It’s beginning to sound like a broken record. A teen idol reveals a bit too much in photographs that end up before the public eye. Quickly, they shift into damage control with an “I’m oh-so sorry” apology. They made a mistake. It was poor judgment. They will learn from this and grow. Etc. Etc.
Miley Cyrus seemed different. She said the right things and was Disney’s poster child as pop-star/TV star Hannah Montana. Until last week, she had come under fire only once, for forgetting to wear her seat belt. Her parents seemed to do an excellent job of keeping her grounded and away from the bad element of Hollywood teen-dom. Then, borderline photos of Cyrus — showing off part of a green bra in one — hit the Internet last week. Now, she’s also apologizing for a phoot shoot in Vanity Fair’s June issue in which she bares her back while holding a silk sheet over her naked chest.
All of this leads us to one question: What happened to all the teen role models? Take a moment to come up with a list of 10. You can start with… Well, maybe… OK, so it’s not as easy as it sounds. Ashley Tisdale is about the only one coming to mind, and frankly, after Cyrus’ recent stumble, I’m holding my breath on her, too. Sad, isn’t it?
Traditional movie critics tend to weigh a flick’s merits on the basis of cinematography and plot development, whereas we want to know, will our kids have nightmares? Start spouting new and inventive swear words? Or ask what those three people are doing and why they’re, um, naked?
So, as we head into blockbuster movie season, we’ll be sharing wisdom from some of our favorite family-centric reviewers - Common Sense Media, Focus on the Family’s remarkably even-handed Plugged In Online, and the very detailed Kids-in-Mind, which lists every violent, sexy or foul-mouthed scene. (And if you’ve got other favorite movie review sites, we want to hear about them too.)
The tweens at your house will be ecstatic. “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” starts filming in Salt Lake City, Utah this month. Same cast , new songs, plus plenty of senior year angst. Naturally, previews are already hitting YouTube. We’ve skipped the one that claims to be the “Offical” version, since we’re fairly certain Disney executives can spell, but this one looks fairly official, so enjoy.
There’s a certain deliciousness about bad parent tales, so we can’t wait for the “We’re a Happy Family: Films About Bad Parents” Fest. It opens at the Yerba Buena Center this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. with “Frank and Cindy,” the fetching couple pictured to the left, followed by a night of ultra-bizarre vintage shorts on April 19. Filmmaker GJ Echternkamp will be on hand to introduce “Frank and Cindy,” a documentary about his oafish former rocker father and the mother whose glamorous daydreams have become, er, not so swell. Dysfunctional? You bet. Hilarious retribution? Sounds like it. Reviews have all been raves, and the trailer has a “Little Miss Sunshine” celebration-of-the-weird vibe. ($6-$8. Don’t bring the kids. Well, OK, bring the jaded teens.)
Our buddy Laura Casey, who writes the Seen blog, just tipped us off to something very, very cool - the Banff Mountain Film Festival, an REI and National Geographic-sponsored film fest with shorts about the outdoors, extreme outdoor sports, activities and animals. Meh, you say? Ah, click over here and watch the trailer! If that first 1 min. and 47 seconds don’t get your heart racing, you’re, ahem, dead. Fantastic stuff for any outdoor lover, and particularly fantastic for families with teens and tweens. It’s showing tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. at UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Auditorium, and Friday and Saturday night at Los Altos High. Not from the Bay Area? No worries, click here for a state-by-state listing.
Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s fantastic documentary, “The Business of Being Born,” is screening in the East Bay this week. This is the film we raved about a few weeks ago, when it was making its Roxie run in San Francisco. Now you can check it out on this side of the Bay on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at Alameda’s Auctions by the Bay Theater ($5). For ticket and screening information for this event and similar shows in Santa Cruz, Napa and other cities, click here.
The first reviews for “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” the movie based on the fantasy book series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, are just drifting in. Times movie critic Mary Pols gives the fantasy flick a solid B and describes it as “a modern-day family film, using swords, magic potions and otherworldly CGI creatures to dispense with divorce demons and adolescent anger-management issues. Its message, communicated with enjoyable verve, is that 48 hours in a creepy old mansion filled with scary secrets just might be enough to put any family back on the right track.” It’s not Harry Potter, but it’s fun, she says, as long as parents bear in mind the PG rating for scary creature action, violence and peril. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
Under: Movies | 1 Comment »
OK, so it’s safe to say that your life as a free-wheeling adult is WELL past over when you find yourself at a Disney pop star movie during the Super Bowl.
Yes, parent friends, that’s where my mom friend and I spent our Sunday, along with our kids of course, giving our husbands hours of uninterrupted beer, steak and football time.
At least we weren’t alone! The 3D movie, “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus–The Best of Both Worlds,” not cheap at $15 a ticket, topped the box office, raking in $29 million.
I have to say, though, the whole experience wasn’t too painful. The movie, mostly just her in concert as her TV show character Hannah and as Miley, singing offspring of Billy Ray, easily held the attention of two boys, 4 and 6, and my 6-year-old daughter, a die-hard tomboy type. Read the rest of this entry »
And how’s that for a Hollywood headline? All we need to add is “Box Office Boffo!!” to achieve the total effect. As you know, Miley Cyrus and her alter ego, Hannah Montana, are taking over the world. Her concert tour sold out instantly, her CDs zoom to the top of the Billboard charts, and tickets to her first movie, which opens at theaters everywhere this Sunday, are selling so fast, movie theaters are frantically adding new showtimes, including Thursday midnight showings and Friday morning screenings at 8 a.m. … so you can catch “Hannah Montana” and be just a little tardy to class. Fandango, the online movie tix company, says Hannah accounts for 91 percent of the movie tickets they sell online. (In case you’re wondering, the next most popular movie is “U2-3D” which accounts for 2 percent of the online tickets, and “Rambo,” “Cloverfield” and “27 Dresses” at less than 1 percent each.) So here’s what we want to know - are you going?
It’s beginning to sound like a broken record. A teen idol reveals a bit too much in photographs that end up before the public eye. Quickly, they shift into damage control with an “I’m oh-so sorry” apology. They made a mistake. It was poor judgment. They will learn from this and grow. Etc. Etc.
Yes, parent friends, that’s where my mom friend and I spent our Sunday, along with our kids of course, giving our husbands hours of uninterrupted beer, steak and football time.