Big Hero 6 This Is Where I Leave You Enders Game
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by: Wendy Jane Henson IN THEATERS, ON DVD, AND FROM TV ON DEMAND: Wendy Jane Henson has lived in Tualatin since 1992. A former college instructor in creative writing and theater arts (PCC, Marylhurst, and PSU), she is a published author with articles and two books in print, a screenwriter and playwright, and a former producer and director in educational and non-profit theater. KIDS AND FAMILY BIG HERO 6 2014, 1hr. 33 min., Rating: PG, Common Sense Rating: 7+ This animated feature from Walt Disney Studios is a family oriented, action comedy which offers the kind of positive messages kids of all ages can appreciate. Presented in the superhero comic mode, including a scary super villain, which is so popular these days, the story keeps its focus on brotherhood, friendship and helping others. It also deals candidly but kindly with a more profound theme of coping with the loss of a loved one. If you want a movie with heart and humor that the entire family can enjoy, this is a worthy choice. COMEDY THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU 2014, 1 hr. 43 min., Rating: R, Common Sense Rating: 16+ Based on a best-selling novel by Jonathan Tropper, who co-wrote the screenplay, the movie’s award winning actors, led by Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, and Jane Fonda, struggle to make the film a success. Sadly, it’s a struggle just for the film to make sense. A dysfunctional family loses their father, because of whom they believe they are dysfunctional. Stuck together under the same roof for a week, they try to work out the mishmash of their lives. Frankly, the language, sexual content, and drug use are not only offensive, they are gratuitous to the point of embarrassment. For example, the mother, played by Jane Fonda, insists on giving her adult children graphic details about her sex life with their father, even at the dinner table. One assumes the behavior is supposed to be funny, but, frankly, it was more information than I needed or cared to know. Critics and audiences alike have not been kind to this film. I’m on their side. DRAMA ENDERS GAME 2013, 1 hr 53 minutes, Rating: PG 13, Common Sense Rating: 10+ Based on Orson Scott Card’s best-selling 1985 sci-fi novel of the same name, this film is deals with kids, but despite its Common Sense Rating, it’s hard to imagine it is a film for kids. When an embattled Earth faces an alien threat, Earth’s military trains the best and brightest children in hope of finding a brilliant leader. Ender Wiggin, played by Asa Butterfield, is a shy but brilliant boy who joins the Battle School. In the role of Colonel Graff, Harrison Ford guides the youngster through difficult war games and the respect of his peers. Chosen as the best of all the young soldiers, Ender is trained to lead his fellow kids to a battle that, it is hoped, will save the human race. For me, however, what could be a fascinating and worthy story bogs down, even gets lost, an avalanche of special effects and noise. As one critic commented, “The battle scenes are spectacular but lifeless and hard to engage with. We’re watching a cascade of computer-game imagery.” Amid the emphasis on computer-game imagery, it can be hard to find the film’s positive messages about “empathy, moral responsibility and peaceful diplomacy over military aggression.” .