My Favorite Family-Friendly Movies

I've heard all about the familiar story of "The Parent Trap", and I did see it: Identical twin sisters Hallie and Annie, separated shortly after birth by the break-up of their parents, meet at summer camp by coincidence. Unaware of each other's existence, and eager to meet their respective parents- their wedding gown designing-mom and their wine-making dad- they plot to trade places as Hallie goes to London and Annie goes to California. At the same time, a rich woman named Meredith gets in the twins' way as she's madly in love with their father, so they plan to reunite their parents in America and to stop Meredith from marrying their dad. Romantic triangles really made this film in the romantic comedy subgenre, too, and that's great!

"The Parent Trap" features good dialogue spoken from a good line of cast members, including a certain former child star that we've all heard about:
1.) Lindsay Lohan (Hallie Parker/Annie James)
2.) Dennis Quaid (Nick Parker)
3.) Natasha Richardson (Elizabeth James)
4.) Elaine Hendrix (Meredith)
5.) Lisa Ann Walter (Chessy)
6.) Simon Kunz (Martin)

Of course I did mention that Lindsay Lohan, the star of this comedy-drama movie, was playing Hallie and Annie, right? Lindsay's cuteness, which included her trademark red hair and freckles, captured movie audiences' hearts as she was introduced to stardom in the world, and that was way before her "Mean Girls" era. When I first heard about the New York-born LL in magazine articles back in 1998, I knew she was hailed as another Jodie Foster but never knew that she would someday end up partying at clubs, run in with the law with DUI tickets, and go to rehab. Plus, I once thought Lindsay had a twin sister but later learned that special effects cloned her. Wow, she was innocent-looking back then! Interestingly, another Lohan is in the movie: Brother Michael plays the lost boy at the girls camp.

Twins such as Hallie and Annie really can't stay apart forever and thus need to be back together by the reunion of their separated parents. With that, "The Parent Trap" is a good recommendation with four stars.

While weekend movies on TV were part of my free TV viewing time when "Life-Size" was first broadcast on "The Wonderful World Of Disney" in 2000, I probably saw some or most of this. Today, I get to watch all of the movie and saw how Casey performed a magic spell to bring a doll back to life when she's supposed to bring her dead mother alive. Instead, Eve, the doll, came to life....wow! As a supermodel and actress, Tyra Banks did a good job acting as her own human self tries to survive in the real world, far different from her doll world. Plus, young Lindsay Lohan, fresh from her cuteness in "The Parent Trap", did her outstanding acting performance as her rise to super-stardom was only a few years away, and I never knew what Lindsay was going to do next after "Life-Size". It's a great movie.

As Lexy Gold would like to quote, "Get A Clue", and hence the title of this original Disney Channel movie. When Mr. Walker goes mysteriously missing, Lexy and her friends must solve the crime case that would eventually save their favorite teacher's life. Not only that I'm amazed of the film's featured espionage, I'm also surprised that it takes place in Manhattan, and the kids are rich and are into the latest fashions. What's more, Lexy is a gossip columnist for the school paper! "Get A Clue", to me, looks like a junior high version of "Gossip Girl", though the latter came out on TV exactly five years after the former's 2002 release.

The acting performances in "Get A Clue" are good. Playing her Lexy lead role is Lindsay Lohan, still fresh from her cute and clean 1998 "The Parent Trap" appearance, was still a child/teen star; she would later make another theatrical film role in 2003's "Freaky Friday". Other roles featured in the film include Bug Hall as Jack, Brenda Song as Jen, and Ali Mukkaddam as that camcorder-holding Gabe. Ian Gomez also appears as the kids' teacher Mr. Walker.

"Get A Clue" is some sort of a spy movie that got in my viewing interest. I'm glad I saw this film and liked it. Four stars!

I have enjoyed a really great teen/chick flick that many viewers liked. "Freaky Friday" is a fun story as it's about a mother and her daughter switching bodies- caused by a magical fortune cookie- for one day (Friday). Tess (the mother) is hopeless in guitar and algebra, while Anna is inept in psychology. That was weird. The music set to this film is full of rock and perfect with the movie, which keeps it going! My message to the two major stars of this film: Rock on, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan!

I liked this teen/chick flick, which is titled "Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen". What's more, I'm so delighted that Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox- two of my favorite actresses- team up and act as two opposing characters, who are a drama queen (Lola Cep) and a rich, popular mean girl (Carla Santini). Lola moves from metropolitan New York to suburban New Jersey, where she yearns for popularity by taking the role of a character in an updated version of "Pygmalion" and meeting the lead singer of the band Sidarthur. This movie has comedy and drama at the same time, thus making it as a "dramedy" for a notable film credit for LL showing her talent for dramatic acting.

"Herbie: Fully Loaded" is racing fun, and Lindsay Lohan looks great in her trademark red hair and race car driver uniform. Both Herbie (#53) and LL are perfectly the main stars of the film! As this movie is part of "The Love Bug" movie series, I need to find more of that cute Volkswagen Beetle in the other films. This spectacular sports flick deserves four stars.

Welcome to the spy-house: Adapted from a children's book by Louise Fitzhugh, I saw this 1996 Nickelodeon movie- a first for the cable network- when I was a kid. I now review "Harriet The Spy".

Harriet M. Welsch writes thoughts on her private notebook while sneakingly spying on other people, all encouraged by her nanny and friend Ole Golly. She's hoping that she would be an aspiring writer someday. But one day at a park, Harriet's notebook was taken by a clique- headed by Marion Hawthorne- who reads all of Harriet's secrets. Such comments were hurtful for Harriet's best friends, Janie and Sport, so her classmates shun her.

"Harriet The Spy" was where I first saw acting talents from former child stars such as Vanessa Lee Chester, playing the science geek Janie; Gregory Smith, playing the sport-loving Sport (hence his name); and Michelle Trachtenberg, playing the titular character. Did I forget Rosie O'Donnell? She plays Ole Golly. In addition to discovering the movie's starring cast, I also discovered the real definition of "spy" trained for espionage, not to mention learning secrets from others.

In short, "Harriet The Spy" is worth watching, deserved to earn 3 1/2 stars.

Adapted from a children's book by Roald Dahl, I watched a lot of this movie when I was a kid. It's titled "Matilda".

Born to completely unsuitable parents, Matilda Wormwood discovers her true destiny as a gifted girl, reading above the elementary school level, who befriends kindhearted teacher Ms. Honey. At Matilda's school, Crunchem Hall, evil school principal Ms. Trunchbull severely punishes schoolchildren through her javelin and hammer-throwing skills and a detention chamber called the "chokey". Now that's insane. What else? At home, Matilda's parents ignore and punish her ("When a person is bad, that person has to be taught a lesson") while they eat dinner and watch TV. Through all of her dad's yelling, she gains telekinetic/psychic powers that can move objects. That looks like "Carrie" to me, but without the bloody horror acts, thank goodness.

The film is directed by Danny DeVito, who also narrates the story (I didn't know that until now!) and acts as Mr. Harry Wormwood who sells used cars. Besides DD, the good acting also comes from Rhea Pearlman as the bingo-playing Mrs. Zinnia Wormwood, Pam Ferris as Ms. Trunchbull, Embeth Davidtz as Ms. Honey, and of course, Mara Wilson as the cute-looking Matilda (it's Matilda, not Melinda) who likes to read books from the library. Oh, and I can't forget that in a few scenes, Paul Reubens (yes, that Pee-Wee Herman guy) acts as an FBI agent spying at the Wormwood residence, not to mention a cameo appearance of Jon Lovitz as a game show host on the fictional TV show "Million Dollar Sticky".

In short, "Matilda" is worth watching and deserves to get 3 1/2 stars.

As what the movie poster of "Are We There Yet?" says, it's the funniest family comedy since "Home Alone". Smooth operator Nick is trying to land a date with a divorcee, and he takes her kids on a trip from Portland to Vancouver on one bumpy ride. Playing Nick is rapper Ice Cube, who delivers us the funniest dialogue. Who says gangsta rapper can't act in family flicks? "Are We There Yet?" is a great film!

I got past the syrup and molasses just to see "Secondhand Lions". It's about 14-year-old Walter spending the summer with his great-uncles Garth and Hub who tell him adventurous life stories. Yes, it's silly when shotguns instead of fishing poles were used for fishing, and yes, there is a lion in the story. Haley Joel Osment, Michael Caine, and Robert Duvall did a good job in their acting performances as their respective characters. This film is enjoyable for the whole family....and I give it four stars.

When I watched "The Kid", I had to take a peek how an 8-year-old boy sees his grown-up self. I can't believe that the main character whose name is Russ Duritz is not only a rich 40-year-old image consultant, but he is also single, doesn't fly planes, and doesn't have a dog?! Darn....what a loser, and I mean to Russ himself. But there's no need to feel bad about all of what Russ doesn't have as he had to define who he is. Flashbacks of Russ's childhood appear in some scenes that would later shape his life. What a great story!

"The Kid" is directed by Jon Turteltaub. Spencer Breslin (yes, that's Abigail's brother) plays the 8-year-old Russ- or his real name Russell- as the titular character. Playing the grown-up kid is Bruce Willis; out of the action genre, he did a nice acting performance in a family film. Also in the film include Russ's boss Janet (by Lily Tomlin) and his love interest Amy (by Emily Mortimer). The film's spoken dialogue is very good- the "Holy Smokes!" line is very memorable!

In conclusion, "The Kid" is an enjoyable film intended for the whole family.

I've heard all about this familiar tale here: Separated twin sisters meet, by coincidence, at summer camp and plot to reunite their parents. The movie? It's the 1961 original version of "The Parent Trap that the young blonde child star Hayley Mills starred in, and having watched the 1998 remake already, I found some similarities and differences in it. Other than the twins' camp meeting, the twins' names are Sharon and Susan- and not Hallie and Annie. Their father lives in California, while their mother is from Boston (and not London). And of course, there's always an evil fiancee whom the father was planning to marry. With the featured clean, polished early '60s environment and fashion, I find the original "Parent Trap" drama great for viewing for the whole family. And I definitely knew that, by three decades later, it would be long until Lindsay Lohan takes over the twins' role in the remake.