How to Train Your Dragon

Today I saw "How to Train Your Dragon." I thought it was a very good movie overall. Here are some of my favorite parts.

My favorite part was when the Vikings got to keep lots of dragons as their pets. That made me feel happy, because Hiccup wanted to keep lots of dragons, then his wish came true and their whole house was filled with dragons! It was happy, because they got to take the dragons for rides.

The funniest part of the movie was when Hiccup saw the dragon! He was holding a knife, trying to kill the dragon, then he couldn't do it and dropped the knife. When he walked away from the dragon, he just fainted because he was so surprised that he tried to kill a dragon that was alive.

The saddest part of the movie was when Hiccup's dad wanted to kill Hiccup's pet dragon, and he had him trapped on a boat and he couldn't get out. I cried a little bit because I was afraid that they actually killed the dragon. But, they didn't, so I was happy about that.

The scariest part of the movie was when a really big dragon (so big that it could eat you alive) almost killed Hiccup and his pet dragon! They got broken legs and boo-boos and stuff. When they landed in the fire, it was really scary.

The movie got a little boring when some of the songs were playing. Some songs were a little boring. But, some other songs were good because they made me feel cheerful and wanting to dance (rock and roll songs!).

The ending was a happy one because they got to keep LOTS of pet dragons.

I'm not sure if I would want to have a pet dragon. If he wags his tail, he might whack something and it will fall over and break something else. If he ever roared, stuff would fall over, like things that are up high. I don't think my pet cat, Frank, would like the dragon very much. But, it would be fun to have a dragon so that I could take rides on it!

I got really excited when Hiccup learned to train dragons! Because then he got to be, like, the king of fighting dragons, and got to fight a really scary one. But he couldn't take it, because it was like a KILLING dragon, and Hiccup was like, "I can't do this!" He just dropped his shield and sword and ran away.

The movie got sort of mixed up when the dragon was on a ship, and then Hiccup came to save him. I couldn't believe that they would actually go to that island to defeat the really mean and nasty dragon. I would be WAY too scared to do that! But, if it was one of my friends, I'd do it. If it was like a stranger or a bad guy, I would not do it.

How would you like to be a dragon? I actually would. Most dragons can fly, but I do not want to be a mean one. But I want to be a girl dragon, because a girl dragon would look more pretty! How would you like to be a dragon fighter? I would not, because I'd probably get killed if I were hunting and killing them.

I wish my friends were there to watch the movie with me. If we got too bored during the movie, we could tell knock-knock jokes! And, if I was crying or something, I would have someone to support me. Then, I'd probably stop crying if my friend was there.

Would you like to be a talking dragon, or a quiet dragon? I would like to be a talking dragon, because then I could warn someone that I was going to eat them! I would like to eat people, if there were some around.


Thanks for reading my review! Come back soon!

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Last week, I saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." In this movie, they were trying to win a singing contest. They were competing against the Chipettes, the girl chipmunks.

My favorite part of the movie was the Chipettes singing. Their singing was like rock and roll. It was kind of funny when Alvin was in the football game, and he caught the ball. He scored a touchdown and won the game. All of his friends said, "Good job, Alvin!"

The scariest part of the movie was when the mean man trapped the Chipettes in a cage and wanted them to go in a rock band that they didn't want to be in. Alvin saved them by flying a remote controlled helicopter!

I would recommend this movie to anyone in the world who likes the Chipmunks, because it was really cool.

See you soon! Bye!

Up

"For Christmas, I got the movie 'Up.' The saddest part of the movie was when Carl hit the construction worker in the head, and Carl had to move. It was sad because Carl lived in that house for a long time, and the place he went had mean dogs.

"The scariest part of the movie was when the dogs chased Carl and Russell. The dogs had really big teeth and they growled and barked really loud.

"The happiest part of the movie was when they got Kevin, the bird, back.

"The coolest part was when all of those balloons came out of the chimney. I didn't know that the whole balloon stack could fit up that chimney. It was cool to see the house fly, because I've never seen a house fly before.

"I would recommend this movie to my friends. It was happy at the end when Carl gave Russell his badge.

"Thanks for visiting me. Bye!"

The Princess and the Frog

The very first movie Sarah saw in a REAL movie theater was "The Princess and the Frog." It quickly became one of her very favorite movies of all. Here is what she has to say about it:

"My favorite part of the movie was when the Princess and the Frog got married at the end. I liked this part because then they became friends and lived happily ever after. When they got married, it made me feel really happy because they got a lot of flowers at the end, and I really like flowers.

"The scariest part of the movie was when Dr. Facilier, a voodoo magician, was trying to get the Prince's blood. When they broke the necklace, he wanted to take the prince's blood so the spell would not be broken.

"The funniest part of the movie was when Charlotte said, 'The prince is going to come to the ball! The prince is going to come to the ball!' She was dancing around and leaning on the table and making the coffee fall over.

"The saddest part of the movie was when Raymond, the firefly, died. But it wasn't too sad, because he got to go live in the sky as a star.

"I liked this movie so much because it was new and I saw it in a real movie theater. My favorite characters were Prince Naveen and Charlotte. I liked Charlotte because she was funny and so excited in the movie.

Thanks for visiting me! Good-bye!"

Welcome to Cinema with Sarah!

Greetings, and welcome to "Cinema with Sarah," a blog for cinema-centric kids, by a cinema-centric kid! As a mom, I've always had mixed feelings about my daughter watching movies and videos. On the one hand, depending upon who you ask, all media is evil incarnate, and should be avoided at all costs. And for us, it was, until Sarah was about two-and-a-half. But then, we stumbled upon "Blues Clues," and away we went--full-on into the land of children's media. Admittedly, some of it is pretty bad. However, some of it, like "Blues" and "Kipper" and other family favorites, is pretty darn good.

As Sarah has gotten older, her taste in movies and videos has shifted (of course). In fact, she just saw her very first movie in a REAL theater--Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." And wow--what an impression that made on her. For weeks afterwords, she kept asking me questions, such as, "What was your favorite part of that movie," or, "What was the scarriest part of that movie," or, "What was the happiest part of that movie?" Surely, there's a literacy project in here somewhere.

As a kid who grew up around media (my dad worked for a local television station), I have an insider's understanding of how it's all produced. Nothing is random in video production--it's all created to elicit a response from the viewer--to laugh, to cry, to be afraid, or to (in most cases) buy something. How nice it would be if we were ALL insiders in the world of video production, learning from a young age that viewing any kind of media with a critical eye is necessary to make well-informed choices. Plus, it's not enough (in my view) to just say, "Oh, I really liked it!" Tell me WHY! What, precisely, did you like? Old English teachers never die, you know--they just keep asking for more details!

So, Sarah and I have created this blog as an outlet to combine her emerging critical movie-viewing skills with her newly emerging literacy skills. Hopefully, this information will be useful to kids and parents alike! Stay tuned for periodic updates...