Opinions for Nothing

Kung Fu Panda 2 App Winner

Congrats to Jodie Van Ness! You won the Kung Fu Panda 2 Giveaway. Email me at peevedmichelle at yahoo dot com, and I will send you the download code.

Kung Fu Panda 2: Movie Review and iPad App Giveaway

If you liked the first Kung Fu Panda, you are going to like Kung Fu Panda 2. It is every bit as funny and enjoyable as the original. Po and the Furious Five face a new foe, one who has a mysterious connection to Po's past. If my past is any predictor of my future, I will be re-watching this movie on a regular basis once the DVD comes out, and I won't mind a bit.

Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook for iPhone and iPad, by iStoryTime

The Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook app is great for kids at any reading level. It provides a shortened version of the story, using audio and still images from the movie. The Create-a-Scene feature lets kids put "stickers" onto backgrounds from the movie, and create their own scenes.

My kids, ages 2 and 4, love this app, and use the "read to me" feature. I have two points of contention with this app. One, the navigation. Once you are in the story, it is almost impossible to figure out how to get back to the main menu. Two, a couple times, while trying to get back to the main menu, the graphics in the story blanked out to white while the audio kept playing. I still think it is worth $2.99, though. We have a plane trip coming up next month and I will definitely be checking out other iStoryTime titles to prepare for our trip.

GIVEAWAY

Now, for the best part. Enter for a chance to win a free download of the app. For one chance, leave a comment on this post letting me know you want to win. For a second chance, tweet this, then come back and leave a second comment letting me know you tweeted.

Tweet: Enter to win a free download of the Kung Fu Panda 2 iPhone/iPad app from @PeevedMichelle. http://peev.in/irgvRm

No entries past Noon Pacific on Monday, June 13th. Good luck!

I received a free download of this app for the purpose of writing this review.

DVD Review of Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

I, being an adult of sound mind, am not qualified to review Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs by myself, so I invited some kids over for a viewing party. Our pint-sized movie critics were Andy, age 11*; Tara, age 9*; Kenna, age 2; and Olivia, age 3 months.

From the Ice Age 3 web site:

The sub-zero heroes from the worldwide blockbusters Ice Age and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown are back, on an incredible adventure...for the ages. Scrat is still trying to nab the ever-elusive nut (while maybe, finding true love); Manny and Ellie await the birth of their mini-mammoth; Diego the saber-toothed tiger wonders if he's growing too "soft" hanging with his pals; and Sid the sloth gets into trouble when he creates his own makeshift family by hijacking some dinosaur eggs. On a mission to rescue the hapless Sid, the gang ventures into a mysterious underground world, where they have some close encounters with dinosaurs, battle flora and fauna, run amok, and meet a relentless, one-eyed dino-hunting weasel named Buck.

What did the kids think?

Andy, age 11: He chuckled out loud throughout the movie and, at the end, told me he thought it was funny. The movie held his attention, even though there was hot pizza sitting on the counter in the next room.

Tara, age 9: She is a sensitive one and missed her parents, who were out on a date night. She spent the first quarter of the movie crying in the bathroom, the middle half of the movie eating pizza in the kitchen, and the last quarter of the movie laughing quietly at the on-screen antics.

Kenna, age 2: The beginning of the movie, which set up the current situation for us, was a little slow for her and she was in and out of her seat, asking for other things to do, but once the action got going, she was cracking up right along with her older cousins. She especially liked the parts with lots of falling down and crashing.

Olivia, age 3 months: She was surprisingly riveted to the movie at times. When asked how she liked it, she said, "Ah-goo."

Adults: All the adults laughed throughout the movie. I thought it was mildly funny. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first and second ones but, if I hadn't been provided a review copy of the DVD, I would have bought this, too, in order to complete the set.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs will be available on October 27th. The three-disc combo pack includes a Blu-Ray disc, a DVD, and a digital copy, for a suggested retail price of the $39.99. The standard DVD will be $29.98. Additionally, a "Scrat Pack" Double DVD Pack will be available for a limited time for $24.98. The "Scrat Pack" contains special features and games focusing on the saber-toothed squirrel.

A review copy of the DVD was provided to me by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

*Fake names, real kids.