By Summer,

What’s your favorite Robin Williams film? If you’re like me, it’s hard to pick just one! I love Disney’s Aladdin, Goodwill Hunting, Night at the Museum, Mrs. Doubtfire (“It was a drive by fruiting.”) and Dead Poets Society.

Maybe it doesn’t take much to excite me, but I AM excited that Dead Poets Society is coming out in Blu-Ray today (January 17, 2012). I remember watching Dead Poets Society for the first time in high school. It was inspiring! I was talking with some girl friends about re-watching it and we got to talking about teachers in our lives who were like the teacher John Keating (Robin William’s character). This proved to me that Dead Poets Society just resonates with people. There is just something about it; I think it has to do with being young and seizing the day … carpe diem. (You know I can’t get away with posting about Dead Poets Society without the Latin!)

If you’re never seen Dead Poets Society it’s about an all-boys preparatory school in the 1959. Their school, Welton Academy, don’t encourage free thinking and prefers to tell students how to think and want to do in order to be successful in life, which really means get into an Ivy League school and have a “noble” profession such as a doctor or lawyer. Of course this is all shaken up when their new poetry teacher John Keating who prefers to be called Captain starts to help some of the boys in his class begin to love poetry, free thinking and creates a true paradigm shift on their lives. A few of these students revive the lost Dead Poets Society of which John Keating was a member of in his days at Welton as a student. Conflict arises as Keating’s unconventional teaching methods are not accepted by other Welton faculty and students. WARNING: There is a teenage suicide in the movie. (In case this is a sensitive issue for you.) BUT the movie is not gruesome and there is no image of the suicide. SPOILER ALERT: The suicide is blamed on Mr. Keating. The school forces the students to tell about the Dead Poets Society they had created in secret and sign a paper stating they blame Mr. Keating. As Mr. Keating retrieves he final belongs from his classroom while class is in session the Dead Poets Society members and other students who respect Mr. Keating stand on their desks and call out to him, “O Captain, My Captain!” (from its names sake Walt Whitman poem).

Other actors you’ll know from Dead Poets Society include Robert Sean Leonard from TV’s House, Ethan Hawke from notables such as Reality Bites (another one of my favorites) and Training Day, and Kurtwood Smith from TV’s That 70’s Show; though other actors will look very familiar from their varied resumes.

Dead Poets Society, which won writer Tom Schulman an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1989, is being released for the first time Blu-Ray for only $20 (1-disc). Dead Poets Society is also being released in High Definition Digital Download also for $20 or Standard Definition Digital Download for $14.99. You can get your own Blu-Ray copy, right now, on Amazon for only $14.99. Copies include the movie as well as Special Features — Dead Poets: A Look Back, Raw Takes, Master of Sound: Alan Splet, Cinematography Master Class, Audio Commentary, and the Theatrical Trailer.

My Mom Start Review Grade of Dead Poets Society in Blu-Ray DVD: A+

About Summer:

Summer is very active in our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm

I probably let my kids watch way too much TV. I grew up watching TV and so do they. But, we only watch DVD’s which allows me to have a huge amount of control over what they watch. One of my favorites out of all the DVD’s we have are from LeapFrog, so I get quite excited when they launch new DVD’s, games or video games. Earlier last week, two new DVD’s arrived on my doorstep courtesy of Lionsgate: LeapFrog: The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park and LeapFrog: Numbers Ahoy. LeapFrog: The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park and LeapFrog: Numbers Ahoy were released on January 18, 2011, for the suggested retail price of $14.98 each.  Both titles are also be available on Digital Download.

My kids really do learn from these DVD’s that LeapFrog puts out.

In The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park the kids were singing little a, big a, little b big b. The other day, I put this on for Miles while Zoe was in preschool and he started singing and he looked at me and said, “Come on, sing with me”.

“Mom, sing!”

So, of course I had to sing with him!

The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park (Ages 3-6): When their firefly friend, Edison, takes Tad, Lily and Scout to the place of his childhood dreams, the gang is shocked to discover that Alistair Alphabelly’s Amazing Amusement Park is… closed! To make matters worse, Edison has gotten himself stuck atop the Fantastical Ferris Wheel. The only way to save him is to turn on the rides in the park with the magic of the alphabet. Now the children must learn all of the letters, big and small, to save their friend, save the day and perhaps even meet the rhyme master himself, Alistair Alphabelly!

I actually didn’t watch this one, and Zoe kept saying: there is a bad guy on this one, but he’s not too scary, and I kept telling her she was wrong, then finally I realized he was a bad guy because he captured Scout, but he wasn’t too scary, just like Zoe said!

LeapFrog: Numbers Ahoy SYNOPSIS
Numbers Ahoy (Ages 3-6): Tad and Lily need a little number sense to help them get through a complicated game. So their magical firefly friend, Edison, takes them on a fantastical journey under the sea! When a pirate mistakenly captures their cute puppy pal Scout, they must use their new understanding of counting, grouping and estimating to rescue him. Join them as they navigate the deep and face foes such as sharks, crab henchmen—even Pirate Pythagoras himself—and begin to see numbers in a whole new way!

Enter to Win:

LeapFrog: The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park and LeapFrog: Numbers Ahoy

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This giveaway ends February 7th. I received the above DVD’s on behalf of Lionsgate to review for this post.  All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Thanks to Click Communications I had the opportunity to discover Beauty and The Beast with Belle herself, Paige O’Hara. Paige is just as spunky as Belle and listening to her sing in real life just amazes me. In fact, I would say she’s improved her singing skills since making the movie Beauty and The Beast. She was quite easy going and down to earth. As we all had dinner and enjoyed great conversation, we explored the Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition Blu-Ray special features! And Let me tell you Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition is all about the Blu-Ray features.

You know the story of Beauty and the Beast right? Belle is a beautiful young lady stuck in a small provincial town and practically bored to tears. The most adventure she has at any given time comes from her unpredictable inventor of a father. She is coveted by Gaston, and disguts him in return. Her father goes off to the fair and gets lost on his way. He looks for shelter in the castle that he finds but the Beast is not happy at all to have company. He locks him in the dungeon and when Belle comes looking for her father, her adventure begins.

Paige was interviewed and here are a few questions and answers:

How excited were you to be part of such a legendary Disney title?

You know, Mary Poppins is my favorite film and I loved Bambi and all the other Disney animated films. I was always an artist as well so I appreciated the animation too. Playing Belle was a dream come true.

What else do you remember about the experience?

It was fun being a part of the parties. Honestly, the worst part about the Oscars was that I didn’t like my dress—the one I performed in. They told the designer to put me in blue and it was this blue and white dress that looked more like Bo Peep or Dorothy. It was way too frilly and not very “Belle-y.” It was a checkerboard pattern. I had to perform in that dress, but afterwards I got to change into a beautiful Bob Mackie teal green gown. I even made one magazine’s Top 3 Best Dressed list!

You won a Grammy for a song from “Beauty and the Beast’s Children Singalong” too. What was that like?

It was incredible. Of course it won Best Children’s Album, which is the Grammy I have on my wall. The whole ride has been phenomenal. I am still recording as Belle all the time…CD ROMs and toys. I was just in the studio recording Belle the other day. 99% of the time I record in a studio here in Vegas. They patch me in over the phone.

Zoe has quite a hard time deciding between watching this new Princess and Tinker Bell and The Great Fairy Rescue. She likes Belle, Belle was the very first Princess dress that we found on sale and that was her first Halloween costume. Zoe said she likes Beauty and The Beast more than The Princess and The Frog because it wasn’t scary. She likes the Beast as a Beast and not when he turns into a Prince.  Even though she enjoys watching Belle in Beauty in the Beast, her favorite princess is still Sleeping Beauty and we don’t even have a copy of that movie.

To me, Beauty and The Beast Diamond Edition blows my mind away. The color looks like it was pumped up and the details are quite amazing. It seems that cartoons were meant for Blu-Ray. The special features are quite amazing too, even though all of the insert disc one, insert disc two is a little frustrating. The way our system is set up whenever I try to go back it exits the DVD all together, but that’s just our system. I think if you have a normal DVD player it’s probably not as bad. Most of the special features are on disc 2.

The Special Features are hours and hours of content. One of the features, I think it was Beyond Beauty was the story of the making of Beauty and the Beast. The story included the evolution of the story and one of the previous story lines was pretty bad. We’re very glad Disney went the direction they went. Wow, I just can’t imagine a better story line.

3-Disc BD Bonus Features as listed on Amazon:

• Restored film
• Three versions of the film
• Original theatrical release
• Special extended edition
• Original storyboard version (BD-exclusive)
• Original theatrical version with a PIP of the storyboard
• Disney sing along mode
• Audio commentary
• Beyond Beauty: The Untold Stories Behind Making Beauty And The Beast (interactive) 
• Broadway Beginnings – Up close and personal celebrity interviews with Nick Jonas, Donny Osmond, Toni Braxton, and others who have starred in the Broadway production
• Composing a Classic: A Musical Conversation With Alan Menken, Don Hahn, and Richard Kraft
• Deleted scenes
o Alternate opening (boards)
o Belle in the library – never-before-seen moment where Belle meets three new characters in the library
• Art galleries – Only available inside the “Beyond Beauty Experience”
• Family play games
o Enchanted Challenge: help Belle and the Beast fall in love in order to break the spell before the last petal falls (Disney Quest)
o Bon Jour, Who Is This? A Disney TelePlay Game – Powered by BD-Live. Using your cell phone, guess the identity of the other players before they guess yours 
• Music & more
o All-new music video featuring Disney Channel star TBD
• Classic DVD bonus features

As I said, hours and hours of entertainment!

Save 10.00 on Beauty And the Beast Diamond Edition.

I received a copy of the movie in exchange for my honest review and met Paige on the Disney Blogger Day Event.

Thanks to Lionsgate we received Sesame Street 20 Years and Still Counting. Hosted by Bill Cosby it surely is dated! America’s most groundbreaking educational TV Series comes to DVD and Digital Download for the first time ever to Celebrate the iconic show’s 20th Anniversary!  There was also special appearances by Ray Charles, Jim Henson, Placido Domingo, the Muppets and more.

I liked watching it because it had scenes from when I watched it, even though, Sesame Street is so old, it was almost 20 years old when I started watching it, well ok, maybe just over 10 years old, I’m not that old yet, but it was a classic then it it is a classic today.

Sesame Street 20 Years and Still Counting is perfect for my kids to watch. The DVD is geared towards the pre-school audience and watching Bill Cosby brings back all kinds of memories. Man, I miss decent TV that we can all sit down as a family and watch together. There was one scene in there that Bill Cosby looks back on and people say, is that really you, and he replies, no that’s my son. No, Bill Cosby really was that young once upon a time. But weren’t we all? We love Sesame Street and recommend 20 Years and Still Counting for those that love it now and then!

Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD The Young Victoria will make for a great date night with your spouse. Sony. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment sent me a copy of this DVD to review. The movie takes place in the 18th century English court. There is plenty of politics and intrigue as Victoria become queen and moved along the board like a chess piece. In the middle of becoming queen and finding herself, she also becomes apart of a great love story. My husband and I were both glued to the story of Victoria and Prince Albert from the beginning. We were both worried that Lord Melbourne was going to win over the Queen, just as her people thought it had already happened. I loved this movie and my husband and I plan on watching it together again and staying completely “unplugged”.

The Young Victoria [Blu-ray] (Amazon Associates Link)

The movie features Paul Bettany (Iron Man, The DaVinci Code) as Victoria’s confidant and court advisor, as well as the talents of Academy Award® nominee Miranda Richardson (Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Damage, 1993; Best Actress in a Leading Role, Tom & Viv, 1995), Academy Award® winner Jim Broadbent (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Iris, 2002), Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, Tristan & Isolde) and Thomas Kretschmann (Valkyrie).  The film was written by Academy Award® winner, Julian Fellowes (Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Gosford Park, 2002),  produced by Academy Award®-winning producer-director, Martin Scorsese (Best Achievement in Directing, The Departed, 2007) and The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson.   The Young Victoria is up for three Academy Award® nominations in Art Direction (Patrice Vermett and Maggie Gray), Costume Design (Sandy Powell) and Make-up (John Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore).  Emily Blunt also received a nomination for the 2009 Golden Globe® Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama for her leading role in The Young Victoria.

Victoria is the only heir to the thrown and when the King (Jim Broadbent) dies. The King was hilarious, he’s like the relative you hate to have. He just yells whatever he wants at whomever’s expense. Between him and Prince Albert’s inexperience at dating, I was smiling and laughing throughout the movie. But when i could see the two lovebirds falling for each other my heart just melted. After they were married they both found out how difficult marriage is. My husband and I both enjoyed these scenes as well because it was like any marriage. People think that royals live differently, they don’t. They are still people and I love how The Young Victoria captured how normal their lives were. Victoria and Albert had a huge fight and after the fight there was an assignation attempt on her life. Albert threw himself in the way so she would not be hurt. My husband and I both held our breaths until we knew Albert was going to be ok. Victoria is the longest raining royal to this date.

Blu-ray™ & DVD Special Features

• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Four Featurettes
  • Making of The Young Victoria
  • The Real Queen Victoria
  • The Coronation
  • The Wedding
• Lavish History: A look at the Costumes and Locations

BD Exclusives

• movieIQ+sync
• BD-Live

Thank you to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for the copy of this DVD for the purpose of the review.

Universal Studios sent my family a copy of Curious George 2: Follow that Monkey to preview before it comes out next week. Can you believe that next week is March? Both of my children were excited to watch Curious George, it was my son that took the DVD from me first and that’s usually his sister’s job.

We watched it as our evening family movie, as I’ve cut almost all of our daytime tv. As I sat down to watch it I didn’t expect to enjoy it; I was pleasantly surprised. I found it to be silly and was laughing along with my children. That silly mischievous monkey. No wait, Ted would say, “He’s curious, very curious!”.

George finds out that there is a circus in town and he really wants to go because there is an elephant in it. Kayla is a cute blue baby elephant and she really is blue. She’s homesick for her family. George understand her pain and wants to see her smile, so he takes off on a coast-to-coast journey with Ted barely able to keep up. Follow that monkey features an all-star voice talent including Tim Curry (“The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius,” Home Alone 2: Lost in New York), Jamie Kennedy (Kickin’ It Old School, Malibu’s Most Wanted), Matt Lauer (“Today Show”), Frank Welker (“Curious George” TV series, “Futurama,”) and comedy legend Jerry Lewis, plus music from legendary songwriter Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

The music is child like and soft and captivated my daughter from beginning to end. It’s a great movie to enjoy as a family and sure to leave a smile on everyone’s face.

CURIOUS GEORGE 2: FOLLOW THAT MONKEY
“Twice the fun of the original!”
– Francine Brokow, Los Angeles Family Magazine
All-New Feature-Length Film Debuts Exclusively on DVD on March 2, 2010!
George 2: Follow That Monkey includes a menagerie of entertaining bonus features: Two never-before-seen shows from the all-new TV season on PBS that does not air until Fall 2010, a brand new interactive game, an exclusive music video and more. Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey  is priced at $19.95 SRP.

BONUS FEATURES

• Two Never Before Seen Bonus Shows from the all-new TV season! See the premiere episode 6 months before it airs!
• Curious George’s Cross Country Caper Game – It’s more fun than a barrel of you-know-what when George and Kayla go on the run with security specialist Marcus Wolfe hot on their trail!  Exciting puzzles lead the way from New York to California so Kayla can visit her brother and sister. But be careful—a wrong answer could bring the Wolfe right to their door!
• Hold On, Here We Go – Exclusive Music Video
• Coloring Pages and Wallpapers

For the Pajama party giveaway I have a set of DVD’s I want to giveaway. I have

Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey

Olivia

Winnie The Pooh A Valentine for you

The DVD was provided by Universal Studios, it is the review copied so it is open. All the DVD’s in this giveaway package are review copies that have been previously viewed. If you still choose to enter, I thank you and  hope you enjoy them.

To Enter:

Tell me who it’s for.

Extra Entries:

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The contest will run until March 15th 11:59 pm Pacific. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Teaching kids math is pretty easy once they learn to count. So first you need to teach them number recognition and sequences. Leap Frog has an entire system to get kids ready for learning math. The first is with Leap Frog’s new movie Math Adventure to the Moon. Lionsgate sent me a copy of the DVD to review in honor of Math Day, March 14th, and I like watching it with my kids.

Tad and Lilly are trying to count in the beginning and Tad can’t get past the number four. So their friend Edison transports them to a Spaceship where they can fly to the moon.  This space ship helps them with their counting when it only allows them to take 10 items on the ship with them. Ha Ha, ten items, thanks Leap Frog for the adult humor. Part of math includes counting in different intervals and learning sequences and I was glad that Leap Frog included both of these in their math adventure. Tad and Lilly never made it to the moon. On the way they ran into a space storm and crashed onto a cute cube planet; where they had to do even more counting before they could return home.

LeapFrog: Math Adventure to the Moon is great for kids and parents alike as it encourages a shared and interactive educational experience that allows parents to watch their kids learn! You can purchase the DVD and see clips from the new film at http://www.leapfrogdvds.com

Also included in Leap Frog’s arsenal for preschool kids and toddlers are math toys that only re-enforce all of their other teachings. Remember it’s through repetition and interaction that your children are going to learn.

Learn & Groove® Counting Maracas – Get in the learning groove with the Learn & Groove® Counting Maracas. Music Play mode encourages baby to explore and create music—inspires creative interaction and open-ended play. In Counting mode, each shake encourages your child to count to 10 in both English and Spanish. $16.49; 3-36 months

Chat & Count Cell Phone – Fun learning in a smart little phone! Sing along to songs about counting and phone routines, explore more than 15 phone activities and call on Scout for learning fun as you trade calls and voicemails with your puppy pal. Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path for customized learning insights and ideas to expand the learning. $14.99; 18 months – 3 years

They also shared math tips with me to share with you.

TIP #1:  Math is everywhere! 

Next time you’re in a waiting room with your child, scan the room (or the magazines on the tables) for evidence of "math."  Advise your child to find as much math as possible, and you can give clues if you need to.  Numbers, patterns, shapes, categories, and measuring devices (e.g., ruler, scales), are just a few examples of some of the math you might see all around you! 

TIP #2:  Patterns and Codes are All Around Us!  

Make patterns using standard household objects.  For example line up repeated objects–sock, stuffed animal, sock, stuffed animal, and so on. Next, ask your child to continue the pattern to figure out the "secret code."  You can vary the difficulty of the pattern to suit your child’s ability–banana, banana, pear, banana, banana, pear.  You can also make deliberate errors that your child needs to find–pear, apple, bananna, pear, apple, banana, pear, pear, banana.

TIP #3:  Play the Sorting Game!  
Take a deck of cards, and discuss with your child all the ways you can sort the cards.  They can be sorted by color (red versus black), suit (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), numbers (2′s, 3′s, etc.), royalty versus numbers (jacks, queens, and kings versus the numbers), odd versus even numbers, etc.  Sky is the limit!  You can play the sorting game with many collections of things around the house, such as socks and building  blocks. 

TIP #4:  Since It’s the Weekend — Make it a game night!  

Playing number-related, age-appropriate board games, such as Chutes and Ladders, can help support many math-related skills.  For an important twist, help your child practice saying each number he or she lands on and passes by with each roll of the dice. For example, if your child is on 23 and rolls a four, help him or her say "24, 25, 26, 27" instead of "1, 2, 3, 4."  This way, your child can learn about order and magnitude (i.e., how large or small a number is in relation to other numbers).

TIP #5:  Count-down for Launch!  

You and Your Kids can pretend to be rocket ships set for launch.  Practice counting down to blast-off!  You can make the challenge as easy or difficult as you want remembering that you don’t have to start counting down from 10.  You and your kids can count down by ones (e.g., 17, 16, 15, 14…) or  Practice counting by 2′s (e.g., 25, 23, 21, 19…)!    For advanced math students, try multiples (e.g., 21, 18, 15, 12…)!   

My son has always been the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan in the house. He has a Mickey Mouse Doll, a Minnie Mouse Doll, a Pluto Doll. There is just something about that song Hot Dog. You know, Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog, Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog, Come inside it’s fun inside. He just gets up and starts dancing at the end of every episode. Miles tries to move his hands like Mickey Mouse does. He’s just adorable. Miles also likes to repeat the words “OH Toodles”.  On Tuesday February 9^th Walt Disney Studios will release MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE: MINNIE’S BOW-TIQUE on DVD! We were sent an early copy of this to write a review of it. This new release features four Minnie-themed stories including a never-before-seen episode and a fun Minnie magnet bow frame. ‘Minnie’s Pajama Party,’ and ‘Minnie’s Bee Story,’ include Disney’s Adventure Mode – an interactive game using the remote control with multiple play levels.

My daughter just loves the bow frame and magnet set, she ripped that right up and took it to the fridge. We just receive a new fridge and it’s actually magnetic. So happy about that. That started about an hour of playtime with her brother without the TV.

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE: MINNIE’S BOW-TIQUE

All of the episodes on this DVD are about Minnie Mouse. She is the best party host, always thinking about her friends and their needs.

Minnie’s Bow-tique

This is a new episode that will air in April. It’s the grand opening of Minnie’s Bow-tique, a store jam-packed with every kind of bow and bowtie imaginable. The selections include: the "Glow-Bow", a bow that changes color with every mood; the "Grow-Bow", a bow that grows to tremendous size by just adding water; flying "Butterfly-Bows"; and a "Photo-Bow" that snaps instant pictures. Problems arise when Pete, embarrassed about buying a lady’s bow for his favorite aunt, causes a few accidental mishaps in the new store. However, super salesperson Minnie finds the perfect bow for Pete. The Bow-tique’s grand opening is a success – and it all ends in a Big Bow Show with the Clubhouse gang modeling the latest fashions under the biggest bow of all, a colorful, sky-high Rain-Bow.

Minnie’s Bee Story

In Minnie’s Bee Story they all set out looking for their friend Bee, they encounter the Professor and Donald does not behave very well. He tries to catch bee with a net, but in the end they are all friends.

Minnie’s Picnic

Minnie wants to have a picnic on the new Mickey Mouse picnic grounds. They grab all the supplies they need for 12 friends, load up Toodles and off they go. Of course when they get there they run into all kinds of trouble. Well, you know the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it’s not really trouble it’s more like, oops, how do we fix or accomplish this. Great beginning to problem solving skills for your children.

Minnie’s Pajama Party* (Never-before-seen episode until 4/6/10)

Minnie and the girls set up a fun Pajama Party sleepover for the day – but it’s not as easy as it sounds, especially with the addition of Pete and Willie the Giant! When Willie the Giant comes they have to move the party outside. In this episode they learn how to divide things into equal parts amount all of their friends. First Minnie starts with a pie and then it’s the clubhouse. Each friend gets their own space to sleep.

This DVD was sent to me for review by Walt Disney Studios. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, a recognized leader in the home entertainment industry, is the marketing, sales and distribution company for Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Buena Vista product, which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc and electronic distribution. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is a division of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

I have never read a single Jane Austen book, the closest I’ve come to her was watching Clueless, and I had no idea that it was based upon the book Emma. I watched the movie Becoming Jane on Netflix one night and decided that I wanted to read her books, but I never did find the time. But then Warner Brothers introduced me to Emma, by BBC America. Emma is based upon the book by Jane Austen, and after watching the show, I finally decided to read the book. So far, I find the book a little bit difficult to read because the language is so old, so I really like the show because they updated the language a bit. Everyone is still proper and in or out of society but it’s much easier to follow.

To be Released on: 2/9

Synopsis: Fresh and funny, this new adaptation of the Jane Austen classic features a stellar cast  including Romola Garai (Atonement, Vanity Fair), Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter).

21-year-old Emma Woodhouse has very little to worry about.  She is beautiful, clever, rich, with a comfortable home and some of the best blessings of existence.  More than anything, she loves playing matchmaker to her friends and family, so when young, pretty, naive and socially inferior Harriet arrives, Emma decides to indulge her passion.  She persuades Harriet to reject an advantageous marriage proposal from a local farmer in order to hold out for an offer from the dashing Mr. Elton. But Emma soon discovers that Mr. Elton is far more socially ambitious and mercenary than she had ever realized, and her advice to Harriet goes terribly awry.

Actors: Starring Romola Garai (Atonement, Vanity Fair), Louise Dylan (Merlin), Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, Cranford), Rupert Evans, Jodhi May, Robert Bathurst

My Opinion:

WOW, how I loved watching this. I had a hard time not watching it all in one night. When I realized I had two episodes left I had to stop and continue watching it the next night. I see now how Clueless is the same story, but it lacks so much of what Emma has. Emma was never troubled until her governess went off and got married. (which was by Emma’s own accord). It was then when she realized that she should become a match maker. Then all the trouble starts for her. I hope I am not the only woman out there that has not read the novel by Jane Austen.

Michael Gambon is amazing in this, I say amazing because he truly resembles a doting father afraid to lose his last daughter. He also seems to see much more than he lets on. I have no idea if this is the case in the book because I haven’t gotten that far yet but I’m really looking forward to reading the character development of him and the amazing Mr. Knightly. I love the Mr. Knightly is always able to tell Emma the truth. Everyone needs to be brought back to reality every now and then don’t you think?

I find through the show that Emma has such an innocence about her. Even though she is trying to match up her new best friend, she doesn’t seem to have any idea when a guy is actually in love. It is by the end of the show that she realizes to see love, you must know love.

To Enter:

Visit BBC America and tell me what you would love to watch.

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The contest will run until Feb 22 nd 11:59 pm Pacific. The winner will be selected by www.random.org. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Warner Brothers is representing  BBC America and have provided me with a copy to review and are providing the giveaway copies.

With Over 3 hours of entertainment this is the DVD to get for your Dora Loving kids.  Dora The Explorer: Let’s Explore! Dora’s Greatest Adventures will be released on February 2, 2010 full of Dora. There are 8 different episodes and each is filled with a different lesson. In one episode Dora and Boots must create a map of their own to save their friend the map.

Dora has been teaching my son a few words. He can say, Dora, Boots, Backpack, purple backpack, map. When it’s time to use the map, he says map, louder and louder. The Map, The Map. I would probably still not like Dora if it wasn’t for her educational value, and the fact that my kids want to watch her all the time. I just can’t hate her.

My daughter has decided to call this one Yellow Dora, I think it’s because the packaging has quite a bit of yellow on it. I was sure that she would be calling it Purple Dora, because the third Episode is Journey to the Purple Planet. Dora teaches Spanish, colors, shapes and counting. Zoe can count all the way up to 14 and can say her entire alphabet. I’m not saying Dora is responsible, I did a little work.

So here is the episode line up:

Dora The Explorer: Let’s Explore! Dora’s Greatest Adventures

Lost Map: When a goofy bird mistakes Map for a stick and puts him in a nest, Dora and Boots need help to draw their own map and rescue their good friend.

I liked that in this episode Dora and Boots made the map.

Hide and Go Seek: To win Senor Tucan’s trophy, Dora will need your help finding her friends in the Spooky Cave, the Squirrel Trees, and the Rainforest!

I liked Senor Tucan most in this episode.

Journey to the Purple Planet: Blast into space with Dora and Boots to bring five lost space creatures back home to the Purple Planet!

I liked the little aliens, and their cute little names even though I can’t think of them right now.

Rescue, Rescue, Rescue: Baby Jaguar is stuck in a tree! Isa is stuck in a hole! And Benny is stuck atop a geyser! Will you help Dora and Boots race to everyone’s rescue?

I liked watching them decide who to save first, how does a person make a choice like that?

Star Catcher: Abuela gives Dora a Star Pocket making her a Star Catcher! But when Swiper swipes it, Dora needs help from you and the Explorer Stars!

I liked my kids learning about shapes in this one.

Star Mountain: Oh, No! Swiper swiped Dora’s necklace and threw it to the top of Star Mountain! To get it back, Dora needs your help, and the help of some Explorer Stars too!

I liked that there were also shapes in this one too.

Boots To The Rescue: Dora wrote a song for music classs, but she left it in Boot’s room! Will  you help him on his big solo adventure to school?

I liked the song about speaking Spanish in this one. It’s very catchy.

Swiper the Explorer: To help a lost baby fox get back to his Fox Hole, Dora and Boots get help from an unlikely hero….Swiper.

I liked that Swiper wanted to be helpful.

Yes this DVD was sent to me by Nickelodeon for purposes of this review. The link above is an affiliate link, I think I’m required to tell you that.