The Colonial Theatre » Young Audiences

The Secret of Moonacre

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:06:50 +0000

Based on the book The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (JK Rowling’s favorite childhood book!). When 13 year old Maria Merryweather’s father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced to leave her luxurious London life to go and live with Sir Benjamin, an eccentric uncle she didn’t know she had, at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. Soon Maria finds herself in a crumbling moonlit world torn apart by the hatred of an ancient feud with the dark and sinister De Noir family. Maria discovers that she is the last Moon Princess and, guided by an unlikely mix of allies, she must overcome her family’s pride in order to unearth the secrets of the past before the 5000th moon rises and Moonacre disappears into the sea forever.

Turtles Can Fly

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:35:07 +0000

“In the makeshift refugee villages of northern Iraq shortly before 2003′s U.S.-led invasion, parentless children spend their days collecting landmines and awaiting information on the impending war. With no responsible adults to guide or shelter them, the kids�led by a precocious boy named Satellite (Soran Ebrahim), whose skill with technology makes him a vital member of the temporary community�toil and suffer in quiet, resigned to their bleak fate as dispossessed orphans in a land bereft of familial and national unity, and Turtles Can Fly focuses its even-keeled gaze on these lost, physically and emotionally crippled youngsters with understated sympathy.Iranian director Bahaman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses), employing a mixture of harried handheld cinematography and studied compositions of the Iraqi-Turkish borderlands, casts his pint-sized protagonists as metaphors for the disenfranchised Kurdish minority that, left to roam the outskirts of their homeland, struggles to accept and deal with their imposed political (and temporal) alienation. Satellite installs a giant satellite dish so the town can watch FOX News for war updates, and the film offers a brief moment of levity when the local elders express embarrassed disgust at catching a quick glimpse of prohibited channels such as MTV. The refugees eagerly desire news on the coming conflict’s commencement, and Ghobadi�once again eliciting powerful performances from his non-professional cast but exhibiting little of the humor found in Marooned in Iraq�captures the irony of people craving reports on a war that, as Satellite learns at film’s end, cannot satisfactorily erase the tragedy of past misfortunes.

Roaming the town like a pint-sized king on his ten-speed bike adorned (like Pee-Wee Herman’s coveted ride) with colorful flags and tassels, Satellite is smitten with a young girl named Agrin (Avaz Latif) who travels with her armless, future-divining brother and her blind son born of rape. Ghobadi attempts a commentary on the war news’ unreliability by making the armless boy’s prophecies precise, yet this foray into magical realism is ultimately too realistic to be truly magical. Still, via Agrin’s attempts to desert her unwanted son�a chilling vision of parental revulsion that’s at odds with images of the community’s citizen’s huddled together en masse (in the spirit of togetherness) on a hilltop awaiting U.S. warplanes�the director captures the chaotic psychological turmoil of a beleaguered people mired in a hopeless cycle of dismemberment and death.” (Nick Schager, SlantMagazine.com)

Access more reviews at metacritic.com.

Balloon Freak John Cassidy

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:41:32 +0000

John Cassidy, our most popular kids performer at the Colonial, is an eccentric comedian whose bizarre antics have earned him widespread acclaim as one of the most original and unique performers today. He has also made numerous television appearances having appeared on such popular shows as Live with Regis and Kelly, NBC’s Today Show and Martha Stewart Living and regularly plays Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City and his native Philadelphia. John also holds several Guinness World Records for speed in balloon sculpting. You can learn more about John and check out some amazing videos and photos online at johncassidy.com.

Looney Tunes

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:33:35 +0000

[ Sat, Mar 10, 2:00 pm; ] Selected cartoons from the Warner Brothers catalog featuring Bugs Bunny.

Darby O’Gill and the Little People

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:44:04 +0000

[ Sat, Mar 17, 2:00 pm; ] Albert Sharpe is an Irish caretaker whose tendency to spin the blarney causes no one to believe him when he becomes the guest of the Leprechauns in their underground home. Great special effects create a timeless atmosphere of charm and fantasy. Also starring Sean Connery. (TLA Film & Video Guide 2002-03)

Superman

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:46:43 +0000

“Superman was an extraordinarily expensive film, and on the whole the money was well spent. Perfect casting and stunning special effects combine to relate the origins of the famous DC Comics here. Superman’s father (Marlon Brando) jettisons his child into space to save him from the death of planet Krypton. Christopher Reev plays the adult Superman, who, as Clark Kent, gets a job at The Daily Planet where he meets Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). Lex Luther (Gene Hackman) tries to take advantage of the weaknesses he learns about Superman. This 2.5 hour film is well paced and spawned three sequels. With dazzling effects and spectacular music by John Williams, Superman was able to boast the longest credits sequence of the time. It was also the measuring stick to which most films about comic book heroes were calibrated.” (Nathan Jensen, The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide)

Shine and the Moonbeams

Kirsten — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:39:37 +0000

Take five outstanding NYC musicians with eclectic musical tastes and influences, combine their unique perspectives, add a backing band, and witness the result: a soulful, groove-heavy R&B musical extravaganza in a rock and roll package, capturing the sweetness, uncertainty, and simplicity of youth. Shine and the Moonbeams is family music’s first soul band. Shine sings “Wake Up Baby!” on Dan Zanes recent album Little Nut Tree; and Zanes will be releasing Shine’s first album in 2012.

�There was something in the performance touched folks emotionally.� Out with the Kids raved that Shine and the Moonbeams� songs were �heartfelt, insightful and emotional, with brilliant musicianship to boot.� -- Zooglobble

Check out this video from KindieFest 2011 in NYC. The production quality is lacking, but what’s not lacking is Shine’s infectious groove!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jzjh37pm5c

Stand By Me

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:54:35 +0000

“The line between sappy and sweet is a razor-thin one. We’ve all been held hostage by coming-of-age stories that shamelessly cudgel us into sniffling submission. And while they might succeed in making us reach for the Kleenex, we rarely feel good about it afterward. Then there’s a movie like Stand by Me, which gets your tear ducts working honestly. Based on a Stephen King novella, the film tells the sepia-tinted story of four childhood pals destined to go their separate ways one day, but who, for now, in the summer of 1959, are bound together for what feels like an eternity of campfire tales, pinkie swears, and debates about whether Mighty Mouse could beat up Superman. When the pudgy scaredy-cat Vern (played by an unrecognizable preteen Jerry O’Connell) overhears some older kids talking about a dead body they saw a few towns over, he shares the secret with his three best buddies (Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and River Phoenix). The next day, they head off for adventure, walking along the railroad tracks to find the body and become local heroes. But Rob Reiner’s film is all about the journey, not the destination. And all of his young actors are great � Wheaton as the sensitive narrator, Feldman as the slightly crazy wild card, and especially Phoenix as the tough-yet-tender doomed soul. At the end of the movie, Wheaton’s grown-up stand-in (Richard Dreyfuss) sums up that fateful summer, writing: ”I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?” Good luck choking back the tears, folks.” (Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly)

Read the Common Sense Media Review for help deciding if this film is appropriate for your child.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:24:27 +0000

Audiences young and old enjoy this larkish musical/fantasy featuring precocious children and childlike adults. Gene Wilder stars as the eccentric candy maker searching for the child who will inherit his fantastic factory. For a contrarian, but not completely off base, review check out Chuck Bowen’s on SlantMagazine.com.

The Princess Bride

Kirsten — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:32:07 +0000

“Writer William Goldman’s love story of a farm boy-turned-swashbuckling hero, the princess he rescues from an arranged marriage, and the friendships and revenges the two encounter along the way recreates the high-flying milieu of a Fairbanks or Flynn adventure yarn, placing it within the narrative frame of a grandfather reading a storybook to his sick grandson.

�Reiner’s contribution was to cast actors in the lead parts who captured the folkloric ambiance of the script in their performances with similar apparent ease; Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, and Christopher Guest, standout especially. The result is a film of remarkable forwardness, honesty, and humor, built, like all fairy tales, around one message, summed up late in the script: “True love is the greatest thing in the world.” Reiner and Goldman’s tale has not lost a glimmer of its shine, and is all the better now for the time it took to ignite.” (Arthur Ryel-Lindsey, SlantMagazine.com)