Review: Wreck-it-Ralph

If you're looking for a wonderful film the entire family can enjoy, Wreck-it-Ralph is the movie  for you.

I was so pleased after seeing Wreck-it-Ralph, I applauded. It was tha good. Especially in the wake of that horrible non-family friendly Brave, which Disney put out earlier this year.

If you recall my Brave review, I was terribly disappointed in the film due to it's lack of family friendliness. It billed itself as a family film, then scared the pants off of kids and promised them it was OK to poison their mothers, so long as they felt bad about it later. Well, Wreck-it-Ralph is no such mess.

This is a film that knows who it is and what it wants to be from scene one and does it well.  Ralph is the villain in a video game, and all he wants is to be loved and included. Yet, when the game players go home and all the other characters play and celebrate with each other, they don't include Ralph. In fact, Ralph lives in a garbage pile.

Wanting to feel part of the group, Ralph attends a party being hosted by the game's hero, Fix-it-Felix. There, the townspeople are mean to Ralph, and say he can't be included because he hasn't won a medal.
Certain he can win one,  Ralph heads to another game, Hero's Duty, to win this medal.

Ralph accomplishes his goal, but accidentally launches himself and a giant insect from Hero's Duty into the racing game, Sugar Rush. There, Ralph meets Vanellope von Schweetz, an outsider in her game as well.
Vanellope has a glitch that causes her to blink out occasionally and the mayor of Sugar Rush won't let her race.

Ralph and Vanellope bond. As the movie goes on, the two form a great friendship, and he helps them both prove that outsiders can fit in. A subplot brings Fix-it-Felix and a character from Hero's Duty into
Sugar Rush to help find Ralph and the rogue insect.

It's a great film and pretty family friendly. It's charming, funny, spirit-lifting and just plain good. The only areas of potential concern for parents of small children are the insects from Hero's duty, which is a pretty intense game that involves blasting the insects (as always, I encourage you to visit www.kids-in-mind.com and check out their listing of every incidence of violence, bad language, etc in films. It's a great way to determine if a film is right for  your children)

That's it for today.

-Hyattsville Mom

Weekend Fun

There's lots to do in the area, this weekend.

First and foremost, we fall back this weekend, so don't forget to wind your clocks back an hour. Instead of being 8 am when you awaken Sunday, it will be 7 am.

If you have active children, there are a couple of great FREE events for you. First up is a lacrosse clinic for children ages 7-15. It's at the Tucker Road Athletic Complex, 1770 Tucker Rd. in Ft. Washington. At the clinic, which runs from 1-3 pm, will go over the basics of lacrosse, including stick handling, passing and shooting.  Pre-registration is recommended. Call 301-446-6800 or go online to https://smartlink.pgparks.com/POSweb/POSItemDetails.aspx?POSItemKey=12775. From 6-7 pm, the Sports & Learning Complex is hosting a free gymnastics workshop. This is a self-guided workshop, for children who are walking up to 12 years old. Parents must supervise children. For more information, contact the Sports & Learning Complex, 8001 Sheriff Road in Landover, 301-583-2400.

Are your children budding artists? Well, on Sunday, check out Art a la Carte at the American Art Museum. Kids can do hands-on art projects for FREE. More information is online here. Also, if you're into model rockets, there will be a launch at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

As always, have a safe weekend. All items mentioned here can be found on our calendar page.

-Hyattsville Mom
(p.s. I apologize. I'm Google is having a problem that's preventing me from posting images).