6. Jonah: A Veggie Tales movie.

           Quick Note: In case you don’t know, the Veggie Tales series is produced by Big Idea Productions for the purpose of using short and funny (usually 30 minutes) shows to tell kids stories from the Bible in a way that they will understand and remember. As the title suggests, the characters were originally all vegetables but over the years they have also branched out to include some fruits. Jonah was the first and only full length Veggie Tale movie.

                I know it’s got to be tough to take a 30 minute show and stretch it into a movie.  Watching Jonah was a struggle. With that said. It’s a solid effort. I have been in many group showings of this movie with children and it works. Why exactly do I own the 2 disc special edition of it? I don’t really know.

                Jonah takes a fresh twist on the classic Bible tale. Like with all veggie tales it’s very musical and filled with many off the wall moments.  The best parts that I enjoyed were the expanded role of the crazy pirates that don’t do anything. That has always been my favorite of the silly songs; so it was good to see them in so much of this. These have are obsessed with the good things of life like root beer and snack foods! The BEST part of the movie was definitely the Ninevites! The sheer fact that they are all fish slappers was great! So funny. Very entertaining!

                But overall it’s tough to sit through an hour and twenty minute veggie tale episode. There were times that it was boring.  I think that maybe children may get bored during certain points of the down time. But they get the story and moral lesson across. Ninevites change and Jonah whines. But is it worth owning? 

Final Verdict: Not worth owning for me. But for your family--Maybe

5. The Others

      Another good example of why I’m doing this project.  I haven’t watched this dvd in 7 years. In fact I don’t even remember why it made the first cut of movies that we sold. But alas I DO own it and the MMB has chosen me to watch it.

      Based on the short story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Others is a supernatural thriller (not a horror movie!). It stars Nicole Kidman and was produced by Tom Cruise (who was her husband at the time). I was initially really excited to watch this again. I don’t remember everything in it and was interested to see if it was worth owning. After all, at one time I was moved so much to buy the 2 disc special edition of this movie.  Have I gone mad?

      The movie is not as scary as I remember it to be.  If I had my choice the best way to watch this is in the pitch black while it’s cold. But instead I’m watching it on a sunny afternoon.  Nicole Kidman is solid. She was not golden globe nominee worthy (she was nominated) but still good.  The main thing I didn’t like about it this time around was that it took SOOOOOOOOOO long to get going.  Once the movie really kicks in about 40 minutes in it gets good.   I love how Light plays a villain in this movie. How the darkness is to be a friend.  It’s the opposite of most movies. The last 20 minutes is almost worth the entire movie. So chilling! If you love ghost stories, you must check this out.  I don’t want to go into too much detail with the off chance of spoiling the movie from some that may not have seen it yet. Don’t want to give up the “New Situation” that the family finds itself in. The ending is a doozey! 

 

Final Verdict: Worth it if you find it cheap. But not “2 disc special edition” worth owning.

Favorite Line: “Are you mad? I am your daughter!”

Other Tidbits:

-There are a lot of Catholic overtones in the movie which I find interesting due to Tom Cruise’s scientology background.

-The Old Testament story of Abraham and Isaac plays an important role in the movie as well. I found that very interesting.