Due to a late release of the preview, I didn’t get a chance to review before the showing, but did want to mention again that this is the third in a joint venture between P&G and Walmart to make Friday night family TV night. They are trying to create real movies that are good for both adults and kids to watch together, which focus on positive values for kids to experience in an engaging film.

We were less excited about the second film in this experiment, The Jensen Project, which appealed to our little kids, but which just didn’t have the production values of a real movie. I enjoyed “A Walk in My Shoes” more. The subject matter, while incorporating some fantasy, was more adult than in “Jensen,” which was more of a high technology spy film made for kids. I also found the acting to be more subtle and easier to watch, largely due to Nancy Travis, who plays the lead role.

“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.

I want to support this project because there is such a huge delta between soporific kids shows that dads really don’t want to watch, and all the PG-rated shows that aren’t appropriate for kids under 13. I’m hoping P&G continues to get better as they develop more experience in this arena. So far, they are making good progress.

“A Walk in My Shoes” is available on DVD and we have one copy of the DVD plus Soundtrack available for readers who answer the following question in the comments section below: What is your favorite movie the whole family can watch and enjoy without being exposed to material that is inappropriate for some ages?

A Walk in My Shoes plot synopsis

“A Walk in My Shoes” makes viewers stop and think, “What would I learn if I stepped into someone else’s life?” Stressed-out high school teacher Trish Fahey (Nancy Travis, “Three Men and a Baby,” “Becker”) can’t understand her students’ lack of effort in the classroom and why their parents don’t seem to care. This is especially true of Justin Kremer (Cameron Deane Stewart), a popular, skateboard-loving, basketball star who is underperforming in her class. Trish has him suspended from the basketball team and quickly chalks up the situation as a case of bad parenting.

But this perspective dramatically changes when Trish meets Molly (Yara Martinez, My Own Worst Enemy), a mysterious stranger intent on helping her see things differently. When Trish wrecks her car, Molly is there as Trish wakes to find herself living the life of Cindy Kremer, the woman she has personally judged and criticized. Trish discovers that there is often more to the story and learns a powerful lesson that affects everyone she interacts with. Her husband, her daughter, the Marine next door… No one is left unchanged.


Note to readers: P&G invited me to the set of the feature film “A Change of Plans” due out in early 2011.. While they paid for transportation and lodging, no payment was made for this review, and my opinions are my own and not those of P&G or Walmart.

If you’re over 30, you have to buy, rent or borrow the new DVD highlight reel of the induction ceremonies of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Watching the greats, including Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Ray Charles, and Neil Young, as well as probably 30 other legends takes you back to dozens of moments in your life, back when we lived through the radio and what it told us we should like. What is most surprising is that the music holds up, the performances are tight and inspired, and you end up feeling like it was all more than just music.

It’s three DVDs and your kids might not sit through all of it, or understand why you like watching these guys screaming and jumping around, but it will give you a close-up view of these performers that will transfix you.

Rating: PG

Genre: Family and Kids



Release Date: December 23, 2009 and out on DVD 3/30/10



Running Time: 88 minutes



Child-friendly?
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is the second animated film featuring talking and singing chipmunk brothers Alvin, Simon and Theodore. The movie contains a good deal of verbal and slapstick humor but is relatively tame. Besides some flirting, suggestive dance moves by the new female chipmunk group and a few crude jokes, the movie is relatively kid-friendly. It is recommended for kids aged 5 and older.



In Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Alvin, Simon and Theodore find themselves being cared for by a twenty-something nephew of their friend, Dave. The boys have to go to school for the first time and are tasked with saving the school’s music program by winning the $25,000 prize in a battle of the bands. But the Chipmunks unexpectedly meet their match in three singing chipmunks known as The Chipettes – Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette.



By going to school, the boys discover girls, are faced with bullies and deal with peer pressure. Alvin joins the school’s football team and has to choose between the game and the big talent show and his brothers when a game lands on the same day as the big battle of the bands competition with the Chipettes.



Directed by Betty Thomas, the film features Jason Lee, Zachary Levi and David Cross as well as the voices of Justin Long, Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate.



The humor is harmless for the most part and there are some positive messages that come out of this admittedly silly movie. It focuses on family, togetherness and acceptance and deals positively with school and peer pressure.
GreatDad.com Review Policy: The featured product for this review was provided to us, at no cost, by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. We do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. We only review products that we have personally tested and used in our own homes, and all opinions expressed are our own.

For some reason, perhaps because of the title, I thought Eagle Eye was a simple film about a drone surveillance airplane gone mad. There is a drone plane or two, but the movie is so much more than that. Directed by D. J. Caruso from a story by Steven Spielberg, and starring Shia Laboeuf (Transformers) and Michelle Monaghan (Mission Impossible 3), Eagle Eye is a high tech conspiracy movie that plays on your worst fears about how computers track our everyday move. It pits two unwitting innocents against the Department of Homeland Security when they are set up to be the agents of an assassination plot. Without giving too much away, this movie draws on the best of 2001, The Parallax View, and War Games.

The pyrotechnics here are stunning with some new car chase scene ideas you have definitely not seen before. A chase scene in the baggage handling routing system of an airport will have you twisting and turning as the main characters ride conveyor belts like a beaten up piece of old uggage. This is a movie that will keep your attention just because it does a few things not seen before

Dads will enjoy this action thriller, but Eagle Eye is not a movie for young kids. There is no sex and very little profanity, but there is a tremendous amount of chaotic violence and heart-pounding chase sequences. The plot action also involves death threats on a mom and her son if she doesn’t participate in the action.

Spiderwick Chronicles is out on DVD and a surprise hit in our household. When this movie came out last year, I thought it looked a little goofy and it seemed to be in and out of theatres in short order. Seeing it at home was the first time for us, and it was a happy surprise for both me and my eight year-old. We both enjoyed the story, the action sequences and the funny parts.

The story is an imaginative tale of a single mom and her three kids who go to live in a mansion they soon find to be under attack by goblins out to get a book that details the world of creatures ordinary people can’t see.

While the movie has scenes that make it a bit too scary for little kids (7 and under), my slightly older daughter enjoyed even the attack sequences at the end of the film without being frightened. Be aware that near the end (attention: plot spoiler), the kids’ dad arrives in what looks to be a sweet family reunion moment. However, the father is really an ogre in disguise, and the movie’s hero, Jared, stabs him in the stomach, much to the horror of the rest of the family. This might be a traumatic moment for small children (and some dads).

Here are a few of the date points my daughter (age eight) gave for the movie:

1. Movie is best for: Kids over seven and dads who are willing to enjoy some fantastical entertainment.

2. Favorite part: When the little elf is mad, if you give him honey, he gets nice again.

3. Favorite character: The little elf

4. Main character: Jared, the brother who discovers the Spiderwick Chronicles book.

4. Lesson of the film: Sometimes knowledge gets you into trouble, as Daddy says, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Knowledge can get you out of trouble as well.

The Sword in the Stone (45th Anniversary Special Edition)

The Sword and the Stone (1963) is being re-released on June 17 in a new edition.

Both my kids, four and eight, enjoyed this movie and want to watch it again. They both voted for it to add to the pack of DVDs that will travel with us this summer. This is the major test for our family, since it’s often hard to find movies they both will enjoy.

Here are a few of the data points my daughter (age eight) gave for the movie:

1. Movie is best for: Kids who don’t like scary movies

2. Favorite part: When the wizard turns Arthur into a squirrel

3. Favorite character: Merlin (wizard)

4. Main character: Arthur

4. Lesson of the film: You should think before asking a wizard to turn you into a squirrel, because there are always problems no matter who you are.

5. Did the mother of the main character die in the first scene? Yes, she dies before the movie started

My four-year old son says his favorite part was the preview for Wall-e, the new Pixar movie.

If you already have the previous Gold release (2001), this release doesn’t have too much that is new, though it does have a widescreen version.

We have three copies of this new release to give away. All you have to do is name the major network show from the 60′s that featured the actor Sebastian Cabot (Sir Ector, the narrator, in the Sword and the Stone) as Mr. French. In the case of multiple entries, we’ll draw three winners from the correct responses on July 4th. Just send your answers to Paul @ GreatDad . com (a couple extra spaces in there to stymie the spammers.) Good luck. If more than three correct entries, we’ll draw a name on July 4.

As of June 28, no one has entered this contest so your chances of winning are sky high!

To enter you need to be 18 years of age and a resident of the US. If you have won a contest within the last 30 days you are not eligible. Winners will be announced here. If we do not hear from you within 3 weeks from the date the winners are announced you forfeit your prize and we will select another winner. Prizes will be shipped within 45 days from the day you win.

We will choose a winner for this on July 4. This means that you have until July 4, 2008 at 11:59 PM EST to enter the contest.