Montreal families have a feast of great movies to enjoy this weekend, which is convenient since there’s rain in the forecast. The Muppets, Arthur Christmas and Hugo opened today, and they all received super reviews – so it looks like moms and dads are in for a treat, too. (Remember when we sat through the Chipmunks movie AND the Squeakquel a couple of years ago? That wasn’t a treat.) Keep reading to find out what ages these films are best suited for.

The Muppets

Hands up if you grew up watching the Muppets. Hands up if you would go see this movie even if you didn’t have kids. It’s so great to see our old friends again!  The Montreal Gazette’s review gives the movie 4 stars: ”An altogether charming, smart and strangely moving little movie, The Muppets prove you don’t need computers, digital animators or a giant budget to entertain the masses.”

Common Sense Media says it’s for age 5 and up. See Montreal showtimes.

Arthur Christmas

This animated Christmas tale, featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Bill Nighy and Hugh Laurie, focuses on how in the world Santa is going to deliver presents to billions of children in one night. Santa is being pushed aside by his son, who is planning a high-tech operation involving aerodynamic sleighs and battalions of elves.

Meanwhile, Santa’s father longs for the days when you only needed six reindeer. The Montreal Gazette’s review gives it 4 stars, saying it’s a wildly original film that celebrates old-fashioned values.

Common Sense Media says it’s for age 5 and up. See Montreal showtimes.

Hugo

This Martin Scorsese film is about an orphan boy who lives inside a clock at a Paris train station in 1930. The plot revolves around a special key, a mysterious past, and the history of filmmaking. The Montreal Gazette review gives it 4.5 stars, says the 3D effects are amazing and that there’s a twist in store: “There’s a secret in Hugo … that is like a good magician’s trick. It can’t be told, but it doesn’t matter anyway because the showmanship is so inspired.”

Note that the film runs more than two hours and is rated as being for age 8 and up, by Common Sense media. See Montreal showtimes.

Related posts:

1. Rango comes to Montreal
2. Should You Take the Kids To: Shrek Forever After
3. Should You Take the Kids to: Despicable Me?

Montreal families get a break at Cineplex movie theatres throughout the city this weekend, when free movies and discounted concessions will be offered as part of a fundraiser for the Starlight Foundation.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, cinema doors open at 8:30 a.m., and from 9 a.m. onward various family-targeted movies will be shown during the morning. The movies being shown include:

•  Yogi Bear (age 7+)
• Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (age 5+)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (age 12+)
• Green Lantern (12+)
• Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Gahoole (age 8+)

Here’s a list of participating cinemas. Click the links to see the movie schedules for Cineplex Community Day.

Scotiabank Cinema (downtown)
Cineplex Odeon Boucherville
Cineplex Brossard
Cineplex Odeon Dorion
Cineplex Cavendish Mall
Cineplex Odeon Place LaSalle
Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin
Cineplex Colisée Kirkland
Cineplex Colisée Laval
Cineplex Carrefour Angrigon
Cineplex Starcité Montreal

Related posts:

1. Movies: Family-Friendly Theatres and Screenings
2. This Just In: The Wiggles Live Show in Montreal
3. This Just In: Movies in the Park starts today

Update: The Happy Feet Two Passes are all spoken for. Thanks to those who entered!!

Mumble, the tap-dancing penguin is back, in the 3D sequel to the Academy Award-winning movie Happy Feet. And you can win tickets to an advance Montreal screening of Happy Feet Two right here.

Warner Bros. is offering I Spy Montreal readers five pairs of passes to the English Screening on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. at Scotiabank Theatre.

The movie

The sequel to Happy Feet, the Academy Award^®-winning animated smash hit, Happy Feet Two returns audiences to the magnificent landscape of Antarctica in superb 3D. Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic.  Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven — a penguin who can fly!  Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures — from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals — to put things right.

How to win tickets

Answer the contest question: What is the name of Mumble’s son?
How to enter: EMAIL YOUR ANSWER to ispymontreal at gmail.com to win one of five pairs of tickets. The first five with the correct answer will each win a pair of tickets.

Happy Feet  Two opens in 3D and 2D in select theaters and in IMAX on November 18, 2011.

www.happyfeettwo.com

Related posts:

1. Win Tickets to Geordie Productions’ The Little Prince
2. Tickets to Mom Com at Just for Laughs!

As you can see in the trailer, the kids work together and with educators to do something about graffiti in their neighbourhood. It looks like a really inspiring film for about age 6 and up.

Les Porteurs d’Espoir is being shown in French at Redpath Museum on Sunday, May 8 at 3 p.m. More information.

Related posts:

1. Redpath Museum Sunday Discovery Workshops
2. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Family Sundays
3. Toys at The McCord Museum

It’s serious and seriously cute. IMAX Born to Be Wild 3D opens Friday, April 8 in Montreal and reviewers are saying that this portrait of endangered animals manages to deliver an environmental message in an adorable way.

The film zeroes in on orangutans in Borneo and elephants in Kenya, looking at two rehabilitation centres that care for orphans and release them back into the wild. The orangutans’ natural habitat is being encroached on by palm oil producers, and the elephants are losing their parents to the ivory trade. Humans are both the villains and the heroes.

Though there are brief scenes of animals in distress, the film takes a light approach, and spotlights the animals’ human qualities and their relationships with their caregivers. “Born to Be Wild 3D is best taken as the perfect film to transition your kids from animation to live action fare – short, sweet, and educational,” reads a review from the Orlando Sentinel.

IMAX Born to be Wild 3D
The film lasts 40 minutes and is being shown in French and in English. Tickets can be ordered in advance online, or bought on site.
Location: IMAX Telus, Quays of the Old Port
Tickets:
Adult: $11.50
Age 13 to 17: $10.50
Age 4 to 12: $8.50
Family (2 adults, 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children): $36.

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