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Reviews
Babysitters Beware (2009)
Major problems in script, premise, execution, billing.
This is one of the most flawed movies I've seen in a while. The premise is poor, the character motivations are not clear, there are many logical fallacies in the plot (i.e. the father goes out to an important business meeting with his wife, but instead of sending his wife home to deal with the misbehaving child he leaves his business meeting to return home? Why? The major conflict of the movie is illogical and unrealistic!)
This movie was filmed primarily in someone's house, with lighting that is annoyingly horizontal because of inadequate ceiling room to light from overhead, the acting by the parents is dull and flat. The only actor that has any character sympathy is the young woman playing the 'regular' babysitter, who is under-served in screen time and given no scenes to establish her life outside of interactions with the protagonist.
The 'stunts' are done in a way to avoid any potential danger or lasting damage to the house and come across as so tame that they'd be non-events in real life - the boy microwaves tomato soup in a microwave and makes an easily cleanable mess, fills the sinks with water, and spills some yogurt - and these are the 'horrible things' he does to 'drive away' a babysitter.
This is a very, very low budget attempt at 'rental bait' and an excuse for some SAG scale actors to get tape. There is no vision, there is no passion, and there is no reasonable excuse for this to exist alongside movies like Problem Child and Home Alone. I never once believed that protagonist had conviction or motivation to do the things in the 'plot'. It simply doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense that Danny Trejo would charge $30 an hour to babysit. It doesn't make sense that the mother, who doesn't have a job onscreen or any excuse other than the fact that children have mothers to exist in this film, can't provide care for the child. Lazy, lazy, illogical film.
The Worst Witch (2017)
Expanded and updated take on the books.
I was a large fan of the 90's series 'Worst Witch', which made me feel that this 'reboot' would be unnecessary and unable to match the first series. I expressed my dismay even from the promotion pictures, noting that the lead actress lacked Georgina Sherrington's natural charm and that even the cat looked wrong!
But, upon watching it - the acting is really well done, and they've expanded the world-building quite a bit. There have been law-suits filed because 'Harry Potter' seemed to take a lot from 'Worst Witch' (the Worst Witch books started in 1979 and feature a wicked potions master and a kindly old headmaster who disagree over a young student's magical aptitude). This series seems to take a lot 'back' from the Harry Potter movies though - The actress who plays Ms. Hardbroom at times seems to channel Alan Rickman's nuanced performance of Prof. Snape; and the Headmistress has the dark reflective moments we've seen from Dumbledore on occasion. Whereas in the original series (and the books) the world of Magic seemed not to be a secret, here the school is shrouded from non-magical eyes. Whereas in the original Mildred seems to come from a magical family - here she is the only magical person in her family (similar to Hermione's back-story). So in a sense they've amalgamated a more coherent world.
This is a well put together program; the sets are very nice. The actors are well competent. The stories from the books work themselves into the episodes naturally and in bits; readers of the books will see poignant moments like Ethel getting turned into a pig.
I still love the 90's show, but I have to admit that this is a better production. There is no stilted comedic acting, and the characters seem to have an inner dimension that is visited often. The writing is done cleverly and the pacing comes off well. Perhaps the special effects are not spectacular; but this is a show about relationships and characters - and both of those aspects are well done.
In closing - it's not a 'dumb' kids show. It can be taken seriously on its own merit and I highly recommend that parents and kids enjoy it. The main character is a good example to children because she DOES make mistakes and poor decisions and have insecurity just like real kids do.