Holiday Vacation Movie Preview: “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb”

The Holiday Vacation Movie Previews made us fired up for the Christmas break. Attending as many movies as possible over the holiday vacation has always been a special multi-generational tradition in our family. Especially on Christmas day, when we are still enduring the food coma from the Seven Fish Christmas Eve dinner party (and yes Swedish Fish do count)!

The swank Crosby Street Hotel in Soho

“NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB”

So when “the Moms”, Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein, invited us to a screening of Night At the Museum: Secret of the Tomb at the swank Crosby Street Hotel in Soho sponsored by Chevrolet, we jumped at the chance to kick off the festivities of our holiday vacation movie marathon.

We highly recommend that you see the third movie in the “Night At the Museum” Trilogy. Get ready for the wildest and most adventure-filled “Night at the Museum” ever as Larry (Ben Stiller) spans the globe, uniting favorite and new characters while embarking on an epic quest to save the magic before it is gone forever. Ben Stiller, Robin Williams (may he rest in peace) and Owen Wilson again deliver a good story that promotes laughter for every member of the family.

The Moms with Patrick Gallagher Attila the Hun

“ANNIE”

And speaking of fun events with “The Moms”, we also had the pleasure of attending the screening of the latest and most modern “Annie” (even complete with social media) sponsored by Norwegian Cruises. We have to take a Norwegian Cruise soon since our family is Norwegian, but, meanwhile we will settle for their yummy cupcakes!

#AnnieMOMS  & #NorwegianMOMS

Quvenzhané Wallis stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who’s also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) – advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) – makes a thinly veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around. We recommend this adorable story because our children really enjoyed the singing in the movie and the Q&A with the actors who played the foster children.

“INTO THE WOODS”:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes including Best Picture, Best Actress Emily Blunt and Best Supporting Actress Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods“ is now playing in theaters everywhere and is a fun movie for break. The story line is a bit dark so we suggest only bringing children 9 and older. Our family really enjoyed the singing and the laughs during the twists and turns of the updated fairy tales of Jack & the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood. Stephen Sondheim’s “‘No One Is Alone’” is a terrific song that speaks to everyone and reminds us that family does not have to be blood relatives. Since this lesson on the meaning of family and community was also in “Maleficent” and several other recent Disney films, this is definitely the modern Disney theme.  Here is a link to download the soundtrack because if you love the music as much as we do, you will want to listen to it on repeat! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/into-woods-original-motion/id935163643