Like the station inspector chasing after Hugo, or Hugo and Isabelle seeking out the answer to a mystery, last week Nancy and Karen went in search of a magical movie experience… We saw Hugo, based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick!

And did the movie deliver? To find out, you’ll just have to watch the video review below! You know, just like Hugo and Isabelle watching a film, or — oh, forget it, let’s just get to the review:

(PS – If you’re on the go — or busy winding the clocks at the local train station — don’t worry, you can still listen to our review. Just download the audio.)

Have you seen the new movie Hugo? Leave a comment with YOUR review! How do you think it compared to the book? And what do you think: do you need to know the book already in order to enjoy the film?

What happens when you take thousands of the most passionate Harry Potter devotees in the country and put them all together in one theater to watch The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (aka the final HP movie)? TOTAL FANDEMONIUM!

But the real question is: Did the movie live up to the super duper high standards of this crowd? Watch our video to find out:

Have you seen the new Harry Potter movie? Leave a comment with YOUR review! How do you think it compared to the books?

And, of course, stay tuned for more LeakyCon coverage on Kidsmomo!

— Nancy (Ravenclaw) and Karen (Hufflepuff)

 
Btw: Karen works at Scholastic and Nancy used to work there, but our jobs are not connected to LeakyCon, sadly. We’re attending for our own enjoyment — and yours — as the ridiculous fans that we are.

What’s black and white and red all over? An embarrassed penguin!

Ha ha ha ha ha! Aren’t we hilarious?

Okay, to be honest, we found that joke on the Internet. But we really did create the video review below, for the new film Mr. Popper’s Penguins, starring Jim Carrey. So take a look and see if we found the movie positively perfect, partially pleasant, or plainly putrid!

(PS – If you’re on the go — or busy practicing a penguin dance routine — don’t worry, you can still listen to our review. Just download the audio.)

Have you seen the new Mr. Popper’s Penguins movie? Leave a comment with YOUR review! How do you think it compared to the book? And what was YOUR favorite penguin moment?

Are you ready to have an absolutely thrill-a-delic summer? That’s certainly what Judy Moody is after in the new movie, Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer, based on the book series by Megan McDonald (and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds).

But will Judy get the double-rare experience that she wants? And more importantly, if you watch this movie, will YOU? Watch our video review to find out!

(PS – If you’re on the go — or you’re just in a mood — don’t worry, you can still listen to our review. Just download the audio.)

Have you seen the new Judy Moody movie? Leave a comment with YOUR review! How do you think it compared to the books?

Greg. Rodrick. Rowley. Fregley. Chirag. And, of course, that embarrassing diary… They’re all back in the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, based on the book Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney.

And surprise, surprise — Nancy and Karen were also back in the theater on opening night to watch the story come to life on the big screen. But did it live up to the book? Or should the film be avoided like the Cheese Touch? Watch our video review to get our take on the movie:

(PS – If you’re on the go — or too busy being tormented by your older sibling — don’t worry, you can still listen to our review. Just download the audio.)

Have you seen the new Wimpy Kid movie? Leave a comment with YOUR review! How do you think it compared to the book and the earlier film?

It’s the final trip to Narnia for the Pevensie children in the new movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, based on the book by C.S. Lewis. And it’s certainly an amazing adventure for THEM — but is it worth the journey for YOU, the moviegoer? Nancy and Karen aren’t so sure…

Watch our video review to find out what we liked and what we didn’t like, and whether we’d recommend climbing aboard — or jumping ship:

(PS – If you’re on the go — say, sailing the seas of a magical kingdom — don’t worry, you can still listen to our review. Just download the audio.)

Have you seen the new Narnia movie? Leave a comment with YOUR review! How do you think it compared to the book and the earlier films?

Raise a glass of Butterbeer, because Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 has finally hit theaters! And it made a whopping $125 million over opening weekend (we assume the money was quickly converted to Galleons and is now being stored safely at Gringotts).

Did the film deserve to make that much? Did it live up to the hype? And most importantly, did it live up to the book? Watch our video review to find out!

(PS – If you’re on the go — say, scouring the countryside for little pieces of Voldemort’s soul — don’t worry, you can still listen to our review. Just download the audio.)

Have you seen the movie? Leave a comment with YOUR review! We’d love to hear your responses to the seven questions we answered in our review:

1. So… what did you think of the movie overall?
2. What was your favorite part of the movie?
3. Was there anything you didn’t like about the movie?
4. Which scene were you most excited to see? (And did it live up to your expectations?)
5. Is there anything in the movie that’s not in the book that you really enjoyed — or disliked?
6. Will people who haven’t read the book enjoy this movie?
7. How are you going to stay sane until Part 2 comes out?

Bryce and Juli, sittin' in a tree... (Yeah, we're immature. What of it?)

Juli hearts Bryce. But Bryce hates Juli. OR DOES HE? If you’ve read the book Flipped by Wendelin van Draanen, then you know how their story goes — and you also know how awesome it is! Seriously, Nancy and Karen want to marry this book; we doodle hearts in the page margins while dreaming of romantic moonlit walks with this book; we call this book and then hang up when it answers. For reals.

So, of course, we could barely contain our excitement over the movie adaptation. (You may recall Karen’s giddy post announcing the upcoming film.)

And did the movie live up to our expectations? Is Flipped a hit? Or did Flipped flop? You’ll just have to watch our video review to find out:

(PS – If you’re on the go — say, climbing a sycamore tree or running away from a neighbor who wants to kiss you — don’t worry, you can still listen to our review. Just download the audio.)

Have you seen the movie? Leave a comment with YOUR review! How do you think it compared to the book?

PS – Here are links to the awesome fansite and Wendelin van Draanen’s blog, which we mention in our review. Check ‘em out!

Up, up, and away!

If only we had wings, then both of us here at Kidsmomo would be soaring sky-high and doing crazy loop-de-loops right now.

Why? Because we LOVED the new movie How to Train Your Dragon, based on the book by Cressida Cowell.

Check out our video review of the film:

(Some of those dragons sure are ghastly. If you’d prefer not to lay eyes on the beasts, just download the audio of our review!)

Have you seen the movie or read the book? Leave a comment with YOUR review of How to Train Your Dragon!

A while back, we reported the news that the Disney Channel would be making a movie based on the much-loved children’s book Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. What we should have said was that Disney would be taking the original story, twisting it all around like the world’s craziest pretzel, and stomping all over it with steel-toed boots — and then sweeping up the mess, throwing it out onto the street, and running it over with a monster truck. Yes, it was that bad.

Yeah, we know the trailer looks fun. And if you really want to, you can catch the movie when it reruns on the Disney Channel tomorrow night (April 4th) or Monday afternoon (April 5th). Watch it if you must. But you’ve been warned! And we’ve got plenty of proof — in the spirit of Harriet and her notebook, we documented our observations of the movie in real-time over IM.

Things seemed promising at the start as the setting and characters were introduced:

Karen: Okay, it’s starting!

Nancy: OK, I see the titles

Nancy: the city?

Karen: Manhattan!

Karen: The title!

Nancy: HARRIET THE SPY BLOG WARS!

Karen: YES!

Karen: I like how this really looks like NYC.

Karen: Hey, it’s the girl from Degrassi!

Karen: Hey, it’s another girl from Degrassi!

Nancy: “Sport” looks like JTT to me

Nancy: that’s former teen heartthrob Jonathon Taylor Thomas for all you non-old people out there

Karen: Since I’m an old person, I knew exactly who you meant. But I didn’t respond because I disagree.

Read the rest of this entry »