Toy Story 3

This was a pretty cute continuation of the Toy Story movies, but it had some definite scary parts (ie the crazy monkey). Zoie (7) really liked it, but I think she left the room once. Jonas (3) left the room several times and hid on my lap once or twice too.

How to Train Your Dragon

Matt's parents gave this movie to Zoie for her birthday a few weeks ago and she really loves it. She and Jonas quote lines from it daily, and they've only seen it a handful of times.

Anyway, it was a cute cartoon about Vikings and dragons, and how the Vikings come to realize that they don't need to kill the dragons.

The voice of the main character was a total shock to me. It didn't really fit what I was expecting (it's the main character from Sorcerer's Apprentice, who has a Christian Slater-ish sound to his voice).

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

I was pretty excited to see the newest Harry Potter film. In anticipation I listened to the book. I know, I know, that can ruin a movie, but I hadn't read it since it came out in 2007, and I thought brushing up would be good.

For the most part I thought that the movie was pretty true to the book. There were some definite changes, but I found myself not bothered by most of them. I thought about why they didn't keep certain things by the book, and decided that most of what they did were time savers that still kept the main story line in tact.

My husband thought it was kind of boring, and I can see what he meant, although I didn't feel exactly the same way. I felt that the 7th book dragged on while Harry, Ron and Hermione are wandering around trying to find Horcruxes and hide. While some parts of the movie were a little slow moving, there was a lot of action.

Part of Matt's beef was that the whole 2 1/2 hour movie was spent finding and destroying one Horcrux. That's not all that happened, but as that is the main goal of the trio, it does seem like a lot of time spent on one item.

I thought where the movie ended was actually a pretty good spot. The trio had some success, so it wasn't leaving on a defeatist note (although they weren't the only ones with success, so there's the suspense angle).

Some of you may have been curious about nudity rumors you've heard. Having just listened to the book, I knew that the only nudity in the book would have been in Part II (near the end, and hopefully that part wouldn't be in the movie since it doesn't seem necessary-but when does Hollywood ever go for necessary). So, for a little refresher. The horcrux that the trio finds is a locket. They don't have the means to destroy it, and when they wear it it affects their moods (in a negative way). So, they take turns wearing it to carry the burden. When they finally get what they need to destroy the locket, Ron is the man given the task. But, the locket is trying to stop him, so he thinks all these things that aren't true (namely that Harry and Hermione have a relationship). With a bit of a cartoonish look to their images, you see Harry and Hermione apparently shirtless embracing and making out. Although I think the book did have a relationship between those two as one of Ron's fears, this definitely was not in the book. The shirtless-ness was totally unnecessary.

Anyway, I did like the movie, but it's not one for young kids that have probably seen the other movies. I'm looking forward to the final movie.

RED

I saw this the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm still trying to process it. Not process as in I didn't get it, but process as in decide if I liked it or not.

It's about Retired and Extremely Dangerous ex-CIA agents. A group of these "oldies" gets on a hit list, and they get together to fight for their lives and figure out who is behind the kill orders on them.

I was laughing quite a bit. My confusion was just that some of it seemed like things I shouldn't be laughing over. You know, like when a bad guy gets blown up.

My favorite part was probably when Bruce Willis stepped out of a moving police car he'd stolen and he steps out of the way just in time for it to spin past him while he goes to shoot the guy who is trying to kill him (I'm doing it no justice, but you can probably see that part in a trailer if you Google it).

City Island

Weird show that Matt picked. Rotten Tomatoes actually gave it a pretty good rating, but it was just strange. About a family that lives in City Island, Bronx, that doesn't communicate well at all. They all hide things from each other, and don't get along well. The dad, played by Andy Garcia, is a corrections officer and discovers that a new inmate is his son that he didn't know about. He takes him home, but doesn't tell the son or the rest of his family who the guy really is. Of course everything comes out in the end.

There were some entertaining and funny parts, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Remember Me

Horrible movie-don't waste your time. It's pretty depressing throughout, and will leave you needing to watch something else or read something or do whatever you can to get some happy thoughts in your mind.

Date Night

This movie is about a couple that's been married for several years, and their life is pretty routine. Get up, get ready, get the kids ready, go to work, come home, take care of kids, sleep. They get concerned about their marriage when they learn that some friends are getting divorced, and try to have a plan a date that is not the boring one they usually go on. Of course, everything goes wrong, and they end up being mistaken for a couple that is involved in some bad stuff. They're running from bad guys and have to pull together to survive the night.

There were a lot of funny parts. Things you could totally relate to in marriage, and just other funny things. Unfortunately, there was some language and a few other things that weren't great. If you could watch it edited, I'd definitely recommend it.

The Karate Kid

Nothing like the remake of a classic movie (can I use the word classic for a movie that was made in the 80s?).

Matt and I watched this with Rorie and Nate, and I'm not sure if we really liked the movie, or if it was just a fun one to watch with them. We were throwing out Karate Kid lines and stuffing our faces with junk food. Good times.

The remake was alright. Dre (not Daniel, played by Jaden Smith) and his mom move to China. The maintenance man (Jackie Chan) agrees to teach Dre Kung Fu after a beating by the mean boys in school. It followed the original in many ways, with just a few changes (names, locations, etc).

I didn't care for Dre's mouth. The kid is 12 for crying out loud (although I shouldn't have been surprised since he said the f word in The Pursuit of Happiness-a movie several years ago that he was in with his dad, Will Smith). Anyway, he wasn't dropping the F bomb in this one, but searing in any form, especially by young kids, is a turn off to me. The movie didn't have a lot of swearing-it just seems to stand out more when a kid is the one swearing.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

If you aren't into boogers and other young boy isms, AVOID THIS MOVIE!

Matt let Zoie choose this one, and it was painful to watch (I stayed in the room but I think I was reading a book or something else).

Just Wright

Leslie Wright is a physical therapist who is a major Nets fan. She meets Scott McNight at a gas station one night after a game. They hit it off, but like every other guy, he is just interested in being her friend. Her god-sister Morgan is looking to be the trophy wife of an NBA star, and McNight falls for her. Then McNight is injured during a game, and Leslie gets the job of being his physical therapist to get him playing again. When it looks like he might not recover, Morgan ditches him. Leslie pushes him hard and gets him playing again, and they fall for each other and then Morgan shows up again.

It was a cute story, although the acting was subpar. And, it was pretty predictable, but I guess most romantic comedies are.

I did like how Scott McNight wasn't a womanizer like I picture most NBA stars to be. I also thought it was interesting that it showed players on opposite teams being friends. I hadn't really thought about them having friendships with their opponents.

The Bounty Hunter

This movie is about a divorced couple that comes together when the ex-husband gets hired to track down his ex-wife because she skipped a court appearance when she got a lead for a newspaper story she's working on (thus resulting in a warrant for her).

Parts were funny, other parts were not worth watching.

There aren't many great movies being made these days.

The Backup Plan

I decided to rent this when Matt was out of town (since I knew he didn't want to see it). I should have gone with his feelings-definitely not a winner of a show.

Zoe's going on with life, and decides she wants a baby (although she's not married and far from even having a relationship). She gets artificially inseminated, and then meets a guy. They fall for each other, and stay together even though she's pregnant.

The acting was ok, but it just wasn't a great show.

Dear John

Matt and I watched Dear John a few months ago. John, a soldier, is home on leave. He meets Savannah and they're together for two weeks or so and they fall in love. They keep in touch through letters when he goes back. (Totally reminded me of a missionary situation.) They have plans to be together as soon as his time is up, but following September 11, John reenlists. Savannah eventually sends him a "Dear John" telling him she's marrying someone else. And it goes on from there.

Overall it was a descent story, but I didn't like several things. I didn't feel like the "night in the barn" was necessary. And, I was totally bugged at Savannah's actions when John saw her after she was married. At least he was strong and left, but what a skank. You decide to marry someone-you deal with the consequences (even if you still love the other guy).