the uprising of a group who seeks to strip-mine the planet. If any of these concepts sound familiar – that is because much of our superhero fantasy and science-fiction over the past century has been created from ideas borrowed from Burroughs’ classics.

2. Will I like it?

Yes. If you are reading this site, most likely yes. If you like Star Wars or any other action sci-fi, then yes. You can really tell this movie was created with the passion that only a lifelong fan of this series could devote. Andrew Stanton, the writer/director, was actually working on this film’s screenplay while WALL-E was still in production (before a studio even signed on to do the project).

3. Will my kids like it?

If they are like you and you agree to the above, then yes. I plan on taking my 7-year-old son this weekend and I believe he will love it. It has something for everyone. Take your daughters to see this. It has amazing, strong female characters. In fact, many times they are the ones to fight the battles. Everyone will love Woola by the way – you’ll see.

4. How faithful is it to the books?

Disclaimer – I have not read the books in over 20 years. Even though many sites state that this movie is based on The Princess of Mars, actually it uses elements from Burroughs’ first three books in the series. This way, the audience gets to see the best parts of a third of the series, including more alien life and epic battles. One main difference between the books and movie is how he is transported to Mars; but fans of the book most likely won’t be disappointed with this change.

5. When’s the best time for a bathroom break?

At exactly 1 hour and 5 minutes in there are a few minutes of dialogue you could miss. When the heroes stop for a breather after the halfway point battle – head to the latrine.

6. How are the special effects?

Fantastic. What else could you expect from a movie that was created by Andrew Stanton? The man is behind WALL-E, Toy Story (1, 2 & 3), Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, and Monsters, Inc. Not to mention (if you believe the press buzz going around), this movie had a budget of nearly a billion dollars. The imagery is simple breath-taking.

7. What about the 3D?

This is probably one of the only movies where I would say that seeing it in 3D is worth it. Stanton made this movie to use 3D effects just to give the movie depth. This means that there are no “gimmicks” that use the 3D to overwhelm the viewer with “jumping out of the screen” surprises. Also this movie is filmed in primarily desert type regions, so the subtle darkening effect that 3D glasses tend to have on movies is not as noticeable. That being said, seeing it in 2D would not diminish the quality of the movie either.

8. It is rated PG-13. How PG-13 is it?

This was one of my primary concerns. I have younger children, so I wanted to see if this would be a movie I could introduce them to. Here’s the skinny: there is a lot of violence. The majority of the bloodshed is greenish alien blood, so some parents might find it easier to stomach with their children than others. Most of the fighting is sword play, so keep that in mind also. Hardly any foul language is spoken and there are no real intimate moments that need young eyes covered. [SPOILER ALERT, BUT IMPORTANT FOR PARENTS TAKING YOUNG CHILDREN] The one real moment I had concern about occurs in a flashback sequence where you briefly see the clothed remains of his dead wife and child. This is the one event that is a bit disturbing on anyone’s eyes – young or old. This scene takes place during an onslaught of a fight scene. If you want to cover younger eyes, here it is – when the Thark army is taking on John Carter by himself, he goes into a sort of battle rage. When you see this scene, he will flashback to images of his Virginia home which was burned to the ground, he will go back to the fight, the next flashback is that image – after that it is done. [END SPOILER]

Your mileage may vary on this. I will be taking my 7-year-old to see it, but he has also seen the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy (does that make me a bad dad?). If he can handle the battle of Helm’s Deep, then he can definitely handle this.

9. It is a Disney movie. Why can I not find any John Carter toys in the stores?

Disney decided with this movie not to license mass market toys. I know, this is a strange decision; after all, they produced Pirates of the Caribbean toys! Well, that has a good bit to do with it also. The other non-animated toy lines which have been produced in the past have never been big hits except with the collectors. With that in mind, Disney is only going to license John Carter to higher-end collectibles manufacturers. If the movie proves to be huge and the sequels get their green lights, then maybe we will see the mass market open up.

10. Will I want to see it again?

Yes – and you will hope that it does well enough to merit the two sequels that Andrew Stanton already has written and is ready to produce. You will probably want to go ahead and pre-order it on Blu-ray as well.

John Carter opens in theatres nationwide tomorrow, March 9. Go see it and see what all the buzz is about!

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Filed Under: Disney Movie News & Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies & Books, Official Disney, Reviews Tagged With: andrew stanton, family movies, GeekDad, john carter, John Carter of Mars, John Carter review, Movie Reviews, parenting, Tony Sims, Wired.com

#HungerGames Trailers, Interactive Fan Sites, Merchandise & More

4 February 2012 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

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Hunger Games movieMy son read The Hunger Games when it first came out, and each subsequent book in the trilogy. I remember him saying how much he loved them and that I should read them too, but it was one of those things I kept putting off. I’m always doing something online or just being a mom, so it’s hard to commit to carving out time to read a magazine, let alone three books. However, with The Hunger Games movie approaching, I knew I wanted to start and finish the books before its release. I started reading them on a Friday and was finished with all three by Monday. They were THAT good. If you have not yet read the books, [ The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay ] I implore you to do so. They are wonderfully written and will provide all the necessary back-story for the films as they are released. Of course reading the books before seeing the movie won’t be necessary, but will definitely endear the characters to you and build the excitement for the movies, as they did for me.

Now, I am as invested as I was with Harry Potter and his friends, but in a very different way. Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the Hunger Games Trilogy may suffer hardships as Harry Potter did, but the similarities end there. There are less characters to be introduced to as well as not worrying about drawn-out descriptions of countless places, history and spells. As a result, we are instantly drawn in with the characters we do meet, and the details we do receive about the various districts in the country of Panem are that much more powerful. We feel for her bravery, her sacrifice, and her ever-burning spark as “the girl on fire” throughout the books.

As a quick synopsis: The country of Panem is what remains of our mistreated earth after years of selfishness among its inhabitants and global changes. The country was divided into 13 Districts and there was an unsuccessful rebellion against the Capitol which controls them, resulting in District 13 being destroyed. As penance for its rebellion, the Capitol created The Hunger Games, where a boy and girl child, aged between 12 ad 18, are chosen each year to fight to the death with only one victor remaining. The Districts are known for what they can produce or offer the Capitol, such as electricity, agriculture, fishing, etc. and aside from those closest to the Capitol, most Districts live in extreme poverty and under a police state. I’ll let you discover the rest of the story on your own. I am quite excited to see The Hunger Games film with my son, and cannot wait for the remaining films to be made and released.

I thought I’d share the currently released movie trailers, as well as some official sites to check out, where you can discover your district and connect with other fans:

 

 

 

Here are some places to interact with The Hunger Games:

Enter to win two tickets to the Los Angeles premier of The Hunger Games on March 12, 2012. Click to enter before 2/22/12!

Like The Hunger Games on Facebook as well as all 12 Districts.

Head over to TheCapitol.pn and find out what your District you are from, what your job assignment is and create your own District ID. And visit CapitolCouture.pn for the latest in fashion trends and news from the Capitol. There’s even a nail polish line from China Glaze inspired by Hunger Games:

China Glaze Capitol Colours

You can also now pre-order many items from The Hunger Games from HotTopic.com. Connect with @TheHungerGames on twitter and use the hashtag #HungerGames to see the latest news and discussion about the film.

This should get any Hunger Games fan started – and remember, “May the odds be EVER in your favor…” The Hunger Games opens in theatres and IMAX on March 23, 2012.

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Filed Under: Books, Disney Movie News & Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies & Books, Reviews Tagged With: #HungerGames, book review, books, Capitol Colours, Catching Fire, China Glaze, District 12, facebook fan sites, family movies, Hot Topic, Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay, movie previews, movie review, movie trailers, nail polish, Peeta, The Capitol, The Hunger Games movie, trailers

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