Thank you Sunshine Sachs for sending us a screener of this movie to review!

Call Me Lucky is a film directed by Bobcat Goldthwait who was inspired by Barry Crimmins in many ways.  Barry used to go by the nickname "Bear Cat" to which Bobcat Goldthwait followed suit.  Besides helping Bobcat stay sober, Barry has helped launch many successful comedians in his Boston area comedy clubs.  Some of the comedians he worked with include Kevin Meany, Steven Wright, Dennis Leary, Steve Sweeney,  Paula Poundstone, Jimmy Tingle and many more. 

Barry was known for being a political satirist in the '70s and '80s and he didn't hold back in bashing our government and the Catholic church.  Since the pope has joined twitter, Barry has tweeted him daily asking to be excommunicated.  Barry holds an understandable grudge against the church because he was abused by both a family friend and by a priest as a young boy.

While Barry vented on stage and cursed often, he had a gentler side that helped give a voice to those who needed to be heard.  He visited wounded children in Nicaragua during Reagan's term and he helped the government and AOL toughen their policies and prosecute pedophiles when the interest was in its infancy stages.  Thanks to his efforts  thousands of pedophiles have been arrested.

Thank you Click Communications for sending us a DVD to review!

After a wonderful summer together, Brady and Mack (Mackenzie) are heading back to school together.  Even though they're celebrating their three month "meetaversary", their relationship is about to be seriously tested as they discover that they are complete opposites when it comes to their academic studies.    

Mack has her future planned out with wanting to become a marine biologist.  She already knows which college she wants to go to while Brady doesn't even know what he's going to have for dinner at night.  Even though biology isn't Brady's strongest subject, he's not stupid.  In fact, he's designing many great surfboards.  The problem is that he's lost his confidence and doesn't want to share his passion with his girlfriend for fear of being rejected.  

Other guys are taking notice of Mackenzie and Brady is getting jealous of the attention she is getting.  Between the jealousy and the secrets, Mack is wanting some time away from Brady.  Back in Brady's favorite '60s movie, Wet Side Story (a surfers versus bikers rendition of West Side Story), the main characters Lela and Tanner are sensing some trouble between Mack and Brady and come to the future (our present day) to save them. 

Thank you Entertainment One for sending us a screener of this movie to review!

An over protective nestrian father  is on the move again after his son, Finny, had just settled in and started making friends.   Finny isn't happy about the change, but this time it can't be avoided since the global flood is coming and they have to head towards the ark.  Once they arrive at the ark, the nestrians run into a setback as they are not on Noah's list of animals to bring along.  Perhaps it has something to do with their fictitious species?   Another unique species called grimps, did make the cut though.  The father and son disguise themselves as grimps and stow away on the ark.  The female grimp isn't happy about the nestrians becoming a part of their fictitious family.  

Finny and the young grimp, Leah, get along for the most part and start exploring around the ark.  Panic sets in when they discover that they were not actually on the ark when it has taken off without them.  After a while, the parents notice and try to convince the lion captain to turn the ark around.  Their request is denied and they decide to take matters into their own hands.

Meanwhile, Leah and Finny are trying to find high ground and avoid becoming dinner for a couple of flying creatures that are pursuing them.  Along the way, they meet some other stragglers that didn't make it onto the ark either.  Despite the grimp's nature of being a loner, Leah learns the value of friendship, teamwork, and forgiveness.   

Thank you Universal Pictures for sending us this DVD to review!

Curious George is back and up to his usual unintended trouble making.  The story begins with George and Ted (the man in the yellow hat) flying a kite in a park.  For most people the worst case scenario is losing the kite to a tree, but for George it's a very expensive excursion with many food vendors  getting their carts knocked over and losing any chance of  turning  a profit.  The man in the yellow hat hands out yellow contact cards with his insurance information to those impacted by George's kite flying.  It makes me wonder what his insurance premiums are.  

Later George and his owner head back to the museum where Ted works and they are greeted by Mr. Houston.   There is an opening for an astronaut to go on a mission to alleviate the massive flooding in Africa.    George is eager to go, but the man in the yellow hat isn't sold on the idea right away.  Fortunately for George, he relents and lets him go on the mission.

Sadly, the mission doesn't go as planned and George gets lost in Africa.  Houston and his team estimate George's location within a 500 mile radius.  Not surprisingly, most of the movie revolves around locating George.   Even though George starts off alone, it's short lived as he befriends many unlikely wild animals.  

Thank you Falco Ink for sending us this DVD to review!

Not everyone grows up with a perfect family.  Many kids are raised by a single parent, and in most cases it's the mother.  It was the opposite for me as I grew up fast when my mother ran off when I was a teenager.  Comeback Dad struck a chord with me as I chose to forgive and reconcile with my mom. I was curious if the daughter, Nina, would do the same for her absentee father (Charles Dutton) in this movie.  

I won't spoil the ending in this review.  Nina is an up and coming composer who learned from her father on how to play the piano.  Her successful fiancé, Spence, loves her despite knowing that she can't trust him fully due to her broken relationship with her father.  Spence encourages her to make amends before their wedding and that includes an out of state trip to meet her estranged family. 

Unfortunately, this movie reinforces the false teachings of works to earn a person's way to heaven.    Nina mentions getting double heaven points for making the trip to see her family.    The Bible clearly teaches in Ephesians 2:8 and in Romans 9:16 that it is by God's grace alone that we are saved, not by our works.

Thank you Click Communications for sending us this DVD to review!

Strange Magic is a CGI animated musical that borrows from Shakepeare's "A Midsummer’s Night Dream" and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's "Beauty and the Beast." After seeing George Lucas's attempt at romance in Star Wars II Attack of the Clones, I wasn't expecting much.  I began watching this movie with three of my kids and one of them left half way through to read a book instead. Of the two that remained to the end, only one liked the movie.   My son wasn't a fan of it.  Then again, George Lucas was inspired by his daughters to make Strange Magic.

The movie begins with a fairy princess, Mary Ann, preparing for her wedding day.  Along the way of her collecting materials for her fiancé's boutonnière, she runs into her husband-to-be kissing another fairy.  Not surprisingly, the wedding was called off and her father, the king, wants Mary Anne  to make amends with her ex, Roland.   Instead Mary Anne vows to be independent and swears off love entirely.  

Mary Anne is not the only one uninterested in love.  In the nearby Dark Kingdom, the wretched insectiod King Bog has forbidden anyone to fall in love and use of love potions is forbidden.  To ensure that his ban remains in effect, he sealed away the sugar plum fairy who is the only one that can concoct love potions.  

Thank you Frank Publicity for granting us access to a digital screener of this movie!

Dukale's Dream is a documentary featuring Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborah on a trip to Ethiopia to learn about World Vision's efforts there.  World Vision does more than give hand outs, they give hand-ups.  What that means is that they provide more than relief, they help improve the economy in poverty stricken areas.  

While helping out a coffee farmer named Dukale, Hugh witnessed firsthand the hard work required to sustain Dukale's family of seven.    Even though coffee is in high demand, the soil only yields harvestable beans every other year.  Dukale has to diversify his crops to stay afloat.  Even still he is barely scraping by.

Fortunately World Vision has improved his family's health and ecological sustainability.  World Vision has setup a methane gas converter that transforms cow manure to usable gas that Dukale's wife can cook with.  By using this gas, it makes their hut smoke free and improves his family's respiratory health and doesn't tear up their eyes.  

In order to improve living conditions for all of the Ethiopian coffee farmers, people need to consider buying fair trade coffee.  Fair trade coffee ensures that the farmers are not being taken advantage of and guarantees them a minimum price.  The farmers in turn must be certified and follow environmentally sound practices.  It's a win-win for everyone if we're willing to make sure the coffee that  we drink is fair-trade compliant.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this movie to review!

Maya the Bee was originally a German fairytale that dates back to 1912.  Since then it has been published into other languages, has become a TV show, and now it's getting the Hollywood treatment.  While the movie is a bit different than the book, much of the story remains the same.

Maya is born into an unstable beehive.  The aging queen is seen as "too soft" by her advisor and she schemes to replace her.  Meanwhile Maya is having trouble trying to find her role in the bee community.  Nobody seems to be as carefree as her and she seems to cause more trouble than is useful.  

After exploring the Meadows without permission from her teacher, she befriends a grasshopper and other insects.  It's here that the story borrows a bit from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Wasps and bees are hostile towards each other and any reason will suffice for starting a war with the opposing side.  Young bees and wasps are instructed not to communicate with other insects, but especially not bees or wasps.

Naturally, Maya and her best friend, Willy, meet a young wasp and save his life from a spider.  To save face from his angry father, he confesses that they saved his life, but denies his friendship with them.  They meet up later in the movie and he apologizes for that.

Thank you Yekra for granting us digital access to review this film!

Christopher Rush was born with muscular dystrophy and what he lacked physically, he made up for it intellectually.  In fact, he was able to converse with doctors when he was only nine months old.  His physicians told his parents that he would be  "no more than a dishrag, and dead by the age of two."   Chris lived life to his fullest and as a kid he became to poster child for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  He got to meet and inspire famous people including Ronald Reagan, Tony Orlando,  and Jerry Lewis.    

Not letting his disability getting the best of him, Chris graduated with honors in high school, college, and even when receiving his law degree.  He also became the first person with muscular dystrophy to become scuba certified.  Despite his doctor's grim prognosis, Chris lived to be thirty years old.

Wanting to give back to others he developed the Go Far program.  While not easy, it is doable if anyone puts their mind to it like Chris did.

Thank you to Alcon Entertainment for sending us this film to review!

I knew nothing about this film when I sat down to watch it, other than the title, which intrigued me.  Telling a lie is rarely a good thing.  Depending on the circumstances a single lie can contain the power to completely destroy your life, not to mention collateral damage caused to others.  Other lies, commonly referred to as "white lies" are generally considered unharmful, focusing on keeping social interactions civil or inoffensive.  "Does this dress make my bum look too big?"  {Slight pause - often without even looking at said dress or it's effect on one's spouse's bum} "NO! Of COURSE not!  You look great!"  The repercussions of a "white lie" may be minor (like having an annoyed spouse for an evening), but that does not mean telling one is "good."

So what kind of lie is a good one?  The film answers this question brilliantly: The kind that saves other people's lives at the risk of your own.  A couple of biblical references to this come to mind immediately.  The most notable is in Exodus Chapter 1 where Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt sees his slave population growing more numerous than his ability to effectively control.  His solution: infanticide.  All baby boys of the Hebrews are sentenced to death by exposure.  Well, the midwives (ladies who are in charge of overseeing births, like Lamaze coaches and nurses combined) take issue with Pharaoh's solution.  But what's a powerless midwife to do when faced with the choice between disobeying the ruler, who will execute you for disobedience as callously as he kills babies, and doing what they know to be the righteous thing?  You lie.  The midwives tell Pharaoh that the Hebrew ladies are so tough that they pop those baby boys out before they even get there.

Woman, "Honey, my water just broke!"

Man, "What do I do?"

Thank you Bender/Helper/Impact for sending us this movie to review!

When I was growing up, I used to watch a show called The Hitchhiker which featured a hitchhiker (gasp!) who opened and closed each show, but did not star in the random thriller story in between.  The shows often revolved upon mankind's depravity and sometimes had supernatural plots.  Since I have not seen the original WWJD movie, The Hitchhiker television show is the closest comparison I can make.  

WWJD: The Journey Continues has the same drifter from the original movie, but the main story is completely different this time around.     The movie begins with the drifter catching a ride to a random location.   Meanwhile a young man promises his mother in her final moments that he would take care of his brother.   His adopted brother's prison sentence is nearly finished. Later that night, a church in the midst of being renovated in a rough neighborhood gets robbed.  The pastor, fearing for the lives of himself and his wife, abandons the church and  suggests they hire a pastor with no family to worry about.  Cue in the young man who happens to be a pastor and his parolee brother.  As luck would have it, the pastor's brother is  a carpenter when he's not breaking the law. 

The pastor's brother is not saved and it shows with his quick temper and wanting to pick fights with some trouble-making brothers who vandalize the church. The young pastor has a tight deadline to get the church up and running and financially stable.  Everything is on track until there is a robbery in the church and the pastor's brother pays the ultimate price.  Fortunately, he accepted Christ in his last moments of life.  

Thank you Bender/Helper Impact for sending us a DVD of this movie to review!

Confessions of a Prodigal Son was successfully Kickstarted in the spring of 2013.  The fundraising goal was a meager ten thousand dollars and Nathan Clarkson, the lead actor and project lead, raised $13,835.00 to make it a reality.  While the low budget aspect is hard to hide, the story told is timeliness and teaches about God's love, forgiveness, and redemption.  

Many college age kids are tired of being told what to do by their parents.  As a preacher's kid, Sean wanted to escape from his father's (Kevin Sorbo) shadow. Instead of attending a Christian college to become a pastor, he desired to go to a public college and do his own thing.  Sean's parents relented and paid for two years of college and promised to pay the other half if he didn't squander the funds and keep a grade A average.

Getting an A in his English class will be no easy task as his teacher is very strict and not very tolerant of Sean's chronic tardiness.  Sean is going to have to get his partying under control and figure out what he wants in life and what his goals are.  Not only does he need to do this for his own good, but he has to write a paper about his life story.  He still doesn't know what his is, all he does know is that he wants to be free and not told what to do by anyone else.   

Thank you Disney for sending us a copy of the movie to review!

Even though Tinkerbell is in the title of this movie, she isn't the main character.  She does make a few appearances though.  Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast focuses on a fairy named Fawn, an animal fairy who specializes in  the wildlife surrounding Pixie Hollow.  Because of her love for animals, Fawn often gets reprimanded for bringing potentially dangerous strays into the fairy village.

After a recent scolding from the queen fairy, Fawn stumbles onto a unique creature that she has never seen before.  Vowing to think with her head and not her heart this time, she studies this unusual animal that likes to make rock towers.  She wins its trust when she helps remove a thorn from its foot and a friendship between them is born.      

While Fawn fully trusts this unusual creature, the guardian fairies wish to send it away because of a legend about its involvement in a deadly storm that is starting to brew.  Is this creature the source of the problem or the solution?  Can the fairies come to an agreement and work together?  You'll have to watch the movie to find out since I don't want to spoil it for you.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this DVD to review!

Penguins live a simple life, believe the world is flat and nothing exists beyond the icebergs surrounding them. Jasper is a young penguin that doesn't conform to their beliefs. One day he sees a huge cruise ship which disproves the theory that only penguins exist. Jasper, unfortunately, does not succeed in his attempt to show this to the other penguins. In doing so, he is shunned.

While being tasked to watch his brother, Junior, Jasper loses sight of him. He later finds him making his way towards the cruise ship. Junior boards it followed by Jasper. While onboard, they meet nine-year old Emma and a cat named Lucifer. Together, they all vow to help the Kakapo parrot retrieve his stolen eggs from a passenger named Doctor Block and his helper Rolf. Can these four misfits work together to save the eggs from harm? Can the penguin brothers and Emma each earn their parent's respect? You'll have to watch the eighty minute DVD to find out.

While Jasper: Journey To The End Of The World is family friendly and earns its "Family Approved" seal on the front of its case, I did notice a couple of issues.  There is a scene where the Kakapo parrot falls down a laundry chute and into a washing machine.  Emma shouts OMG, spelled out.  In another incident the parrot says "Oh ca ca."  Last but not least, there's a margarita reference in the end.

My wife and I, a few scant days prior to V-day, sat down and watched a film that is new on DVD called, "The Song."  It is produced by AFFIRM Films, a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment and I believe it was released straight to DVD and digital download.  It was newly released, coming out on the 10th of February.

So, what were my expectations going in to what I predicted to be a Christian-themed "chick-flick" almost strong-armed upon me by my wife?  Well, I expected a cookie-cutter predicable plot with cliche-ridden sappy dialogue; or the usual experience of such films as "the Notebook," "Sleepless in Seattle", or even (heaven help me) "The Proposal."  Thankfully, I was quite surprised.

"The Song" may be a comedy in the literary sense, but it is not a "romantic comedy" in the vein of "The Proposal" (or any other Sandra Bullock film), "50 First Dates" (or any other Adam Sandler film), or "Runaway Bride" (or any other Julia Roberts film).  Instead, the closest film I could compare it to would be "Walk the Line."  It's much more dramatic than any romantic comedy I've ever seen, with a depth of character that isn't really found in most rom-coms.

"Do you Believe" is a film from Pure Flix, the creators of "God's Not Dead," about how 12 people's lives are changed and impacted by a small number of people truly living out their faith.  This was a very ambitious story which took at least 6 different story lines and wove them together.  The result was an impressive and inspirational film that I genuinely enjoyed.  

It's set in Chicago, with many areas of the city clearly recognizable to those of us who have lived there.  The film opens with a man wheeling a wooden cross down the street asking people he meets if they believe in the cross of Christ.  This man is unnamed, and never seen again until after the resolution of the movie, but it is ultimately his action that sparks the chain reaction in the various stories through the movie.

There are 12 main characters in this movie, but its easier to think of them as groups of two or three or four.  These groupings form the heart of the story, since all the groupings are based on the needs that the group exhibits.  These needs are then met at the end as a result of the active faith of the members within the group.

This movie deals with issues of illness, barrenness, the loss of a child, abortion, adoption, homelessness, crime, murder, suicide, PTSD, and workplace evangelism in the lives of the characters.  It does a very good job of making these issues real for the people involved, and reveals the miraculous handiwork of God in resolving those issues.  Not all of the issues are resolved at the end.  The movie makes it clear that faith is not a cure-all for every circumstance in life, but it can empower you to live your life not as a victim, but as a faithful believer.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this movie to review!

My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks takes place after the Equestria Girls movie that was released in 2013.  While I recommend seeing Equestria Girls first, it's not required since there are a couple of flashbacks to fill in the story gaps.  Most of the seventy-minute movie takes place in the parallel human world where each pony personality resides in humanoid form.  

Canterlot Highschool has gotten three new students that seem to be mesmerizing everyone they come in contact with.  Instead of a peaceful musical showcase, these newcomers convince the school to host a Battle of the Bands.  Will the newcomer's band, The Dazzlings take the crown, or will The Rainbooms (with the help of Princess Twilight) win the contest?

The music from both bands is catchy and fun to listen to. My kids liked the music, visuals and character personalities.  Even my son enjoyed the movie.  There are some good messages taught including the power of forgiveness and friendship.  Any fan of My Little Pony or Equestria Girls should consider adding this movie to their library.  The blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy sells for $17.99.    

Thank you Pure Publicity for sending us this DVD to review!

After the death of his father and losing everything, Jake and his mom move in with her estranged father.  Neither of them realize that Jake's grandfather is a legendary surfer and known by all of the locals.  Instead of surfing the internet, Jake is encouraged by his grandfather and love interest to surf the ocean instead.    

Learning to surf isn't easy and to make matters worse, Jake isn't the only guy attracted to Kayla.  He is both physically and verbally attacked by the town bully whom she isn't even remotely interested in.  The town's surf shop owner Cody (American Idol's Jason Castro) is one of the only friends Jake has.  

The only other actor I recognized in The Perfect Summer was the mother's boss played by Louis Mandlylor from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.   The acting was decent but the sound quality was really poor.  Even with the 5.1 sound selected, we only had stereo sound and the voices were noticeably switching channels often.     The story was decent and had some Christian themes woven throughout.  The take away message is to try your best and not give up.

Thank You Millenium Entertainment for sending us this Blu-Ray to review.  

John Luther (James Remar) is a prominent evangelist who has friends in high places.  One of his friends, Senator Donald Harrison (Bruce Davison), turns against John when he refuses to back a bill for religious equality.  This bill promotes equal time to be allotted to all beliefs on religious networks, even primarily Christian ones.  After John Luther puts his foot down and stands firmly in his faith that Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven (John 14:6), he finds himself framed for the murder of an underage girl he had contact with.  

John is now a wanted criminal and must find out who his true friends are and prove his innocence.  Not only is John’s life in danger (Why didn't they just kill him instead of frame him?), his Catholic friends are targeted too.   

To make matters worse, John’s 20+ years younger wife is being hit on by the acting president of his religious organization.   Not only is this new president (Brad Stine) a scumbag, he’s greedy too and willing to compromise his morals for a bigger paycheck.  While Christians are shown in a mixed light, the government is portrayed as corrupt and incompetent in this movie.  
Even with the star studded cast, I recommend watching The Fugitive with Harrison Ford instead of Persecuted.  As a Christian I just couldn't connect with this film.  Yes, John Luther was being framed and that's not cool; however, I don't see this scenario happening any time soon.  When I think of persecution, I think of the Christians in the Middle East who are being killed or evicted from their homes for simply being Christian and not denouncing their faith.  Those are the truly persecuted people and their story needs to be told instead of rehashing another movie to put a Christian spin on it.

Thank you Disney for sending us this Blu-Ray to review!

When I think of Disney, their animated movies come to mind.  Disneynature was founded in 2008, and focuses on independent nature documentary films.    They have produced many successful films including Earth narrated by James Earl Jones and Chimpanzee which was narrated by Tim Allen.  Bears is skillfully narrated by John C. Reilly and tells the tale of a first time mother bear, Sky, raising her two cubs, Scout and Amber.  

Given the personality differences between the two cubs (Scout is a handful!) and the dangerous Alaskan wildlife, motherhood is no easy task. Sky has several close calls to losing her cubs to wolves and hungry bears.  She must keep them safe and teach them how to defend and feed themselves.  Her goal is to help them eat enough salmon to survive the upcoming winter hibernation.

Unfortunately, the rivers loaded with fish have non-friendly bears there and Sky and her family must find a more peaceful area to gorge themselves on 90+ pounds of fish a day.  There are many neat facts taught in this movie and it’s both entertaining and educational to watch.  I highly recommend Bears to any animal lover out there.  My kids were skeptical at first but enjoyed the movie, especially my daughter, Amber.  We look forward to watching more Disneynature films!