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Sammy’s Great Escape – film review
I guess as a mother I should find it easy to judge if my daughter is enjoying a film or not, but during the screening of Sammy’s Great Escape, she certainly had me guessing…
She alternated between loudly naming all the creatures she could see; to jumping out of her skin once or twice; pointing at the screen to say ‘I don’t like it, I want to go home’ and at any pause in dialogue or musical interlude shouting ‘yeah! It’s finished now – can we go home?’
So on this basis, I’ll have to give the film, a sequel to A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures, a mixed review. This time around we follow two turtles who end up stuck in a giant aquarium in Dubai and their young grandchildren who are faced with the task of setting them free.
The bright colours made the movie very appealing, but for my daughter’s age group (she’s just about to turn 3!) I thought at times it was a little too intense with its loud noises and things going wrong, which was made clear by the atmospheric music, so a child of any age would know something scary was about to happen.
I’m glad we stayed to see the film through – as that night I had to contend with her quoting from the film, repeating the words of a crazy fish stuck in an aquarium, ‘They’re all looking at me! I can see them all looking at me!’ (Let’s just ignore the fact that my little one found some sort of affinity with the film’s crazy character…) – but to be honest, if we’d been in a local cinema and not just trekked into Leicester Square, we’d probably have left about 20 minutes in.
So, overall verdict? Sammy’s Great Escape is probably better suited to slightly older kids – maybe 4 upwards – but that’s obviously for individual parents to judge.
Netflix Presents The Christmas Chronicles
CHRISTMAS is coming! And Netflix have the perfect offering for the festive season in the shape of Kurt Russell!
Well, not exactly Kurt Russell himself, but the actor playing Santa Claus in their film The Christmas Chronicles.
And so the chance to watch a special screening of the film saw my daughter and I up early to head into the West End to watch it in the cosy surroundings of the Ham Yard Hotel.
Bonus points already for giving the girl and I a chance for some mummy and daughter time, leaving baby brother at home with dad as the film is recommended for eight and above.
Alongside Russell, there’s Darby Camp and Judah Lewis as warring siblings, who’ve recently lost their father, but agree a truce for one night to attempt to catch Father Christmas in action on Christmas Eve.
The resulting chaos will have you hooked as the kids hitch a ride on Santa’s sleigh and ultimately join forces to ‘save Christmas’.
There were lots of laughs from the audience throughout – from both adults and kids, especially at the current day references (‘fake news’, Uber, elves doing the floss) littered throughout.
I can’t say too much without giving away the film’s many surprises, but I’d recommend it as one for all the family with Russell as the main attraction.
It’s out on Netflix on November 22nd, so don’t forget to add it to your viewing list!
You can watch the trailer HERE, and for more information on the film visit:
netflix.com/ChristmasChronicles
Little Bird by Jools Oliver at Mothercare – review
What’s that I hear you say? Another celebrity trying her hand at designing?
Well, yes – but in a good way. This time around the one doing the designing is Jools, the wife of celeb chef Jamie Oliver and as the mother of four kids, you’d hope she’d have a pretty idea of what makes for a good baby and toddler clothing range…
And thankfully she does, both myself and my two year old daughter instantly fell in love with the samples we were given to test out – a vivid yellow cardigan, some ribbed tights (one pink, one navy blue), a pink and purple striped top and a beautiful vintage style white shirt.
Jools follows in the footsteps of fellow celebrity mum Myleene Klass, who has also put her name to collections at the high street retailer, but if my memory serves me correctly the Little Bird range is slightly more affordable than Klass’ Baby K collection.
The pictured pink/purple top is about £8, the shirt £13. A cardigan from the range is about £15. There wasn’t a piece that I didn’t like, but my note with the tights would be that as my little one has been blessed with long legs, I’d probably go up a size from the age 2-3 I was given to try out.
The quality is that which you would expect from Mothercare, with words and phrases like ‘eclectic mix of traditional prints and vintage novelty’ and ‘a timeless look’ to describe the range for little ones aged up to five years, these elements have helped create a hit with customers, with pieces flying out of stores.
I’m sure Jools will be glad to hear that it’s also a thumbs up from The Media Mummy!
Sainsbury’s enters the baby food market
As any parent knows, weaning your child onto solids is not an easy path!
With my little one now 11 months, it’s a trauma/joy/drama (delete as appropriate) we’re currently enduring.
So I was interested to hear that leading supermarket Sainsbury’s has entered the baby food market with their own branded goods.
Strapping my boy into his sling, we jumped on the tube and headed into central London to road test the Little Ones range.
Developed with the help of registered nutritionist (and mum!) Fiona Wilcock, the range appears well thought out and, competing with other popular baby food brands, uses organic products up until those created for children over a year old.
So far the dishes have been a hit with my boy, who gobbled up a portion of the Beef Casserole. The next day he also enjoyed the Lamb and Chickpea Tagine with Prune and Couscous.
There are also classics like Spaghetti Bolognese, fruit and vegetable purees and breakfast cereals.
Like any mum, I want the best for my child and in a perfect world it would be home cooked meals three times a day – but, in reality very few of us have the time or energy!
Instead I don’t beat myself up about giving them the odd ready meal every now and again, so it’s good to see the range is also reasonably priced with products starting from 70p.
There are already 50 items in the range which also caters for toddlers up to three-years-old, with another 14 launching over the summer.