How A Movie From 1939 Could Save You From Financial Ruin

It’s a Twister Dorothy!That’s what they said towards the beginning of the classic movie, ” The Wizard of Oz”. Then, of course, all of the family ran for cover in the storm cellar, after they released the livestock and horses. Dorothy, didn’t make it to the shelter that afternoon, and Auntie Em was really worried.Well, I am right there with Auntie Em. The only difference is that the “twister” I am worried about is the effect baby boomers are going to have on the two pillars of security that we call Medicare and Social Security.

Now, that particular twister is going to do a lot more damage than the one in the movie. In the movie, little Dorothy’s house was pulled off it’s foundation, and dropped on the wicked witch all in one piece. The damage was minimal. At the end of the movie, Dorothy had a small lump on her head, but was otherwise un-harmed. All in all, there was a happy ending.The Baby Boom “twister” is real, and it is coming, and we had better start to get prepared. Especially since we are being forewarned once again.
The Social Security program, along with Medicare have, once again, been “reviewed” by their respective “Trustees” to determine how soon they will be insolvent. It would appear that Medicare will become insolvent around 2019, and Social Security will be broke sometime around 2041.
As a “card carrying member” of the Baby Boom generation, Medicare will be toast about seven years before I would be eligible for benefits. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to keep paying in to it knowing all of this.The Social Security Program, however; appears to have a little longer life span than Medicare. It wasn’t too long ago the date was predicted to be sometime in 2032. So, I guess I should be happy about that tidbit of good news, given the way Medicare is working out for me.
No matter how you look at it though, the message is pretty clear if you simply read between the lines. For those of you who don’t, please allow me to decipher for you:

The message is: Don’t Count On Us.Just like Dorthy discovered, the Great Wizard (the government) cannot really magically provide a heart for the Tin Man, or a brain for the Scarecrow, nor can he provide whatever actually puts the “hot” in Hottentot, otherwise known as Courage.

In fact, the Wizard pretty much told Dorothy and her companions that the very things they sought to obtain were already in their possession. They needed only to realize it and to believe it.Our government is, once again, telling us that we need to fend for ourselves because there is a storm coming, and we would be wise to get prepared if we hope to make it through. Not in so many words of course, but that’s about it in a nutshell.For me, that means we need to save our own money, become debt free as fast as possible, and be self sufficient. You know, all the things your Auntie Em ( your parents and Grandparents)probably told you were smart things to do with your money.
So, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
It is only me. But, if there really was a “wizard” , I suppose we would learn what we really already know; that the average American family can be come debt free without hurting their budget.
Furthermore and henceforth, from this day forward, they shall have the power to do so, if they realize that they cannot plan for their future while they are so busy paying for their past.
How much money you make is not as important as; how much of what you make will you actually keep? Getting out of debt is, without question, the single most important financial decision you must make in today’s world.
Maybe, we should listen to Auntie Em and not depend on Uncle Sam, especially if we want our story to have a happy ending?
�
�

Apart of Christmas tree, decorations, parties and gifts, there is something that adds a special atmosphere to the holiday season: Christmas movies.Almost all adults have sweet memories related to a Christmas movie; a movie that remains favorite and have – sometimes just for a second – a special flavour: the taste of childhood.We are now adults and know that movies related to Christmas create a fun atmosphere and also teach moral lessons to our children.When I was a child, the most watched Christmas movies in Belgium were 1950′s American movies (Hollywood style obviously) or French films.For twenty-five years, our society evolved and the quality of Christmas TV broadcasts in French-speaking Europe has decreased. Movies of Christmas Eve have generally been replaced by musical broadcasts whose quality was not the best. Lots of TV companies also tend to offer hundred times viewed movies: for instance, TVI will display Harry Potter 1 and 2 on December 24th while we were expecting watching Harry Potter 3 or 4…However, thanks to the Internet and DVD stores, I have the opportunity to watch the movies I love instead of those proposed by TV companies.Here are some examples of beautiful and/or humorous Christmas movies I love:”Bishop’s Wife”A nice movie in the Hollywood tradition!While working on plans to build a cathedral financed by a rich widow, Henry Broghaman, an Episcopal bishop neglects his family and prays for divine guidance.His prayers are heard and Dudley, an angel, is sent to help him. The mission of the angel is not to assist with the building, but in his relations with his family that he is neglecting.But Dudley falls in love with the bishop’s wife and Broghaman is jealous…French title of this movie is “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (Old English: shame upon him who thinks evil of it).”The sound of music”This movie tells the story of Maria, a young Austrian who was studying to become a nun. She was hired by Captain Von Trapp, a widower to be the governess to his seven children.The children were initially hostile to her but finally became her friends when she thaught them the joy of singing.Captain Von Trapp and Maria fell in love and get married. When the Nazis took power in Austria, Captain Von Trapp and his whole family fled the country and found refuge in Switzerland.This romantic musical comedy is one of French-speaking European favorite movies.”3615 Code Pere Noel”Thomas is a child who has everything: a mother who loves him, a cheeky grandfather, thousands of different and expensive toys.Thomas is a clever child and on Christmas Eve, while planning of catching, he communicates with him through the Minitel (the French ancestor of the instant messenger).Unfortunately, the alleged Santa Claus is a psychopath employee that his mother just laid off. A few hours later, the false Santa penetrates Thomas castle and the nightmare begins.The English title of this thriller is “Dial Code Santa Claus”"Le Pere Noel est une Ordure” (Santa Claus is a junk)”SOS Distress and Friendship” is a charity association run by Mrs Musquin. While she decided to celebrate Christmas Eve with her family, Pierre and Therese, will spend their evening the phone and try to give some hope to desperate people.They do not know that this Christmas Eve will get them into silly accidents as well as unannounced visits of desperate, and sometimes, dangerous people. The evening will turn into a humorous nightmare.The American remake of this movie is “Mixed Nuts”.”Scrooged”This is a modern adaptation of the Dickens tale. Francis Cross, who is the program director of a TV station, is a disagreeable person.During the Christmas Eve, three ghosts will take care of them and teach him how to become a pleasant person by showing him the good side of life.This movie is also a nice message that teaches to the world the real meaning of Christmas.”National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”The return of Griswold Family!25000 bulbs on the front of the house blinding the neighbors, unbearable related family, a burning Christmas tree, a charred Christmas turkey, hostile neighbors, a removed Christmas bonus and a lot of unexpected accidents, this is the Christmas of the Griswold family.I watched this movie for the first time in the late 80′s and never have enough of it!I even bought the DVD in order to have the opportunity to create a hysteric Christmas atmosphere any other day of the year!”Surviving Christmas”Tired of the customs associated with Christmas and New Year? What about being paid $250,000 to to celebrate a traditional Christmas Eve with an unknown person?Enjoy watching these movies and have a very Merry Christmas!

These days going to movies seems like it requires taking out a small loan. Not only are ticket prices hovering around $10 each but popcorn and soda are approaching prices that the oil companies would be proud of.

On top of this, you are expected to decipher the movie ratings which can seem rather foggy at times. Is a movie that’s rated PG suitable for your four-year-old? How about a PG-13 movie? Should a child really be 13 in order to see it?

When trying to figure out if a movie is suitable for your child the best place to start his understanding what the movie ratings mean.

The Motion Picture Association of America has five official ratings for movies. These are:

• G for general audiences
• PG for parental guidance suggested
• PG-13 for parental guidance strongly suggested for children under the ages of 13
• R for restricted to children under the ages 18 unless accompanied by adults
• NC-17 for no one 17 and under will be permitted into the theater.

You’re most likely to G rating on strictly children’s movies. These will be movies that have happy endings and are completely without violence or any sexually suggestive situations and language. These movies are absolutely safe to lets children of any age watch.

PG movies are more along the lines of a family film, something that both mom and dad and the kids will enjoy. PG films may have some low-level violence such as a fistfight, mildly sexually suggestive situations such as a kissing scene or is slightly stressful situations such as when the bad guy has the good guy in a tough spot. Most children over the age of eight are more than capable of handling situations they see on screen in PG films. Children under the age of eight may be either frightened by or unable to understand some of the situations that happened in a PG film, depending on the emotional age of the individual child.

PG-13 movies are meant for a slightly older audience than PG films. In PG-13 films you are likely to find higher levels of violence such as gunfights and blood, more sexually suggestive situations, though not overly sexual, such as long involved kissing or some fondling and more suspenseful and intense situations. PG-13 may also have explicit language such as curse words or descriptive sex words. Parents should think carefully and perhaps preview the movie before taking children under the age of 13 to the movie. That being said, most children over the age of 10 are capable of handling the situations and language seen in these movies.

R movies are meant for adults. Rated R movies may have extreme violence, sexually explicit situations, extremely intense situations or a lot of extreme language. R rated films may also show drug use or more serious criminal activity. Children under the age of 16 should not be permitted without adults. Technically, movie theaters are suppose to ID children and verify that they have an adult with them but most of the time this does not happen. Parents should probably not take children under the age of 10 to these movies. For children between the ages of 10 and 16, parents should give serious consideration as to whether or not the child is mature enough to handle situations found within the movie.

NC-17 is a relatively new rating. It was created to replace the generic X rating. It is unusual to find a movie in theaters with a rating of NC-17. Most filmmakers wish to avoid this rating as is considered by the public to be the same category as porn. While movies do receive the NC-17 rating due to extremely sexually explicit situations, the NC-17 rating is meant to help a movie viewer know the difference between a crafted movie with a developed plot and characters and a movie whose sole purpose is to show sexually explicit scenes.

Unofficially, there is a rating of X. This rating has been adopted by the pornography industry in order to indicate to a customer that the film they are buying contains extremely sexually explicit situations and has been made for the sole purpose of showing those sexual situations. As most porn movies are released straight to video or are shown on only a very limited release, they are not subject to the normal rating system.

With all movies, parents need to consider the emotional maturity of their children when deciding if a child is old enough to watch the movie. Now that you understand a little bit better about the movie rating system, you should feel little more comfortable about taking your children to the movies. That is of course, if you’ve taken out a large enough loan in order to cover the cost.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
review ฉ 2004 by Donna Schwartz Mills

Studio: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: PG for frightening moments, creature violence and mild language
Mom Rating: 5 out of 5
Kid Rating: 5 out of 5

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis
Writer: Steve Kloves
Director: Alfonso Cuar๓n

It’s shaping up to be a wonderful summer for family films.
Hot on the heels of “Shrek 2,” which is still breaking box
office records, we now have the third installment in the
“Harry Potter” series. I firmly believe that years from now,
our children will be showing these films to our
grandchildren with the same reverence we now hold for “The
Wizard of Oz”… only with Harry, we will ultimately have
seven classic fantasy adventures to enjoy.

Many Hollywood types were surprised when young hotshot
director Alfonso Cuar๓n accepted this job after the success
of his racy hit, “Y Tu Mama Tambien.” It was later revealed
that J.K. Rowling herself was such a fan of Cuar๓n’s filmed
version of “A Little Princess” that he was actually *her*
first choice to helm Harry’s debut. Chris Columbus ended up
bringing the first two novels to the screen, and some
critics lamented that Columbus was a little too faithful to
the books. There was much speculation that Cuar๓n would
bring a more daring touch to “Azkaban.” However, Columbus is
still on hand as a producer, and this film doesn’t veer too
far away from the world he already created for the screen.

The one big difference between this film and the previous
ones are that so much of the action takes place outside
Hogwarts castle, but that’s as much a reflection of
Rowling’s book as any decisions made by Cuar๓n.

“The Prisoner of Azkaban” is a transitional chapter in Harry
Potter’s story, bridging the wonder and discovery of the
first two books into the darker, more dangerous tone of
those that follow. Harry and his friends are now 13 years
old and fully experiencing the emotional ups and downs of
adolescence. Because of his tragic history and difficult
living situation, Harry’s feelings are a little more
intense. Where a normal teenager may have the urge to slam
a door in anger, the rage of a teen wizard can do some
actual harm (which he demonstrates to comic effect).

Once again, Harry arrives at Hogwarts under the vague threat
of mortal danger. Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), a legendary
murderer, has escaped from Azkaban prison, and we soon find
out that the entire wizarding world expects that Harry will
be his next victim. Searching for Black are the prison’s
creepy guards; ghostly creatures known as Dementors, who
disturbingly take an interest in Harry. In the course of the
year, Harry learns more about his past — and gets closer to
the understanding the circumstances that led to the death of
his parents, Lily and James.

Much of his new-found knowledge is provided by Professor
Lupin, a new teacher with a dark secret, portrayed by David
Thewlis. It turns out that like the dreaded Professor Snape
(Alan Rickman), Lupin was a classmate of Lily and James
Potter. Unlike Snape, he was their friend — and he takes
Harry under his wing.

The “Harry Potter” series seems to be employing the entire
population of good British actors. In addition to Thewlis
and Oldman (who are both wonderful), this film brings us
Emma Thompson as a flakey teacher of prognostication and
Julie Christie as a witchy pub owner. Michael Gambon
replaces the late Richard Harris as headmaster Albus
Dumbledore. Gambon’s is a more robust and mischievous
portrayal, and while he’s very good, Harris’ frailty brought
more poignance to the role.

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (as Harry,
Hermione and Ron) are growing into very attractive young
actors who can really carry the action, and director Cuar๓n
gets the most out of them. This is good, but it’s at the
expense of veterans Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and Alan
Rickman. Rickman makes the best of his diminished presence
by stealing every scene he is in with drippy malevolence.

Like the previous “Harry Potter” films, this one is rated PG
for some frightening moments, so parents should evaluate
whether their younger children can handle it or not. I felt
this one was a lot safer for the little ones because the
dangers Harry and his friends face are more psychological:
There is no face-off with the evil Voldemort (just wait
until movie #4!) and nothing as graphically scary as the
giant snake and spiders we saw in the last film. What you
have here are the spooky Dementors and a werewolf; if your
kids could handle “Scooby-Doo” without nightmares, they
should be fine with “The Prisoner of Azkaban.”

The movie feels a little more disjointed than the previous
two, which may be due to the need to condense the action
into 136 minutes (which is pretty long for a film these
days, especially one targeted to families). Potter fans may
miss some of the details revealed in the novel, and those
who aren’t familiar with the book may have a few moments
when they have trouble following the story. My eight-year-
old daughter, who enjoyed it very much, left with several
questions about what was motivating Professor Lupin and
Sirius Black. She wants to see it again… but in the
meantime, she is actually reading the book. A movie that is
entertaining *and* inspires your kids to read? There’s
nothing better than that…

Barbie is a firm favorite with girls. And fairy tales are another firm favorite that girls love to hear. Combining these two favorites you get the Rapunzel Barbie movie and the doll. The movie is a computer animated film where you get to see a fairy tale that is an adventure story. There is a moral that is interwoven into the movie but in general this movie is just plain fun.

When you are looking to choose which of the many versions of this story to watch any Barbie fan will most likely want to watch this movie. The doll that can be bought is yet another way that the enjoyment of the movie can be enhanced. As most of us know the story some people will feel that this Rapunzel Barbie movie will have no surprises.

Luckily this is not the case. While there are detractors of the movie it is for the most part a very nice movie to watch. You will find that the characters of this movie are not ones that are found in most of the fairytale version of this story. In this particular Rapunzel story there is a small purple dragon and a friendly hare to befriend Barbie. Her adventures are started with a magical paintbrush.

By using the paintbrush Rapunzel Barbie has the ability to begin living a life that she has been dreaming of. This movie uses the viewpoint of Barbie as she is telling her little sister. When you are thinking about buying this Rapunzel Barbie video you should consider the feelings of your various children. Since this movie lasts for about 80 minutes there is a possibility that your sons may lose interest and clamor for a more exciting video.

If you are lucky the young men in your family will enjoy seeing the dragons, the sword fights and even laugh at the various antics of the other characters. Your daughter may love to see the beautiful fashion show, the masked ball, and the adventures that Rapunzel Barbie goes through.

Additionally the voices of the talented actors and actresses make watching this Rapunzel Barbie a real treat. There are many other Barbie videos that you can consider buying or renting if the little princess in your family loves watching a movie like this. The doll and the movie make sure that your daughter has the ability of enjoying fairytales which are told from a different point of view. So the next time that you see a story about Rapunzel you may want to look for one that has Rapunzel Barbie as the main star.

According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Education, children spend an average of four to six hours daily watching TV or movies. That doesn’t mean, however, that screen time has to be wasted time. Parents can use TV programs and movies to their advantage – and actually get their children to like reading.

SFK Media Specially for Kids Corp., for instance, has developed a way to help children improve their reading, vocabulary and comprehension skills by watching movies. Reading Movies, part of SFK Media’s ReadEnt learning system, use a technology called “Action Captions” that makes each word appear on the screen as it is spoken.

The words appear out of the mouths of the speakers in real-time, with no disruption to the flow of the movie. These Action Captions are believed to activate the cognitive elements of the brain so that the development of both reading and spoken language skills takes place naturally.

The idea behind Reading Movies is that kids will develop their reading skills effortlessly – without even knowing it.

“When I first put the Reading Movies in, my kids sat down in front of the TV to view it and I was in awe,” said Annetta Jones, an educator and reading specialist in Florida. “They became so caught up in the entertaining action of the movie that they did not even realize that they were reading out loud.”

Reading Movies are based on such timeless classics as “The Trojan Horse,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “Tales of Gulliver’s Travels.”

The movies have proven to help children at all reading levels reinforce vocabulary and related concepts, according to SFK Media. In fact, a single interactive Reading Movie can be used again and again over a period of years to develop different sets of skills.

“With this program, I see a world where parents might say, ‘Stop hanging around playing, go and watch a movie; you need to improve your reading,’” said Ronald Brown, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Sunderland in England.