Double Platinum

This movie was aired on ABC and is about a famous singer who left her daughter for her career and one day she finds her again and helps her become a famous singer, too. There is a lot of drama.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Oh, Lindsay Lohan. Your Disney movies are gold. 

Lindsay plays this dramatic teen who has lots of angst and lies a lot. Megan Fox is in this movie playing the mean girl and I just love that every time she pops up on the screen she has a theme song playing. It makes me feel like I desperately need one so people know I mean business when I walk into a room. 

Camp Rock 2

We're back with the sequel to Camp Rock, a DCOM. 

I guess I liked the first one better, but this one did have a bit more story going on with a competing camp and the back story of the camp's owner. I also liked to see the different styles back and forth with the two camps. 

Camp Rock

Moving along with another DCOM, we watched Camp Rock. This was huge when I was in college (as were the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato) but I had never seen it before now. I think it was because I was anti-Jonas Brothers at the time. I figured they were just brunette Hansons or something. Anyway... 

It isn't my favorite, but it was alright. The kid liked the songs and the overall story was cute. Apparently it was such a big hit at the time they released a sequel... so on to that one! 

Brave New Girl

Next up is an ABC Family original, "Brave New Girl". 

Britney Spears had something to do with the movie and the novel it was based on. It was about a girl who goes to a performing arts school after her brother dies and we watch her struggle to get used to her life there. 

Beauty and the Beast

The last movie of the year is one of my favorites, Beauty and the Beast. I remember every girl in my class wanted to be Belle for Halloween the year it came out. Such a classic tale of learning that appearances aren't everything.

There are so many great songs in this movie, but we love to sing the Gaston song in our house. 

Babes in Toyland

YAY! We finally made it to movies that begin with the letter "B"!! I watched Babes in Toyland for the first time with the kid.

I don't know where to begin. I might have been really tired, but I didn't follow this one at all. It felt so scattered... I really couldn't tell what the story was about! Where are we? Why didn't this girl know she had money? Why did she just believe and accept what these people said about her fiance and then go and say yes to some other guy's proposal? And suddenly we are in a toy workshop... I'm lost. 

Anyway, I decided to start on my annual Christmas Activity Calendar or December Bucket List. I have some pretty fun activities planned for this year. Can't wait! 

Annie (1999)

Our next movie is Annie - the 1999 TV movie version that aired on ABC. I think it may be our first musical, too. I like musicals. 

Annie is a classic, of course, but this version was not the best. It was a TV movie after all. Annie has been redone several times over the years. I do like the cast in this one, though. 

We were pretty boring about the activity this time around and just did some house chores. I didn't even get a picture of it! Unfortunately for the boys I do know all the words to It's a Hard Knock Life. I'll have to make them miserable with that next time I clean. 

Almost Angels

Next up on the list is an older movie from the 60's about some boys in the Vienna Boys' Choir. 

I ended up watching this one alone. It was nice to listen to the music, but mostly I found it sad that the boys are put under so much pressure to have these lovely high pitched voices and then they dread when their voices drop because then they cannot have the solos they wanted. There were plenty of little boy jokes and pranks, though. It was a bit boring, although it was a pretty rainy and boring morning anyway. 

We were inspired to write and perform our own little song. We do love singing in my family but we never wrote our own song together so that was a lot of fun. It was about stars. I snapped a picture while he was singing about how they shine so bright. 

Aladdin and the King of Thieves

This week we watched the third Aladdin movie. 

Robin Williams is back as the Genie, making a ton of pop culture references and jokes. We meet Aladdin's father, who turns out to be the King of Thieves searching for the Hand of Midas. 

Once again, I love the music. I am excited to hear they are planning to make a live-action Aladdin movie about the Genies. As far as the straight-to-video sequels go, I think the Aladdin sequels are pretty good. 

We were inspired by the thieve's secret hide-out and the Cave of Wonders from the original movie. We found a cavern nearby to explore. If you are wondering where you can find a cave or cavern to tour in the U.S., check out this website. It was a really cool experience -literally - it was 52 degrees while the surface was somewhere around 95 degrees (F). 

The Return of Jafar

It is time for The Return of Jafar - a sequel to Aladdin!

I love every song in this movie, too! There were so many pop culture references in this one, which is always fun for the adults. The kid loved it and was giggling throughout the whole movie. Robin Williams wasn't the Genie in this movie, and while the man who voiced the character this time tried his hardest to mimic his style, I still found myself missing Robin. No kid is going to notice, though! All in all, it was a fun sequel with a different story line. I like when sequels have a different or continuing story line instead of just repeating the first movie over again! 

We made genie lamps out of small glass jars and glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. I accidentally dropped my phone in the glitter. I'm hoping a genie will appear every time I swipe the screen. 

And look! Left over glitter that can be used as Pixie Dust for a later film! 

Aladdin

I'm so excited we reached another Disney Classic!! 

This movie is so good. I couldn't stop myself from singing along to every single song. The kid loved it. He is the same age I was when I first saw it. The mixture of the music, the pop culture references, the many Disney "easter eggs", and the comedy and romance makes it a classic to remember. 

If you weren't already aware, Disney.com has a ton of online games for kids to play that are based on Disney movies and TV shows. The kid had a blast playing one of the Aladdin games.  

I can't wait to see more Aladdin movies next!! 

A Goofy Movie

This week's movie is awesome - A Goofy Movie! 

I forgot how funny this movie was. I think I loved it so much because I grew up in the 90's and all of the things Max does were considered so cool, and he was so awkward. It felt real. I was so excited to recognize Pauly Shore and Jason Marsden doing voices. The skate boarding, the 90's styles, the singing - it was all great. Goofy is a classic character. Now I have The Goof Troop theme song stuck in my head. Anybody? 

We took inspiration from the music and concert in the movie. I have Rockband, Singstar, a Karaoke machine, Karaoke revolution... I'm a little obsessed. The Kid sang one of his favorites "We Got the Beat" by the Go Go's and I got it on film.