Welcome to another Blog Round Up! Saddle up and read small snippets of news and information.

MEETING ON WEDNESDAY

Got Game? Infant Replay will hold its June meeting on Wednesday, June 20, 2007. Bring a favorite game to play or come join the fun with a game someone else brings. A raucous good time will be had by all.

MINI MOVIE REVIEWS

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Disclaimer: I’m not a huge fan of the Pirate movies. The first was cute. The second played like a 2 and a half hour trailer for the third. PotC 3 was better than PotC 2, but I wasn’t totally enamored with the third installment of the franchise. There were some funny bits, and Jack’s story was wrapped satisfactorily, but I wasn’t happy with the outcome for Will and Elizabeth. I can’t say more than that without giving away the payoff. Still fans of the movies will enjoy it. If you go, stay through the credits. There is a major plot point at the end. Rated PG-13; 2 stars; 2 hrs., 48 mins.

Gracie

Gracie is a girl growing up in a boy oriented family. When her soccer-star, older brother is killed in an accident, Gracie spirals out of control and makes some really bad life choices. When she pulls her act together and decides to go out for the boys-only varsity soccer team, she ends up fighting prejudice in the town, among her male teammates, and even in her own family. Meant to be inspirational, the movie falls flat. It ends up sounding preachy to older kids. It was slow in spots and there were some squirm-worthy moments for me and my 12 year olds (suggestive content) when Gracie was spinning out at the beginning of the movie. Only die hard soccer fans will really enjoy this movie. PG-13; 2 stars; 2 hrs., 35 mins.

Surf’s Up

Okay, I may have been in the right mood when I saw this penguin film, but it tickled my funny bone with its documentary style and its twisted sense of humor. I may have laughed more than anyone else in the theater, but I did laugh and so did the rest of the small audience. The animation was really good too and occasionally I actually wondered if the waves were filmed and not animated—the wonders of CGI. The movie would probably work best for slightly older kids who would get the absurdity of surfing chickens and hedge hog (?) managers with Don King hair. PG; 2.5 stars; 85 mins.

Renaissance Man

What’s not to love in this 1994 Danny Devito film? Danny plays Bill Rago, a down-on-his-luck ad guy, who ends up taking a job teaching the “squeakers”—you know the ones barely getting by--at an army base. Out of his depth and with no curriculum to speak of, the class ends up discussing Shakespeare in general and Hamlet in particular. The supporting cast is good (Gregory Hines in a non-dancing role!) and the students are interesting. As a bonus, you will never forget what happens to Hamlet’s mother as long as you remember this cadence: Hamlet’s mother is the queen/ buys it in the final scene/ drinks a glass of funky wine/ now she’s Satan’s valentine. PG-13; 3 stars; 2 hrs., 8 mins.

Freedom Writers

Another uplifting movie about teachers and students, Freedom Writers is totally inspirational. It does have some gritty moments, so older kids only. Watching this, Renaissance Man, and/or any other inspiring movie about school teachers (To Sir with Love, Mr. Holland’s Opus, etc., etc.) should be required material for school boards, principals, and staff members everywhere. Surely these movies prove that CHALLENGING underachieving students, not dumbing down the curriculum for them, is the way to go. But that’s a rant for another day. See the movie. It will both motivate you to make a difference and make you boiling mad at a system that isn’t working. PG-13; 3.5 stars; 2 hrs., 40 mins.

HARRY POTTER NEWS

With less than a month to go, Harry Potter fans are getting excited for both the fifth movie and the seventh book. Bookies have stopped taking bets on the outcome of the book because so many people are betting Harry dies. If I had a bookie, and if he were still taking bets, I’d bet that Harry lives. These are still ultimately children’s books and you don’t kill off the main character in a children’s book. Plus, I’ll be REALLY, REALLY mad if J. K. Rowling kills Harry, or Ginny, or FredAndGeorge, or Ron, or Hermione, or . . . Well, you get the idea. That prat, Percy, can throw himself on a curse to redeem himself if Rowling has to kill off someone other than HeWhoMustNotBeNamed (who I am predicting will not make it alive to the end of book 7. Shocking, I know. But you read it here first, folks.) We’ll see if I’m right in 32 days.

FROM THE “IT MADE ME LAUGH” DEPARTMENT

I hope all the dads out there had a wonderful father’s day. Today, I found this little You Tube video from Father’s Day 2032. It is interviews with today’s celebrity kids—now all grown up. It made me laugh—a lot. It is scathingly funny but—um—so NOT appropriate for kids. So clear the computer room before clicking the link and please don’t click the link if you are offended by the thought of the “kids” of Brittney Spears, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Brad Pitt et al discussing the antics of their parents. The discussion is not graphic, but it’s definitely more PG-13 than G. All others, click away and enjoy!