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 Over the long holiday week, my husband and I had a chance to catch up on some movies we’d been wanting to see. We both enjoy watching films, and while we still prefer experiencing them in theaters, we can’t make every screening, so being able to screen new titles at home is a huge plus and makes for a fun date night. Today, I’m sharing my thoughts on Superman.

Superman in Theaters and Available to Stream

Courtesy:Warner Bros. Media

 It’s the last Monday of the year, which is really hard to believe, and this is my last film review for 2025. This is my fourth year as a Music City Film Critics Association member, and it's still an honor to be a member, share twelve or more film reviews here on the blog, and submit my Oscar nominations ballot. That’s up next after my final review is done. Today, I’m sharing my thoughts on The Fantastic Four First Steps.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps- A Great Date Night Film?

Courtesy:  Walt Disney Studios

• The leader in flavored carbonated soft drinks
•  Sells more than 50 brands of carbonated soft drinks, teas, juices, mixers and other premium beverages
• Out of our 14 biggest brands, 13 are #1 or #2 in their respective category·6 of top 10 non-cola soft drinks brands in the business
• 19,000 employees
• Fortune 500, publicly traded (NYSE:DPS) operations in North America, Caribbean 
• The DPS R&D is spread across 4 Locations: Plano, Texas (headquarters), St. Louis, Missouri , Irving, Texas (pilot plant) and Mexico City, Mexico

Industry-led Initiatives: 

• As an industry, we took full-calorie beverages out of schools voluntarily through the School Beverage Guidelines, which have reduced the calories in beverage shipments to schools by more than 90%. 
• DPS and other leading beverage companies launched the Clear on Calories Initiative: put calorie counts on the fronts of all beverage containers. 
• Balance Calories Initiative with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Beverage Association goal: reduce the calories consumed in beverages by 20% over the next 10 years by focusing on smaller package sizes, innovation, marketing and distribution of low-and no-calorie beverages. 
• Mixify: a multi-year national consumer awareness and engagement program by the beverage industry to talk to teens about the importance of balancing what they drink and eat with what they do.

Consumers have been talking, and clearly Dr Pepper Snapple has been listening. I for one am happy to know that the industry is doing all they can to offer healthier beverage options in our schools! 

DPS understands what’s important to us, the consumer and has worked hard towards answering our needs by understanding consumers are diversified! 

For example- men prefer not to purchase low calorie or “diet” beverages, so DPS responded to consumers who want products with only natural sweeteners.  They’ve been testing naturally sweetened versions of Dr Pepper, 7UP and Canada Dry, sweetened with a blend of stevia and sugar, with only 60 calories per 12 oz. serving.

They didn’t forget to improve their juice and tea either. Earlier this year they introduced a line of Mott’s with  bold new flavors that offer 40% less sugar than fruit juices with 100% Daily Value of Vitamin C in three kid-preferred flavors.

And for us Snapple drinkers, they’ve rolled out diet half & half (half lemonade, half iced tea) and this year have been testing a straight up tea, otherwise unflavored, with a touch of sugar and 80 calories per bottle.

All I can say is- Thank you DPS! 

DPS knows we expect great tasting beverages at an affordable price that our packaged for convenience for active, busy lifestyles, especially Moms! They know we don’t want to say no to the beverages our kids ask for, so they are helping with the Calories Out part of their initiative.

“Balance is key, both to fit physical activity into their routine and to have food and beverage choices that have health benefits and are low in calories.”

Calories out: Commitment to Active Play 

The Physical Activity Deficit:

• Only 20% of children live near a park
• Two-thirds of kids get less than an hour of play a day
• They’re increasingly time-crunched, with 12 fewer hours of free time per week
• Disadvantaged inner-city youth participate 40% less in sports and fitness
• And recreational time is increasingly spent on devices. Kids 8-18 spend an average of 7.5 hours per day on media

  

The consequence of all this is poorer eating and drinking habits and an obesity rate that has tripled! 

DPS says “To help address the decline of active play in communities across the U.S., Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) launched Let’s Play to provide the tools, spaces and inspiration to make play a daily priority.”

Let’s Play: A Meaningful Part of the Solution -DPS has:

•      To date, built or improved 2,000 playgrounds

•      To date, have provided 5 million children with the opportunity to play

•      Worked in partnerships with our retailers and bottlers

•      Involved government officials

•      To date, have engaged more than 2,300 employee volunteers

•      To date, have donated more than 18,000 volunteer hours

I was very impressed with the amount of hours and the overall level of commitment from DPS employees! The Let’s Play program is doing well, in fact, it’s expanded!

Let’s Play timeline and how we can get involved:

•   DPS launched Let’s Play in 2011 with a $15 million three year partnership to build or improve 2,000 playgrounds with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated promoting active play.
•  In 2014, DPS and KaBOOM! extended their partnership through 2016 with an additional $10 million commitment from DPS to continue providing kids the active play they need.
• This year, DPS made a $1 million commitment to Good Sports, a national non-profit dedicated to promoting active play among older children by providing athletic equipment to disadvantaged young people nationwide.

Let’s Play has expanded to include older children who lack the opportunity to participate in organized sports due to the cost of equipment, uniforms and entry fees. I encourage everyone to go to the Let’s Playgrants page, and see what grants are available! By the end of 2016, we will have donated more than $26 million to Let’s Play since we started three years ago.

I left the DPS conversation with a new outlook on the brand and company as a whole and was inspired to visit KaBoom! and Let’s Play to see how I could become active in my own community. I encourage you to do the same.

Before we left our virtual conversation, our merry band of bloggers had decided that a road trip to the DPS facility in Texas was in order so we could walk around and see all the amazing research and development in action and yes, we did ask this question:

What are the 23 flavors in the formula for Dr Pepper? The DPS answer was as interesting and funny: “Only two people in the world know the formula to Dr Pepper. We can’t tell you who they are, but they are not in this room! It’s very, very top secret – that is for sure. “

It is my sincere hope that you have gained a better understanding of Dr Pepper Snapple from my post today and will take a moment to visit them and the Let’s Play sites and then- log off your computer and get outside and play with or without kids!

Happy Holidays!

Please share in comments: Does your community have enough playgrounds? How would you like to see your community improve in this area?  

Disclosure: My thanks to The Motherhood and Dr Pepper Snapple for sponsoring today’s post. All opinions expressed are my own. 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. 

 I missed the opportunity to go to the screener of Sinners in April, and with “Maycember” being a real thing, Sinners fell off my radar for a bit. I need to watch as many films as possible since I’m a member of Nashville’s film critics association, and was happy to see two recent box office films available for streaming. Today, I’m discussing Sinners, available to stream on HBO Max. Did I think it was a good date night option? I’ll let you know and try not to add any spoilers.

Evil Is Waiting!

Courtesy:Warner Bros. Media

Summer is in full swing, so I’ve been busy switching out some home decor items to better reflect the season. Think lighter blankets and bedding, decorative pillows and placemats and an often overlooked item, candles! I change out my candles seasonally. If you love floral scented candles, you may want to try these two at your next summer gathering. 

Floral Scented Candles for Summer:

 Last week, I shared how much my husband and I enjoyed streaming Superman for our date night, and today, I’m sharing another film we enjoyed watching, F1 The Movie. If you like action and/or sports movies with a great plot, this one may be for you. 

F1 The Movie is Action-Packed from Start to Finish 

 Last weekend was full of Memorial Day and birthday fun for me. I got to spend time with my family, eat delicious food at our annual summer kickoff BBQ, and my husband took me to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 on a special date. I am a huge fan of the original The Devil Wears Prada film, and my husband has watched it with me countless times, so it was sweet that he wanted to share in the experience of attending the sequel with me.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 in Theaters Now!

With Valentine’s Day arriving on Monday this year, I know a lot of married couples are celebrating this weekend, instead of trying to juggle a weekday date night. In fact, my husband and I just had a great day date and plan to have a simple evening at home of Monday. To some this may sound boring- but trust me, if done correctly, you can still find ways to add romance and a little spark to these at home celebrations. If you need a refresh on the art of flirting like you did when you were dating your spouse, this book is for you. Read on to learn about The Flirtation Experiment and how to win a copy.

Spark up your Marriage!

 I can’t believe it's the middle of June already! This spring is flying by. My husband and I got to enjoy another weekend movie date, this time seeing his highly anticipated choice, The Mandalorian and Grogu, since the last time we saw mine. The Devil Wears Prada 2. Read on for my no-spoiler review of the latest Star Wars film.

The Mandalorian and Grogu:

Movie Poster at our local AMC Theater

 Happy Friday, dear readers. I’m excited to combine two fun and popular topics in today’s post. Friday's Faves and a look back on the top ten blog posts here on the blog for 2025.  I’m thrilled to see that my film coverage had the most interaction and views, with four film posts making the top ten. Next was food and drink, with three posts, and a three-way tie with one each for books, home and garden, and Nashville. 

My Top Ten Blog Posts of 2025:

 Over the long Independence Day weekend, my husband and I streamed Project Hail Mary. Since we didn’t have the opportunity to screen the film back in March, it’s been challenging not to dive into all the reviews posted about it since then, but I managed to go into this viewing with a clean slate, which is always what I aim to do as a film critic. Check out my mostly no-spoiler review below. 

Project Hail Mary is Available to Stream on Amazon Prime Video!

Courtesy: Amazon MGM Studios

On Thursday evening, June 8, 2023, an amazing thing happened for my family of four. We all managed to clear our schedules and enjoy a film together. Something that hasn’t happened in quite a while, since our daughters are young adults. Even more amazing is that we were excited to see the press screening of Elemental, the new Disney & Pixar animated film coming to theaters this Friday, June 16, 2023. 

 Elemental in Theaters in Real D -3D June 16, 2023!

Happy November friends. Here in the south, we may stat this month with mild days and nights, bt by Thanksgiving, it's turned cold and has us all wanting to stay in and get get cosy. I've teamed up with the fab group of bloggers with Review Wire Media to bring you this giveaway you can enter daily. I can't think of a better time to than November to host a $200 Netflix E-Gift Card giveaway, so you'll always have something fun to watch, especially if your hosting family over the holidays.

Win a $200 Netflix E-Gift Card open Worldwide

Enter for your chance to win a $200 Netflix e-Gift Card! This giveaway is open Worldwide only where permitted, age 18 and older. This giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST on 11.30.22. This giveaway is hosted by Chatty Patty’s Place and The Review Wire. 

Please Read the Terms and Conditions:

Win It:

Good Luck!

Please share in comments: What is the last thing you watch on Netflix?