20210212_105244

When I heard about this film I thought it would be the perfect film to review for my blog – with an all-star cast including Jennifer Lopez, Matthew Morrison, Cameron Diaz, Chris Rock, Chace Crawford, Elizabeth Banks (the list goes on) – it covers everything from conception to childbirth, in all its glory!

I really enjoyed the film, directed by Kirk Jones, the ensemble cast and different strands to the storyline gives it a kind of New Year’s Eve/Valentine’s Day feel to it.  A comedy with some laugh out loud moments, the not so happy aspects of pregnancy are also covered, so be warned that it’s not all smiles and without giving anything away, there may be some tears…

But the thing people seem to want to know about is Cheryl Cole’s cameo in the film. But to be honest it’s a moment I’ve tried to block from memory, as I always have an irrational desire to scream or lash out whenever I see her or hear her voice. But for those of you interested, she said about two lines, appeared as herself – so no real acting involved – and was on the acreen for less than five minutes.

Also, the film is definitely not just a chick flick, the cinema had its fair share of guys in the audience when I saw it, who were laughing and cringing in equal measure. As Vic, Chris Rock leads the pack of fathers making regular trips to the park with their broods, providing several of the laughs as they try to convince Alex (Rodrigo Santoro) to join their world of parenthood.

I’m not gonna lie, this isn’t the movie to see if you like hardcore action movies, but for a couple of laughs and several soppy moments, it’s definitely worth a try.

 

Media Mummy rating? 3.5 stars out of 5

One look at Myleene Klass and you’re not faced with someone who appears to be struggling with parenthood. But welcoming guests to the Mothercare VIP Christmas party on Oxford Street the recently divorced mother-of-two admitted it wasn’t so easy being a working mum in the media…

‘My tip to working mums out there? Oh I don't know, sometimes I feel like I'm still learning the ropes!

'You just try to organise, make plans and then one thing like a child being sick can throw all of that out of the window.

'I guess my advice would be not to be too hard on yourself as a working mum - there's loads of other people out there doing that for you!

'I always say to anyone who looks down on me for being a working mum, 'Are you going to do this for me? Are you going to pay my mortgage?

'I may be out tonight, but I'll be up for the school run in the morning'.

And 35 year old Klass is as hardworking as they come – this year marks her eighth year designing her Baby K range for the high street retailer among other projects.

Hats off to her I say.

Barbie is well known for having a catalogue of careers, and this time around the blonde one hits cinema screens as the star of her very own movie, in the guise of a super spy.

The action begins when Barbie and her gymnast pals are recruited for their skills to apprehend a jewel thief, learning along the way the values of teamwork, friendship and that believing in yourself always brings you closer to success.

Attending a preview screening with an overexcited five year old – and life-long Barbie fan – I have to say my daughter’s attention was held from start to finish. And while I may have had to contend with the little one jumping across the sofa and rolling around the living room floor, I also caught her taking a deep breath and closing her eyes when she was having trouble with a task at home – just like Barbie does in the film to visualise herself completing a complicated jump.. These kids pick up so much more than we think!

And of course, as expected, there’s a range of undercover agent toys from Mattel to go with the film. One guess what she’ll be waiting for her birthday present this year…

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.