KIDS FIRST! News

As a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic, nine-year-old Anthony Aranda has had a heady year. Recently returned from a trip to Pixar Studios in the Bay Area of California – where he interviewed Cars 2 writer/director John Lasseter – Anthony shares his review of the animated film that is now available from Disney on DVD and Blu-ray. In one word, he says it’s “amazing” – but he gives a lot more than one word to describe the story, the humor, the special effects … And his views are published online for a global audience and he even appears on a Web-streamed radio show as a regular contributor!

All that is part of the experience of being a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic, and the KF Film Critics Search is on now to give eight lucky kids ges six to 14 a chance to spend a year as a film critic, reviewing films before they’re released, attending red carpet events and interacting with film talent. The program is based on educationally sound principles that foster an ever-more-critical visual literacy, and it’s also an amazingly fun and exciting opportunity of a lifetime. Entering is easy, and we’ve got a lot of tips and guidelines to help you out. Check it out here. And remember – finalists are chosen by popular vote, so get your entry in early to build up those votes!

Cars 2
Reviewed by Anthony Aranda

Hello, everyone. My name is Anthony Aranda from KIDS FIRST! I just got finished watching an amazing movie called Cars 2! Race car Lightning McQueen and his best friend Mater travel to compete in the World Grand Prix. Cars 2 brings back our favorite car friends in this excellent adventure movie!

My favorite characters are Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and Finn McMissile (Michael Caine). I like Lightning McQueen because he is really fast and he is really friendly. I like Mater because he is a really funny character and he doesn’t always know what’s going on. But even if he doesn’t know what’s going on, he is always the best friend McQueen could ever have. I like Finn McMissile because he is a great spy car and he helps Mater to see who he really is. Mater realizes that he is perfect just the way he is.

My favorite part of this movie is when Mater is being a spy and gets into a fire fight with the bad cars, but not on purpose! He says, “Dag Gum,” and then a gun pops out of his truck. Then he says, “Oh shoot,” and then the gun starts shooting! And then he says, “Not that kind of shoot,” and then a parachute pops out of his truck and he starts to fly away. It is sooo funny!

The animation and special effects in this movie are really cool. The bright lights and colors in the cars are amazing. The opening scene where Crabby is coming through the ocean is really cool. They had to use a lot of computer graphics in order to make the water actually look like it is waves. And of course the explosions are super cool.

I would recommend this movie for ages three and up. This movie does have some violence but it isn’t really scary or noticeable to younger kids. All in all, this is a great family movie that shows friendship and teamwork. Go out and buy this movie when it comes out on Disney DVD and Blu-ray.

Photos: Cars 2 DVD box art (top), Anthony Aranda (bottom)

KIDS FIRST! has just launched the Film Critics Search for eight lucky kids who will be 2012’s KIDS FIRST! youth film critics. You’ve been reading, all this year, reviews and interviews by last year’s winners – and seeing their enthusiasm shine through on the video versions. That experience is now open to a new roster of KIDS FIRST! youth film critics.

Kids aged six to 14 who love movies and love to talk about them – universal attributes, right, parent? – have the chance of a lifetime as KIDS FIRST! opens our second annual Film Critics Search on Oct. 25.

Choose one of these titles: Happy Feet; Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer; GLEE, Season 2; Spy Kids: All the Time in the World; and Barbie: A Perfect Christmas.

Watch the movie, write a review of the movie and create a video of yourself reveiwing the movie, and submit your entry by midnight, Dec. 31. We’ll post the video on our partner site at WonderWorldTV.

The guidelines and the tips we’ve put together for you on our website are full of suggestions to help you.

Finalists will be chosen by public voting, so tell your friends to be sure to visit www.wonderworldtv.com/kidsfirst often to vote their favorite. Last year’s contest generated 11 million votes! Then, on or about Jan. 11, we’ll announce the winners.  

The eight KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Search winners will experience life as a film critic for 12 months — being among the first to view new theatrical releases and writing blogs and reviews for KIDS FIRST! and our media partners, and even attending red carpet events and interviewing the celebrities there. Wow! And not only is it a blast, it’s educationally sound – we don’t expect everyone who enters to pursue a career as a film critic, but the skills the child learns simply by entering the campaign are useful. And the winners are coached by leading professionals who help them develop skills that will last them a lifetime.

In the final selection, the eight winners will be chosen from the finalists by our panel of distinguished judges: Thelma Adams, who was the film critic at Us Weekly for 11 years following six years at the New York Post and whose debut novel, Playdate, was an O Magazine pick; Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theaters and Magnolia Pictures; Ben Lyons, E! film critic and frequent contributor to “Good Morning America”; and George Pennacchio, the entertainment reporter for “ABC7 Eyewitness News” and host of ABC7’s “Evening at the Academy Awards” pre-show and post-show, whose career has been studded with three Emmy Awards, the Publicists Guild of America’s Press Award and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, North America’s largest critics group.

Campaign support comes from national nonprofit organizations that include the National Council of Women’s Organizations, with a cumulative 17+ million members, and the National Education Association. And our thanks also to our industry supporters: Amazon.com, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Feature Films for Families, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and WonderWorld Entertainment.

GLEE invites everyone across America to lend their voices – and their votes – for their favorite videos in the GLEE “Give a Note” campaign to help save music and arts programs in public schools.

One dollar for every GLEE Season 2 Blu-ray and DVD sold goes toward the $1 million guaranteed commitment. The GLEE “Give a Note” campaign was creatd by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in partnership with the National Association for Music Education to help save music and arts programs in public schools. With more than 300 public schools nationwide submitting videos for grant consideration, your vote will be critical in determining the outcome.

After a month-long submission phase this past September, each video entry is up on http://www.gleegiveanote.org/ – and now you can cast your vote to decide the finalists. Visit http://www.gleegiveanote.org/ to view videos and vote once per day until voting ends on November 8, 2011, at midnight. The schools receiving the most votes will move on to a final selection made by the National Association for Music Education, which ranks among the world’s largest arts education organizations and marked its centennial in 2007 as the only association that addresses all aspects of music education, from preschool through graduate school. In December, the winning schools will be announced, with three grand prizes of $50,000 each, 10 first prizes of $25,000 each, and 60 second prizes of $10,000 each.
 
For more information, including official rules, visit http://www.gleegiveanote.com/. GLEE Season 2 Blu-ray and DVD is now available in stores everywhere.

This year’s chance to win the coveted National Parenting Publications Awards has been extended to Aug. 15 for DVDs in the Children’s Products Competition. Recognized for 20 years as a valued “seal of approval” by parents seeking quality children’s products, a NAPPA win conveys merit – and gains the product tremendous exposure in coverage that is both free and easily accessible to consumers. Gold Winners are prominently featured in the special NAPPA Winners November/December Issues of over 30 parenting publications in the top metro markets across the United States and as well as online on parenting websites and mom blogs. Gold and Honors winners are guaranteed a full year of ongoing online coverage on the NAPPA pages of Parenthood.com, the most content-rich site for parents on the Web.

KIDS FIRST!’s own Ranny Levy is a judge for the DVD category. Like Ranny, all the judges are experts in their fields, and the DVDs are also tested by parents and children. So when parents see the NAPPA-winning seal, they know they are getting a great quality product of high educational and entertainment value.

Winners come from major companies as well as small independents, and NAPPA’s website is populated with their testimonials to the power of the exposure, brand recognition and credibility, and increased opportunities in addition to bottom-line sales.

Enter your DVD by Aug. 15 in this competition that could win you print coverage that reaches more than 4 million parents and Web coverage that gets a quarter-million unique visitors each month.

Please email [email protected] or call 818.846.0400, ext. 122 for more information.

Your opinion (and your kids’) matter, so we invite you to join the KIDS FIRST! Home Screening Club. Get the DVD and host an exclusive screening for your family and your friends’ families. Then share your feedback with us – from the kids and the adults. It’s as easy as popping popcorn, and there’s no charge to be a member or participate.

We’re kicking off the KIDS FIRST! Home Screening Club with a new film entitled “Bands on the Run: The Rubber Band Movie,” which E One Entertainment released on DVD May 31. The first 100 people to sign up will get a free DVD of the film for their home screening.

When you send us your review of the DVD, you will be entered into a drawing for one of the two HD TVs that we are giving away.

Then, we’ll continue every month with a drawing to give away a prize to someone who sends in their feedback – written reviews, videotaped reviews, comments from your audience and/or photos of your event. The prize will vary from a HD camera to an HD TV.

The screenings are very limited, so your chances to win are very good!

A little about Bands on the Run: The Rubber Band Movie:
If your kids are into rubber band bracelets, it’s no stretch to imagine they’ll be into Bands on the Run: The Rubber Band Movie. Five specialty shaped rubber bands are carelessly left behind on a deserted stretch of desert highway after the box they are in is jostled off the delivery truck. Attempting to “follow that truck” and get back on track to the toy store that’s expecting them, they get run over by a speeding car which turns out to be a good thing, as they happily roll along, stuck to the spinning tire as it unknowingly carries them where they wanted to go. Runtime 50 minutes. Ages 4-8.

KIDS FIRST! Home Screening Club