Nanny McPhee arrives to help a harried young mother who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war, though she uses her magic to teach the woman's children and their two spoiled cousins five new lessons.
Director:
Susanna White
Stars:
Emma Thompson,
Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Ralph Fiennes
Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.
Director:
Gary Winick
Stars:
Dakota Fanning,
Julia Roberts,
Oprah Winfrey
Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures.
Director:
Mark Waters
Stars:
Freddie Highmore,
Sarah Bolger,
David Strathairn
Two young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is hurled through the depths of space by the magical board game they are playing.
When a massive fire kills their parents, three children are delivered to the custody of cousin and stage actor Count Olaf, who is secretly plotting to steal their parents' vast fortune.
The Darling family children receive a visit from Peter Pan, who takes them to Never Never Land where an ongoing war with the evil Pirate Captain Hook is taking place.
Director:
P.J. Hogan
Stars:
Jeremy Sumpter,
Jason Isaacs,
Olivia Williams
On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.
A teenage girl discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters out of their books and must try to stop a freed villain from destroying them all, with the help of her father, her aunt, and a storybook's hero.
In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.
Director:
Chris Weitz
Stars:
Nicole Kidman,
Daniel Craig,
Dakota Blue Richards
Mr. Cedric Brown has just lost his wife and is now left with his seven children who misbehave so much that all the nannies have run away. Now he is told by a mysterious voice that he should get Nanny McPhee who is a magical woman with special powers.Written by
Daniel Cudley
The end credits are animated, and include the children as cartoons, causing mayhem, and some of the credits change as Nanny McPhee bangs her cane. See more »
I almost missed this one because I was turned off by the commercials and previews, with their emphasis on the silliest parts (the dancing donkey, etc.). What a mistake that would have been -- I'd have missed one of the driest, archest, loveliest scripts in years. Emma Thompson can do more with a slightly quirked eyebrow and a quiet "Hm" than most actresses can with an entire Shakespearean soliloquy. The whole cast, children and adults alike, is pretty near perfect, some of the best of the British theater even in the tiniest roles (Derek Jacobi, Imelda Staunton et al). The kids are tough and tart, without a simper in the lot, unlike most US child stars.
Don't let the trailers keep you away -- this is well worth seeing, sort of what Lemony Snicket should have been but wasn't.
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I almost missed this one because I was turned off by the commercials and previews, with their emphasis on the silliest parts (the dancing donkey, etc.). What a mistake that would have been -- I'd have missed one of the driest, archest, loveliest scripts in years. Emma Thompson can do more with a slightly quirked eyebrow and a quiet "Hm" than most actresses can with an entire Shakespearean soliloquy. The whole cast, children and adults alike, is pretty near perfect, some of the best of the British theater even in the tiniest roles (Derek Jacobi, Imelda Staunton et al). The kids are tough and tart, without a simper in the lot, unlike most US child stars.
Don't let the trailers keep you away -- this is well worth seeing, sort of what Lemony Snicket should have been but wasn't.