THEWASHINGTONPOST.
FRIDAY,JULY31, 2020EZ16
Upside-Down Magic
( TV-PG)
STREAMING
Age 7+
Confident female lead stands out
in book series adaptation.
“Upside-Down Magic” is a
movie inspired by Sarah
Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle and
Emily Jenkins’s same-named book
series. The film departs from the
stories in several ways, but the
crux of the plot is the same:
Teenage Nory (Izabela Rose) and
her best friend, Reina (Siena
Agudong), overcome personal
struggles as they attend a school
for magical students. Nory’s
unwillingness to view what makes
her different from her peers as a
problem makes her a fantastic role
model for kids. To get her point
across, she challenges authority
figures and the status quo — but in
this case, the ends certainly justify
the means. A few scenes show a
teen possessed by a foreboding
force that eventually consumes
her and threatens everyone else,
but actual scares are few, and a
happy ending awaits. There’s no
swearing, but you can expect some
name-calling, like “loser,” “dumb,”
“dorks” and “stupid,” as well as
“butts.” Watching the movie may
encourage kids to check out the
books, if they haven’t already. (97
minutes)
Available on the Disney Channel and,
beginning Saturday, via DisneyNow
streaming.The Speed Cubers (TV-PG)
STREAMING
Age 8+
Inspiring short doc about
competition and friendship.“The Speed Cubers” is a short
documentary by Sue Kim about
the world of competitive Rubik’s
Cube speed solving. Two leading
solvers are profiled, with the film
evolving into a story of
friendship and growth, decency
and generosity, and overcoming
hardships. The seemingly
greatest speed cuber of all time is
17-year-old Max Park, a young
Californian competitor with
autism. His parents, who
encouraged his gift for cubing,
hoped participating in
competitions would help him
learn social and emotional skills.
Thanks to his friendship with the
world champion he unseated,
Max took away far more from the
experience than they could ever
have imagined. This is aninspirational movie that will
appeal to all ages. (40 minutes)
Available via Netflix streaming.The Secret: Dare to
Dream (PG)
STREAMING
Age 10+
Self-help book inspires so-so
romance; some peril.“The Secret: Dare to Dream” is
a romance based on Rhonda
Byrne’s 2006 best-selling self-
help book, “The Secret,” about
the law of attraction’s power to
shape a person’s life. Revolving
around a family whose members
believe they’re unlucky, the film
aims to shift perception to show
that “you get what you expect”and that bad things can lead to
good outcomes. Conversations
about those ideas are often
delivered to kids and expressed
in a way they can understand,
without much “magical
thinking” terminology. In fact, as
much as “manifestation” is the
whole point of the movie, that
word is never mentioned; nor is
“the power of attraction,” and
there’s only one utterance of “the
universe.” Rather, the movie is
focused on seeing life through a
positive rather than negative
lens. On the other hand, the film
gets somewhat in the way of its
own message because the main
character (Katie Holmes) is
struggling financially, and you
could argue that the story has
men, more than positivethinking, rescuing her on several
occasions. A flashback scene
includes the moments after a
plane crash; while the survivor is
bleeding and in peril, no other
carnage is seen. You can also
expect a bit of mild language
(“damn,” “hell”), social drinking
and light romance, with only one
substantial kiss. (107 minutes)
Available via various streaming
platforms, including Apple TV,
Amazon Prime Video, Vudu and cable
providers.Summerland (PG)
STREAMING
Age 10+
Moving, relatable World War II
drama about grief and lost love.“Summerland” is a tender
World War II drama that focuses
on grief in a way that both
adults and children will be able
to relate to and understand. It
centers on Alice (Gemma
Arterton), a reclusive writer
who has no interest in
motherhood until she takes in a
young evacuee named Frank
(Lucas Bond). While the movie
explores the futility and waste of
war — including the off-screen
death of a parent — it’s
primarily about overcoming
life’s setbacks. A few tense
scenes take place during a
London bomb raid (the
upsetting aftermath is shown),
the theme of death lingers,
characters argue and there’s a
brief example of bullying
between children. Alice, who’s
gay, is proud of her sexual
identity, even though she’s
sometimes nervous how others
who are more conservative will
perceive her as a result.
Flashbacks portray her loving
relationship with Vera (Gugu
Mbatha-Raw), who’s Black, but
their skin color is incidental to
the story. They share a powerful
chemistry, and a few scenes
suggest the intimacy of their
time together, but nothing really
racy is shown. Language is also
mild, but Alice does smoke
throughout (accurate for the
time period). (100 minutes)
Available via various streaming
platforms.Common Sense
Media helps
families make smart media choices.
Go to commonsensemedia.org for
age-based and educational ratings
and reviews for movies, games, apps,
TV shows, websites and books.EIKE SCHROTER/DISNEY CHANNEL
“Upside-Down Magic,” a Disney Channel original movie, is about kids who attend a school for magical
students. The movie is inspired by a book series of the same name.Movies
Common Sense Media What parents need to know What Washington is
watching on DVD
- Scoob!
- Survive the Night
- Trolls World Tour
- Becky
- The Invisible Man
SOURCE: Redbox,
for the week ended July 26New on DVD
lEnd of Sentence
lThe Other Lamb
lYou Should Have LeftNETFLIX
LEFT: Gemma Arterton and Lucas Bond appear in
“Summerland,” a drama set during World War II.
ABOVE: In “The Speed Cubers,” Felik Zemdegs, left, and
Max Park, right, are world speed champions in solving
Rubik’s Cube. The two became friends and the short
MICHAEL WHARLEY/IFC FILMS documentary documents their growth and generosity.The Movie Directory has gone dark.We will raise the curtain again as soon as events warrant.