Mama Mia

Mama Mia had been well-liked by others so we went to it with moderately high expectations. Audrey liked it well enough, and made comments like "It was cute..." and "It was a little bit silly, but fun."

Steve and Audrey both agreed that the music was fun to listen to. It was also fun to see Meryl Streep looking happy on-screen and hearing her sing surprisingly well. On the other hand, it was a little shocking to hear how poor was the singing of her co-star, Pierce Brosnon. Another shock was the homeliness of Streeps two sidekicks. They obviously were cast to present the star in a more favorable light by the ineveitable comparisons that occur through close juxtopositioning.

Steve thought that the movie was okay, but not really worth seeing except as a favor to his wife. While the more popular songs were entertaining, there were many obscure songs that will not be familiar to most viewers. It did have the effect of reminding Steve that he should re-watch Across The Universe.

Tropic Thunder

This movie is not a chick-flick by a long shot. It was Steve's choice and he found the movie to be filled with enough humor, explosions, cursing, and sarcastic humor to get his attention. Mercifully, the violence was all pretty much the Hollywood-clean-implied variety. Audrey reluctantly agrees that it is a funny movie. She laughed a few times and never complained about the cussing. There is one very graphic description of a sex act that is rather tasteless (in a very funny way) and many people will find it offensive.

Most everyone that sees this movie will agree that the quality of the actors' performances is superb. The cast is talented and they are fun to watch as they play wildly bizarre characters. the movie does a good job at laughing at itself and the stars in the movie (and there are some big ones) join along by not taking themselves too seriously. In that sense the movie is better than many.

Good job, Ben Stiller!

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Audrey and I both thought that Journey to the Center of the Earth was fun-enough to watch.  We decided that it would be okay to take Courtney and Belle to it, but that it would be a better DVD than full-price theater moive.

We are big fans of Bendan Fraser and that is a big part of liking this movie.  Otherwise it was pretty unimaginative, predictable, and relied very heavily on computer generated special effects.  Not ground-breaking, not overly exciting, not surprising, not an award-winner in any sense -- but fun-enough to watch.

Hancock

The previews for HANCOCK looked great. Will Smith is just fun to watch in all his movies, so that alone seemed promising. And the trailers showed very clever scenes that depicted the irony of a super-strong and indestructible man who lacks self-respect and motivation. So the show really sets you up for some expectations like maybe it was going to be something like the Incredibles where the superheroes come to terms with who they are and how to fit into society. And in part, this movie did address that issue.

But this movie is really about something else. It is a clever depiction of the psychologically accurate phenomenon of being attracted, even compelled, to be in the very relationship that causes us the most emotional pain and psychological difficulty possible. The theory is that no matter who you marry, you turn that person into your mother or father or whoever it is that represents the conflicted and unresolved relationship from your youth. There are predictable consequences. This movie shows that phenomenon, including some of the dangerous consequences, in a unique but psychologically accurate way. The ending was lacking, however. It felt like they just had to come up with an ending and were no longer concerned about making it true-to-life, psychologically speaking.

I liked watching the movie. It could have been much better had it carried it's message authentically through to the end. I would rent the dvd and watch it again, probably. I think most will like it.

1776

1776 has become a family tradition in our home. It is a musical telling of the story of the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. Each year around July 4th we like to watch the movie and sing along with the clever, compelling, and even educating songs. This year the girls (Courtney and Belle) both watched it more than once. The role of John Adams is played by the actor William Daniels (known for his turse attitude in such roles as Mr Feeney in Boy Meets World, Dr Craig in St Elsewhere, and the voice of the car KITT in Knight Rider). There may be other recognizable actors, but the characters really steal the attention and the songs capture the mood and the story is incredibly compelling. This movie is highly recommended by all in my family.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

While mom and older sister were outta town on a mini Disney vacation, Belle and I went to see the latest in what promises to be a long line of Narnia movies. It was Belle's second viewing and it was at her request that we saw the show. I would have opted for Get Smart or Wall-E, but timing and a seven-year-old daughter's requests trump my good judgment most of the time.

Belle liked the show. She was excited about the prospect of knowing what was going to happen before I knew it. She also loved some of the characters, I think. It was a story that played into her own fantasies of power and victory.

But I (Steve) am having trouble remembering anything about it to say whether I liked it or not. It is not that I did not see it. I did not step out to use the bathroom or to make a phone call -- I did not even fall asleep -- the show just did not make enough of an impression for me to recall now, a week later, anything about it. I have flashes of memories of scenes, but no feeling other than indifference. I do not even want to try to remember this movie. I guess that tells me what I must have thought about it at the time.

So my recommendation is take the kids to this movie. You could easily make a worse choice, and the kids will like this one. But the adults should not expect much out of this show for themselves.

Kung Fu Panda

I saw this movie with the whole family and had a great time. The plot is nothing special: underdog-does-good. but it is visually fun. It is also fun to listen to. The voices of Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman were easily recognizable, but I had to really work at Ian McShane (a personal favorite). I totally did not recognize Angelina Jollie or Lucy Liu (their voices did not add as much to this movie as their names do).

This movie is great fun and I can see it being in the family library of movies. It is not as good as Ratatouille (I suddenly realizethat I have not reviewed that very excellent cartoon movie).

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Just like its title, this movie is too long and too contrived. I saw the movie with my mother-in-law RuthAnn and we both agreed that we did not hate it. But neither of us loved it. It relies heavily on special-effects, some mildly interesting action scenes, and very little on character development.

So go see the movie because how can you not go see such a well-established franchise movie? But do not expect to be excited by it the way you remember being excited by the first Indiana Jones movie.

Damn Yankees

The whole family saw South Plantation High School's production of DAMN YANKEES. The play is set in the 1950s and is about an avid Washington Senators baseball fan who hates the rival Yankees. His love for baseball causes him to make a deal with the devil himself to become a franchise-changing talent of a ball player. His love of baseball vs his love of a faithful wife are the core conflict of the show. But there are enough other sub-plots and interesting characters to keep the audience interested throughout the show.

The kids in this production did an excellent job. There were several very good singers and the dance numbers really exceeded expectations. For me, half the fun was watching the joy and fascination on the faces of our daughters, Courtney(15) and Belle(7). Their smiles were uncontrollable during more than one scene, and Belle was wide-eyed while watching the dancers run down the isles and jump on stage. More than one dance number lasted several minutes and involved fairly complicated and well coordinated choreography. It was a total joy to watch them pull it off as well as they did.

Overall, it was a real pleasure for the whole family to watch and listen to the musical performance of Damn Yankees. And it was a joy to help support the young talent at Courtney's South Plantation High School.

Wicked!

The whole family went to see WICKED and the whole family loved it. For those who may not know, the play tells another side to the traditional Wizard of Oz story. I was impressed by how well they made the psychology of this alternative story. They really did a good job with the characters' motivations. The performance level of the actors was very satisfying. I would use words like tremendous and incredible, but I really have very little experience with professional level plays. I will say that there were no disappointments. Our seats were almost as far away and to the side as is possible. We were looking down on the stage and actors. Nonetheless we heard and saw and enjoyed the play as well as we had hoped and never once felt disadvantaged by our seating position.

I know I speak for the whole family when I recommend seeing WICKED. In fact, it was such a fun day at the playhouse that I would consider seeing it again.

Horton Hears a Who and Boston Market

After spending the day at a waterpark for Courtney's birthday, the whole family went to see HORTON HEARS A WHO. It turned out to be a great show. Well directed and acted, it also had a fairly inspiring message. The whole family enjoyed it. We had fun identifying people that we all knew that personified characters in the movie. We unanimously agreed that Horton is Walker's friend Joe.

It was Courtney's birthday so she could have gone anywhere but she chose BOSTON MARKET. I had never eaten at there before that day. The chicken was very juicy and tasty and the kids loved their macaroni and cheese. A nice benefit of eating there is that the whole family ate for a fraction of what it would cost at a full service restaurant.

10,000 BC and Wendy's

I took the big kids to see 10,000 BC and left Audrey and Belle at home. We enjoyed the movie well enough, but it was not what we had expected. I thought it would be an action flick, and there is action in it. But it was also very much a love story that was a little overly sentimental for me. Courtney found the movie to be surprisingly suited to her tastes. Walker and Joe and I thought it was tolerable. Several scenes were a little too incredible (hushing an angry mob of thousands within two seconds, for example). But it is worth seeing on DVD.

Afterwards we went to a Thai restaurant, then a Chinese Buffet, and finally WENDY'S. It was 10:15pm and the first eateries had closed already. Even Wendy's dining area was closed so we drove-through and ate at home where the company and conversation was unsurpassed. How was Wendy's? When I got home I realized that they did not give me my over-priced drink. Bummer.

Vantage Point and Ole' Ole'

We knew VANATGE POINT was an action flick, and so we weren't expecting much from it otherwise. Part of the way through the movie, however, we found ourselves being pleased by how cleverly the story was being told. It was like riding an amusement park ride over and over again except that it was still not predictable on the fourth ride. This movie kept me in my seat when I normally might have visited the snack bar.

The cast was attractive, the acting was convincing, the action was intense, the camera work was interestingly unusual, the plot line was creative enough -- but at some point late in the show the whole thing "jumped-the-shark."

Without revealing too much about the storyline I will say that at about the halfway mark in the show I thought the subtly stated message of the movie was going to be "things are not always as they appear." But by the end, I felt like I was being force-fed the message that "John Wayne is not dead." One man with a gun, a car, and enough righteous anger can overcome the laws of physics and physiology as applied to car crashes, foot pursuit, gunfights, and even time. One man is all that is needed to conquer evil (no matter how sophisticated and well-prepared are the bad guys). And if good, honest, well-meaning Americans were to assist in anyway possible, go the extra mile, and help until it might hurt, they will find that everything works out well in the end and they will be unscathed and happy.

After eating too much popcorn at the movie, we both had salads at OLE' OLE' and found that to be the perfect amount. I highly recommend their Cobb Salad for the excellent taste and more than adequate volume. Audrey had a Ceasar Salad that was nothing more than a bowl of lettuce - sufficient for her that night, but nothing special.

DVDs Briefly

Even Money: three plot-lines intersect as people find themselves involved in gambling problems. Small twist at the end is mildly interesting. Cast is far better than the movie. No real sympathy for any of the characters. Maybe it was a good book, not such a great movie. Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Ray Liota, Tim Roth. Don't bother to rent it.

Rescue Dawn: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn: navy pilot shot down, pow, jungle survival, eventual rescue. Not bad, not great. Not much personality. Maybe rent it.

The Invisible: highly improbable story of high school classes at odds, supernatural elements are interesting, transformation of lead antagonist from thug to sexy beauty feels unbelievable, no real sympathy for the characters involved. Don't bother to rent it.

Next: another stupid movie concept, Nicolas Cage as hero of the most improbable plot line imaginable. Has some mildly interesting action sequences, but the basic premise is so shabby so as to make this movie pretty silly. Maybe rent it if you need a movie playing in the background.

Hairspray: Singing, dancing, chunky girls, John Travolta in drag, 60s hair-styles, Christopher Walken dancing. Everyone else loves this movie. My daughter watched it over and over. I couldn't sit through the whole thing. Rent it for other people to watch -- you will probably love it, too. I didn't.

Deck the Halls: Christmas movie with Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito. The ideas in this movie are funnier than the movie itself. The humor seemed forced and the plot highly contrived. Rent it to watch at Christmas time if you need to fill your empty house with the sound of something but you don't wanna be tied to the screen watching it.

Civic Duty: The star is fun to watch, the plot is creatively simple, kinda represents the paranoid mindset of that might have existed in the minds of some people in the time immediately post-911 WTC attacks. The movie is well done, with a minimal plot that is heavy on character exploration. The star is a study of a man under stress, much like Bruce Dern would have portrayed in the past. Rent this DVD. Get the popcorn and diet coke ready ahead of time.

Ole' Ole' and There Will Be Blood

We had a late Friday lunch (we like to meet-up on Fridays) at OLE' OLE' and ordered our typical "Fajitas for Two". AUDREY ordered steak and STEVE got chicken. As always, the food arrived fast and hot and the flavor was just right for our Gringo palates. It would have been worth the trip just to have the chips and salsa that was brought to our table without asking and free of charge. The salsa was not hot but had a deliciously tangy bite that made it hard to not eat the whole bowl very quickly.

The food was not the only pleasant experience at that restaurant. The service was friendly and efficient. I think the restaurant is family owned and there has been a low turnover rate of servers. We have seen the same servers at work there for years and they know their job well. We highly recommend this restaurant as a very relaxing, casual dining experience. Ole' Ole' is located on the south side of Broward Blvd, just west of Sears in the Broward Mall.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD was critically acclaimed (Daniel Day Lewis is being highly touted) and promised to be a better pick than the current flurry of mindless chick-flix. STEVE would agree that it fulfilled its promise and was an interesting movie. The action was intense and interesting and well-depicted. The acting seemed first-rate. However, he wished that the story had been a little more complete with a fuller depiction of the forces that were, at that time, shaping the future of America. He would have liked to have learned more about Standard Oil and the man behind that burgeoning empire. He was confused by the story, left wondering if it is just the simple story of one man's life and the improbable twists and turns that that life took, or if the film was some sort of allegory for bigger and more meaningful ideas.

Maybe it is trying to depict that crude oil is the "life-blood" of America, and that, for some people, money is of more value than family. Maybe it is trying to show that religion, and/or other service industries, are leeches to the economy and are at the mercy of the real money-makers who generate the infusion of cash upon which they feed. Whatever the intended meaning, it was unsatisfyingly obscure.

AUDREY was a good sport and tolerated the movie (Steve's choice) without complaint. She did no have much to say about it, though, and is still not quite certain what her review will be. She said the movie left her baffled, but that she liked it enough to think about it several times since seeing it.

J Alexanders and P.S. I Love You

ALEXANDER'S: Audrey enjoyed the soup (chicken pasta) and salad (Alex's house) combo while Steve ordered the Cypress Salad. The soup and salad is often just the right amount of food for Audrey, and is one of her favorite items to order. Steve was satisfied with the Cypress Salad, but was less happy with it than other items on the menu.

P.S. I LOVE YOU is a cute "chick flick" that stars Hilary Swank and some other good actors in a story of love and loss and moving on with life. AUDREY and STEVE both admire Swank's acting and enjoyed the movie well enough, but thought that it was flawed. The character played by Harry Connick Jr. was not developed well enough for us to care about him, and the ending of the movie seemed contrived. Steve and Audrey would recommend the show to others, but not enthusiastically, and might suggest waiting to see it on DVD.