October 16, 2011 – 5:15 PM
Be aware. This is not a movie for kids. The subject matter is very scary but for most people under 40, this is not the kind of thriller they will be expecting.
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Contagion is a thriller in the Syriana tradition with plot threads coming at you from all directions. Many personalities and subplots tell an over-arching story, in this case, the spread of a killer virus the that threatens to kill one of every four people on the planet. However, there are no car chases, no surprise twists, and not many love stories going on. Most of the energy is focussed on the science of a deadly virus as well with some side detours to the societal breakdown that happens in cities quarantined for their over-exposed populations.
“Who is Simon Miller,” the newest of the “Family Movie Night” series created by P&G, premieres Saturday night 8/6/11 on NBC at 8/7PM Central. We had a chance to see a screener and watched it the other night as a family.
I”ve written several times about this effort. (Full disclosure: P&G invite me on set for the filming of “Change of Plans.”) I like P&G’s mission, which is to create family programming the whole family can watch together and enjoy. It’s a tall order though. What is interesting to my 7 year old is not what interests my wife. What my wife and daughter like doesn’t do it for me. P&G Studios, along with co-sponsor, Walmart, is trying to thread this needle. As I think I’ve joked before, it’s a bit like a singing dog; it’s not that he sings well, but that he sings at all. That’s what can be said, for all of the movies to date, which have gotten better since the first ones: they are not horrible and the whole family can watch, if you have a little patience.
Sounds like another in a long list of plays and movies that infantalize men as fathers and caregivers. The anxieties may be real, and the situations humorous, but it seems like we’ve seen and heard all this before. It makes you wonder if there’s any way to make the simple job of being a “good” mom or dad seem more noble than just a domestic cliché.
‘Knickerbocker’ at the Public Theater NY
Before the Baby Is Born, Dad Needs to Soothe His Own Inner Child
December 31, 2010 – 2:39 AM
P&G Productions will release their new film, “Change of Plans” on Saturday, January 8, 2011 on Fox at 8 PM and 7 PM Central. As we’ve reported, P&G and Walmart have teamed together to create new family-friendly movies that tell positive stories the entire family can watch together. The first three aired on NBC. Change of Plans will air on Fox. In creating movies that meet this objective, P&G is trying to walk a tightrope between films that are so insipid that adults will squirm, and tales that a small child can get caught up in, without resorting to inappropriate language and violence. This is not an easy task, especially given other alternatives, as well as a modern tendency for every member of the family to retreat to their own corner to enjoy entertainment made especially for them. Leave it to P&G to invest heavily in this type of venture, as they did with the creation of the Soap Opera, to claim turf that is especially vital to their commercial interests. Previous films have been Secrets of the Mountain, The Jensen Project, and A Walk in My Shoes.
The other films I’ve seen in this project have failed, but we have found each one better than the last, with progressively better scripts, acting and production values. Change of Plans is another step forward in the right direction.
December 6, 2010 – 9:26 AM
“A Walk in My Shoes” tells the story of a teacher magically put into the shoes of another person, the mother of one of her students. She gets to experience firsthand the other woman’s life and viewpoint and ends up judging her less harshly than she did in real life. While this plot device is a little contrived, and a shopworn in 2010, I found it oddly compelling, perhaps because I liked the main characters. Not all dads might agree, and it might be hard to find a family that would all watch this movie together, but it wasn’t an improved attempt by the P&G team and bodes well for their next film “A Change of Plans” which is due out in early 2011.
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