Even though this movie got some bad press I’m a sucker for a Summer Blockbuster so last night Scott and I went to see it.   I had some problems with it but overall enjoyed it.  Here’s my late review.

There were some parts of this movie that didn’t pan out for me like the back story on Cobra Commander.  I just didn’t buy it.  I also didn’t believe the back story on the Baroness.  With both of these stories the characters went from totally normal good guys to psychopathic bad guys in two seconds.  Maybe there just wasn’t enough time to show the transition, I don’t know but I didn’t buy it.

And you know there’s always romance in the movie?  Well the romance in this movie bit it big time.  There’s one love story kind of on the side that works just fine but the Baroness…  I don’t even know what to say.  I’m shocked.  Without giving anything away, I guess that’s all I’ll say.  I just don’t understand why they did what they did considering they’re probably going to try to make more movies.  Just don’t get it. (If you’ve seen the movie let’s have a discussion in the comments.  I would love to hear your take on this.)

And they killed a really great character.  Again, what about the next movie?

Now it sounds like I didn’t like the movie, but I did.  The aircraft, the underwater craft, the accelerator suits, the weapons.  Really, really fun.  There were tons of explosions and the Eiffel Tower falls down.  The whole world is in danger and the Joe’s save them all.  Go Joe!

Some of my favorite scenes were with Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as children.  Their backstory I totally bought and completely enjoyed.

The 3D in the movie sucked but again, I liked the movie.  I wanted a summer blockbuster and that’s exactly what I got.  Totally enjoyable.  Great popcorn movie. It’s not going in my DVD collection but definitely one of those that you’ll enjoy on the big screen.  Have any of your husbands dragged you to see it?  Or have any of you gone willingly?

G.I. Joe is currently in theaters.

I don’t mean to sound like a broken record but I can’t wait for this movie to come out in October.  This is the second trailer.  It looks amazing.  The Wild Things are absolutely stunning.  What do you think?

I am anticipating this movie more than any other movie in a long time and that’s saying a lot because I was really looking forward to several movies that have already come out this summer.  Spike Jonze is directing the movie version of Maurice Sendak’s fantastic children’s book Where the Wild things Are.  I remember this book from when I was a child.  Then Scott and I had our own little Max and would read this book to him everyday.  What a magical story.

I can’t wait for this movie to come out and I just wanted to share this featurette.  It just looks so amazing.  I love the Wild Things and absolutely adore Max’s wolf suit.

And no, this isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about this.  I’m just really excited.

Where the Wild Things Are will be in theaters in October.

I’m torn right now because The Prisoner of Azkaban has been my all time favorite Harry Potter movie but  Half-Blood Prince might just take it’s place.  Scott and I went to see this on Saturday and I have to tell you I almost screamed at one point and cried at another.  I know these books forward and back and this movie still elicited a very strong emotional response from me.

In the Half-Blood Prince Harry and his friends are much more mature than in previous movies.  They are making more adult decisions and faced with ever increasingly hard situations.  Harry faces another year at Hogwarts but this time Dumbledore is showing Harry more and more about Tom Riddle who grew up to become Lord Voldemort.  Dumbledore is preparing Harry for his destiny to face Voldemort and destroy him.

David Yates the director kept a lot of the same style that he used in Order of the Phoenix which I thought was so smart.  The way the Death Eaters fly around is truly inspired.  And the way the Pensieve works is amazing.  

Speaking of Death Eaters, Helena Bonham Carter is one of my favorite parts of these movies.  She is the perfect wicked witch.  And Mrs. Malfoy was superb.

The bits with Won Won and Lavender are disgustingly hilarious.  In fact Ron continues to be the humor in the film and it’s brilliant.

 Young Tom Riddle is so beautiful it’s hard to imagine the horror that he grows in to.  There are some bits that they threw in that weren’t in the book but believe me they only furthered the story and kept things moving.

I LOVE this movie.  I totally want to see it again and then I want to own it so  I can watch it over and over.  Now, the movie is rated PG but it’s very, very suspenseful.  My oldest is 8 and I would not even think about taking him to this movie.  I would rather wait until he was older and could really appreciate the beauty of the more mature relationships and the darkness that surrounds the whole movie.  The choice that Malfoy has to make at the end.  Oh man, there is so much in this movie that is just incredible.

As for my favorite  I think Prisoner of Azkaban takes it for beauty and style but Half -Blood Prince takes it for real life drama.  I honestly felt like I was watching real events, especially with the blossoming love in the story.

I know I’m not the only one that saw it this weekend.  What did you guys think?  

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is in theaters now.

Sorry Everyone- I just realized I never published this, and it’s been sitting in the draft box for four weeks!

I think it’s pretty telling when you go to see a movie on it’s opening weekend, and the theater is less then half full.   Ghosts of Girlfriends past totally reminded me of a movie you catch on TBS or USA, but you don’t actually go to the theater to see.  50 first dates is like this, and Sweet Home Alabama- both movies that are fun to watch, but you wouldn’t necessarily pay 12 dollars to see once.  On that note, I’m going to start this review off with the negatives, since I got so much flack last time I did a review and ended with the bad.   First of all the main character is a total ass- there’s just no other word for it, he’s a total ass and then he ends up with this perfectly charming and fabulous girlfriend in the end (sorry spoiler, but really it’s so obvious in the entire movie).  Do I think this happens in real life?  A player magically transforms into the worlds most perfect boyfriend?  Of course not!  So it was really far fetched.  The second part that was hard for me was, again, the main character is so utterly disgusting a human being that you can’t stand him for the first quarter of the movie- then the rest of the movie is spent trying to redeem him, so you’ll think he deserves the lead female character.  What are we, fools?  and can you tell I can’t remember any of the characters names- this is how forgettable the movie is.

OK, now for the good- the movie has some very cute points and great supporting cast members.  It’s funny, and once you get into the storyline, you genuinely root for the main character to essentially “get the girl.”  Completely sucked into the romance aspect of it- and I almost had a little tear at the end.  The ghost from his past girlfriends is uproariously funny- especially loved the flashbacks to the eighties and on.  This is probably a great movie for someone dating a total loser, or the perennial cheater- or anyone who still believes there’s redemption in a cheater- but can be skipped, until it comes to tv, for the rest of us.

I thought I’d give a shout out to the original as I reviewed the current movie.  If you have boys you have to see these movies.  I have more boy taste in movies so I can’t speak for little girls out there but our family thoroughly enjoyed both of these movies.

In the first one Ben Stiller’s character takes a job as a night guard at the Museum of Natural History in New York only to find that the inhabitants of the museum come to life at night.  Of course chaos ensues as he has no idea what to do and he even contemplates quitting his job the next morning.  He sticks with it though and is able to repair a fraying relationship with his son.  Perfection.

Then in the second film, Battle at the Smithsonian, many of the inhabitants of the Museum are being transferred into storage at the Smithsonian.  Well the ancient Egyptian plate that brings everything to life awakens the inhabitants of the Smithsonian.  An evil ancient Pharoah is awoken and tries to use the plate to take over the world.  Step in Ben Stiller again and the always amazing Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart.

These movies are absolutely magical and I would definitely add them to my DVD collection.  All three of our boys, oldest 7 and youngest 4, loved these movies.  As an added bonus Owen Wilson is in both movies.  I am a huge Owen Wilson fan so I was thrilled to see him do something my kids can watch.

So bottom line.  I loved both movies.  You don’t need to have seen the first one to enjoy the second but I would definitely recommend watching both.

Did anyone with girls watch these?  Did they like them?

This is a rental- walking out of the theatre my husband said, “that movie looked a lot cooler in the preview.”  Amen.  I loved the book, and this movie is a condensed version of it.  You won’t be disappointed by any of the changes, although there is quite a few- and not to throw any spoilers out there, but this includes part of the ending.  They streamlined a lot of the plot points so it wasn’t quite as confusing- but unfortunately I thought some of the tension was then lost.  It felt really splintered, like now we’re running to this point, and now we have to spend five minutes explaining why we’re running to this point, then there’s some action, and now we’re explaining the action.  Seriously, I almost fell asleep in the middle of it.  Totally worth renting, because it still has lots of twists and turns, characters are not who you think they are, a time limit they’re up against, beautiful scenery(even though they never shot at Vatican City)- It’s just not one of the movies that’s improved by seeing it on the big screen. 

I should also mention that my husband hasn’t seen “The Da Vinci Code” and even though this is supposed to be a “sequel” it doesn’t at all feel like it.  They’re completely separate stories and they explain very early on why Robert Langdon isn’t very welcome at Vatican City.   So if you’re a Tom Hanks fan, or you super loved the book- you’ll enjoy it, otherwise save your money and pick it up on Netflix.

Oh my gosh you guys, I LOVED this movie.  It was beyond awesome and I’m not a Trekkie/Trekker.  I’ve watched a smattering of TNG (The Next Generation) and I have never seen a Star Trek movie so I went into this with very little background.  Of course I’ve heard of Captain Kirk and Spock.  Who hasn’t.  But I don’t know their characters or personalities and my viewing experience wasn’t lacking in the least.

The story begins before Spock or Kirk join the Federation.  They are both living separate lives and doing totally contrary things but are then forced together on an awesome adventure.

The special effects in this movie are breath taking because it’s all made up.  They are fighting battles in space on ships that don’t exist.  It’s incredible.

I remember Scott read a review from a Trekkie/Trekker who was complaining about the film because it was “accessible and humorous.”  How funny is that?  They were right though.  The movie is totally accessible.  You don’t need to know anything going into it except that it’s fabulous.

Perfect date night movie for me but I like the action stuff myself.  I highly recommend this movie.  It’s not too geeky.  It gets you going from the opening scene.  Man, I love Summer movies!!

Anyone else catch it this weekend?

The hubs and I saw this movie last weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I told my friend it was on par with the other X-Men movies but I need to retract that statement after watching them again over the weekend.

Wolverine tells the story from childhood about how Logan finds out he’s a mutant and then gets drafted into a special unit of the military along with his mutant brother.  We’re then led along the path that leads to the adimantium being grafted to his bones and eventually to his loss of memory.

The first half of the movie was definitely better than the second half and there were cameos from quite a few other mutants that felt forced.  Like they want to make a spin off and are testing the waters.

The first two X-Men movies were much better than this one but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a blast watching Wolverine.  I say, if your hubby wants to see it or some of your guy friends go with them.  This is a really fun movie and it has a great love story built into it.

Oh, and there’s a girl in there who’s skin changes to diamonds.  That’s her mutant power and it looked awesome.  Twilight needs to up their game from their lame diamond vampire skin.

Anyone one else catch this movie?

So the girls and I went and saw this movie last Friday.  I loved it so much I convinced my husband to go see it with me on Saturday and I just talked to him last night and he said he would totally see it again.  Can I give a better recommendation than that?  Mind you he’s willing to watch this movie with me while calling Zach Efron my boyfriend.  That’s love people.

It’s true though, I am totally in love with Zach.  I don’t think I’m old enough to be a cougar but I would become a cougar just for him.  Just for him.  I know I am totally smitten but I thought he did a superb job in his role as a 37 year old inside a 17 year olds body.  I really felt he portrayed the father figure well.  I’m telling you ladies after he turns 17 and he gets his makeover he is scrumptious.

Of course you know there’s going to be a scene where his daughter falls for him but it still creeped me out even knowing it was going to happen.  That was the only part of the movie I didn’t like but it was a total minor part.

So I say, grab your husband or grab the girls and go see this movie.  Well worth the money.

I know some of you have seen it, I mean how could you refuse that face?  What did you think?

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If you haven’t heard yet director Spike Jonze is making a Where the Wild Things Are movie based on the children’s book by Maurice Sendak.  This is one of my all time favorite children’s books.  Not only do I remember it from childhood but I have a Max and I would read this book over and over again to him.  It’s a magical tale about a mischievous boy who gets sent to his room and dreams about sailing over the sea to the land where the wild things live.  He plays with them and they make him their king until he smells good food to eat and decides to go back home.  My favorite part are the two pages that are just drawing with no words.  I would say “They howled at the moon.” Then we would howl at the moon. “And they swung from the trees like monkeys.”  Then we would make monkey sounds. There’s a scene in the trailer where they are all howling at the moon.  Awesome.

The movie looks absolutely incredible.  I am in awe at the puppet wild things.  They really look like they are having fun and being wild.  Max’s wolf suit is perfection.  My guess is we’re going to see a lot of those this Halloween.  I cannot wait for this movie to come out.  It looks magical.

So, what do you think?  Looks good, right?

There’s a press release on Stephenie Meyer’s site that announced the New Moon werewolf gang.  I was so mad that they didn’t have pictures that I went and found some.  I am so excited.  I haven’t been this excited since Twilight the movie was being made.  I’m totally giddy and cannot wait to see these guys in action.  I didn’t bother to gets everyone’s stats or past experience for you but here’s some pictures to get you thinking.  I couldn’t figure out who is supposed to play which cast member so if you know holler and I’ll update the post.  I would love to know.

Chaske Spencer

Bronson Pelletier

Alex Meraz

Kiowa Gordon

Tyson Houseman

And to top it all off is a picture with Lautner, our very own Jacob Black.

The only one that I’m skeptical about is Houseman.  He doesn’t look American Indian to me.  He looks like he could play Harry Potter but what do I know he’s in the picture with Lautner so it seems official.  

Oh my gosh.  Every once in a while I just get Twilight Fever all over again.  Oh baby, have I got it.  What with the release of the movie and now this.  I might be on my way to reading those darn books over again.  How about you?  Got Twilight Fever?

This is Henry Selick’s (Director of The Nightmare Before Christmas) latest stop motion animated film.  It’s beautiful.  Absolutely gorgeous.  My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it from an aesthetic perspective.

The story goes that a young girl named Coraline is unhappy with her family who are too busy finishing a book to spend any time with her.  She finds a secret, locked door that leads to a magical world where her “other” parents live.  Her other parents have plenty of time to spend with her and have even planted a magical garden for her.  And it’s not just her parents that are magical.  Her neighbors are fantastical and just what any girl would want.

But all is not as it seems.  This is where things start to get scary as Coraline is first trapped in this other world and then has to rescue her parents and several ghost children who are trapped there also.

I would recommend this movie for children 11 and up.  I don’t think my kids would have enjoyed this movie.  First of all because it moves at a very slow pace and then because the other mom turns into a monster and there are ghost children that she has captured.  It’s kind of like an old fashioned fairy tale where when you do something wrong you have to pay the nasty, horrible consequences.  It’s not sugar coated.  Coraline is apparently based on a horror novella (by Neil Gaiman) and it shows.

On a side note, because of the reference to The Nightmare Before Christmas and it being a stop motion film I thought Tim Burton was involved so I’ve been telling people this is a Tim Burton film but as far as I can tell, it’s not.  Which is I guess why it’s scary and music is not such a big part of it.  I did see a preview for 9, Burton’s new movie coming out 9/9/09.  I’m really excited about that one.  It looks really good.  It doesn’t look anything like The Corpse Bride or Nightmare.  It’s like an action movie.

Anyway, back to my main topic, I loved it but what did you guys think of Coraline?

This movie would have been so much better, if I was single and needed to commiserate with girlfriends over crappy relationships.  As it was, I still found it funny and quirky and cute, but I should have kept my eleven dollars and waited for it to come out on netflix. 

Drew Barrymore was a huge disappointment.  I never understood her storyline(maybe because she didn’t have one?).   She was basically the punchline to a joke that never ended, and I didn’t quite “get”.  She also was playing the same character that she seems to play in every single movie she’s done lately- the “airhead, silly, quirky, reminds me of Phoebe from Friends but with an edge” girl.  I really like Drew, but she should stick to producing.

Jennifer Aniston played the woman that’s been “living with a man for seven years but who has yet to commit to marriage.”  I thought Jen was great, and Ben Affleck as her boyfriend was spot on.   I just have to agree with a comment Elaine made as we were walking out of the theater.  “The whole movie seems to think marriage is a terrible institution.”  For example, Jen’s sisters play wives married to classic chauvinistic husbands.  I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t go into the storyline too much- but basically Jen breaks up with her boyfriend because he won’t marry her.  It never makes sense that she’s so desperate to get married, when all the marriages around her are so terrible.

Another example of this is the plotline involving Scarlet Johanssen as “the other woman.”  I had a really hard time with the believability of this one.  That a woman would actively pursue someone- that not only had she just met, but was married- after he gave her the brush off.  Bradley Cooper, who plays the husband, was a whole lot of sleaze with just a little likeability- married to a woman, we find out, he isn’t having sex with.   It really felt like the writers were shocking us with his cheating, but at the same time trying to justify his behavior.  It was just sad that they couldn’t portray one married  couple as completely normal and happy.

My favorite storyline was the one involving Ginnifer Goodwin as Gigi.  She’s fabulous as a completely neurotic, and desperate single woman who scares men away with her obsessiveness.  You can’t help but to fall in love with her character, although you spend most of the movie cringing with embarrassment at her antics.  This is the storyline worth watching the whole movie for- completely heartwarming and funny.

Overall this is definitely a single gal movie- rent it if you’re married.  This really isn’t one for the men in your life, it’d be especially uncomfortable to watch with someone you’re dating.   He’s just not that into you is out in theaters beginning Feb 6th.

Thanks to Netflix’s Watch Now feature I was able to get my next installment of Tim Burton.  Corpse Bride is another stop-motion animated musical film and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I didn’t like the music as much as I liked the music in Nightmare but it was still really fun.

Victor (Johnny Depp) falls in love with Victoria (Emily Watson) but accidentally marries a corpse, Emily (Helena Bohnam Carter).  Victor has to choose between Victoria and Emily as Victoria’s family conspires against them and Victor is trapped in the world of the dead.

This is a really fun and beautiful film.  My only problem is that I didn’t like the animation with a worm who has a lot of face time in the film.  But believe me, that’s a small issue.  Very small.

I would say this movie is OK for kids.  The dead are not scary.  They’re just people who are dead and skeletal.  They’re actually quirky and charming.

So you can watch this today on Netflix.  It’s a great movie.  You should definitely check it out.

I’ve also seen:  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas  from Tim Burton.  Which one should I see next?

This is my third adventure with Tim Burton and so far I have loved every moment of it.  The Nightmare Before Christmas is a stop motion musical film.  I didn’t know there was going to be sining so it kind of caught me off guard but in a good way.  I loved the music in this film.

Jack is the king of Halloween.  He lives in Halloween Town where they plan all year long to make sure Halloween is the scariest, creepiest, most oozing holiday to date.  The town is celebrating the best Halloween ever but Jack is feeling like he’s lost his purpose.  He’s just not feeling the love for what he does.

He wanders into the forest and finds the door to Christmas Town which leads to my favorite scene from the whole movie.  Jack is mesmerized by the snow and the lights and cheerfulness and goes back to Halloween Town filled with new hope.

Unfortunately Jack does not understand the meaning of Christmas and decides that Halloween Town will give Santa the year off and take over.  This does not go well.  Fortunately a rag doll named Sally is looking out for Jack and Santa cleans up the rest of the mess.

I do not plan on showing this movie to my kids because at this point in their lives they do not view Halloween as scary.  It is merely a time to dress like super heroes and get candy and I’d like to leave it at that.

For the adults out there I say watch this soon.  It is fantastic.  The two guys that do the voice of Jack, Chris Sarandon and Danny Elfman, are incredible.  I was totally taken in by their combined efforts.  I really felt that jack was powerful and domineering even though his body is so scrawny.

I realize I may be the only one that hasn’t seen this movie but better late than never right.  I 100% absolutely loved it.  Have you seen it?

I thought this movie was going to be weird.  I’m talking WEIRD.  W-E-I-R-D.  But it wasn’t.  It was beautiful.  Absolutely breathtaking.  It’s the story of a guy named Edward who is actually an invention; he’s not a real boy.  Before his creator could give him hands the creator died so Edward is stuck with scissors as hands.  He’s all alone for years in his castle until a very friendly Avon lady comes to call and decides to bring him home with her to live.

The family that Edward goes to live with is so fabulous.  Of course it’s a little strange that he has scissors for hands but they treat him like a human being and the mother is incredibly supportive.

The only problem I have with the movie is Winona Ryder playing an old woman.  Didn’t buy it for a second but that is such a small part of the movie it almost isn’t worth mentioning.

I love the way Edward looks with his leather suit and the scars on his face.  It lights up the screen when he starts to smile.  Johnny Depp did a great job portraying someone who is highly uncomfortable and really unknowing of how normal social interaction plays out.

I highly recommend this movie.  This is my second foray into Tim Burton and so far I am thrilled with what I’m finding.  Well, third I guess, but I don’t really remember Batman that well.  It was so long ago that I saw it but I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it.

I thought I should quickly mention that yes I do see the similarities between Edward Scissorhands and Jasper (Twilight).  But I don’t think they’re bad.  I like the way both characters were played.

So, did you watch this movie back in the day?  Did you love it or hate it?

Edward Scissorhands was released in 1990 and directed by Tim Burton.

OK, I was really turned off by the theme song.  Be warned, it’s pretty bad.  But if you can get past that little part it’s a pretty fun movie.  More of the same from the original.  Major Star Trek fans showing their geekiest.  This time they not only feature the US but they feature other countries as well.  It’s funny because they have whole segment on if you can take your fanaticism too far.  So you’ve got some that make fun of the really fanatic ones and others that say no way, there’s no way you can be to into this.

My favorite part of the movie is near the end when they go to Sacramento and catch up with Star Trek themed bands.  They’re not bad.

Another good piece is when they debate if it was appropriate for the lady from the first movie to wear her Star Trek uniform to jury duty.  She claims it didn’t effect any of the happenings in court and I would imagine the judge could have asked her to stop, so who am I to say she shouldn’t wear her uniform.  That being said, I think it’s totally preposterous for her to compare wearing her Star Trek uniform to people in the Armed Forces wearing their uniforms.

I enjoyed the movie but I don’t think I would sit through it on my own again.  Not for a while at least.  I’m trekked out.

In case you haven’t already heard the news Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black again.  I’m really happy about this.  I love the way he looks and I personally could care less if he doesn’t grow as tall as Jacob does in the books.  How many people are that tall anyways?  They could do tricks like they did in LOTR or they could just leave him as is and I would be happy.  He was the one actor that I fell in love with from the moment they announced him so I am tickled pink that he’s sticking around for New Moon.

Now I know you guys have an opinion on this so make sure you share it.