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Films & DVDs

Family Films & DVDs By David DicksteinPublished: September, 2009

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‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ Opens Sept. 18, rated G cloudywithachanceofmeatballs.com The popular children’s book is as thin as a slice of New York pizza – just 32 heavily illustrated pages – yet it has spawned a full-length animated feature adaptation. Bill Hader voices a young inventor who makes it rain food over the tiny town of Chewandswallow. Unfortunately for Flint Lockwood, a heaven-sent Hometown Buffet doesn’t necessarily make the citizens both fat and happy. ‘9’ Opens Sept. 9, rated PG-13 filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/9 If the dark computer-animated feature “9” is as clever as the choice of its release date – 9/9/09 – then fans of post-apocalyptic world stories will rejoice. Elijah Wood voices the title character, a rag doll who discovers a small community of creatures like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the humanless Earth intent on their extinction. Picture “Wall-e” meets “Terminator.” Lending their voices for producer Tim Burton are Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer. ‘Fame’ Opens Sept. 25, rated PG generationfame.com Giving credence to the “I’m gonna live forever” lyric from the Oscar-winning title song “Fame,” yet another reincarnation from the 1980 hit movie is released this month. Like the original and the TV series that followed for six seasons, the remake brings together a new crop of talented young adults who overcome incredible odds to gain acceptance to the prestigious New York High School of Performing Arts. NEW DVDs ‘Peanuts 1960s Collection’ Ages 4-up, now available, not rated Those beloved Peanuts TV specials that aired between 1965 and 1969 are on DVD for the first time, and what a treat this two-disc set is for those who grew up with these titles and newer generations that didn’t. The classics among the half-dozen specials are “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Grade: A ‘Smithsonian Channel Documentaries’ Ages 4-up, now available, not rated Since the Smithsonian Channel isn’t on basic cable, few households get to watch its original documentaries reminiscent of the National Geographic TV specials familiar to Baby Boomers. Just out are “Pandas in the Wild,” an up-close look at the lives of these rare mammals in the mountains of southwestern China; “The Big Blue,” featuring Earth’s largest inhabitant, the Blue Whale; and “Wanted: Anaconda,” about the Blue Whale of the snake world. Grade: A ‘Spanish for Beginners’: Adentro y Afuera (Inside and Out) Ages 2-6, available Sept. 1, not rated Combining live action with playful animation, this title is unique in that it uses the immersion technique, so children – or adults – learn Spanish by hearing and speaking it without any English translation. ¡Muy bueno! Grade: A   David Dickstein is a contributing writer.

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