Scooby Doo, Vampire Diaries And Dallas Review

We were kindly sent a collection of DVD's over the summer holiday's from Warner Bros to entertain us and see what we thought. First up and coinciding with the Olympics, we watched Scooby Doo! Spooky Games which the children really enjoyed....

I have to say, I myself am a big Scooby fan, and have fond memories of watching it as a child myself. I used to love it when they ripped the villain's mask off and we would all be so surprised to see who the mean, villian was. 'Scooby Doo! Spooky Games' begins with a brand new, modern day episode with a super sporty feel, and perfect timing for the Olympics. Shaggy gets to compete in the sprint at the Invitational Games and all seems well until a statue seeking revenge at the games comes to life! The children were sent some stickers and sporty sack race bags to have their own little sporty day and which went down very well....

Here are a couple of images from the episode....

After this episode you are then treated to 'All Star Scooby Laff-A-Lympics' which includes many of the old favourites such as Yogi Bear, and Fred Flintstone....

 All in all very good value for only £4.99 and certainly one the children have watched more than once.

Next up and one just for me to have a good watch of, was the box set of the first season of The Vampire Diaries

 I had never watched one episode of this so I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say I am rather liking it. I haven't managed to get through all 22 episodes as yet, but have seen the first 8 or so and  am keen to watch more. The relationship between the two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon has me pretty much hooked, and then there is the fascinating story around Elena, a double for the beauty both brothers loved some 150 years earlier....

 I guess it is a kind of romantic vampire story, and perfect to watch over again. I gather there are many more twists and turns to come in this first season, so hopefully I shall find some more 'me' time, a bar of chocolate, and get myself through the rest of the episodes. Season 4 is due to be released on television soon so I have quite a bit of catching up to do. Oh and yes, I do have a favourite brother, but that would be telling wouldn't it ;)

Finally and my favourite, is the box set of the complete first and second seasons of Dallas

Oh my goodness, I used to LOVE Dallas, and I always remember looking forward to it coming on the television each week. I gather it ran from 1978-1991, ran for 365 episodes, was seen in 96 countries and dubbed into 55 languages. I mostly remember watching it as a youngster around the late 80s so was really looking forward to watching these first two seasons. Being a box set I haven't quite got through all 29 episodes but I am having the bestest time watching them. I used to have a little crush on Bobby and seeing him again as I saw him first time round, the crush is still there ;)

 

Of course when Dallas comes back to our screens next week, and knowing in real life Patrick Duffy is now a 62 year old grandfather I don't know if the 'crush' shall feel quite the same ;) The first season opens with the 1978 5 episode mini-series known as the "first" season, and is then followed by 24 "second" season episodes. Newly married Bobby and Pam are on their way to Southfork Ranch, Pamela is the daughter of  Digger Barnes, who it is revealed has 'history' with Jock Ewing. The show is known for its portrayal of wealth, intrigue, power struggles and of course love and infidelity. It was great to be reunited after all this time with the original characters, how can we forget JR and Sue Ellen....

Miss. Ellie....

  
Jock Ewing and the family....

The girls....

All in all there were 14 seasons, and back in its day it was one of the world's most watched television series. 

For me, this is classic american vintage drama at it's best. With technology then, not quite like it is now, I would say it would be unrealistic to expect perfect blu-ray quality but for me this only makes my watching experience all the more pleasurable. I am watching something vintage and I am pleasantly reminded of this. I am looking forward to the new series returning to our screens next week with our favourites Larry Hagman, 81, Patrick Duffy, 64, and Linda Gray, 71, back. I just hope, like the original it gets me just as hooked.....

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Disclosure: We were provided with 'Scooby-Doo! Spooky Games' 'The Vampire Diaries' and 'Dallas' DVD's for the purposes of this review post. All words and opinions my own.  

Tots100 Film Club - Happy Feet Two

As part of my role at Tots100 Film Club and in partnership with Warner Bros this months film for us to review was Happy Feet Two. I had watched Happy Feet with the children a while ago, and loved it as the children did so had quite big expectations for this new sequel....

In the first Happy Feet the story centred around Mumble the penguin who couldn't sing to attract his soul mate, but instead had some fancy footwork moves and indeed went on to find his true love. Moving on to Happy Feet Two, the story opens with Mumble having gone on to have a ( very cute looking ) son Erik, who this time around really hasn't got the dance moves, feels isolated, and runs away with his dad Mumble in pursuit. Mumble tries desperately to connect with his son and so on and so on. I have to admit I got a little lost or should I say distracted watching this film. I loved the first so very much and quite honestly think this sequel doesn't for me live up to those magical feelings I had watching the original Happy Feet.

It felt a little like a repeat but with louder music, more moves and more global warming issues. When Mumble finally returns with Erik they find that a shifting iceberg has trapped the rest of the community and they need to find a way to free everyone. It was what I would term, alright, and there were sparks and flashes of creativity and the animations I have to say are quite magnificent. The scenes of Will and Bill ( the two Krill) are especially dramatic and there are moments of humour and I did laugh out loud at some points. Miss. Poppins got a little bored, whereas Master Poppins' attention was pretty much there all the way through. I did ask him what the film was about when it had finished, his reply "Penguins" which I guess is about right and he did enjoy watching it.

There were quite a lot of plot lines and new characters that I found hard to keep up with, and although children I think ( on the whole ) shall like this film very much, it is the parents who I am unsure shall as much. It just seemed a little unfocused for it to really grab my attention. One certainly for the kids DVD collection but one I imagine shall not be played over and over again.... 

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Disclosure: We received one DVD to watch for the purposes of this blog post. 

Warner Bros Studio Tour - The Making Of Harry Potter

When myself and my family were invited along to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour of the making of Harry Potter, there were a couple of very excited children in the Poppins home that begged me to say yes. Although we have yet to watch all of the movies, and the last ones possibly being a little too dark for my five year old to watch Miss. Poppins especially was very keen to see the sets where much of the action took place. Having a theatrical background myself, any opportunity to visit film sets I like to take and so we all looked forward to going. We got a little excited when we were greeted by this....

And this as we made our way through the entrance....

We couldn't help but see if our hands were bigger or smaller than Daniel's...

I really have only captured a very small glimpse of what is on offer in my photographs as there is so much more to see, but I couldn't help but give an idea of what is seen at the tour. After a superb trailer in the cinema, we were led into the great hall....

It really did feel very magical being on the Harry Potter set and couldn't resist a little photograph being taken of moi in front of the owl podium used by Professor Dumbledore. Then it was onto seeing more of the fabulous sets. The boys dormitory....

One of my favourite's, Umbridge's ministry of magic office....

Dumbledore's office....

 Hagrid's hut....

I enjoyed reading about the animals involved in Harry Potter....

The Griffin stairwell....

The pendulum from The Prisoner of Azkaban....

Chamber of secret's door....

We wandered on, every little detail has been accounted for and I guess big fans of all the Harry Potter movies would be astounded at the attention to detail, it really is just amazing....

Then outside you get to see number 4 Privot Drive, ( made out of polystyrene, shhh don't tell )....

And was amazing to see the Potter house that Voldermort destroyed at Godric's hollow, I had a lovely chat with the workmen who were popping the finishing touches to the paving for the grand opening of the Studio Tour on the 31st March....

The bridge to Hogwarts was tres amazing....

 Diagon Alley was very impressive....

Here's Master Poppins having his own little wander....

For me the grand finale is on nearing the end of the tour, where you are greeted with a breathtakingly scale model of Hogwart's castle, which was used in the films and you can get to walk around it, seeing every little detail. With a moving musical background, and excellent lighting effects I almost wanted to stay in this chamber for ever....

Pretty much everyone that was entering this room, and including us all said "WOW". A thoroughly  enjoyable day out, and all in all the tour took us around 3 hours. I believe on this preview tour throughout the day there were around 1800 visitors, and on a normal day would be around 5000, so was nice and roomy, you could get up really close to all the lovely things on offer. My only negative really, is the somewhat slightly over priced retail souvenir shop that greets you at the end of your tour. Master Poppins really wanted a little wand, and anyone who has a five year old boy would know that it would have to be somewhat child friendly, even light up, maybe make a little sound. The only wands on offer, looked like collectors items and at £25 a pop, sadly he came away without one. For me, the shop being the last room to visit at the end of the tour as you are led into it, could cause issues with some children who want things, as they often do.

As for me, I cant justify spending £25 on a wand for a 5 year old that looks like a collectors edition and we did have somewhat of an unhappy child as we were leaving. I would definitely suggest there being more appropriate child friendly, less expensive wands on offer, as well as the ones we saw as we would certainly have bought one. What we did buy however were a couple of chocolate wands and at £3.95 each would be a lovely little souvenir of the day, however am not sure how long they would last ;) The wand issue was soon forgotten, and we got back to chit chattering in the car journey home of what a lovely time we had had....

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Disclosure: We gained complimentary entry for a family of four to the Warner Bros Studio Tour- The Making Of Harry Potter for the purposes of this blog post.  

Tots100 Film Club - Green Lantern....

As a family who love to snuggle up and watch the occasional movie at home, I happily agreed to join in over at Tots100 Film Club in conjunction with Warner Bros We are not big cinema goers and much prefer to watch movies at home, where the popcorn is cheap and with plenty of space to curl up and relax. When I was sent a little list of possible family friendly movies to review this month, I chose Green Lantern. I obviously need to gen up on my knowledge of films as I soon found out it is rated as a 12 and for some reason I thought this was a Peter Pan type film, maybe was the green suit that threw me. With my children being only 5 and 10 yrs, imo was not going to be one appropriate for them to watch and I offered to send it back. However I was kindly asked if I would watch the film and see what I thought. Oh dear, I am a girly girl who loves chic flick films, and not really into action thrilling adventures....

It took me a while to get into the right frame of mind to watch it, and the first scenes were imo quite rightly not going to be suitable especially for my 5 year old to watch, though I carried on trying to take it all in. Taken from the description of the movie it reads...."In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite force of protectors for peace and justice has existed for centuries. They are GREEN LANTERN CORPS. When a new enemy called PARALLAX threatens to destroy the universe, their fate and the fate of the earth lie in the hands of the corps newest recruit, the first human ever selected : HAL JORDAN ( Ryan Reynolds )"  I have to be honest here, it isn't one for me, though I made it to the end and infact Reynolds in his little green suit was quite easy on the eye ;) However if you love all things action packed, like a reasonably good if not clichéd plot, loud noise and very good special effects then this certainly could be one for you to watch. Bare in mind the rating though, as 12 is there for a reason and imo really not suitable for the little ones. Hopefully next month I shall research better the movie choices and ratings and we can all sit together and watch something more appropriate for us all.

Disclosure: We received one DVD to watch for the purposes of this blog post.