It can be difficult to find family friend entertainment these days. Even cartoons aimed at children can have poor attitudes and language that you’d never want your little ones spouting off. There have been any number of times where, in shock, I’ve turned something off that my kids were watching that I thought was wholesome.
So it’s nice to see a series of films that you know will help you protect your family from unsavory content rather than expose them to it. I haven’t seen “The Woodcarver” yet, but it comes with the trustworthy Dove Foundation family seal of approval. Strong morals and solid lessons of faith are guaranteed, and you’ve even got John Ratzenberger of Cheers fame!
Now then…. queue the blurb!
Rebelling against his parents and the broken home he comes from, fifteen-year-old Matthew Stevenson makes a destructive choice to get attention: he vandalizes the church his father is renovating. To avoid criminal charges, he agrees to repair the damage he caused to the intricate carvings and finds himself working alongside Ernest Otto (John Ratzenberger), a talented but reclusive woodworker. Laboring together, an unlikely friendship forms and both come to realize that all things are possible with faith, family and friendship.
The film will be available on DVD March 6th, so be on the lookout!
The next cast of Dancing With the Stars was revealed today, check out which of your favorite celebrities made the cut!!
-Famous singer Gladys Knight
-”Little House On the Prairie” Star Melissa Gilbert
-Soap star Jack Wagner
-Pop singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw
-Green Bay Packers Wide Receiver Donald Driver
-Disney channel sensation Roshon Fegan
-Wales’ own pop icon Katherine Jenkins
-Male model William Levy
-Extra co-host Maria Menounos
-Tennis pro Martina Navratilova
-The View’s own Sherri Shapherd
Just the other week I received a shock as a parent that I should have known was coming. My 5-year old daughter, who started school this year, came home distraught. She’s normally quite chipper, so I asked her what was wrong. “Johnny said I have a square head,” she replied. Now while it is a universal truth that kids are mean to one another, for some reason I never expected them to be mean to my child. Never mind that the insult was inherently ridiculous; it was hurtful to my innocent little girl who has no idea there are far worse things to be called in this world. I spent the next 5 minutes trying to convince her that her head was actually shaped like a peach and not a nasty square.
The story above illustrates why I love the VeggieTales folks. As a young parent with kids who consume way more television I should probably let them consume, it’s really nice to have programming that actually teaches them good lessons. A lot of shows pretend to do this, but few really do. There have been a number of times when I’ve had serious conversations with my daughter, and in order to get a difficult point across, I inevitably end up saying, “Remember in that VeggieTales episode when….” Sure, television (even really GOOD television) is no substitute for good ole’ fashioned parenting. But it can help at times.
The new VeggieTales flick, “Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men,” would have been helpful in my your-head-isn’t-square-shaped conversation with my daughter. It deals with hurt and betrayal and forgiveness, as Robin Good’s friends turn their back on him (they’re ‘not-so-merry,’ after all). The show tries to teach kids how to forgive others, even when they don’t deserve it. That’s a hard enough lesson for me to learn myself, let alone teach my child.
Check out the trailer below for a sneak peek of the new episode! If you’ll excuse me, I have to go console my little girl; her friends have moved up from square-based insults to trapezoid-based ones.
UNDEFEATED, the new documentary from the Weinstein Company (opening in limited release this Friday), is the real deal. It’s one of those perfect, real life underdog sports stories that are only captured on film once in a long while (ala Hoop Dreams). It follows the hopes and dreams of the Manassas Tigers, an underfunded, underprivileged, innercity high school football team in Memphis, Tennessee. They’re so bad, in fact, that they’ve never won a playoff game in their 110 years of existence. Bill Courtney, their volunteer coach, hopes to turn that record around.
The film has heart, kids you come to care about, and the kind of 4th quarter, nail-biting football moments that only show up in fictionalized Hollywood films. It’s been nominated for an Academy Award this year and it has an incredible shot at winning.
In celebration of the film opening this weekend, we’re giving away a $500 giftcard to Sports Authority. All you need to do to enter is share an inspiring sports moment in the comments below. Maybe it was the time you scored the winning soccer goal in high school; perhaps it was when your child hit that homerun in little league; or maybe it was that incredible basketball game you watched on TV as a kid with your father. Whatever the moment, share it with us below in the comments and tell us how it inspired you.
Make sure you leave a name and valid email address so we can contact you if you win! Oh, and check out the trailer for UNDEFEATED below!
What Price Would You Pay for Religious Freedom? It’s a question that’s especially valid today as the Catholic Church battles with our government over the proposed healthcare mandate requiring faith-based institutions to cover contraception. We ask ourselves if this is a breach of religious liberty and if so, how will this fight will end?
Free Giveaway for the New Monks of the Desert Album! The Monastary of Christ in the Desert was founded in 1964 in Abiqulu, New Mexico. It’s located in, you guessed it, the middle of the desert. Being surrounded by miles of government-protected land, the abbey is the perfect place to guarantee a quiet life of solitude perfectly suited to the Benedict
Rick Warren on the 'Unbelievable' new worship album you have to hear! Travis Ryan, worship pastor at Saddleback Church, has a brand new worship album out called "Fearless" with a wonderful single on it, "Jesus Precious Jesus." You can listen to a sample of the song (it's great!) and download the single here.
Rick Warren, Saddleback's pastor (and author of "The Purp
For Greater Glory - EXCLUSIVE First Look! UPDATE: This is an exclusive first look at the poster for the film!
I don't know much about For Greater Glory. I know it stars Andy Garcia, Evan Longoria, and Peter O'Toole. I know it's the true story of the Cristiada, a Mexican civil war that happened in the 1920s. I know it's about the persecut
WWJD II - The Woodcarver It can be difficult to find family friend entertainment these days. Even cartoons aimed at children can have poor attitudes and language that you'd never want your little ones spouting off. There have been any number of times where, in shock, I've turned something off that my kids were watching that
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