Josh Johnson, father of Nick and Kayla, decided to combine his love for filmmaking with his love for his kids to create this new video podcast centered on movies acceptable for children. Cinekids TV started recording and posting episodes weekly in January 2006 from Josh’s family’s home in Raleigh, North Carolina, though since then the posting has slowed down a bit. At first, they only reviewed one show at a time, but as they noticed fewer kids’ movies being released in theatres, they expanded the content to include DVDs – both new releases and older favorites.
Each new episode involves two reviewed movies – one currently in theatres, the other rented and watched at home. The kids give their own descriptions of the plot (not always accurate, but what can you do?), describe favorite moments, and then give their ratings. Each has their own review style – the non-committal Kayla can’t ever decide on an appropriate “rating” for the films. Based on the Siskel and Ebert (and Roeper) two-thumb method, her thumbs tend to waver and multiply depending on how she feels about the film at hand. Nick is a little more confident, but infinitely harder to understand – he still can’t quite pronounce his “r”s. But they’re both just as cute as can be. The episodes are largely unedited, leaving in all the silliness and gaffes that come with the territory of filming kids. You never see an adult, and for the most part you can’t even tell that the dad had a hand in it at all.
Kayla seems to go a little nutso while reviewing Cars and High School Musical. I’m not sure if her wild hand motions while giving her thumb review of Cars is supposed to imitate the cars themselves or her ever-changing feelings about the movie, but she seems to enjoy doing it! She signs off the episode with a very Mary-Kate and Ashley-esque “See you later, dudes.” Nick is adorable as he reviews RV (or, as he calls it, “Aw vee”), quickly speeding through the plot description and review – presumably to end the episode more quickly.
