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Secondhand Lions
Very Good 66 Points 2003

Great-uncles lead to great adventure for a boy in need of a loving home. Some have put down this movie as sentimental and bland, but I found it wry and satisfying. Especially for boys and men, the resonance runs deep. Come to think of it, it would be the perfect movie to watch on Father’s Day,…

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The Other Side ...
OK 66 Points 2001

A Mormon missionary’s time in Tonga makes for an entertaining family movie, if you can leave the proselytizing aside. The Other Side of Heaven is also an appealing period piece, first in the 1950s United States, but mostly in the South Pacific Islands of that era.

Based on the biography of …

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WikChip Image Before she was a star: Anne Hathaway
Finding Neverland
Very Good 66 Points 2004

The man who wrote Peter Pan meets the brothers who inspired the story in Finding Neverland. He also meets their mother, played by the fetching Kate Winslet. Julie Christie plays her mother and Radha Mitchell plays his wife, as terrific a trio of top actresses as you’re likely to find.

Seve…

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WikChip Image Boy Who Never Grew Up
Minions
Pretty Bad 66 Points 2015

Minions aren’t just evil, they’re bad, or at least their movie is bad. It’s a children’s movie and I’m an adult, sure. But other kiddie pix work for parents as well as kids, and not just those from Pixar.

Part of the problem is that the villain is more ridiculous than scary and isn’t funny a…

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Zootopia
Really Great 66 Points 2016

Zootopia is Pixar quality, meaning kids are optional, though there are no better movies to take kids to see. I chose a late show because late shows have the fewest kids, fewest but not none. Nowadays there’s always some parental units crazy enough to take their kids to a 10:40PM show. Those kid…

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WikChip Video Pure Pop 4 Zootopia: Shakira as Gazelle
Goosebumps
Good 66 Points 2015

Even as an adult who hasn’t read any of R.L. Stine’s fantastically popular Goosebumps horror novels for children, Goosebumps the movie made for an engaging and satisfying airplane entertainment experience. One can only imagine how much better it was received by the millions of kids who treasu…

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WikChip Image Jack Black as R.L. Stine with R.L. Stine
Finding Dory
Barely OK 66 Points 2016

Pixar ain’t what they used to be, their once pristine profile sullied by second-rate fare and poor box office. Finding Dory was supposedly a rare victory for them, derivative sequel though it was. Turns out it’s also second-rate, especially compared to Finding Nemo

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The Eagle Huntress
Really Great 66 Points 2016

Mongolian men have hunted with eagles for a millennium, an amazing partnership of human and raptor. Now the eagle hunters have welcomed a female, and a mere girl of 13 at that. This crisp documentary about that eagle huntress awes and uplifts in equal measure, the latter from its cheerful female …

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WikChip Video Drones were key to making the film.
Small Soldiers
Really Great 66 Points 1998

Small Soldiers looms large two decades after its premier. Spielberg inspired and produced, Joe Dante’s masterpiece is classic Hollywood fantasy, with a great cast featuring Frank Langella & Tommy Lee Jones.

The classic Hollywood part includes being left-wing and anti-American. The villains …

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WikChip Video Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.
Incredibles 2
Really Great 66 Points 2018

Incredibles 2 is tremendously entertaining for young and old alike, albeit not incredibly entertaining. Coming after a decade in which superhero movies have ruled the multiplexes, it so gets Supers, as those id-like people are called in the movie, just as it so gets real people: moms, dads, kid…

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WikChip Video Edna Mode, moviestar