Grading Family Movies: Streaming, Digital Rentals, and Theatrical Releases

The Super Mario Bros Movie Theaters Rating

While brothers Mario and Luigi are working in the Brooklyn sewer system, they get sucked into a pipe that leads to magical worlds. Luigi winds up in a barren land of lava and skeleton zombies and Mario falls into a world of mushrooms led by Princess Peach. Both brothers team up to save the kingdoms from the villainous Bowser. This video game adaptation is underwritten and peopled by flat characters but it has stellar voice talent and plenty of funny jokes. Kids will love it and adult Mario fans will be fine. Photo ©Universal Pictures

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Theaters

Edgin is desperate to regain his daughter Kira from the care of Forge, Lord of Neverwinter, and a dubious sorceress named Sofina. Joining forces with Holga the barbarian, Edgin lays a plan that involves two more intrepid friends (a sorcerer and a druid) and a goal to regain Kira and a pile of treasure. Buoyed up by Chris P ine’s rakish charm, this film manages to deliver madcap action and lighthearted humor along with vivid fantasy violence. It’s a decently inventive movie that offers lots of fun for genre fans. Photo ©Paramount Pictures

The Magician’s Elephant

During an impulsive visit to a fortune teller, orphaned Peter learns that his sister is still alive and can be found by following an elephant. When a visiting magician unexpectedly conjures an elephant shortly thereafter, Peter makes a deal that he can have the elephant if he performs three impossible tasks. This Netflix production is a fantastic film with a simple story, beautiful visuals, great voice acting and inspiring themes around belief and hope. Photo ©Netflix

Sent to Mexico to reconnect with his family’s culture, Alex is staying with his grandfather and cousins. While adjusting to the language and traditions, Alex meets a legendary creature – a young chupacabra. Alex and his cousins vow to protect it from the scientist who wants to use its blood for medical research. This film doesn’t add much to the kid-meets-magical-creature trope but it provides a sweet story and treats the challenges of balancing cultures with sensitivity . Photo ©Netflix

Mandy is tutoring Graham, the school jock, in hopes that his senator father will write her a glowing reference letter that will get her into Harvard , where she is waitlisted. As they study together, Mandy learns that there’s more to Graham than she expected – and she’s also neglecting her friend, Ben, who needs her too. There are no surprises here – aside from teen drinking in a Disney flick. Other than that, the movie delivers the expected messages about self awareness, loyalty, and making good choices. Photo ©Disney+

Detailed reviews available at www.parentpreviews.com

Second Sundays are Fun Days

advantage of the new scooters for rent for just $1.00 as they rode up and down the sidewalks not. In fact, emotions are contagious, and you can catch them from anyone. It just so happens that many women, feeling crushed by the stress of motherhood, battle insomnia for years after their babies start sleeping well. We tend to carry the weight of not just our professional lives, but also commitments to the PTA, carpool, doctors’ appointments, dental visits, scheduling daycare and sitters and camps, and planning birthday parties. All the while, we scroll through our Instagram feeds and wonder how everyone else makes it look so easy, if we’re doing it #allwrong.

I’m not saying a day to yourself will cure insomnia or depression, but it can do wonders for your perspective. If you come back to your family refreshed and happy, that vibe will trickle down to the whole family as they catch your mood.

My husband will be happy to tell you, giving me time to myself is more than worth the hassle of parenting solo while I’m out. But even if your family isn’t happy about the inconvenience of your yoga class, or you meeting a friend for a walk, Julie Burton, author of “The Self Care Solution: A Modern Mother’s Must-Have Guide to Health and Well-Being,” argues your self-care is still worth prioritizing. Ac- cording to Burton, the earlier you establish your self-care routine, the easier it will be for your family to eventually accept it.

Taking a break makes me a better mom

Even God rested on the seventh day. Moms are on call constantly. Since having kids, I have become that annoying person who sets their phone down on the table at a restaurant, in case the sitter texts. I refuse to sleep in a yurt in the mountains with my husband while our kids stay with their grandparents so I can be accessible just in case. (Also, I don’t feel like sleeping in a yurt.) As mothers, even when we’re apart from our children, part of us, however small, remains focused on them. When we are with them, even when (or more accurately, especially when) we attempt to focus elsewhere, our children make it nearly impossible. I can’t be the only one who makes a phone call when my kids are engrossed in an imaginary fairy world, only to find they are STARVING or BLEEDING as soon as the other party picks up. Research shows that employees are happier and more productive when they have ample vacation time. As a mom, your higher-ups (or more accurately, your lower downs) wouldn’t see you as a team player if you sat in your room with the door shut during business hours. They would, however, love to see you back from a vacation day with your batteries recharged, ready to tackle the next project—be it a boo-boo, a grilled cheese sandwich, or a French braid—with renewed enthusiasm.

I’m modeling the importance of self-care

Our kids learn from what we do, not what we say. When my daughters see me taking time to nourish my own interests, we all win. I get to spend time doing what makes my heart sing, and they get to grow up thinking that that’s what normal moms do. (Because everyone thinks their parents are normal, at least for a while.) Says Burton, prioritizing self-care sends a message that “empowers children to be able to make healthy choices and advocate for their own self-care as they go through life and are faced with tough decisions like saying no to drugs because they care for and respect their body, or deciding to go out for the soccer team because they want to blow off some steam after school, stay active, and have fun with their friends.”

Since having kids, I’ve had to cut way back on some of my activities. Gone are weekly craft nights and spontaneous happy hours. But I cling tightly to parts of my old self. I’m still an avid reader. My girls know when we go to the library, I’ll read them whatever they want after I’ve picked up my books from the hold shelf. My entire adult life, I’ve been an athlete. My girls may grumble about gym childcare, but they know I teach spin every Monday. When I return from a run, they inquire, “How was your run, Mama?” and often join me for some stretching. I will be thrilled if I can raise girls who carve out the time to engage in the recreational pursuits they love (even if those pursuits make their legs hurt), especially if they become mothers.

This Mother’s Day, I will run a 5k. I won’t do it with a stroller or walk/jogging with my daughters. I will run hard. I will grimace in pain while reminding myself to relax my jaw, to smile, that I am lucky I get to do this. I will do it not because I hate myself (though I can see where you’d think that), but because testing my body’s limits brings me joy. Afterward, I will fully relax into the facial I have scheduled.