Category: Movies

November 4, 2016

Milton’s Secret DVD Giveaway

In Milton’s Secret we confront family, love, fear, worry and hope.

About Milton’s Secret

Based on the book by #1 New York Times bestselling author Eckhart Tolle and Robert Friedman, Milton’s Secret is a movie about family and the uncertain times families live in. Milton (William Ainscough) is a 12 year-old boy growing up in an economically and socially unpredictable world. His mother and father (Mia Kirshner, David Sutcliffe) are workaholics with marital and financial problems, and he is bullied at school. When his grandfather (Donald Sutherland) visits, Milton learns rehashing the past and worrying about the future are preventing him from finding true happiness.

The Cast

The cast in Milton’s Secret includes: Donald Sutherland, Michelle Rodriguez, William Ainscough, Mia Kirshner and David Sutcliffe.

Our Thoughts

“Ready. Set. NOW.”

A truly beautiful story of the Adams family that could be any family living in our current age. Many families live in the future, worrying about money, their home, bills and getting to one place or another without ever being present in the current moment. There is always one more work thing we can do (with a lot of my work online, this is my current problem – how do I learn to just put it away and not worry about it), one more bill that we worry about how will we pay for it and the list just goes on and on. This is the Adams family in Milton’s Secret – his Mother lives in the future worrying about how they will pay bills, if they will lose their home and his Father lives in the past, wanting just a little bit more. Neither of them realize how this is affecting Milton – his health, his emotional well being and even his relationships with others.

Milton is bullied at school but neither of his parents realize the torment he is going through as they are always absorbed in their own worries. When his Grandfather arrives, it is like this beautiful breath of fresh air. He brings an air of calmness, of peace and of being present. He teaches Milton to live in the here and now. Worry just brings unnecessary bad feelings into our lives and isn’t worth it. Watching Milton grow and mature under his Grandfather leaves your heart full and your eyes wet!

Milton’s Secret is a truly special film that will not only touch your heart but make you question the importance of your daily routines, of your own worries and if you live truly in the present or instead are you absent in the past or future. This is a movie that the whole family will love and give them more than enough food for thought. This is a definite must see film.

Rating: 5/5

The Trailer

Get a quick glimpse of this new movie.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a DVD copy of this movie in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 27, 2016

Skylanders Academy Set To Be A Number One Show For Kids

Last week I shared with you the news about a brand show coming exclusively to Netflix, Skylanders Academy. The new show is set to release October 28th, 2016.

About Skylanders Academy

If you didn’t get a chance to read my post, here is a little bit of background information about the new series. Skylanders Academy follows the heroic adventures of the Skylanders team, a ragtag group of heroes with unique elemental skills who travel the vast Skylands universe, protecting it from evil-doers. They achieve victory by setting aside their egos, learning to trust one another and fighting as one to maintain harmony and balance in the land.

Led by show runner Eric Rogers (Futurama), the series features the voices of Justin Long (Ask Me Anything) as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical, Phineas and Ferb) as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) as Eruptor and Norm MacDonald (Saturday Night Live) as Glumshanks. Additional voice talent includes Susan Sarandon, Daniel Wu, Parker Posey, James Hetfield, Catherine O’Hara, Chris Diamantopoulos and Harland Williams, among others.

Our Thoughts About Skylanders Academy

This week our family was lucky enough to watch a screener of the very first episode in this series. WE LOVED IT!!

This new series has to be one of the best animated series for children out on television right now. While my youngest isn’t as familiar with Skylanders as his older brother is, he fell in love with the characters comparing them to Pokémon. His older brother enjoyed watching some of his favourite characters come to life – more specifically Eruptor. The characters were hilarious, I found myself cracking up along with the kids. Especially Spyro he has such spunk and it was definitely not what I was expecting at all. I guess in my mind I pictured them as serious defenders of their universe but instead they are realistic, young, funny heroes who are just trying their best (well most are and Spyro seems to want to get by with his obvious talents and good looks!).

Skylanders Academy has been by far the best animated series I have seen this year. Not only was it a show that captured my boys attention (who are 12 and 5) but also my own. I didn’t want the episode to end. We were laughing, concerned and drawn right into the series. This series will definitely be a top one this fall and should be a definite must watch on your family list.

The Trailer

If you want to get a quick glance of what is in store for you, check out this trailer now.

Disclosure: I am a #StreamTeam member and receive perks associated with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 27, 2016

Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree Giveaway

The Equestria Girls are back in an all new DVD set to release November 1st, 2016. This time they are setting up camp in Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree.

About Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree

Fresh air – check. Starlit nights – check. Scary stories – freaky deaky! The Equestria Girls are leaving the halls of Canterlot High School for a field trip to Camp Everfree. However, they get more than canoeing and camp fires when magic begins to wreak havoc on the camp. They’re surprised to find a magical force is causing strange things to happen, and the girls seem to be developing new powers. The Equestria Girls will have to work together to control the magic or it will destroy their beloved camp!

Bonus Features Include:

bloopers
sing along
audio commentary
Camp Everfree patch

The movie can be purchased online through Shout Factory (which comes with its own awesome poster) or at Walmart (the DVD comes with a gorgeous pair of Twilight Sparkle barrettes!).

Our Thoughts

We couldn’t wait to have our niece over to pop in this DVD, especially me. Living in a home with three boys can be tough sometimes. The movie selections are always all about superheroes, fighting and action. Sometimes a girl just wants to enjoy a cute, funny movie with another girl!

We all fell in love with this DVD from the Equestria Girls. It was funny, sweet and full of lessons that our niece and even our own boys were able to appreciate without them realizing how much they were learning. It is so important for children to learn about the strength of friendships and working together and this is what the Equestria Girls stand for.

This DVD had great graphics, as well as a fantastic and engaging plot line. You were never left bored or uninterested. This DVD would make an excellent addition to family movie night as well as an even better stocking stuffer for this holiday season. You can also download these two colouring and activity pages for your child that will go along perfectly with the movie.

Trailer

The Giveaway

My Canadian and American readers can now enter to win one of three copies of Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree on DVD. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 21, 2016

Halloween Movie Nights Done Right with Netflix #StreamTeam

Halloween is by far my most favourite holiday of the year. The other ones are fun and all but Halloween gets me super excited every year. I even love to decorate our clinical office every year because lets face it a couple of goofy pumpkins and cute vampires tends to bring out the big kid in all of us. Something we all need to do more often.

Our Halloween decorations went up at home about two weeks ago, sometimes I find it hard to wait until after Thanksgiving! The skeletons are hanging outside, the bloody hands are on the windows, the wreath is up and hanging ghosts are on the porch. The kids love helping out with the decorations and it seems like every year we end up buying more decorations to add to the old ones (you can never truly have enough Halloween decorations right?). My husband has been eagerly working on his annual holiday project, which involves putting together a special slide show to be projected on the front windows with accompanying scary music. He goes all out every year with his slide show and the kids get a kick out of, but truthfully I think his favourite part is hiding behind the open door and scaring the trick or treaters. He has only ever had one kid throw something at him from being too scared!

To help get us in the mood, every year our Family Friday Movie nights revolve around Halloween inspired movies. One of the boys favourite movies is Hotel Transylvania, both parts one and two. Our youngest can literally tell you word for word every part of the movie (for the last two months, this has been our nightly bedtime movie – no exaggeration, our eldest rolls his eyes every time it comes on again), not to mention singing Drac’s favourite lullaby at bed time “suffer, suffer, scream in pain…you will never breathe again…” which must be sung in a very Dracula like voice in order for it to pass. Since we watch this one particular movie almost every night, we need to get extra creative for the month of October and these are our top five hits to help get you through the month of October and in the Halloween spirit.

Ghostbusters 2 – this is a huge new family favourite ever since we watched the new Ghostbusters. Our youngest couldn’t wait to watch the older versions.
The Nightmare before Christmas (a favourite from my own youth)
Scooby Doo and the Legend of the Vampire
Casper’s Scare School
Alvin and The Chipmunks meet Wolfman

Netflix has a huge range of Halloween family friendly (and some not so family friendly) movies that can get you geared up for the best holiday of the year. Netflix is definitely my go to solution for the BEST family movie night finds. Where else can you get movies you loved in your youth and movies that your children will love?

So this month as you get ready for Halloween, why not shake up the weekly family movie night by including some of the best Halloween themed movies around. You can throw in some great Halloween themed snacks from Pinterest and voila it will be a family movie night that your kids will not forget!

What is your favourite Halloween themed movie of all time?

Disclosure: I am a Netflix #StreamTeam member and receive perks associated with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 12, 2016

Blinky Bill: The Movie DVD Giveaway

Get ready to venture across the exotic Australian outback with the world-famous Australian koala Blinky Bill when the highly anticipated animated feature BLINKY BILL: THE MOVIE arrives on Blu-ray™ , DVD, iTunes, and VOD on October 11, 2016 from Shout! Factory Kids.

About Blinky Bill: The Movie

Blinky Bill (voiced by Ryan Kwanten) is a little koala with a big imagination. An adventurer at heart, he dreams of leaving the little town of Green Patch and following in his missing father’s footsteps. Mr. Bill went missing in the Outback some time ago and Blinky is the only one who believes his father is still alive. When Blinky discovers a mysterious marker that hints at his dad’s whereabouts, he embarks on a journey that takes him beyond the boundary of Green Patch and into the wild and dangerous Outback. He quickly makes friends with Nutsy, a zoo koala, and Jacko, a nervous frill-necked lizard. Pursued relentlessly by a vengeful cat (voiced by Rufus Sewell) who has a personal score to settle with Blinky, the trio must learn to work together if they ever want to survive the rugged Australian landscape and find Blinky’s father!

Blinky Bill is one of Australia’s most recognized characters and a bona fide icon. The lovable antics of the mischievous koala have captured the hearts of millions since the release of The Adventures of Blinky Bill book series in 1933. In 1992, the first feature film Blinky Bill, The Mischievous Koala was released in major territories. This was followed by several successful TV series and movies which continue to air around the world today.

Bonus Content:

music video
The plot
The Characters
The Evolution
The Voice Actors
What’s Your Favourite Aussie Animal?
What’s Your Favourite Aussie Food?

Our Thoughts

Blinky Bill is an absolutely adorable must see movie! We were giggling at his antics (he tries so hard to be just like his Dad!) and his adventures. He is adventurous, loving, caring and kind koala bear who wants to be an adventurer. When he decides to go out into the world to find his Father, he meets a fantastic new friend, a relentless foe and a world he could never have imagined. His first encounter of the human world is interesting – I felt sad for the way we have taken over their environment and made it so difficult for them but at the same time they added in some humour as Blinky Bill tries jelly beans and other sweets for the first time!

Nutsy adds in a whole new level of humour to the movie – she just wants to get back to her zoo, maybe have a spa day. She is just too precious in this movie but I love watching her change and grow as a koala as she travels with Blinky Bill.

Blinky Bill: The Movie is an exciting, humourous family fun movie that everyone in the house will love. It had us giggling and wondering what Blinky Bill and his friends would get up to next.

Make sure you print out this colouring page, connect the dots and activity page all on Blinky Bill.

Trailer

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.