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Tangled Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack Giveaway from Sam’s Club

October 7, 2011 By

Disney's Tangled Blu-Ray

Every Friday night, we have takeout or frozen pizza, and have video game or movie night, depending on what we’re in the mood for.  We even eat right in the living room, using our coffee table as a makeshift kitchen table, and the kids get to have root beer or lemonade with their pizza, instead of the usual milk. It’s a treat for them, and it’s much less cleanup afterwards!

Thanks to Sam’s Club and Jenn Sbranti (Editor-in-Chief and founder of Hostess with the Mostess), I have some great tips to make Family Movie Night even better. I also have tips I found at About.com for throwing a Rapunzel party to go along with watching Tangled!

1. SETTING THE MOOD
Get creative with a few fun (and EASY!) decorations inspired by your feature presentation. Example: for a Star Wars viewing party, turn off all the lights, hang white string lights across the room and scatter some glow-in-the-dark stars around the coffee table to help bring the “galaxy” to life in your own living room. For a Tangled party, insert battery-operated tea lights or glow sticks inside paper lanterns.

2. DELICIOUS DRINKS
Sip creative, themed drinks inspired by the movie of the night, such as “Yoda Soda” (lime sherbet + lemon-lime soda) or “Frozen Jedi Juice” for a screening of Star Wars.  To make “Frozen Jedi Juice”, partially freeze your favorite flavor of juice or koolaid and serve it “slushy style” from cups embellished with the phrase “May the Freeze be with you.”  For a Tangled party, think of the scene where Flynn and Rapunzel go to the Snuggly Duckling pub, and serve root beer in mugs.

3. THEMED TREATS
Think outside the popcorn box and serve up clever treats named after elements of the movie, such as “Darth Cheddars” (grilled cheese sandwiches) or “Storm Trooper Sundaes“. Make edible “Light Sabers” by dipping pretzel rods in colored candy melts or tinted white chocolate. After the candy has dried, wrap one end of the “light saber” with tin foil to create the “handle”.

For all your Family Movie Night needs, Sam’s Club has great deals on televisions, home theater sound systems, blu-ray players, and of course, drinks and snacks.  Stop by Sam’s Club before your next Family Movie Night to stock up!

WIN IT: Thanks to Sam’s Club, one lucky MomReviews reader will win the Tangled Blu-Ray/DVD Combo pack!

MAIN ENTRY: For your main entry, visit the Sam’s Club homepage, browse around, then come back and leave a comment telling me something you learned on the site. This must be done before any bonus entries will count.

ENTRY DATES AND RULES: Enter by October 21st 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Open to U.S. mailing addresses only. The winner will be chosen using the “And The Winner Is” plugin and emailed for their mailing address and daytime phone number (for package tracking). Shipping will be handled by the PR firm organizing the giveaway. MomReviews is not responsible for lost or stolen prizes.

BONUS ENTRIES: Earn a bonus entry for each of the following that you do or have done. Leave a separate comment for each-

  • Subscribe to the MomReviews feed in a reader or by email using the convenient RSS button in the sidebar. Leave a comment telling me which way you subscribed. (1 entry)
  • Stumble or Digg this post or use any of the social bookmarking buttons at the end of the post to bookmark it. Leave a comment with the URL for EACH site where you bookmarked the post. (1 entry for each site you submit this post to)
  • Like this giveaway on Facebook using the Like button at the bottom of the post, leave a comment letting me know. (1 entry)
  • Add the giveaway URL to any blog contest linky. You get one bonus entry for each site where you link the giveaway! Leave a comment for each that includes the URL of the linky site. (1 entry for each)
  • Follow @MomReviews on Twitter and tweet the giveaway by using the retweet button at the bottom of the post or by copy/pasting this message: I’m entering to win the Tangled Blu-Ray/DVD Combo pack from @MomReviews. Ends 10/21, 11:59 pm EST. http://bit.ly/nlqYWM You can tweet once per day, leave a separate comment for each with your tweet URL. (1 entry per day)

THESE ARE WORTH THREE ENTRIES. LEAVE THREE NUMBERED COMMENTS FOR EACH THAT YOU DO:

  • Connect to Me! Become a Google Friend Connect Fan of mine using the button in the footer and let me know in each comment
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  • “Like” MomReviews on Facebook by clicking the “like” button in the footer and let me know in each comment. My page loves having fans! :)

THESE ARE WORTH FIVE ENTRIES. LEAVE FIVE NUMBERED COMMENTS FOR EACH THAT YOU DO:

  • Link to MomReviews on your sidebar or grab my button from the sidebar and post it on your blog. Leave five separate, numbered comments with the URL.
  • Blog about the giveaway with a link back to this post. Leave five separate, numbered comments with the URL.

NOTE: Spam stinks. Comments left with keywords instead of a real first name or blog name will be DELETED, no exceptions. Comments that do not follow the main entry rules will also be deleted, no exceptions.
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I’ll choose the winner using the “And the Winner Is” plugin on October 22nd, announce it by editing the post, and email the winner for their mailing address. Shipping will be handled by the sponsor. Thanks for entering and good luck everybody!

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Search For Santa Paws (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

December 9, 2010 By

The Search for Santa Paws from Disney is a direct follow-up to last year’s Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws.  There are three stories going on simulataneously – Santa and his new puppy Paws (who starts out as a stuffed dog and is enchanted to become real) go to New York to find out why kids there have lost their Christmas spirit, Mr. and Mrs. Huckle who have inherited a toy store and need to turn a profit by Christmas, and an orphanage for girls run by a lady who hates Christmas and doesn’t allow toys or singing.

The movie does have some dark moments. Santa gets hit by a taxi in New York and then mugged, and when the thief steals the magic crystal necklace that connects him to the North Pole, he gets amnesia and forgets who he is. The orphanage lady locks the girls in the basement for punishment and takes any toys the girls get and puts them in an incinerator, and when she steals Paws’ magic crystal, he is turned into a stuffed dog and is also tossed in the incinerator (but don’t worry, one of the orphans bravely rescues him just in time).

But there are also a lot of happy moments in the movie. Santa takes a job working at the Huckle’s toy store as their store Santa and soon it’s the most popular toy store in New York. Paws bands together with a group of cute street dogs to find Santa, and two of the orphans find a new family. And Paws is just the cutest fluffiest dog you’ll ever see! My 5 year old wasn’t at all bothered by Santa getting hurt or by the orphanage scenes, she was focused on all the dogs.

One thing I want to mention is that although this movie has dogs in it, and Santa Paws from last year’s Santa Buddies movie, it does NOT have the rest of the Buddies in it. What it does have is a lot of cute kids, cute dogs, and cute songs. Once you get past the first few scenes of unpleasantness, it’s a heartwarming story of the importance of believing in Christmas.

Bonus Features:

  • English, French and Spanish language tracks
  • An interactive Animated Pop-Up Book- ‘Buddies’ puppy star Rosebud reads a holiday story featuring new canine friends from The Search for Santa Paws
  • Sing-Along Mode- colorful lyrics added to the film’s song sequences, so audiences can sing along to the films’ fantastic new songs
  • Music Video- tween favorite Debby Ryan (Disney Channel’s Suite Life on Deck) performs a great new arrangement of ‘Deck the Halls’
  • Deleted scenes

Kaitlyn and I have watched The Search for Santa Paws three times now and we find it adorable every time! Highly recommended for purchase or rental.

Filed Under: BLU-RAY and DVD Reviews, Featured Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Movies That Are Scary AND Educational!

October 27, 2010 By

Considering that the most frequent sound to come out of a horror movie character’s mouth is a blood-curdling scream, vocabulary may not be the first thing you think of in relation to fright flicks. However, don’t let the funhouse mirror distort the unexpected ways these films have contributed to the popular lexicon. Whether these films make you scream, cry or quiver, you’ll be sure to learn something thrilling along the way.

Spook your lexicon – and your nerves – into overdrive, and keep your Dictionary.com app handy for the following picks:

The Exorcist – This controversial masterpiece not only redefined horror movies, but has also given people nightmares and nausea since 1973 and introduced us to the term pneumoencephalogram.

The Silence of the Lambs – When Dr. Hannibal Lecter insists, “Enthrall me with your acumen,” we can’t help but be enthralled with his. We also have Dr. Lecter to thank for some perverse culinary education – fava beans and Chianti will never taste the same.

The Shining – Stephen King’s imagination for horror + Stanley Kubrick’s cerebral filmmaking + Jack Nicholson’s sardonic wit = neuron-firing chills. Kudos to a film that makes ten words – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” – one of the most terrifying moments in cinema. Alas, you won’t find “redrum” in any mainstream dictionary.

Jaws – Sure, those of us who were kids in 1975 are now afraid to swim in a pool, but this classic may have done more to generate interest in Carcharodon carcharias than all Shark Week episodes combined. When we weren’t being traumatized, we were educated on the animals’ extreme territoriality as well as nautical and medical terminology.

Scream – A clever plot and satirical dialogue set this one apart within the otherwise mind-numbing teen slasher genre. Randy offers insight into the killer’s actions: “It’s the millennium, motives are incidental.” We dare you to find a line like that in any of the Friday the 13th films.

Suspiria – This English-dubbed, gruesome 1977 Italian Dario Argento classic revolves around unusual words that inspire the viewer to look them up, when you aren’t too busy gasping in terror.

Videodrome – From what we can determine, the only film included in our Quotes section is David Cronenberg’s early, visionary work. Phrases, concepts, even the names of characters play off of word meanings. And who can forget the grotesque yet mesmerizing imagery and the young James Woods’ intensity?

The Omen – We have to give this film credit simply for making its title, a useful and sophisticated term, ubiquitous in popular vocabulary. For better or worse, the series also deserves credit for perpetuating concepts such as the Anti-Christ and the apocalypse.

Alien – This film put Sigourney Weaver on the map and put us into a state of nightmare for about a week. Nevertheless, those with the intestinal fortitude to see past the blood were enlightened by discussions of evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, and corporate politics. The film’s 1979 movie poster corrected a scientific fallacy perpetuated by Star Wars – “In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream…”

Psycho – This masterpiece brought the oedipal complex out of the English classroom and made it something so scary that we were afraid to shower. Norman Bates lulls us into a false sense of security with his discussions of taxidermy and armchair philosophy before forever proving that men dressed as old ladies can indeed be terrifying.

Bet you never thought about those movies as helping you learn vocabulary, did you? LOL

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: , ,
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