Dahl’s beloved classic “The BFG” to life on screen

Dahl’s beloved classic “The BFG” to life on screen

unnamedThree of the world’s greatest storytellers – Roald Dahl, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg – unite for the first time to bring Dahl’s beloved classic “The BFG” to life on screen.

 BFG combines fairytale with technology to tell a story in a world created by Steven Spielberg as told by Roaul Dahl. We meet Sophie and the Giant and believe their relationship grows from fear of each other to trusted friends and comrades in arms. These new friends and their realization that they each are different form all others they know is a wonderful allegory of schoolyard bullies and following the dreams of using her royal majesty’s armed forces to retaliate and win the day. The story, the underlying message, and the filmmakers’ abilities combine to make for a wonderful couple of hours of family entertainment.

TheBFG5738ad529d2d5In the middle of the night, when every child and every grown-up is in a deep, deep sleep, all the dark things come out from hiding and have the world to themselves. That’s what Sophie, a precocious 10-year-old, has been told, and that’s what she believes as she lies sleepless in her own bed at her London orphanage. While all the other girls in the dormitory dream their dreams, Sophie risks breaking one of Mrs. Clonkers’s many rules to climb out of her bed, slip on her glasses, lean out the window and see what the world looks like in the moonlit silence of the witching hour. Outside, in the ghostly, silvery light, her familiar street looks more like a fairy tale village than the one she knows, and out of the darkness comes something long and tall…very, very, tall. That something is a giant who takes Sophie and whisks her away to his home in a land far, far away. Fortunately for Sophie, he is the big friendly giant and nothing like the other inhabitants of Giant Country. Standing 24-feet-tall with enormous ears and a keen sense of smell, the BFG is endearingly dim-witted and keeps to himself for the most part. His brothers are twice as big and at least twice as scary, and have been known to eat humans, but the BFG is a vegetarian and makes do with a disgusting vegetable called Snozzcumber.

Upon her arrival in Giant Country, Sophie is initially frightened of the mysterious giant, but soon comes to realize that the BFG is actually quite gentle and charming, and since she has never met a giant before, is full of questions. The BFG brings Sophie to Dream Country where he collects dreams and sends them to children, teaching her all about the magic and mystery of dreams. Having both been on their own in the world up until now, an unexpected friendship blossoms. But Sophie’s presence in Giant Country has attracted the unwanted attention of the other giants, who have become increasingly more bothersome. Sophie and the BFG soon depart for London to see the Queen and warn her of the precarious giant situation, but they must first convince her that giants do indeed exist. Together, they come up with a plan to get rid of the giants once and for all.

 

We have these great BFG coloring sheet, BFG maze, and a BFG word search that’ll help keep kids active after seeing the movie.
BFG-word-searchBFG-coloring-sheetBFG-maze

Find out more about the BFG by visiting its website.

 

Smurfs 2: The Movie a great flick for kids

Smurfs 2: The Movie a great flick for kids

SecureThumbnailAsyncSmurfs 2 opens in theaters on July 31st.   The follow up to the first “Smurfs” movie made in 2011 – which you can get on iTunes if your little ones want to see how it all began.  While Smurfs 2 intro into the movie does make it a stand alone film having watched the first Smurfs movie certainly does help.

In this sequel to the hybrid live action/animated family blockbuster comedy The Smurfs, the evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties that he hopes will let him harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants, and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs, Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris, where he has been winning the adoration of millions as the world¹s greatest sorcerer. It’s up to Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity to return to our world, reunite with their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow, and rescue her! Will Smurfette, who has always felt different from the other Smurfs, find a new connection with the Naughties Vexy and Hackus or will the Smurfs convince her that their love for her is True Blue? Returning cast includes Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Katy Perry as Smurfette and Hank Azaria as Gargamel.

My son really enjoyed the whole movie – he was bopping his head to the music by Britney Spears and was really enjoying the ride. While there is a 3D version of this movie (which we saw) the effects werent over the top and really just added to the experience.

My favorite part was the slow motion Neil Patrick Harris ganster walk with the smurfs to go get their girl back.