KidCrunch

The Sony Pictures animated 3-D movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs opens today.  Rated PG for brief mild language, the movie is based on the 1978 children’s book of the same name written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. 

In this action-filled comedy, young scientist Flint Lockwood (voiced by SNL’s Bill Hader) invents a machine that turns water into food - that rains down to earth in dangerous proportions.  This phenomenon attracts coverage from perky TV weathergirl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris of the Scary Movie series.)  Other famous voices include James Caan (as Flint’s father, Tim), Andy Samberg (as bully “Baby” Brent), Mr. T (as local cop Earl Devereaux) and Neil Patrick Harris (as Flint’s scene-stealing monkey.)

The critics seem to like it:

Eye-popping and mouth-watering in one, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs spins a 30-page children’s book into a 90-minute all-you-can-laugh buffet, expanding the premise of a town where it rains ketchup and hot dogs to disaster-movie proportions.  Variety|Peter Debruge

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a surprisingly savory treat, though it doesn’t bear much resemblance to the charming classic children’s book on which it’s based. USA Today|Claudia Puig

I’ve seen a lot of 3-D recently, and in terms of technical quality, this is the best.  Chicago Sun-Times|Roger Ebert 

The movie’s humor targets both kids and grown-ups with equal success, but, even with the presence of a mustache-fixated monkey, the main attraction here is the movie’s vibrant 3-D animation and its perfect storm of foodie-friendly sight gags. Los Angeles Times|Glenn Whipp

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Disney’s Ponyo, a G-rated kids movie created by Japan’s animated film master Hayao Miyazaki, opens today in theatres nationwide.  American audiences may remember Mayazaki’s Spirited Away, an Oscar-winning animated film.  Ponyo, already a huge success in Japan, is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale The Little Mermaid.

After seeing the Ponyo movie trailer, I decided to take my daughter to see the movie this weekend.  I like to take my kids on movie dates one at a time.  It gives me some quality time with each of my kids and, truth be told, it is easier and less expensive than taking all of the kids to see every new movie.  This will be a great movie for my youngest because it shows what little siblings can do - the voice of Ponyo is Noah Lindsey Cyrus (Miley’s little sister) and the voice of her pal Sosuke is Frankie Jonas (little brother to the Jonas trio.)

The reviews have been excellent so far.

There is a word to describe Ponyo, and that word is magical. This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched.  Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

With its ever-shifting world and palpable sense of magic, Ponyo captures the wonder of being a child.  It also presents an impassioned environmental message without lessening the entertainment value of the visually dazzling animated tale created by Hayao Miyazaki. USA Today | Claudia Puig 

To watch the image of a young girl burbling with laughter as she runs atop cresting waves in Ponyo is to be reminded of how infrequently the movies seem to express joy now, how rarely they sweep us up in ecstatic reverie. The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

Take your kids to see Ponyo and let us know what you think.

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