Finding Dory - Movie Review

Who's In It?

Ellen DeGeneres, Ed O'Neill, Diane Keaton, and Idris Elba


What's It About?

Dory has a dream about her lost family, and decides to drag Nemo and Marlin across the sea to find them.

Any Good?

I grew up on Finding Nemo and have seen it at least 20 times, so you can imagine I was pretty anti-sequel to one of the most important films of my childhood.

One of the things that swayed me was the return of the original voice actors - this is usually a good sign, and they didn't sound any less into it than for Nemo. One of the new highlights was Ed O'Neill as Hank the Septopus - he sounded even more exasperated and TV-style old man than on Modern Family.

This is very much a film of two halves - one in the water and one out. While out of the water does look good and has life in it, it has nothing on the sea of Nemo, but then again neither does the ocean unfortunately. The ocean itself only has about a quarter screen time, but it feels like a rushed checkup on familiar friends and tries to cram as many different water biome types in just not enough time.

Surprisingly for a sequel the story was great on it's own with vastly different locations and situations, as well as original characters. Some of the friends such as the sealions and Becky the bird are cleverly done, but my favourite has to be either Destiny the blind shark or the annoying clam (voiced by the director!).

A pleasant surprise from the land of cash-in sequels, Finding Dory felt like it had feeling put into it. The voice actors were brilliant and had not one phone-in, and for the first time in a long while I felt the heart of hand drawn animation styles in computer animation. 

Definitely go see it if you liked the original (who didn't???), and stay after the credits for a nice surprise.


Rating: 

The BFG - Movie Review!

Who's In It?

Jemaine Clement, Ruby Barnhill, and Mark Rylance

What's It About?

Sophie is an orphan who's kidnapped by a giant at the witching hour of 3 o' clock, and discovers that not all giants are child eating brutes.

Any Good?

The trailers looked very dark for children, but it was Steven Spielberg so I kind of just assumed it was his style - and I was pleasantly surprised.

I absolutely loved some of the CGI in this, while it does try a little too hard to be Harry Potter in some of the scenes (including an odd, almost cheap, knock-off style HP song) but what really stood out to me was the dreams; bright and vibrant wisps that formed almost Zoetrope-style animations.

They have Zoetropes in Disneyland Paris!

The BFG himself was almost perfect, even his subtle lip twitches and eye movements were mapped really well, but his voice was incredible. The entire film I was repeating to myself to remember to Google it, and it was none other than the winner of last years Best Supporting Actor Oscar - Mark Rylance!

The actress for Sophie was good, especially considering her script seemed to be written to be as annoying as possible. In one scene her character asks about 4 questions in a row and starts EVERY SINGLE ONE with "Hey BFG". She was impressive for her age, even with the bar set by Neel Sethi of The Jungle Book.

Images really don't do the animation justice

The BFG was fairly new to me, when I was of age to read Roald Dahl books myself I was reading things like Goosebumps or The Hobbit (explains a fair bit tbf); so to me it was a bit all over the place for the first 3/4. The last quarter with the Queen however reminded me a lot of King Edward from MacBeth, and the idea he was God (thanks A2 in Leaving Cert English!). 

Overall the BFG was enjoyable - it was a little dark and Spielberg which made the story a bit odd, but the visuals were beautiful. Honestly I'd probably wait to see this in HD or on Blu-Ray just to see the animation and dreams in a more vibrant resolution. 

Rating: 

The Jungle Book 2016 - Movie Review!

Who's In It?


Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, and Neel Sethi

What's It About? Mowgli has been raised by wolves in the jungle, it's all he knows but when the tiger, Shere Khan declares he'll kill as many as it takes to exact his revenge on the man-cub for past wrongs, young Mowgli embarks for the man-village with Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear. This Disney classic remake runs true to form. Bill Murray as Baloo - or is that Baloo as Bill Murray - you decide! Any Good? I don't think I've ever been as blown away by as film as this one. I don't hold much truck with remakes and as they go, this holds a very special place in my heart. I grew up watching The Jungle Book every Saturday with my Grandad, so I was sure it was going to be awful and quite possibly a cash in; but nostalgia was left behind almost immediately. The visuals are INCREDIBLE, just as good as IMAX/Blu-Ray Avatar's were (I actually went back and watched just it for this review), only for the colours are more muted - even more so by the 3D glasses (a bugbear of mine). The animals' lip-syncing is spot on for the entirety, and the voice acting done so well that they leave behind any worry that the characters will just be vessels for the voices. Once the first character speaks, you're right there in the jungle with them. JUST LISTEN TO IT - EPIC The soundtrack is a 10/10 for me, while there's only 2 real songs featured, the score in general was absolutely perfect. The new Bear Necessities is epic, John Debney and his orchestra did a fantastic job of making Disney's most iconic song incredibly powerful and all without lyrics. Christopher Walken singing I Wanna Be Like You was made even more charming by the fact he can't sing, but he forever changed the way I sing the song to myself and will change the way you do too ooh ooh. Speaking of Walken, I LOVED his King Louie; his infamous cadence, singing voice, and just how colossal he was. He would have stolen the show for me, if it weren't for Neel Sethi playing Mowgli. I don't usually like child actors, but he's easily the best actor so far this year and this is his first film. His mannerisms, his reactions (to green screen no less) - he's a star! Every voice pitched perfectly, especially Bill Murray as Baloo and Ben Kingsley as Bagheera. They were perfectly cast, and played off each other so well, with Bagheera keeping Baloo straight and narrow - just how I'd imagine Ben would with messer Bill in real life. I think my biggest disappointment was Scarlett Johansson not getting more time as Kaa, she was quite literally mesmerising, so apt for the hypnotic serpent. I fell in love with her voice in Her (review HERE); her dulcet tones were even better in this - Johansson is proof ASMR is a thing. I fell in love with how this newest Jungle Book was shot, there'd be gorgeous sweeping scenes of amazing CGI, landscape and animals, broken up by the totally menacing Shere Khan or even by the incredible "Red Flower"; it's a truly beautiful film. It felt Lord of the Rings-ish in scale nearer the end for me, and I think you'll know what I mean when you see King Louie. Jon Favreau made his masterpiece with this but I really think the achievement is out-shone by Neel Sethi's potential. I recommend it in 2D as we saw it in 3D and only the end credits justified the encumbrance of glasses, while it sadly darkened the rest of the film. A word of note to parents of young'uns though, there's a reason this isn't a Universal rating, little ones might just find the menacing characters a little much. It doesn't matter how old you are or if you have kids, or how many iterations of The Jungle Book you've seen to date - get out to the cinemas and be amazed by this Disney marvel. Rating:

Disney at Christmas ~ Watch the Magic Happen Live!

You might remember we told you about The Art of Saying Yes when it comes to travel when Corrina shared THIS incredible Disney bargain a couple of weeks ago. Well the elves on the shelves of the Stone household have spent the past fortnight building up to the big reveal ~ those cheesy grins above are the exact moment our mini travel reporters discovered they'd be flying out to Disney Land Paris!

We've shown you how to make your Disney dreams come true without breaking the bank in THIS POST, staying true to Corrina's Prada Travel on a Primark Purse tag line, but should you want to see the magical Parisian goings on as they happen from the comfort of your own couch then simply take a peek at her Snapchat over at @StoneTravel where she'll be updating daily.

Not gonna lie. I'm GREEN with the jealousy!

Have you been to Disney at this time of the year before? Any hints or tips you'd like to share? 

Just Say YES - The Art of Bagging a Good Travel Deal When You See One!

As most of you know we have 5 small children, it's been a dream of mine to bring them to Disneyland Paris before Christmas for a long time but it always seems to be so expensive. We have been to Disney a few years ago & seen the Christmas lights but we went after Christmas. READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE as I’ve a few hints & tips to help save you a few Euro ~ this is to date one of our most popular Travel posts. As much as we adored our stay, I think it’d be that little bit more magical in the run up to Christmas; that's why when I wrangled this deal I knew we had to just say YES!

I priced it directly with Disney on the Irish website & it was €1,116.28 for hotel & park tickets 3 nights / 4 days. I jumped over to the French site (just change the website address from .ie to .fr) to see what deals they had & I got a price of €597, nearly HALF the price. Once on the French site, if you are on a laptop or PC right mouse click, then click “Translate to English”. 

The reason I got it for this price as the deal currently on the French site is under 12’s go free and an extra night free. They usually have different deals on different countries websites; it’s just a matter of checking them all out before you book. You can't book online with the French site you must call the French reservations line 00331 60306053 and request the French deal. If you use the Irish number you get through to the USA, where they can only book deals from the Irish, UK & US sites.

We will be staying in Davy Crockett's Ranch so we have to have a car because it's not located on the Disney campus but 10 minutes down the Motorway with no shuttle bus. I was looking around for the best deals on 7 seater cars & got a quote with Thrifty car rental for €290 for 4 days. When I was on the phone booking Disney they offered to search for a competitive deal for me, low and behold they got me a car with Hertz for €276.

I booked Ryanair flights from Dublin to Beauvais for €405 but with 2 bags, taxes & charges it brought it up to €465. We don't need to rent car seats or buggies as you can check in two items of baby equipment free with all children not just babies with Ryanair. We usually drive to the airport then take out the children’s car seats, wrap them in a blanket to protect them & put in a thick black bag. I tape them shut with wide sellotape and attach a luggage tag that I write on half an a4 page. Just remember to throw the bags & tape into your bag to bring with you so you can do the same for the return journey.

So all in all 7 if us for 3 nights / 4 days in Disney with park tickets, hire car, flights, bags, taxes, charges it cost me €1,338.

How could I NOT say YES to that?!

I didn't opt into any meal plan as there’s a huge supermarket between Davy Crockett's and Disney so we'll pick up breakfast & lunch there. Oh and free parking in Disney is also included. Now I just have to come up with a way of telling them closer to the time; I might let their Elf on the Shelf, Jingles McSprinkles tell them!

This year there are lots of events in Disneyland Paris that’ll be sure to get you in the festive mood such as Disney Christmas Parade, Disney Dreams of Christmas with Frozen characters, Mickey’s Magical Christmas Lights, Frozen sing along show & a Royal Welcome, Christmas Wishes with the Disney princes & princesses and a Very Merry Meet & Greet with Santa & Disney Characters. We’ll try our best to do them all in December. I’ll be tweeting from @stonetravel4, uploading to my Facebook page Stone Travel & even snapchatting what we get up to @stonetravel.

Have you ever just said YES to a great travel deal?

Care to share your story, hints or tips?

Inside Out - Movie Review

Who's In It?

Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Richard Kind


What's It About?

When 10 year old Riley moves to San Francisco, emotions Sadness and Joy get lost inside her mind after trying to save a core memory.

Any Good?

Inside out is one of the most original ideas for a "children's" movie from Pixar I've seen since I was a child watching Toy Story and The Lion King on repeat in playschool, and probably the one I most enjoyed since the former.

The characters were absolutely brilliant, my favourite had to be Sadness - a mix of Tina Belcher and Phyllis from the Office (who voiced her!). Her voice was absolutely perfect for the character, and fit so well with Amy Poehler as Joy who had AMAZING hair. All the emotions were brilliant, especially the father's Anger.

The adventure through her mind was clever and funny, with things like the Train of Thought which constantly got derailed, and a special cameo from my brother as Riley's imaginary boyfriend, while the real life parts were funny in themselves with the father being a total sap and the mother being exasperated with him.

The most original film I've seen all year, it's certainly better than any of the films Pixar has put out since 2010. Funny and totally emotional (ironically enough), and with a clear and universal message of "it's okay to feel how you feel, we all feel like that sometimes", it makes for a perfect addition to Pixar films like Brave, and I definitely recommend it for old or young.

Rating: 

Tomorrowland - Movie Review

Who's In It?

Raffey Cassidy, Britt Robertson, George Clooney, and Hugh Laurie


What's It About? 

When trying to sabotage a NASA launch pad deconstruction, Casey Newton is arrested and released later that night. With a pin that transports her to another world, she tries to get back to this better future.

Any Good? 

The opening credits of this film named Brad Bird as director and listed his best such as The Incredibles and Finding Nemo as his past works, which really set a high bar for Tomorrowland - one which it couldn't reach even with its jetpacks.

One film that this reminded me a lot of was Sharkboy and Lavagirl (take that for what you will) with the way it was so clearly directed at children at first. Teenager fighting the man and the government but it gets so preachy near the end; like Birdemic Bridge Troll preachy.

Filename: Get_Off_My_Bridge.png

I noticed a lot of the film was "influenced" from other Sci-Fi media, it had things like the Infinite Improbability Drive from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy built into a Bioshock transport capsule that brought you to Vancouver from Mass Effect 3 - when I noticed it was a lot of references the film got a little better for me.

Add skyrails for Tomorrowland

Not much to see here for anyone over the age of maybe 15, but below will absolutely ADORE it, the end is built perfectly for them. What felt like budget actors instead of the ones they wanted resulted in odd acting in some places and a 25 year old woman (who CLEARLY looked it) as a teenager. After seeing it in 2D I can tell it was made for 3D, so pack off the communion kids to see it with their heavy pockets as of late and they'll love it.

Rating: 

Disneyland Paris - Making Dreams Come True - A Budget Trip That Feels Anything But

Today we're going to discover the magic of Disneyland Paris. High on the wishlist of most little 'uns and some big 'uns too, we're dispelling the myth that it always costs a fortune to make Disney dreams come true. 

(Little known fact: Our eldest Bro (BattleDad) was part of the first ever Euro Disney crew all the way back in 1992. We weren't at all jealous that he got to test out the parks before everyone else. NOT AT ALL) 

Cinderella’s Castle

My mantra for travelling anywhere is 'book it yourself' as most times you do save a quite a few Euro that would be better off in your pocket than a travel agent's. By all means check the prices with them too, just so you know where the better deal is but when it comes to real savings: BIY!

Flights: Case in point, Disneyland Paris, there are a couple of airports you can fly into & having used both I can, hand on heart, say that Charles de Gaulle is the only one you should use, so that means an Aer Lingus flight...pppsssttt they have a sale on at the moment! We usually pay about €100pp return

The only argument is, who gets the window seat?!

How to get to Disneyland: Easy really, get the train from the airport! There are two options here, you can get the TGV, a more expensive, faster train (about 10 minutes) that will bring you direct to Marne-La-Vallee Chessy (Disney) prices start at €36 per adult, €9 4-11yrs, under 4 free on your knee return but these prices can go to over €70pp return, depending on the time of the train you get. Further info on these prices can be found HERE.

It's slightly cheaper to take the ordinary train RER B (blue line) to Chatelet Les Halles (Paris) and then transfer to RER A (red line), there is usually no major pain in transferring as the RER A is on the same level just on the next track over. Travel time is about an hour. All train tickets can be bought at the train station/automated machines in the airport.

You could also get a taxi which costs about €50/€60 & travel time of about 45 minutes but we'd rather save that money for shenanigans. 

Monsters Inc. Disney

Where to stay & how to book: 

Having stayed in both of the two key rated hotels in the park (Hotel Santa Fe & Hotel Cheyenne) I wouldn't bother going with their higher rated counterparts, save your money for treats. 

Both of the themed hotels we stayed in were perfect, large clean rooms & a free regular shuttle bus from the front of the hotel to the main park gates. Otherwise it’s about a 15-20 minute stroll. We always book through www.disneylandparis.ie and usually pay around €460 for 2 adults & 3 children for 2 nights B&B & 3 days in the parks. 

Keep an eye out as Disney has regular offers such as under 12s stay & play free, free meals or extra nights free.

Themed Hotels at Disney

Oldsmobile Disney

During check-in at your hotel you will be given cards with your time slot for breakfast each morning, whatever you do don’t miss that slot or you’ll miss breakfast. Meals can be ridiculously expensive (it was over €70 for a family lunch in an average fast food restaurant) do like everybody else does & stock up on those bread rolls with ham & cheese at breakfast. 

If you're clever, you’ll bring a lunch box with you for your bag, make them at the breakfast table & pop them in your bag for lunch in the park. You can get mayonnaise sachets at the food stalls in the park for putting on your rolls. Who wants to spend precious family time queuing in mile long queues for overpriced fast food anyway?  

 Reception at the Tower of Terror! (One of the adults favourites BY FAR)

When to go: We usually go the first week in January as it’s so much cheaper, the Christmas decorations are up until 6^th Jan & there are far fewer queues. It does tend to be cold so bring your woolies and wrap up well but there's something unmistakably magical about the place while it's still Christmas time. 

You'll find prices increase slowly as January goes on with huge price hikes from February onward. 

Snug as bugs!

There are tons of rides & amusements to keep the family entertained all day long. When you check into your hotel you’ll get a map of the parks and it’s best to try to make some sort of plan as to what you want to see & do during your short stay. Throughout the day, the Disney characters make appearances in the parks & hotels for meet & greets with children, these times & places will be put on notice boards in your hotel.  

The magic really happens at night when the parade comes down Main Street. It’s really wonderful to see & your children will remember it for years. Just get there early to get a good vantage point. There is also a great light show at Cinderella’s Castle so don’t miss that!

Cinderella’s Fairytale Castle

Hints & Tips: 

• The shops are very expensive in Disney so we had a scout around over here before we went & brought toys & Disney costumes with us to give the little ones while there. The only things we really bought in the shops were the themed lolly pops! For our flight I bought Mickey Mouse party bags in Mr Price & filled them with mini colouring books, crayons, lollies & a small toy to keep them amused. 

• Bring an extra battery for your camera, likewise an extra memory card as you’ll soon run out! They have a camera shop on Main Street in the Park but it’s crazy money. You can buy these very cheaply from ebay or amazon before you go.

• Just outside the main entrance there is a shop in the train station where you can buy drinks to take into the park.

• Aim to get to the park at about 9:30 each morning otherwise there are huge queues. Not as ridiculous as later in the year but you'll still be in for a lengthy wait unless you start early. Fastpass is available for some of the bigger rides, I'd highly recommend you use it!

• If you're a big coffee drinker you might consider taking a flask with you & fill it up at breakfast as a coffee is €4+ in the park. Restaurants can get very busy, even in off season so if you see that your little one is starting to get hungry head for food as the last thing you want is a hangry child (or parent)!

• Bring their favourite Disney dress up costumes with them to wear. They'll feel even more part of the magic around them. We like to bring Disney jammies too (you'll always find character favourites in Penney's) so at bath and bedtime there's no fuss about getting changed. 

It's true that a Disney trip can cost a small (or even a large) fortune, especially when you're bringing more than one child, but it needn't. We've found with these little tweaks that the children still have the trip of their dreams and we don't come home to a credit card bill of our nightmares. 

Tell us, have you been to Disneyland Paris, any hints or tips of your own?