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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Seeing the ‘Smurfs' movie with my daughter took me right back to Saturday morning cartoons
The new film brought back childhood memories for the adults. Hello, Yahoo readers. I'm Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade. I'll be the first to tell you I'm no hardcore cinema buff. Since I had a child, though, I've made it a point to see as many kid-friendly movies as possible. Maybe it's because I'm a big kid ✔ and love a cheerful ending ✔. But also, as a busy working parent, is there greater joy than getting two hours to turn off your phone and put up your feet while your child is fully entertained?! So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old child + friends seeing family-friendly fare, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all to you about the experience. Welcome to Kids' Movie Club. Now playing: Sometimes my kid picks the movie we sit down to watch, like Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires and A Minecraft Movie. Other times, it's my inner child calling the shots — the one who grew up religiously watching The Smurfs during Saturday morning cartoons back in the day. I may groan about the sequels and remakes now playing these days, but there's a certain comfort in familiarity. The two moms I went to the theater with also felt that nostalgic pull. As I reclined my seat and dropped my hand into the greasy popcorn bowl (hey, didn't I say no butter?), I'm taken right into that world — in this case, the one where little blue creatures, three apples high, live in a colorful, hidden mushroom village and dodge villains in patched robes with feisty cats. Yes, this mostly animated, part-live-action flick is one as much for the grown-ups as the kids. Case in point: Rihanna voices Smurfette and debuts new music. That flew right over the heads of the 6-year-olds in the theater, but the adults and the Rih Navy? Very aware. There are also bleeped bad words and Smurfette talking about what happens to 'handsy' men. There are jokes about forgetting to unmute on work video calls and, for '80s kids, a cover of '80s goddess Belinda Carlisle's hit 'Heaven Is a Place on Earth.' In the PG flick, clocking in at 1 hour, 29 minutes and featuring a star-studded voice cast, the kids enjoyed the free-flowing humor throughout. Though, for the other original watchers, not from Jokey Smurf, who's apparently been retired from the crew. A character giving everyone exploding boxes lands different in 2025. There's also an uplifting message about finding your purpose, as No Name (voiced by James Corden) tries to discover what he's good at — just like Brainy, Hefty and the rest of the largely blue man crew. The plot 🎬 The story jumps, skips and detours into chaos, but here's the general idea: No Name gets magical abilities from a talking book named Jaunty (Amy Sedaris). He shows them to Papa (John Goodman) — I've found my thing! — and in doing so alerts Gargamel's even more sinister brother Razamel (both wizards voiced by JP Karliak) as to the location of the Smurfs' village. Papa Smurf gets Smurfnapped, prompting Smurfette and No Name to go on a Smurfs world tour — to France, Germany and Australia — to try and get him back. Along the way, they meet a dizzying number of new characters — Papa's brother Ken (Nick Offerman), friend Ron (Kurt Russell), the furry but fierce Snooterpoots, the Alliance of Evil Wizards and the International Neighborhood Watch Smurfs — who require an org chart to keep straight. Our viewing party 🍿 Three moms, three 10-year-old girls and my husband, who slept through a good portion of the film but somehow remembered every plot point better than the rest of us. The theater was out of blue slushies, but we survived — like true '80s latchkey kids who got themselves up, fixed their own breakfast (Smurf Berry Crunch, anyone?) and made it to school on their own. It was a cozy scene: My daughter had won Smurf plushies for the other kids in a claw machine while on vacation, so they all had those friends. (More stuffies! 🙄) One girl even brought her blanket from home. Parts that had the kids talking 👧🏻👧🏻👧🏻 Smurfette didn't have that much to do beyond being supportive, but the kids were still stans. They enjoyed learning her backstory about Gargamel making her from clay to sow discord among the Smurfs. She later had a mic-drop moment with the villains, saying just because she was created by someone bad doesn't mean she has to be: 'Who I am is up to me.' Other Smurfette highlights included when she momentarily had an orange beard, stress ate all the fries and told the baddies that they needed therapy and a hug. Sound Effects Smurf (Spencer X) got laughs — especially now that the kids are of the age where they know most curse words — beeping out words like: 'I don't know what the [bleep] I was thinking' and 'Kick [bleep] Smurf.' Razamel's eventual takedown had them howling: He was sent airborne, and his clothes flew off. Other hits: Azrael (Rachel Butera) being turned into a gryphon to help Gargamel escape the castle and the dance numbers. I mean, when isn't a dance party to Rihanna a good idea? 'Please Don't Stop the Music' — ever. Parts that had the adults talking 👩🏻👩🏻👩🏻🙎🏻♂️ The sequence with Smurfette and No Name moved through different animation styles, including Claymation and an old-school video game. It was an animator's flex. Natasha Lyonne as Mama Poot. My friend knew it was the actress from the first syllable she uttered with that distinctive voice. A portal plot point. Again. It seems like nearly every kid-friendly summer movie have one. Whether or not Gargamel was always a brother. Apparently, Razamel is new. So are the four books, including Jaunty, which maintain balance in the universe. And was there always a Smurf language, where 'smurf' was substituted for random nouns, verbs and adjectives? Yup. The moral messaging may have been laid on thick— 'There's more magic in you than you think' and 'Kindness always wins' — but I'll take the positivity. We also swapped Smurf merch memories: Who had the firefighter figurine that had a real pump? Who owned The Smurfette book? And we talked about who dared to try Smurf Berry Crunch, which we agreed was probably 70% sugar and 30% blue dye. (No wonder it had a short run.) Appropriateness 🚽 It was fine for our crew of kids, but there was some violence (villains, kidnappings, fights), a lot of name-calling (stupid, imbecile, etc.) and toilet talk ('I smurfed my pants), and the aforementioned censored curse words. Also: unnecessary cat hate. Razamel wasn't a fan of his brother's feline. Honestly, justice for Azrael. Stay for the credits? 🎞️ Yes — there's a mid-credits scene with Gargamel and his assistant Joel (Dan Levy) hinting at 'unfinished business' with the Smurfs. Trailers 🎥 They got the kids laughing before the movie even started and the sugar kicked in. The biggest hit was The Cat in the Hat (out Feb. 27), starring Bill Hader. There's a popcorn explosion, pepper spray retribution and a 'toot fart.' My crew loves a fart joke, so I might as well preorder those tickets now. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Seeing the ‘Smurfs' movie with my daughter took me right back to Saturday morning cartoons
Hello, Yahoo readers. I'm Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade. I'll be the first to tell you I'm no hardcore cinema buff. Since I had a child, though, I've made it a point to see as many kid-friendly movies as possible. Maybe it's because I'm a big kid ✔ and love a cheerful ending ✔. But also, as a busy working parent, is there greater joy than getting two hours to turn off your phone and put up your feet while your child is fully entertained?! So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old child + friends seeing family-friendly fare, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all to you about the experience. Welcome to Kids' Movie Club. Now playing: Sometimes my kid picks the movie we sit down to watch, like Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires and A Minecraft Movie. Other times, it's my inner child calling the shots — the one who grew up religiously watching The Smurfs during Saturday morning cartoons back in the day. I may groan about the sequels and remakes now playing these days, but there's a certain comfort in familiarity. The two moms I went to the theater with also felt that nostalgic pull. As I reclined my seat and dropped my hand into the greasy popcorn bowl (hey, didn't I say no butter?), I'm taken right into that world — in this case, the one where little blue creatures, three apples high, live in a colorful, hidden mushroom village and dodge villains in patched robes with feisty cats. Yes, this mostly animated, part-live-action flick is one as much for the grown-ups as the kids. Case in point: Rihanna voices Smurfette and debuts new music. That flew right over the heads of the 6-year-olds in the theater, but the adults and the Rih Navy? Very aware. There are also bleeped bad words and Smurfette talking about what happens to 'handsy' men. There are jokes about forgetting to unmute on work video calls and, for '80s kids, a cover of '80s goddess Belinda Carlisle's hit 'Heaven Is a Place on Earth.' In the PG flick, clocking in at 1 hour, 29 minutes and featuring a star-studded voice cast, the kids enjoyed the free-flowing humor throughout. Though, for the other original watchers, not from Jokey Smurf, who's apparently been retired from the crew. A character giving everyone exploding boxes lands different in 2025. There's also an uplifting message about finding your purpose, as No Name (voiced by James Corden) tries to discover what he's good at — just like Brainy, Hefty and the rest of the largely blue man crew. The plot 🎬 The story jumps, skips and detours into chaos, but here's the general idea: No Name gets magical abilities from a talking book named Jaunty (Amy Sedaris). He shows them to Papa (John Goodman) — I've found my thing! — and in doing so alerts Gargamel's even more sinister brother Razamel (both wizards voiced by JP Karliak) as to the location of the Smurfs' village. Papa Smurf gets Smurfnapped, prompting Smurfette and No Name to go on a Smurfs world tour — to France, Germany and Australia — to try and get him back. Along the way, they meet a dizzying number of new characters — Papa's brother Ken (Nick Offerman), friend Ron (Kurt Russell), the furry but fierce Snooterpoots, the Alliance of Evil Wizards and the International Neighborhood Watch Smurfs — who require an org chart to keep straight. Our viewing party 🍿 Three moms, three 10-year-old girls and my husband, who slept through a good portion of the film but somehow remembered every plot point better than the rest of us. The theater was out of blue slushies, but we survived — like true '80s latchkey kids who got themselves up, fixed their own breakfast (Smurf Berry Crunch, anyone?) and made it to school on their own. It was a cozy scene: My daughter had won Smurf plushies for the other kids in a claw machine while on vacation, so they all had those friends. (More stuffies! 🙄) One girl even brought her blanket from home. Parts that had the kids talking 👧🏻👧🏻👧🏻 Smurfette didn't have that much to do beyond being supportive, but the kids were still stans. They enjoyed learning her backstory about Gargamel making her from clay to sow discord among the Smurfs. She later had a mic-drop moment with the villains, saying just because she was created by someone bad doesn't mean she has to be: 'Who I am is up to me.' Other Smurfette highlights included when she momentarily had an orange beard, stress ate all the fries and told the baddies that they needed therapy and a hug. Sound Effects Smurf (Spencer X) got laughs — especially now that the kids are of the age where they know most curse words — beeping out words like: 'I don't know what the [bleep] I was thinking' and 'Kick [bleep] Smurf.' Razamel's eventual takedown had them howling: He was sent airborne, and his clothes flew off. Other hits: Azrael (Rachel Butera) being turned into a gryphon to help Gargamel escape the castle and the dance numbers. I mean, when isn't a dance party to Rihanna a good idea? 'Please Don't Stop the Music' — ever. Parts that had the adults talking 👩🏻👩🏻👩🏻🙎🏻♂️ The sequence with Smurfette and No Name moved through different animation styles, including Claymation and an old-school video game. It was an animator's flex. Natasha Lyonne as Mama Poot. My friend knew it was the actress from the first syllable she uttered with that distinctive voice. A portal plot point. Again. It seems like nearly every kid-friendly summer movie have one. Whether or not Gargamel was always a brother. Apparently, Razamel is new. So are the four books, including Jaunty, which maintain balance in the universe. And was there always a Smurf language, where 'smurf' was substituted for random nouns, verbs and adjectives? Yup. The moral messaging may have been laid on thick— 'There's more magic in you than you think' and 'Kindness always wins' — but I'll take the positivity. We also swapped Smurf merch memories: Who had the firefighter figurine that had a real pump? Who owned The Smurfette book? And we talked about who dared to try Smurf Berry Crunch, which we agreed was probably 70% sugar and 30% blue dye. (No wonder it had a short run.) Appropriateness 🚽 It was fine for our crew of kids, but there was some violence (villains, kidnappings, fights), a lot of name-calling (stupid, imbecile, etc.) and toilet talk ('I smurfed my pants), and the aforementioned censored curse words. Also: unnecessary cat hate. Razamel wasn't a fan of his brother's feline. Honestly, justice for Azrael. Stay for the credits? 🎞️ Yes — there's a mid-credits scene with Gargamel and his assistant Joel (Dan Levy) hinting at 'unfinished business' with the Smurfs. Trailers 🎥 They got the kids laughing before the movie even started and the sugar kicked in. The biggest hit was The Cat in the Hat (out Feb. 27), starring Bill Hader. There's a popcorn explosion, pepper spray retribution and a 'toot fart.' My crew loves a fart joke, so I might as well preorder those tickets now.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
‘ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires' Sinks Its Teeth Into Billboard Charts With No. 1 Kid Albums Debut
The ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires soundtrack takes a bite out of the Billboard charts, as the set debuts at No. 1 on the Kid Albums chart (dated July 26). It also bows at No. 3 on the Soundtracks chart, No. 16 on Independent Albums and at No. 90 on the overall Billboard 200. ZOMBIES 4 made its Disney Channel debut on July 10 and reached the Disney+ streaming service on July 11. That same day, the ZOMBIES 4 soundtrack was released via streaming services and for purchase as a digital download album. (A physical release for the album on CD and/or vinyl has not been announced.) More from Billboard This Is 'The Place to Be': New 'ZOMBIES 4' Music Video Pits Vampires vs. Daywalkers Joe Budden Reveals He Makes $1 Million Per Month Through Podcasting Jin of BTS Sets Live Viewings of His Amsterdam Concert for Theaters Worldwide: How to Get Tickets In the tracking week ending July 17, the ZOMBIES 4 album earned nearly 12,500 equivalent album units in the United States, according to Luminate, with streaming activity accounting for most of the activity. The album tallied 15.17 million on-demand official streams for its songs – making it the third-most-streamed soundtrack of the week (behind KPop Demon Hunters and F1: The Album). ZOMBIES 4 carries on the impressive track record of Disney's Zombies film franchise on Billboard's album charts. The first ZOMBIES soundtrack, released in 2018, reached No. 5 on Soundtracks, No. 1 (for 10 weeks) on Kid Albums and No. 55 on the Billboard 200. ZOMBIES 2, from 2020, hit No. 2 on Soundtracks, No. 2 on Kid Albums and No. 44 on the Billboard 200. ZOMBIES 3 (2022) peaked at No. 3 on Soundtracks, No. 1 (for two weeks) on Kid Albums and No. 79 on the Billboard 200. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100 Solve the daily Crossword
