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Films & DVDs

Family Films & DVDs By David DicksteinPublished: August, 2009

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‘Ponyo’ Opens Aug. 14, rated G Disney’s second animated film based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” is actually just a re-dubbing and re-release of a year-old movie bought from Japan. Noah Cyrus, younger sister of Miley, voices a goldfish princess who longs to become a human after running – check that, swimming – away from home and being rescued by a 5-year-old boy. Also heard but not seen are Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson and Lily Tomlin. ‘G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra’ Opens Aug. 7, rated PG The last time I played with a G.I. Joe action figure, it was in my O.C. backyard, and my plastic American hero was on a mission to kill the enemy – a stuffed Jolly Green Giant doll – who lay in hiding just beyond our swimming pool. Forty years and $170 million later, G.I. Joe makes his big-screen debut not as a single soldier, but as a member of the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity (GIJOE), a co-ed force of operatives who use high-tech equipment to battle an evil organization. The action adventure stars Channing Tatum and Dennis Quaid. ‘Shorts’ Opens Aug. 7, rated PG Hysteria falls on Black Falls, a suburban town turned upside down after an 11-year-old boy discovers a colorful rock that grants wishes to its keeper. Jealous kids and scheming adults add to the audience’s fun, but not to Toe Thompson, whose life as the designated punching bag for bullies only gets worse. Hopefully there’s a happy ending in this fantasy-adventure from “Spy Kids” director Robert Rodriquez. The cast includes Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann and James Spader. NEW DVDs ‘Tom and Jerry’s Greatest Chases,’ Volume 2 Ages 2-8, now available, not rated Parents and grandparents who remember when cartoons regularly preceded family films will enjoy the 14 original “Tom and Jerry” shorts from 1943 to 1951. Two of them – “Mouse Trouble” and “Quiet Please” – won Oscars. Grade: A ‘Scooby-Doo Meets the Harlem Globetrotters’ and ‘Scooby-Doo Meets Batman’ Ages 5-10, released Aug. 11, not rated A double-feature of animated special episodes from Scooby-Doo’s prime, the early ’70s, makes for one pretty good DVD. Villains range from the Joker and Penguin to the ghost of Paul Revere and a fire-spouting sea serpent. Grade: B+ ‘Coraline’ Ages 6-12, now available, rated PG The dark and delightful stop-motion animation feature follows a girl who discovers an alternate version of her life on the other side. Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) winds up needing to save her family when this seemingly perfect world she entered turns treacherous – and perhaps a bit too scary for little ones. Grade: B   David Dickstein is a contributing writer.

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