A Movie for the Family… That Isn’t Cheesy!

Posted on: 08/5/10 3:23 PM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s funny… I almost hesitated to title this blog, “A Movie for the Whole Family.” Because that usually means… a cheesy movie that will put parents to sleep!

Pardon my candor. But that’s often the case.

I just screened the new Rob Reiner film Flipped… and it was amazing, and cheese-free! I really enjoyed it.

Many of you know Rob Reiner from films he directed like The Princess Bride or The Bucket List. But this guy’s list goes on: When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, Spinal Tap, Misery, Stand By Me…  Yeah… Reiner has a lot of range.

I loved Flipped. It releases tomorrow- definitely worth bringing the whole family.

Here’s a snipped from my official review:

And I thought movies like this were extinct. Flipped brings good storytelling back to life!

A beautiful film… the type I’d bring the whole family to!

In the spirit of The Wonder Years or My Girl, Reiner takes us back to yesteryear when kids rode bikes to school, climbed trees and played outside.

When 7-year-old Julie met Bryce, it was first love. When 7-year-old Bryce met Julie, it was nothing close. Fast forward to junior high. Flipped follows Bryce and Julie from grade school to junior high, showing us their different perspectives along the way. The story is a journey through love, family-drama, and heartache.

CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE REVIEW

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Reviewing the New Twilight Film

Posted on: 07/1/10 2:46 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I went to a movie with my wife on Tuesday night– date night. As we arrived to the movie theatre just before 8PM, we saw a long stream of females lined up along the walls of the theatres… Twilight fans, all waiting for the midnight showing of Twilight’s newest film, Eclipse.

On the way to our theatre (we were going to see The A-Team), we walked passed literally hundreds of these fans sitting in roped off areas, in eager anticipation of the film over four hours away. Not a male in sight! Mostly teenagers, some tweens, and about one in 5 seemed to be moms. Interesting group. I’ve never seen more Twilight t-shirts, tattoos, posters, and yes, even shrines! (Several groups had commandeered a bench and set up a shrine-of-sorts to Patrick and Taylor. Wow. Even Star Wars fans were saying, “These people are freaking weird!”)

A few days ago in my blog discussing the content we can expect in the next few Twilight films, I promised you a review of this new film from our movie reviewer Todd Pearage. Todd (my hero) braved the crowds of Twilight women on opening day to bring you our official review of the film.

Here’s just a snippet of that review:

The biggest problem I have with the movie continues to be the characters and the choices they make. Edward is so “in love” (aka obsessed) with Bella that he seems unable to make any rational decision outside of their relationship. Likewise, Jacob, who is still in love with Bella, refuses to accept the reality that she will never feel that same way towards him even though she has told him many times.  Then there is Bella.  She is willing to sacrifice everything, including her family, her dreams and even her soul, to be with Edward (i.e. become a vampire). It’s the same old thing that we saw in the second film, New Moon (Jonathan and I talked in great detail about these elements in our 2009 annual movie review podcast).

He goes on to say:

Jonathan and I have been discussing this since the first Twilight film. Realistically nothing has changed. I think Jonathan and David’s Youth Culture Window article, “I’m in Love with a Vampire summed up our feelings about the movie then, and ring true for the entire series still. The characters are far from role models. As parents and youth leaders we need to be equipped and ready to discuss these issues with our students.

Todd said it well. Let’s keep dialoguing with our kids about these issues we see popping up in youth culture.

In addition, here’s a great free resource that one of my blog readers Amy linked a few days ago– a great discussion guide you can use with the film.

What Twilight Fans Can Expect

Posted on: 06/25/10 10:27 AM | by Jonathan McKee

The Twilight saga is such big news right now that we actually are hearing buzz about the next two films… and I think you’ll want to hear what they just announced about the sex in Breaking Dawn, the next film in the making. But first… the film that comes out Wednesday, June 30th: Eclipse.

Some fans got an early glimpse of the film last Thursday. The word “some” may be misleading, because when you’re talking about the Twilight Saga, “some” means thousands. I would have hated to have been around Nokia Plaza in downtown L.A. last Thursday where 9,000 wristbands were handed out to screaming Twilight fans gathering for the Eclipse premier. What a madhouse. This young generation just can’t get enough Twilight.

Personally, after New Moon, I can’t believe there are any Twilight fans left. But seeing the mindset of most Twilight fans… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

On June 30th, Eclipse hits theatres around the nation. So what can we expect to see with this new film? That’s a good question. Forget speculation– our movie reviewer Todd Pearage will be watching the film and delivering his two cents on our MOVIE REVIEW PAGE opening day Wednesday (it’s now posted here) (you may remember when David, Todd and I saw New Moon on the opening weekend last year and reviewed the film for you).

But it’s not Eclipse, but the following film Breaking Dawn that the news is talking about right now. Because yesterday at the premier, Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg told People Magazine, “You will see sex- Yes!” She went on. “The relationship (between Edward and Bella) does go all the way in the book, so in the movie it will as well. You are going to see more skin in Breaking Dawn than you did in the other films.”

I guess the sensuality we saw in the first film is going to run its course.

Hmmmmm.

Dawn Treader Exclusive Trailer

Posted on: 06/16/10 1:49 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Okay… this is kind of cool.

I get to release to you an exclusive trailer for the new Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This trailer is only being released to a few people in the Christian media world right now so we can show it to you guys first. Pretty cool!

Here it is:


The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader Official Teaser Trailer

(If you received this blog via email and can’t see the embedded trailer, click HERE to view it on my blog)

I’m pretty excited about this film. In my blog a few weeks ago, I not only showed you the cool new poster for the film, I mentioned that this film (coming December 10th) is going to be directed by Michael Apted… a really solid director.

I don’t know if it’s this preview or the fact that I grew up reading the book. Either way… I’m eager to see it!

Chime in and comment. Tell me what you think.

The PG-13 Epidemic

Posted on: 06/2/10 1:02 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I am growing to hate PG-13 movies.

Just give me straight R… at least you’re being honest with me about what I should expect. Don’t give me this false expectation that this content is okay for 13-year-olds somewhere.

Last night my wife and I rented the fairly new to DVD/Blu Ray movie, Valentine’s Day... rated PG-13. The preview for this film looked pretty good. It’s a Gary Marshall film and it has an all star cast. Seriously… you’ll be surprised how many stars are in this.

So we gave it a try– just me and Lori, no kids.

I got a sour taste in my mouth about 12 minutes into it. Name it: hooking up, talk of threesomes, phone sex…

Now, I realize that not all “date flicks” are totally clean. I really like The Notebook… and that’s got some pretty steamy moments. I like Big Fat Greek Wedding, and that has premarital sex. I like Say Anything… again… premarital sex. But Valentine’s Day was in another league. I guess they are targeting all these women that love Sex and the City.

I guess that’s why I wrote the article years ago: Why I Allowed my 12-year-old to See Rater R… but Not PG-13!

You can catch my official review of Valentine’s Day on our movie review page here.

New Narnia Film

Posted on: 05/20/10 2:08 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Okay… I’ve always been a huge fan of the Narnia books… so the films have always peeked my interest.

Next one is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, directed by none other than Micheal Apted (Amazing Grace). No offense to the past director… but I’m glad to see they’re bringing in a real Hollywood hitter for this one!

The “teaser” poster just released for this Christmas’ most anticipated film. Check it out:

Gotta love Aslan!!! (and check out Reepicheep)

Parental Guidance on Movies Makes a Difference

Posted on: 04/28/10 12:48 PM | by Jonathan McKee

A new study from Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) reveals that monitoring our kids’ media choices actually pays off! Imagine that.

James Sargent, a professor of pediatrics at DMS, also principal investigator in the study contends, “The research to date suggests that keeping kids from R-rated movies can help keep them from drinking, smoking, and doing a lot of other things that parents don’t want them to do.”

That pretty well sums it up.

The researchers talk specifically about the affect of adult content, noting that “PG-13 movies as well as many TV shows frequently portray drinking and other adult situations.” The study is fascinating. I encourage you to take a peek.

The question is: will parents listen to this warning?

In my article titled, “Dad, can I download this song?” I introduced two extremes in parenting styles: Sally SoWhat, who doesn’t monitor what her kids watch or listen to at all, and Shirley Shoebox who locks her kids in a dungeon without any exposure to the real world, releasing them at age 18. Neither are healthy.

Many people don’t want to be Shirley Shoebox, so much so, that they retreat to the polar opposite end of the spectrum, becoming very much like Sally SoWhat, a very “hands-off” parenting style. The sad fact is, most of these parents are in the dark as to what media messages are actually bombarding their kids daily; furthermore, they don’t realize the negative impact these messages can have.

In this new study, DMS partnered with the University of Oregon and the University of Michigan and studied 4,655 fifth through eighth graders, talking with 2,406 of the group. The researchers found a link between exposure to R-rated movies and the likelihood of drinking alcohol, as well as becoming more prone to ‘sensation seeking’ and risk taking.

Add to that the fact that this R-rated content is only a click away. Bottom line: Parents need to involved in their kids lives, having conversations about media, and monitoring what they watch. That’s what the experts are saying. The DMS study concluded by actually quoting the October 2009 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) study, recommending that children watch no more than one to two hours of “quality” media each day.

If you missed that AAP music and lyrics report, I strongly encourage you to take a peek at that as well– I summarized some of those findings in our Youth Culture Window article the week the study was released. That report confirmed that lyrics have become more explicit in references to sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and violence. Furthermore, the authors gave numerous examples of the correlation between media exposure and negative behaviors. The report gave particular attention to the effect of music videos. Frequent watching of music videos has been related to:

  • an increased risk of developing beliefs in false stereotypes and an increased perceived importance of appearance and weight in adolescent girls
  • an increased probability that they would engage in violence, a greater acceptance of the use of violence, and a greater acceptance of the use of violence against women
  • an increased acceptance of date rape
  • permissive sexual behaviors
  • more accepting of premarital sex (specifically with those watching MTV)
  • increased risky behaviors
  • alcohol use

Parents… are you listening?

Kids Burning Themselves on YouTube

Posted on: 04/20/10 10:43 AM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s funny when small sub-cultures get air time (and am I only furthering it by reporting about it?)

So let me preclude this blog by saying, “This isn’t mainstream!” In other words, I don’t think your kids or their friends are probably doing this. From what I hear, this is a very small crowd of kids. But thanks to YouTube, the buzz is out and your kids and their friends might have at least heard, “Hey… did you hear about those kids that are lighting themselves on fire on YouTube?”

Yeah. It’s really as dumb as it sounds. It’s like MTV’s Jackass, but for real.

YouTube has a bunch of videos of kids lighting themselves on fire with comments like, “This is (name) being lit on fire. Only the cool kids light themselves on fire these days!”

I’ve seen a few articles on the subject, not much yet.

I don’t know what’s worse, the random videos of kids lighting themselves on fire, or videos like this one from this guy who teaches people how to “safely” light themselves on fire. (click here if you don’t see the embedded video below)

Here’s my thoughts on this one: have conversations with your kids about what they’re watching.

In my house, I don’t even need to start these conversations. My daughter came up to me yesterday and asked me, “Dad, have you see the Hot Kool-Aid video on YouTube? It’s hilarious!” (She saw it at school). I told her I hadn’t. She said, “You gotta see it!”

So we went home and she showed it to me. It was pretty funny (I know some of you are going to search that one now).  🙂  We sat and chatted a little bit about the funniest videos she’d seen lately.

I find that if parents are open with their kids and listen, then most kids will be fairly transparent about what they are watching. After a fun conversation like the one I had with my daughter, parents could ask questions like, “What are some of the weirdest things you’ve seen on YouTube lately?” (notice I don’t walk right up to my kids and ask that. I start light, with questions like, “What’s the funniest video you’ve seen?” Break the ice with your kid first.) If kids share about some weird things they’ve seen, ask them, “What did you think of that?” or “Do you know anyone who does that?”

Sometimes kids won’t share everything. That’s why when my daughter was gone I actually looked up some of the recent searches she did lately as well. My kids know that I can search their history, their cell phones, etc. at any time.

As parents, we just need to be involved in our kids lives. Keep having conversations.

(ht to Todd Pearage)

Nicholas Sparks

Posted on: 03/25/10 6:11 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Yesterday I received a phone call from one of the media companies that sends me to screenings for movie reviews, and they asked me if I wanted to interview Nicholas Sparks today, author of A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, and most recently, The Last Song (which he also wrote the screenplay for the film, starring Miley Cyrus and releasing this weekend).

I didn’t know much about Nicholas, other than the fact that I had seen most of the films made from his books. When I think of him, I think of a big box of Kleenex… because that’s what everyone needs when you watch his films. His stories are heart wrenching!

My schedule was swamped, so I declined at first. But then I read a little about him from his own pen on his web page. Fascinating bio… one of the best I’ve ever read! And wow! Nicholas has lost a lot of his immediate family in the last two decades. I can see why so many of his films deal with death, grief, and pain.

The more I read, the more I was impressed with who he was. So I called back and scheduled the interview.

I didn’t know this, but Nicholas grew up about a mile from my house. We went to rival schools, both ran (although he was fast), and played in the same spots along the American River. I found his live story and his journey as an author intriguing.

We had a fun conversation this morning. Great guy. He’s a generous man and seems to be a man of faith. We didn’t have a lot of time to talk, but I think you’ll find the conversation fascinating. We’ll release it in two weeks on our podcast page.

My Kids Actually Liked This…

Posted on: 03/24/10 11:29 AM | by Jonathan McKee

How often do you come across a clean film with a positive message that teenagers actually enjoy?

It’s rare!

Last week my wife and I finally sat down and watched a film I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about. We already had a movie clip discussion from the film written up on our web site, using a clip from the movie to provoke discussion about anger and self control (we provide the small group questions, a wrap up, etc.). I was intrigued by the online clip on our site, so Lori and I decided to rent it.

We were only about 20 minutes into the film and we both agreed, “The kids gotta see this!”

The film I’m talking about is Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. The film stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and is directed by the director of Coach Carter, Thomas Carter. This true story of a young boy from a broken home who struggles against the odds and becomes a world renown surgeon has already been nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys and a host of other awards. No joke… it’s really good.

I knew if I recommended it to my kids, they’d be suspicious that it was some boring educational piece (funny how that happens). So I bribed my kids to watch it! (Have you ever done that? “You can stay up if you watch this movie.” or “You can have extra video game time if you watch this!”)  🙂  Yes… sometimes bribery has it’s place.

Sure, there are clean films out to rent right now that your kids will want to see (Old Dogs was surprisingly clean). But Gifted Hands is not only clean, it’s inspiring. The story shows how reading and studying pays off. (see… it does sound boring, huh?) All three of my kids watched it… and all three loved it.

Give it a try. I know you won’t be disappointed.

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