The BritMums Blog

The BritMums Review: The Help movie

Jackson, Mississippi, looks gorgeous in The Help: stately Southern mansions sit amid Delta farmland, pecan trees shade mid-century ranch houses, and the white ladies (because they are definitely “ladies”) go about the business of playing cards and ruthlessly enforcing the status quo while wearing the most sensational New Look styles – all cinched waists and bouffant helmet hair. The black maids wear their prim uniforms with dignity. 

So it would be easy to think of this movie as just another Hollywood version of white hero (or in this case heroine) “saving” the black people from oppression, writes Jennifer Howze. 

Win two tickets to see The Help

Fancy a night out at the flicks for free? We have 10 pairs of tickets to see The Help at a special screening to under 50 people at the Covent Garden Hotel on 7 October. 

You and a friend can enjoy drinks and nibbles before settling into the plush leather seats and enjoying the story set at the heart of the 1960s civil rights movement in America. 

BritMums chat with Sarah Jessica Parker

On the evening that I Don’t Know How She Does It is released in cinemas nationwide, five BritMums were lucky enough to have a chat with the film’s star, Sarah Jessica Parker.

Jennifer Howze and Susanna Scott, co-founders of BritMums, were joined by seasoned blogger Karin Joyce, journalist and editor Liz Jarvis, and freelance writer and editor, Holly Seddon. 

From tackling the much-beloved character in Allison Pearson’s book to competitive chilli cook-offs to a future career as a travel blogger (not really), SJP was open, honest and really, really good fun. 

Guest post: To 3D or not to 3D?

Guest-blogger, Jo Berry, is a film critic and mum of one who runs the website movies4kids.co.uk. Here she answers a question on many cinema goers’ lips: are 3D movies really worth it? 

Today, my local cinema is showing nine movies aimed at kids and families, and five of them (The Smurfs, Horrid Henry, Harry Potter, Cars 2 and Captain America) are showing in both 3D and 2D while one (Glee: The 3D Concert Movie – otherwise known as 100 minutes of karaoke hell) is only showing in 3D.

Tickets for the movies in 3D are a storming £2 more than for a regular 2D movie, and that's not including the £1.50 you need to pay for a pair of 3D glasses. Hardly surprising then, that when mums I know are deciding to take their kids to the cinema, the first question they ask me is: "Is it worth paying the extra money to see it in 3D?"

Guest post: You’re scared of what?!

Guest-blogger, Jo Berry, is a film critic and mum of one who runs the website movies4kids.co.uk. Here, she talks about the powerful impact that fear has on children’s enjoyment of films, and how it’s not always the obvious baddie that gets the adrenaline pumping…

A few months ago, I had to go to a press screening of Kung Fu Panda 2. My six-year-old, D, happily came along to see the further adventures of Po the panda. Fast-forward to an hour and a half later: while exiting the cinema he loudly announced (in front of the film's publicist, no less) that Kung Fu Panda 2 was, in fact, "the worst movie I have ever seen." 

Alas, D's forceful reaction was not the first sign that he’s following in mummy’s film critic footsteps – it was due to the fact that, unbeknownst to me, he had spent the final half of the movie absolutely petrified by the bad guy (a rather nasty peacock voiced by Gary Oldman).