Parent-kid movie critic teams review the latest flicks
Scroll down to see the movie review after the trailer
Tim and Mirabel review Tangled:
Want to be considered to film your own Big Thumb Little Thumb, and take your kid to a fancy media screening of an upcoming movie? Email amanda@bunchfamily.
From the traditional to the hilarious, here are five holiday movies we love
We asked you guys which movies never fail to get your bunch in the holiday spirit, and a few titles were clear favourites. We recommend renting a few of these and watching them on an icy-cold day with some hot drinks and freshly-baked spice cookies. And be sure to check out film critic Richard Crouse‘s list for us too, as he mentions a few we almost forgot about.
5. Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
Best thing about this animated Hanukkah movie is its inclusion of “The Hanukkah Song,” a Sandler-penned list of reasons why Hanukkah is awesome. We reckon it helped many a Jewish kid feel less weird about not celebrating Christmas.
4. White Christmas (1954)
Our favourite film critic Richard Crouse picks the best Christmas movies
We were thrilled when movie expert Richard Crouse shared his favourite Halloween movies for families with us last month. This month, he cherry-picks the holiday movies your kids will want to watch every year.
A Christmas Carol (1951): Of course there is only one must-see out of all the dozens of film and TV versions of the Charles Dickens classic, and that’s the 1951 Alastair Sim version. Nearly perfect in every way, it is a tale of redemption that confirms the fundamental spiritual nature of Christmas itself. In other words, it makes us feel good. Accept no substitutes. If you must watch other versions then check out Scrooged, the 1988 reworking of the story or the animated Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.
Parent-kid movie critic teams review the latest flicks
Scroll down to see the movie review after the trailer
Micah and Zachary review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
Want to be considered to film your own Big Thumb Little Thumb, and take your kid to a fancy media screening of an upcoming movie? Email amanda@bunchfamily.
After the interview with videogame critic Josh Ostroff, I still wasn’t certain whether I should buy my 4-year-old son a Nintendo Wii. So I called up Robin Benger, an old friend of mine. Robin is a Toronto documentary filmmaker and father to three children, including his oldest, 25-year-old Griffin Benger, who first started playing videogames as an 11-year-old boy and quickly found his way to the military-based first-person shooter, Counter-Strike.
Dad Robin tried to limit the gameplay to an hour per day, once Griffin was done his homework. But as the years passed, the game started coming between parent and child. Griffin played the game for hours at a time, then, seemingly, days at a time. If he was banned from the computer, he waited until his parents were asleep, then crept downstairs to play all night. When Robin disconnected and hid the computer, Griffin would sneak out in the middle of the night and go to web cafes to play. Sometimes he’d be out for days at a time.
1. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
“This is a family classic, a story that hasn’t aged at all since it was first seen on television in 1966.”
2. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
“Funny and colourful, this is one asks the question, Who will protect the enormous vegetables from the gigantic Were-Rabbit during Lady Tottington’s family’s 517th annual Giant Vegetable Fete? Wallace and Gromit is the delightful answer.”
Introducing parent-kid video movie reviews
Bunchland is all about making sure your family has the best time, and that includes when you go to the movies. We hate to see you waste your hard-earned dollars (and two hours that could be spent playing outside) on a big stinker of a movie.
On that note, we give you Big Thumb, Little Thumb: video movie reviews from families. Sort of like Siskel and Ebert, but with parents and kids. Once a month, we’ll go see a movie before it hits theatres and give you the lowdown. Did we love it and are we dying to see it again? Or was it a big sucky suckfest that you should run away screaming from? You’ll get a full recap from our trusted panel of experienced film critics. They may not have fancy “film school” degrees or anything, but they know movies.
