As I’ve written about here and talked about here, our family likes to avoid watching Christmas movies during Advent, then we watch one movie every night of the twelve days of Christmas while eating Christmas treats in a cinematic and gastronomical Christmasplosion . . . for Baby Jesus.

But this new baby has been making me feel pretty Netflix-y, and, since I’m a responsible parent AND a professional blogger . . . I decided to make the sacrifice of pre-screening many, many Christmas movies that Netflix Streaming has to offer. This way, I’ll know that I’m offering my children and you, gentle reader, only the BEST and most enriching in Christmas entertainment.

1. Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Until very recently, this was my favorite version of A Christmas Carol. I’ve watched quite a few and they have always been too badly animated, or too badly musical, or too Jim Carrey for my taste. So, even though this one is very short, and takes quite a few liberties with the plot, I’ve always really liked it. As have my kids. We love how familiar characters are cast in the story and how it manages to get Dickens’s message of redemption across with humor. There are some slightly scary parts, but it’s Goofy as the ghost of Marley, and Pete as the undertaker, so I really think all but the most sensitive kiddos would be okay with it. It’s a good starter version.

It’s available on Netflix Streaming as a part of Snowed In at the House of Mouse.

2. The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Mickey one used to be my favorite version, but now this is. By a landslide. It’s the Muppets, so, like Mickey’s version, we’ve got familiar faces in the roles, but in this version we also get great songs, top notch live actors, and a VERY faithful adaptation of the book, complete with actual quotes.

I actually think this version is also a little less scary than the Mickey one, but it’s more sophisticated plot may be more difficult for little kids to understand. But they won’t mind, because they’ll be watching Kermit.

And, just as a quick aside, if you find yourself poking about on Netflix and you think to yourself, as I did, “Hey, there’s Scrooged! I loved that movie when I was a kid. I’ll be a cool mom and let my big kids watch it this year.” I’m just going to tell you that there is a The Walking Dead-worthy zombie-esque Marley, and Solid Gold Dancers and the nipples of Solid Gold Dancers in this movie. And maybe other stuff, but that was as far as I made it. And I’ll let you decide from there.

3. White Christmas

I am a huge fan of Bing Crosby, and we watch a lot of his movies as a family. So I was really excited to see this one available on Streaming this year. It’s got war and slapstick for the boys and dancing and romance for the girls, how could you go wrong?

It’s mostly just an excuse for a bunch a musical numbers, but there is a sweet story of helping out an old buddy woven in there. Plus Phil tells Bob that what he really needs to do is get married and have nine kids.

4. Bells of St. Mary’s

Speaking of Bing Crosby, we also love this classic sequel to Going My Way. It’s very funny and very Catholic, and features an adorable Christmas pageant, which makes it appropriate for the season.

It would be worth watching just to hear Bing Crosby singing as Fr. O’Malley, but you also get Ingrid Bergman as Mother Superior teaching a little boy to box. And there’s a grumpy rich old coot and the sisters’ blind faith in miracles, and it’s all just lovely. It’s slower than today’s movies, of course, but my kids really think it’s funny.

5. & 6. Veggie Tales It’s a Meaningful Life and St. Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving

These are the two Veggie Tales Christmas movies available on Netflix Streaming. Our family actually usually watches the St. Nicholas one on December 6th for St. Nicholas Day, and we’ve got another, older Veggie Tales movie called The Star of Christmas
that is in our regular Christmas movie rotation. But, really, you mostly can’t go wrong with Veggie Tales. They are funny and clever and sweet. We like ’em.

7. Bush Christmas

Here’s where I’m going to go a bit rogue on you. Because when I said I watched a lot of Christmas movies on Netflix, I mean I watched a LOT of Christmas movies on Netflix. Including this grainy black and white movie from the 40s wherein a bunch of little kids defeat some horse thieves. It’s like Australian Home Alone.

I love how independent the kids are. You see them lugging saddles around for themselves. The boys ask their mom if they can head off a day’s horseback ride away to go camping, and her response is, “Sure, but you have to bring your sister and your little brother.” Which is AWESOME. The kids are brave and resourceful and responsible.

One note: it’s from a different time, and the aborigional people are referred to as “blacks” in a way that seems really noticeable to today’s ears. I’m okay with just discussing this with my kids, but it might be uncomfortable for some. It’s also not ALL that Christmasy. It IS Christmas in the movie, but it’s also summer, because Australia is weird like that.

8. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Okay, okay, I KNOW. But, really this isn’t a joke. I actually intend to show this movie to my kids and husband over our Christmas break. Yes. It is super cheesy. There are people in green spandex suits and a bad guy with an evil mustache growing through his green face paint.

But this movie actually has a lot going for it, as far as I’m concerned. Santa is dignified and heroic. He is generous and loving towards his Martian captors, but in the end, he conquers them. I think it’s a pretty accurate depiction of how the historical St. Nicholas might have behaved in such a situation, although maybe there would have been more punching.

Also, as in the movie above, the children make brave and selfless decisions. I want to encourage that kind of thinking in my kids. And, mainly, I just think it’s going to be really hilarious to watch as a family.

And . . . that officially exhausts the Christmas movies on Netflix that I feel would be appropriate and enjoyable for all members of our family. But since there are twelve days, I’ll also share with you the other four movies we’ll be watching even though it will mean kneeling on the floor and waiting for the little DVD drawer to open like some sort of cave person.

9. It’s A Wonderful Life

We usually watch the Veggie Tales version of this story AND the classic black and white version. I HOPE my kids prefer this one, but it’s hard to tell. There are a lot of sweet, funny moments, and the message is timeless. Its theology about angels is, um, how to put this . . . totally wrong. But we just explain to our kids that people don’t become angels when they die anymore than cockroaches become horses when they die, and then we enjoy the movie.

Hee-haw and Merry Christmas!

10. A Christmas Story

Our whole family loves this movie, but perhaps we shouldn’t. The dad uses gibberish words instead of actual swear words, but there are a handful of lesser but still significant bad words in there. It’s got the infamous leg lamp, which Ralphie caresses. The department store Santa is mean, and Ralphie is pretty convinced that the meaning of Christmas is Getting Stuff. Still, somehow, it seems fun and funny and lighthearted, and the family is loving. We’re going to watch it again this year, but it’s okay with me if you don’t.

11. Home Alone

This one is another Tierney family favorite, but maybe not for everyone. It has some language, an unpleasant family fight right at the beginning, and a very brief scene of Kevin finding and tossing aside an adult magazine. (Nothing that a quick trigger finger on the remote can’t handle.) It also has an extraordinary amount of comic slapstick violence that results in very nasty looking injuries.

BUT. The sound track is perfect, the kid is brave and resourceful, and there is a message of forgiveness and redemption and the importance of family. There are beautiful scenes involving a Catholic church, in which a character listens to his granddaughter’s choir sing Christmas carols, and Kevin hides from the bad guys in a life-size nativity scene.

12. The Small One

Okay, to finish with here, let’s go non-controversial. The Small One is a classic Jungle Book-era Disney animated short film. It’s sweet and fun and has catchy, if not-always-relevant-to-the-plot musical numbers. And, spoiler alert, it’s got the Baby Jesus at the end.

We have it in Volume 9 of Walt Disney’s Classic Cartoon Favorites, titled Classic Holiday Stories. But it also seems to be available on YouTube.

These are my honest opinions, but it’s a sponsored post. And there are affiliate links, too, clicking the titles of the movies will take you to Amazon. (By the way, thank you SO MUCH to all of you who have been shopping through my affiliate links this year. It doesn’t cost you any more, and it makes our family a few pennies every time, which have really added up. I am very grateful to each of you!)

The giveaway is closed. Thanks to all who entered!

There’s another giveaway coming, to help you watch all these crazy shows I’m always going on about.

But first, I’ve got some winners to announce.

The winner of the Alison Oliver BabyLit print and copy of the new book Doodle Lit
is: Tori who liked the Jungle Book prints! (check your email)

The winner of the set of Shining Light Dolls is: Caroline with a baby with pigtails at home! (please email me by Thursday) Didn’t win? If you’ve got Amazon Prime, you have plenty of time to order them for yourself!

The winner of the Whole Parenting Goods scarf is: Megmckham (please email me by Thursday)

and

The winner of the ebook copies of Feast! and More Feasts! is: Elizabeth whose mother is gluten-free! (please email me by Thursday)

And now, for another installment of the Catholic All Year Advent of Giving . . .

Tired of not being able to weigh in on the big Curious George Boofest controversy of 2014, because you haven’t seen it, and don’t know whether you approve of hat-kicking or not? Wish you could watch all the cool TV shows about dresses that Christy and Haley are always going on about? Want to commiserate with me about how much we love a bunch of dirty English gangsters or some star-crossed Spanish lovers who might be dead now but we don’t know what happens to them because the third season isn’t in English . . . on Netflix or ANYWHERE?

Doesn’t that sound great?

Well, it’s your lucky day. Because I have two, yes TWO one year subscriptions to Netflix Streaming to give away to my awesome readers.

Just leave a comment telling me your family’s favorite Christmas movie, whether it’s on Netflix Streaming or not (but if I’m being honest, if it’s not on Netflix Streaming . . . probably I’m not going to see it). If you already HAVE Netflix Streaming, you can still win. You can either give the subscription as a gift to someone else, or just add it on to your existing subscription.

You’ll be able to watch movies and TV shows on your computer, tablet, or on even on your TV if you’ve got the right set up. And you’ll finally know what we’re all talking about with these shows!

Come back Friday for the last of the Advent giveaways, which is sure to help you ring in 2015 right.

If you’d like to keep track of ALL the feasts of the Catholic liturgical year, I’ve created a wall calendar to help you do it!

It features the all the feasts and fasts of the Universal Calendar and then some, illustrated with images featuring the traditional Catholic monthly devotions. It’s an easy visual way to bring liturgical living into your home. You can keep track of the feasts and fasts and seasons of the Catholic year, and be reminded to focus your prayer on a different aspect of our faith each month.

As the Church year begins with December, so does this calendar. You get December 2018 through December 2019, thirteen months. Available for purchase here. Thanks!

Coupon codes are available from the publisher here.

The post 12 Days of Family Christmas Movies -mostly- on Netflix Streaming appeared first on Catholic All Year.

If you are logged into your Netflix account, clicking on the titles of the shows should take you to them in Netflix.

See this post . . .

HALLOWEEN MOVIES TO SPOOK THE WHOLE FAMILY

for my full review of of The Nightmare Before Christmas and four other Halloween favorites. But, the short version is that my kids and I really, really like this movie. It’s creepy but not TOO scary, and has a great message about following your vocation, not just your dreams. Stephen Graydanus also has a great review at Decent Films.

I guess the marketing folks at Disney would like you to watch this compilation year-round, so they’ve called it House of Villains, but it’s 100% Halloween. It’s made up of fun classic Disney cartoons featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, with lame new filler transitions in between.

Like the movie above, what I enjoy about these cartoons is that they ARE a little scary. I think my kids can handle that. I want them to be able to handle that.

The individual cartoons vary in style and substance, but I wasn’t troubled by any of them. The first, especially, is definitely in the “make fun of the devil” (in this case a witch with a broom named Beelzebub) tradition championed by some. While that’s not the focus of OUR family’s Halloween, it doesn’t bother me any. There’s one starring Mickey about how too much technology in your home could well result in your house attacking you. Pay attention kids. The one starring Goofy is wordless, which always enraptures my little ones.

This isn’t a Halloween movie, per se. But it is magical and creepy, both good ingredients for Halloween. The giant bugs and the evil aunts are both pretty monstrous, but for different reasons.

The movie is very true to the spirit of the book, and I didn’t notice any major plot deviations (except that in the movie the aunts survive being squished by the titular giant peach).

It’s an intense story that includes James being mistreated by his aunts, and the fanciful, stylized deaths of his parents (they are eaten by an angry rhinoceros). There are scenes of peril, but it’s a story about teamwork and making the best of things.

This indie musical cartoon from France (but in English now) has a VERY devoted following. We watched it on the airplane a couple years ago, before I was watching things with blog-eyes, so I’m not ABSOLUTELY certain that there’s nothing questionable in it. But the kids and I enjoyed it. There’s singing, and action, and perilous situations, and bad guys who aren’t who you think they are and vice versa. Lessons are learned about not jumping to conclusions about people.

It doesn’t reference Halloween that I recall, but there’s a monster and some steampunky mad science.

If you’re looking for a seasonal movie the whole family can sit through, and Tim Burton isn’t your cup of tea, A Monster in Paris should do the trick.

Not to worry, everyone, The Musters IS available via Live Streaming on Netflix. I know you’ve been concerned. I tried watching a few of the Halloweeny shows in the category below with the kids and they were just so. very. very. dumb. that we decided to put on an episode of The Munsters instead.

And, granted, it’s also kinda dumb. But it’s dumb in an old fashioned, campy, occasionally clever way. We watched the very first episode and it was fun to see how they introduced all the characters. My kids all thought it was hilarious, and it was a show that was in a spooky setting, about creepy characters, but with lots of winking humor and without any real scares that would be too much for little ones. All my age groups enjoyed it.

I watched a couple of episodes of this show from the mid-90s on my own, and was really pleasantly surprised. It’s suspenseful and pretty darn scary, without being gory. And, unlike the newer R.L. Stein show I tried (see below) the kids and families in the two episodes I watched were likable.

If you have middle grade kids who are looking for a good clean scare, check it out.

And one more . . . with a caveat

This newest incarnation of the iconic series is really, really well-done. It’s smart and funny and stylish. And it’s COOL. They made Scooby Doo cool again.

But. But. But.

It’s not a kids’ show. Really. It’s not intended for kids. It’s intended for grownups who liked Scooby Doo when THEY were kids. So it’s just too edgy for my twelve and unders. The girls are rather . . . forward. Velma and Shaggy are a couple, and Daphne is after Fred, but he’s oblivious, being utterly obsessed with building traps for monsters. It’s pretty funny, but, ya know, a bit much for kiddos. When she asks him about the swimsuit magazine in his couch, he says he only reads “Traps Illustrated” for the articles.

*I* just might watch it again though.

Some of these my kids have watched, some of them I have watched some of, some of them we haven’t watched at all. But to my knowledge there isn’t anything objectionable in any of them. It’s just that they’re SO LAME.

I’d much rather my kids watch something clever, even if it’s scary, than watch an insipid super duper Halloween fun cartoon. I’m pretty sure I’d sit my kids down to watch Psycho before I’d sit them down to watch Barney’s Halloween Party.

But that’s just personal preference. Maybe you feel differently. And I couldn’t find a comprehensive, recent list of kids’ Halloween shows available on Netflix Streaming anywhere on the internet. Including on Netflix Streaming.

So here are ALL the Halloween shows and movies I could find.

1. Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest

Frankie loves Curious George. Maybe we’ll watch this at some point. But I like scary for Halloween.

This is one of the Netflix customer reviews:

The music was… ok. The plot was down-right pathetic. Really, a headless scarecrow that kicks off people’s hats? How is that scary in the least bit? Even to a kid! Stupid. There are so many more better movies that they could’ve used. I enjoy the show, it’s pretty cute (except the Man with the Yellow Hat really needs to not let George get away with so much stuff). Oh… And one more thing, how does everyone, including the “intelligent” adults, believe in No-Noggin? And seriously… No noggin? Really? That’s supposed to be scary.I don’t have if a Halloween movie is scary, especially with the kids that can’t handle scary movies (I couldn’t, myself). But, don’t pretend to be scary just because it’s a Halloween movie. Just take the “no-noggin” part out and put in a usually Curious George story. About him getting into shenanigans.BUT, on the other hand… My son did like it. And that’s the most important part. It doesn’t matter if I liked or not, it matters if HE likes it or not. So, 4 out of 5 stars just for the simple fact that my son liked it. If he didn’t, it probably would have been a 2 (and that’s only out of respect for Curious George).

I like how this guy thinks. I think we can trust him.

2. Barney: Halloween Party

Don’t know, didn’t watch it. Won’t. Ever.

3. Dreamworks Spooky Stories: Scared Shrekless and Monsters vs Aliens, Mutant Pumpkins

My kids watched this one and found the three shorts just really loud and confusing and odd. And they like pretty much everything, so that’s really saying something.

4. Casper’s Scare School

Weird computer animation. Stars Bob Saget.

*”bad” as in “not great cinema,” not “you shouldn’t let your kids watch this.”

There aren’t a ton of scary movies aimed at kids available on streaming, so I was tempted to watch these with my kids.

But the reviews I found on them were troubling, so I thought I’d better preview them before I let the kids watch, but I haven’t had time to get through all (most) of them.

So, if you’ve seen any of these, I’d love to hear what you thought of them.

1. The Addams Family

I know I saw this as a kid, and liked it. I remember it as being about a quirky but loving family. But the Common Sense Media review of it freaked me out a bit. “Strong sexual innuendo, especially between Gomez and Morticia. The couple can be heard having an orgasm while in public. There are several subtle references to sadomasochism, and a quick reference to child molestation relating to Uncle Fester. Much of this will go over the head of young viewers.”

Please tell me they’re overreacting?

2019 UPDATE: I watched it, and I really think they ARE overreacting. Noises are made. The noises are awkward. But the actual situation seems more innocent to me than Common Sense Media’s take. You can see the scene for yourself here.

Other than that, I think it’s a movie about a big, weird, loving family.

John Zmirak has a fun take on the original TV series: “I grew up loving The Addams Family, without knowing quite why, until one day as an adult I realized: These people are an aristocratic, trad-Catholic homeschooling family trapped in a sterile Protestant suburb! Shunning the utilitarianism and conformity that surrounds them, they face the Grim Reaper with rueful good cheer, in a Gothic home stock full of relics. Indeed, I think I might have spotted several Addamses at the indult parish in New York City…” See the rest of his defense of weird Catholic Halloween here.

We showed the live action movie at a seventh grade movie night two years ago, and the kids didn’t seem scandalized.

I can’t vouch for the new animated one, I haven’t seen it.

2. ParaNorman

Common Sense Media didn’t mind this one, but Stephen Graydanus was pretty convincing in his dislike.

3. The Haunted Mansion

The Common Sense Review: “Go on the Disney ride instead. It’s over sooner.” Ouch.

4. R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour

This one is a TV series from 2010, based on the author’s book series. I was intrigued, because the girl who plays young Snow White in Once Upon a Time is on the cover. But I quit watching after just a few minutes of the first episode. It’s probably fine, but it was all her demanding dolls and stuff and her parents giving in to her. Maybe she learns her lesson, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-style, but I wasn’t getting a good vibe from it, so I moved on.

*potentially, you tell me

Okay, first sponsored post in the books. I’m supposed to put in the logo. Done.

And, now, it’s your turn. Tell me in the comments about what you’ve been watching on Netflix Streaming and/or for Halloween. Or, for this month, if you’ve got a blog, link up your Hey Watch This! posts below and let us know what we should or shouldn’t be watching.

The post Halloween for Kids on Netflix Streaming: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly appeared first on Catholic All Year.

After . . . 

“Frozen is the most Christian movie Disney has ever made! Anna IS Jesus. Get it?”

No, wait.

“Frozen is the most pro-gay movie Disney has ever made! Elsa is singing about coming out! And the shopkeeper has a whole gay family in his sauna!”

I had to see for myself. Annnnnnd . . . 

It’s neither.

It’s not obviously promoting a gay lifestyle, nor is it a Christian allegory. It’s just not a particularly good movie.

Mostly, it’s just not very well written. Flipping a charming, caring character from good to evil like the flip of a switch with zero foreshadowing or motivation isn’t “a twist” it’s “bad writing.” 

And Elsa’s big musical number is VERY Jessica Simpson-esque somehow. It weirded me out.

I’ve heard people praising it for championing sisterly love over romantic love. Sure, I guess it does that. But it does it within the context of a movie that doesn’t live up to its potential. (And has exactly nothing to do with The Snow Queen, by the way. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Not even reminiscent of Hans Christian Andersen’s story, which DOES have Christian themes.)

Frozen bugged me because it didn’t know what kind of movie it was. It felt like it was written as a screenwriting class group project, and they just shuffled everyone’s pages together and shot the thing. The subject matter is very somber, but then, every so often, someone bursts into a very peppy musical number.

It feels very derivative of Tangled, which I really enjoyed. Right down to the dog-horse. Only this time it’s a dog-reindeer. 

That said, it’s a very pretty movie, and the snowman is funny. His big musical number is brilliant. Of the seven instances that post claims makes Frozen so very progressive, I’d say they’re all either quite a stretch, or not actually particularly progressive. I don’t know if the filmmakers intended the shopkeeper to be gay, but he’s a minor character and that sauna shot is literally a second. If they meant it to be a commentary they were huge wusses about it. 

Bottom line for me: confused, not well written, too much hip action and hair flipping in musical numbers, a flawed understanding of human nature, but not unacceptable for viewing.

And don’t even get me started on the “You can’t marry a man you just met” thing. Oops, too late, I wrote a whole post about it. 

ON MARRYING YOUNG: HOW TO MARRY A MAN YOU JUST MET

The post I Have Some Thoughts About Frozen appeared first on Catholic All Year.

I was so sorry to read Dwija’s sad news that they lost baby Nicholas at 21 weeks along.

I have felt so identified with her struggles since I am also 21 weeks pregnant. It’s been such a joy to witness how she dealt with the challenges of this pregnancy with such hope and joy. I can’t imagine the sorrow she and her family are going through now, but I am confident that through God’s grace they will find comfort. There are so many people praying for them right now.

And
since there is no good way to make an appropriate segue here, I’m just not going to try.
 

Hey, remember when I told you I was cool with nudity in movies? Well, today I’d like to defend cross-dressing in movies.

That’s right. Hooray for cross-dressing (sometimes).

Cross-dressing is funny to kids because of how ridiculous it is. If it wasn’t ridiculous, we wouldn’t laugh at it. A friend told me that her family won’t be going to see Despicable Me 2 because it features a cross-dressing minion and, at the time, I wasn’t sure what to think about it. 

I have not seen Despicable Me 2, so I can’t comment on how it’s handled in that movie in particular, but now that I’ve had some time to consider, my take on it in general is: Boy characters in movies and in cartoons have been dressing up as girls for comedic effect since the dawn of the medium and I do not choose to turn it into something that it’s not for my children. 

It isn’t supposed to be a sexually deviant thing when Bugs Bunny or Tom or Dale or Pumbaa or Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon dress up as women. Rather, it highlights the feminism (in the actual sense of that word) of real women by showing us how silly it looks when a man tries to do it.

And in the case of the minions in the first Despicable Me (which I did just watch, see below) I’m pretty sure those guys are asexual lab-created beings anyway (which is an ethical issue of its own I guess), but the cross-dressing in that movie was a disguise not a sexual identity issue.

Despite what California lawmakers would like us to believe, transgender identification is not an issue that affects anything close to a statistically significant number of people in this country. It’s just not a discussion I need to have with my kids. And I’m not going to let the struggles of a few rob my children of comedy gems like this:

C’mon, that’s hilarious!

I did not see Despicable Me when it came out in theaters, and I hadn’t seen it since then either. But the kids’ swim team was planning to watch it tonight . . . starting at 8:30pm (!) as a “team building activity.” My kiddos do NOT need to be up that late to watch a movie. So the husband came up with a compromise: we could watch it the afternoon as a Team Tierney team building activity (and the kids could go have dinner with their swim team and then come home to go to bed).

As with Wreck It Ralph, this is a movie I had preconceived notions about. They turned out to be right . . . and wrong.

Overall, I found it funny, creative, and well-acted. There is a charming scene of the three little girls saying their prayers before bed. And the overarching storyline is that fatherhood changes one’s priorities for the better. I agree with that.

BUT . . .

my fear was that there would be a lot of crude humor. And boy was there. Fart jokes, toilet jokes, operating a keyboard with your behind jokes, etc. it has them in spades.

So, this is one that I would say is fine for one-time viewing or on an airplane, but isn’t going into the rotation at my house. My boys don’t need that kind of inspiration, they’re good.

While at a waterpark that was rockin’ the hits of the eighties, nineties, and today, I heard the following two songs:

Here’s a little lyrical comparison (don’t trip over all the production value):

It got me wondering, what if the thing Hall and Oats can’t go for and the thing
Meat Loaf won’t do . . . are the same thing? Wikipedia doesn’t know, so
I’m going to call it officially unknowable.

And here are some things you missed if you aren’t on Facebook (or you are on Facebook, but you just don’t “like” Catholic All Year). . .

This song has been driving my inner grammar
lover CRAZY for almost two decades. Thank you Rachael and Eliza Hurwitz
for finally fixing it:

Catholic All Year strongly supports Brandon Vogt’s Free the Word campaign:

I’ll bet you can spare the two minutes to watch this:

From the good news/bad news department . . .

My bloggy friend Marquette featured one of my LESS successful project attempts from Anita’s owl party on her hilarious crafting fail blog: Pinstrosity. So check it out, but only if you don’t scare easy. 

And, as one of the commenters summed it up: <sigh>

The Darcy Effect: Why Two Centuries Later, Mr. Darcy Is Still The Man

Good news, I finally wrote some posts (here and here) that many people wanted to read and NO ONE was mad about. Hooray! (It can’t last, next week I’ll end up writing something like “As Catholics, We Have a Responsibility to Hate Puppies” and ruin all my good mojo (can Catholics say mojo? probably not. see, I’ve done it already).

ANYWAY, in the comments section of one of the posts, Colleen got me thinking about kids and self-esteem. In case you missed it, here’s what I said:

I certainly wouldn’t advocate
someone giving responsibilities to their children that they don’t
believe that the children are ready for.

But that being said,
with my own children, I think long and hard before I tell them they are
not capable of doing something. I want my children’s self-esteem to be
based on actual responsibility and actual usefulness (not some
everyone’s a winner, trophies for everyone, fake self-esteem). In order
for them to develop that I have to be willing to trust them in real
situations.

Obviously, I have assessed my children individually and taken the precautions that I feel are necessary to minimize the risks.

My seven year old son makes an excellent fried egg. He’s the only one of them who can flip it without breaking the yoke.

I never would have known if I hadn’t been brave/foolhardy/morning sick enough to let him try.

And finally, in this week’s installment of “Things Christina posted on my Facebook timeline,” I give you:

It’s a funny (in both senses of that word) thing to be on BuzzFeed.

Here’s how *I* thought they did . . .

I am TOTALLY not down with #4, if I like #10 you’re not going to get me to admit it on the internet, #18: blech no tartar sauce – ever, not familiar with #24 (I’ll have to look it up), actually not into #26 personally, or #32. But I DO love all the other stuff to varying degrees and, hey, #38 was new information, and I have two daughters who are not currently betrothed, so, ya know, it could come in handy.

And is it just me or do we totally beat the Jewish girls on this one?

Oh, one more thing: The only way I could figure out to get my comments on other people’s blogs to link to my email address was to quit Google+ and go back to using a Blogger profile. It doesn’t matter to me any, since I never, ever used Google+, but I think it does mean my posts won’t be linked up there anymore. So if that’s how you were following . . . I’m sorry, but there’s always Facebook or Bloglovin’ or Feedly or Google Friend Connect or email, right?

The post On Cross-Dressing Cartoon Characters: 7 Quick Takes XXI appeared first on Catholic All Year.

In the past, we’ve always run right out as a family to see new Pixar films, but I was worried that the college setting of this one might prove too tempting for the filmmakers to avoid a whole lot of stuff that wouldn’t be appropriate for a kids’ movie.

The good news is that really wasn’t an issue.  No drug/drinking jokes, no hooking up, no love interests at all.

But the bad news is that it just wasn’t a good movie.  It didn’t have the heart or the charm or the creativity of Monsters Inc or the other Pixar movies we love.  The plot felt disjointed, like it was three or four episodes of a TV show rather than one movie.  They took two likeable characters and made them unlikeable to us and to each other so that, finally, in literally the last three minutes of the movie they can learn their lessons and redeem themselves.

The ending montage is terrific, but for me it was too little too late.

Also, I had high hopes for the world of Monsters University after reading an article based on interviews with the creative team in which they talked about all the care and detail that went into creating the university itself.  Even going into it looking for those charming details (like doors within doors for monsters of varying sizes) I really didn’t notice any of it.  But I remember loving so much of that stuff from the original!

They don’t fall prey to the lowbrow college stuff, and nor do they take the “corrupt the earnest college freshman” route.  They also avoid the “if you just want it enough, anything is possible” schtick.  All of which I appreciated.

If you want to put it in a genre, it’s an 80s teen movie, and if you’ll take a moment to recall those, they pretty much espouse the worldview that everyone is either a jerk or a loser (loveable or otherwise).  That’s how it feels at Monsters University, and I just don’t like that worldview.  In my experience there are always plenty of nice and cool and pleasant people mixed in with the jerks and losers out there.

There were precious few laugh out loud moments, and until the bitter end, it was really hard for me to find anyone to root for.

If the grandparents desperately want to take your kids to see this, I guess I can’t see any real reason to say no.  But if your kids’ seeing this movie would require you to pay for it and/or sit through it yourself I honestly wouldn’t bother.  Just make them some popcorn and watch an encore presentation of Monsters Inc.  That’s what we’re going to do around here.

p.s. I also thought the short beforehand was derivative of and inferior to Disney’s Oscar-winner Paperman.

The post Monsters University: Meh appeared first on Catholic All Year.

Perhaps this one wouldn’t be the best choice on Father’s Day itself since <spoiler alert> the dad dies.

dress: target, sweater: gap, bump: 16 weeks

shoes: etsy, necklace: my wedding present from my husband

Happy Father’s Day!

You told me to always act like a lady, especially while hiking, building things, flying an airplane, or using a blowtorch.

my totally awesome homemade  Where the Wild Things Are bed (in my college dorm room)

You taught me to be generous.  You have always given freely of your time, talent, and treasure.

You taught me about priorities.  You were never too busy to help me with schoolwork or a project or to attend my sporting events. I grew up always feeling like I was worth your time, and that my accomplishments and opinions mattered.

And now I get to see it all over again as you interact with my children.  (And finally get to have some boys around!)

Your creativity and skills as a maker and fixer of all things are rivaled only by your patience in letting the kids help you.

I’m grateful to be your daughter.  I’m grateful to have inherited your love of life and adamantly positive outlook, and your general certainty that if a thing can be done, I ought to be able to figure out how to do it.

And if I ever wondered what you were like as a kid, now I know:

I would be delighted if he grew up to be just like you.

You always told me I should be a writer, it just took me until this year to finally listen to you!

And to my father-in-law . . .

I love that your family is always on your mind.  You’re always thinking of new adventures to take us on.  Or picking up a little treasure you know one of the kids will cherish.

I love that you’re always available for whatever the kids want to do, be it a story or a bike ride or a quick snooze.

PS: Father’s Day is a few days away! Have you ordered your bundle yet?!

The post Movies for Father’s Day That Don’t Hate Dad appeared first on Catholic All Year.

 

I saw this one on the plane on our way to Italy and it was so creatively staged and visually stunning that I kept lamenting the fact that I was watching it on a four inch screen.

If you’re familiar with the book you’ll know that this is the anti-Jane-Austen-happy-ending story.  An aching story of love and disregard and adultery and consequences.  It is so well acted and feels so TRUE that I don’t think I was prepared to handle the emotions it brought forth in me.  And the love scenes, while not very graphic, are so sensual that I don’t think I’ll be able to watch it again.  Even though I was familiar with the plot, somehow seeing it messes with my head more than reading it.

Unless you’re sitting around saying to yourself, “I would like to be titillated and horrified and amazed by a movie right now,” I don’t think I’d recommend it, but I thought it was a really good movie and a very faithful adaptation.  So, how’s that for a helpful review?

The post Some Movies I like (and some I don’t): 7 Quick Takes XII appeared first on Catholic All Year.