Languidly progressing but intelligent movie about spelling and spirituality. It's a strange combination but works surprisingly well thanks to writing that doesn't belittle the audience. Flora's performance as the master speller has similar quiet charm as Theo in Emile.

Events of the movie take place on a farm in 50's, where imigrants from Mexico come help out during the summer. In the racist athmosphere of a nearby town, the friendly relationship between Ira's big sisters and the mexican workers is unpopular, especially among one young man who has been pursuing one of the girls. A conflict between people of the two races appears inevitable.

There are many lessons taught of tolerance and racism in this movie, however the way they are presented may not hold the attention of an adult viewer. Acting is in parts clumsy, in parts okay. The main character is perhaps Ira (Kate Maberly), an eleven year old tomboy and the youngest daughter of the family. When I first looked at the movie, jumping right into the middle of it, I couldn't tell Ira's sex. However, I did think "If that's a girl, she's a pretty one," and so started watching from the beginning. I ended up becoming something of a fan of Kate, whom the role of a tomboy suits well.

This can't really be a review, because the movie is in Estonian without subtitles, and so I didn't understand any lines. It's a family or children's movie, with correspondingly low-budget, mediocre-acting feel to it. Undine and Zane do fine job for this type of movie however, and especially Undïne (the older one, playing Marta) is easily notable enough to deserve a modest recommendation. Zane does great job of being a very cute little thing, especially with her charmingly unusual language. Score 2.5 – the average – for both movie and the actresses, because I didn't understand the dialogue.

One accomplishment of this essential drama from the 40s is its unusually large and serious role for a child. Peggy plays Francie Nolan, a character who is some two years older than the actress. Francie is one of the two children of a poor family in Brooklyn, and adores her bohemian father Johnny (James Dunn). Though capable of holding her own, Francie is also sentimental and thoughtful, and makes a very likeable character. Her growth from blind idolization of her father to coping with his flaws is one of the major aspects of the story. Peggy's acting is good by the standards of the time, and especially enjoyable if you prefer dramatic over merry. For a more thorough review, I recommend the one at Eye For Film.

Three years have passed since the events of My Girl. Vada (Anna) is now thirteen, in that coming-of age. Wanting to find out more about her mother, whom she never knew, Anna travels to Los Angeles, where the good-natured, family-movie kind of drama of the film takes place. The strength of this sequel is Anna, who is still much the same girl she used to be. Time has passed however, Anna is now largely a teenager, and the movie fails to capture the same magic as the first one. Watch this if you loved Anna in the first movie, and don't mind seeing more of her even when she's older.

A simple story about poverty, following the family of a single father, Bill, a good man who scarcely makes a living flipping burgers. His soft and sweet-tempered daughter Willa, played by Jena, is diagnosed with malnourishment. Willa's precocious and determined brother, proud like his father, stops going to school in order to making money any way he can.

All this is told with deep sympathy and warmth. Bill and his children are like any other family, just afflicted by acute lack of money. Jena's portrayal of Willa, a tender girl who never complains or fights back, is like many other roles of hers. While she has a decent amount of screen time, most of her lines are short, and there are no long dialogues. Despite that, by the end of the movie you'll feel like you've seen a glimpse of the life of a real person that you've grown to care about. The same is true of all the characters, especially Bill. Although the plot is rather too sparse and the setting ordinary to a fault, you care about the characters, and that makes the movie worth your time.

Neither all the fine child actresses nor the other rather big-name actors of this family comedy are quite enough to save it from mediocrity, at least unless the slapstick comedy by Steve Martin (playing the father) happens to be your particular cup of tea. The difficulty of taking good screenshots of this movie is a symptom of one of its bigger problems: with 12 kids and the parents, there is no time to develop the characters enough even to warrant closeups. Regardless, Alyson, Liliana, and Morgan make Cheaper by the Dozen a worthwhile experience.

Peter McGowen is a playwright struggling with his latest text. He has writer's block, his wife wanting a child is causing some marital friction, and his neighbor's dog is keeping him awake at night. Another distraction appears when they get new neighbors, who his wife invites over. Peter isn't into socializing, and definitely doesn't want the neighbors' 8-year-old Amy (Suzi) around making noise. It however turns out that his play has a child character that doesn't convince the actors. Peter must study what children are like, and so kindles a friendship with Amy. The subplot becomes an important one, but not dominant. Amy, a somewhat physically disabled girl with an over-protective mother, is a likable and real enough character, but no more than that. Suzi's acting is very natural, and I think she'd have had potential for far more than the role allowed.

I liked the wry humor of the movie, but at times the style deviated from a realistic one into near absurdity, which was jarring. While the story of a struggling playwright didn't touch me, Kenneth Branagh's excellent performance as Peter was enough to carry the story.

Calling 2012 a "big budget catastrophe movie" doesn't leave much to add. The inside of the Earth is heating up. Earthquakes, exploding volcanoes and finally the mother of all tsunamis cause destruction of scale perhaps never seen before. Otherwise the movie feels a fair bit like a re-make of Dakota's War of the Worlds. The hero is a divorced father, whose ex-wife has married a more decent man. The kids, a boy and a girl, live with them.

Morgan plays the girl, Lilly Curtis. Like Dakota's Rachel, Lilly has a few quirks. She likes to wear eccentric hats, and she wets her bed, despite being 7. You can guess if she overcomes the latter, but the affection for hats doesn't seem to have disappeared by the last scene, which is good, because they really are very cute on her.

And all the destruction is just glorious.

Henry Poole is fatally ill, and moves into a new house to spend his remaining days there in solitude. His neighbor sees the vague face of Jesus in a water stain on his house's wall, however, and people start coming over to see it. Miracles happen to people who touch the face, but Henry refuses to believe in them. The central matter of the veracity of the miracles is presented bluntly, rendering the movie largely pointless. While acting and production values are fine, the dialogue is predictable, and it's hard to care about the characters.

Morgan plays Millie Stupek, daughter of Henry's beautiful neighbor Dawn. In the beginning of the movie Millie has been mute for a year, and doesn't speak very much later on either. She has the classic role of a sweet child in distress, and is a good fit for that. She's beautiful in a personal manner, and gives a slightly mystical impression with her big eyes and solemn silence.