A Mile in His Shoes {giveaway}

We have another family-friendly movie for you and it is just in time for baseball season. The only thing is that the movie isn’t really about baseball. It is instead about a special boy with a special talent who will not only inspire you, but also teach you a few things about never giving up.

From the director: A story of hope, strength and the power of friendship

From the director of Angels in the Outfield

Based on the book The Legend of Mickey Tussler, this family-friendly film follows the story of 18 year-old Mickey Tussler, who lives on a farm with his father and mother and who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. He can throw apples at an amazing speed. When a chance meeting occurs with the baseball manager of the semi-pro team the River Rats, Mickey gets a chance to pitch for the team and to prove to his father he can do more than live hidden away on the family farm taking care of his pig Oscar.

See the A Mile in His Shoes movie trailer:

Would you like to win the DVD?

GIVEAWAY PRIZE
one (1) lucky reader will win a copy of the A Mile in His Shoes DVD.

HOW TO ENTER
Complete the required entry below. Once the REQUIRED entry has been completed, then you may enter one additional time by leaving an extra comment for the bonus entry.

REQUIRED ENTRY
Leave a comment and tell us what is your favorite sport to watch (not play). If you want to, but not required, then you can even share your favorite team or player of that sport.

BONUS ENTRY
Like Homeschool Roster on Facebook – 1 additional entry. If you have already liked Homeschool Roster on Facebook, then leave a separate comment letting us know.

GIVEAWAY RULES
The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and you must be at least 18 years old. The winner will be notified by E-mail and given 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway ends 4/7/12 at 11:59PM CST and the winner will be announced 4/9 on the Homeschool Roster Facebook page.

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“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

The Mighty Macs {review and giveaway} CLOSED

Cathy Rush is a newly married woman who has not easily transitioned into her role as housewife and bleacher warming cheerleader for her NBA referee husband. Both Cathy and her husband have a love of basketball and as a former college basketball player, she is not satisfied with only watching from the sidelines.

When the opportunity of becoming a basketball coach at the Catholic all-girls’ Immaculata College opens up, Cathy jumps at the opportunity despite opposition from her husband. It does not matter that the college offers her practically nothing in pay due to it being on the verge of bankruptcy, or that the gymnasium no longer exist due to fire, or that most of the players lack competitive basketball skills. It also does not matter that she receives minimal support from Mother St. John, the president of the college and also the person who hired her to basically be a baby sitter for these young girls.

What matters is that Cathy has a dream and she realizes that unless she does everything possible to fulfill it, she will never be at peace with herself. Cathy sets her aspirations high especially since this is the first year (1971-1972) in women’s basketball that a national champion will be crowned.

Immaculata Mighty Macs – National Champions…impossible, maybe, but Cathy never stops long enough to consider all of the obstacles. She pushes through coaching her team and along the way sparks a confidence in her players, garners support from the students, the nuns at the college, the community, and eventually Mother St. John who rally around these underdog basketball players.

There are heart warming moments like when Cathy and the girls return from a competition, past curfew, and are confronted by Mother St. John. Cathy is immediately apologetic having already been warned about keeping the girls out past curfew. Instead of being chastised, Cathy and the team not only learn they are going to the championship but waiting to greet them is a room full of Immaculata students and faculty with congratulations.

Later, following in another scene as the team is doing a photo-shoot for their new celebrity, the girls gather clothing and accessories for a fellow teammate after the photographer insist she “move to the back” because he thinks she is inappropriately dressed. You see growth in the girls, who all joined the team for selfish reasons, come together as a team on and off of the court.

In regards to the affect her coaching has on her marriage, Cathy is reminded by her assistant coach nun to “keep her eye on the ball,” and she is not talking about basketball. Cathy is determined as a coach and we have to assume that she and her husband resolve their differences because he is later shown, in between his games, warming the bleachers and rooting her on to victory.

This is an inspiring, true story of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Cathy Rush who led The Mighty Macs of Immaculata College to three consecutive AIAW national titles (1972-1974). Also an inductee into the women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, Cathy far surpassed her dreams.

See The Mighty Macs movie trailer:

Would you like to win the DVD?

GIVEAWAY PRIZE
one (1) lucky reader will win a copy of The Mighty Macs DVD.

HOW TO ENTER
Complete the required entry below. Once the REQUIRED entry has been completed, then you may enter one additional time by leaving an extra comment for the bonus entry if completed.

REQUIRED ENTRY
We are going to make this really simple. All you have to do is leave a comment saying you would like to win the movie.

BONUS ENTRY
Like Homeschool Roster on Facebook – 1 additional entry. If you have already liked Homeschool Roster on Facebook, then leave a separate comment letting us know.

GIVEAWAY RULES
The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and you must be at least 18 years old. The winner will be notified by E-mail and given 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway ends 3/10/12 at 11:59PM CST and the winner will be announced on the Homeschool Roster Facebook page.

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“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

The Christmas Lodge {Family Night Movie}

The Christmas Lodge is Thomas Kinkade on the screen and what I mean by that is if you are familiar with his magnificent artwork that draws you in and makes you want to be there, then that is exactly how Christmas Lodge makes you feel. The spirit of the season, family, faith, holiday traditions, and preserving the past all come together in this adorable movie that you will enjoy with your family and will want to make a family tradition to watch in forthcoming years.

On a weekend getaway to the mountains, Mary stumbles upon the Christmas lodge after rescuing a little girl who turns out to be the daughter of the owner (Jack) of the lodge which has fallen into disrepair over the years. Immediately upon entering the lodge, memories of many Christmases spent there with her family pass through her mind as she learns of Jack’s vision to return the Christmas Lodge to “her glory.” The only thing stopping him is the lack of funds.

Determined to salvage a place that had such a tremendous impact on her family, Mary uses her professional skills for building restoration, enlist the building construction skills of her family, and partners with Jack to make the lodge a place where other families can come and enjoy, as her family did, and make new memories. As Mary helps Jack rebuild a family treasure close to his heart, she also opens her heart to true love.

This movie is a wonderful pick for all family members and makes a great movie for family night. Mary’s close relationship with her grandfather, who actually inspires her to work on the project despite its challenges, is one built on love and hope, a mutual respect for the outdoors, and the belief in the miracles of God.

Oh, and the romance. Never did it make me blush, but it was still sweet. It was just the way you want it to be when you are watching a movie with your children.

Watch the trailer:

Spend some time at The Christmas Lodge. It is a place you will want to be with your family. If you think The Christmas Lodge

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“Disclosure of Material Connection: We were provided access to preview the product mentioned above for free in the hope that we would mention it on our blog. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

Game of Your Life {Family Night Movie}

We are big on family-friendly movies here at Homeschool Roster. Because of that, you will see a new movie trailer listed in the HR’s Family Movie of the Week section on the right sidebar every week of movies we think your family might enjoy. We recently had the opportunity to take an early peek at Game of Your Life, which is a new movie presented by partners P&G and Walmart that premieres this Friday, December 2 on NBC, 8PM ET/7PM CT.

Game of Your Life is the latest feature by these partners in their Family Movie Night movement where they hope to bring the family closer together as they watch movies that are “quality, are good for the whole family, and provide teachable moments all along with family friendly commercials in between.” As a family, we have already enjoyed quite a few of these Family Movie Night presentations which include A Walk in My Shoes, Change of Plans, Who is Simon Miller?, and a few others.

Zach Taylor – a.k.a. technology wiz, gamer, and a young man who proves that being “geeky” is totally cool. Zach is one of several students who is accepted to the Digital Institute of Game Design (DIGD) which is a prestigious learning institute where the best of the best in technology and design attend. This rare opportunity offers hims the chance to study under gaming legend Marcus Bentton and gives him the major jump-start he needs to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional video game designer. Zach’s first challenge is making it through the first three months which is the “make it or break it” period for the freshman class during which many students will be eliminated from the program.

When Zach is presented with an opportunity to work on a special secret project with Marcus Bentton and also earn some money, he jumps at the chance with the hope of earning enough money to help his father who is struggling financially at home. This decision is made despite the warning given to the students at the beginning of the school year to only concentrate on their school work and not involve themselves in additional projects.

With the belief that he can handle the work required of both projects, Zach begins dividing his time and energy which soon proves to be too much for him. While trying to juggle everything, Zach begins to let down his teammates who trust him to uphold his part of the team project, threatens his academic status in school, and also eventually learns that the one he admires is truly not one to be trusted.

See movie trailer:

Game of Your Life is a nice addition to Family Movie Night. It was fun to watch an upcoming television show that we could watch together with our children without having to worry about the content being inappropriate. Another plus is that these movies provide lessons to be learned by the characters which opens up an opportunity for discussion with your children after (or during) the movie.

Put this one on your schedule to watch on Friday, December 2 on NBC. You can connect with other Game of Your Life fans on Facebook and also see what people are tweeting about the movie on Twitter.

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“Disclosure of Material Connection: We were provided access to preview the product mentioned above for free in the hope that we would mention it on our blog. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

Seven Days in Utopia {family movie}

It’s very rare to see a promoted movie with a viewing rating of G, but these type of family-friendly movies are still being produced and Seven Days in Utopia is the latest in a trend of family movies being shown on the big screens created to not only entertain, but also to leave the viewers with an encouraging message. Seven Days in Utopia is based on David L. Cook’s novel Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia. It follows the story of young golfer Luke Chisolm (Lucas Black) who hopes to make it onto the pro tour, but fails miserably during his first shot at the “big time.” After a public disaster that threatens his chances of achieving his dream, Luke leaves to escape the pressures of the game and becomes stranded in a small town called Utopia, Texas following a car accident. During his stay in Utopia, he meets Johnny Crawford (Robert Duvall) who teaches Luke a few lessons not only about his game, but also about life.

See the movie trailer:

If you would like to see Seven Days in Utopia, which opens today, then visit one of these theaters in Tennessee.

Atoka – CINEPLANET 16 Chattanooga – Rave Eastridge 18 + IMAX Clarksville – Clarksville Great Escape 16 Cleveland – Premiere 14 Collierville – Towne 16 Cookeville – Highland 12 Cinema Cordova – Cordova 15 Franklin – Thoroughbred 20 Hnedersonville – Street of Indian Lake Stadium 16 Hixson – Carmike Northgate 14 Jackson – Hollywood 16

Johnson City – Johnson City 14 Kingsport – Fort Henry Mall 11 Knoxville – WYNNSONG 16 Knoxville – Knoxville Center Stadium 10 Knoxville – Pinnacle Stadium Cinemas 17 + IMAX Maryville – Foothills 12 Memphis – Paradiso Cinema 16 Mufreesboro – Wynnsong 16 Nashville – Hollywood Stadium 27 Union City – Hollywood Showcase

BUY TICKETS NOW!

If you are out of the state, then you can see where Seven Days in Utopia is showing in your area.

Connect w/Seven Days in Utopia:
Visit the official Web site
Like on Facebook
Follow on Twitter