ONE for the MONEY

This movie was mildly entertaining....definitely fluff....it would be a great late-night show on television, but not really worth the effort and cost of going to see in a theater.  Audrey is a big fan of the series of books upon which this movie is based, and she was largely disappointed with the show.

If you are a big fan of Katherine Heigl, you might like this show more than others.  The makers made certain to keep the star's best body-parts (eye-candy) in the center of focus as much as possible.

Capitol Steps

A cast of five performed a string of short skits, showing off comedic and musical talents.  The non-stop delivery made the 90 minute show fly by quickly.  Some of the references to current events were too obscure for those that do not keep up with politics, but the satire was exceedingly clever, the topics were very timely, and the casts' talent made nearly every moment of the show an absolute joy to watch. 

It is fun to watch live performances.  This group is pitch-perfect, so to speak.  We highly recommend seeing them if you can.

Tintin is Great Adventure

My daughters do not remember reading the Tintin graphic novels like I do.  My wife has never read them and probably would not like them if she did.  But we ALL loved the Tintin movie.  There was great action that got the whole viewing audience to almost rise outta their seats, at times.  The visual effects were excellent, with the 3D actually making a positive contribution to this movie.

Perhaps some Tintin fanatics, those that loved the books, will not like how this movie looks and feels.  Afterall, no movie can compare with a child's imagination that accompanies the reading of a good book.  But I suspect that this movie will be pleasing to most Tintin fans and also to those that are completely unfamiliar with the time-honored character.

Arthur Christmas is an Instant Christmas Classic

I  predict that Arthur Christmas will be a regularly watched movie for many many Christmas's to come.  My family thoroughly enjoyed the show.  I don't think that 3D added anything to the show -- the cleverly told story and perfectly depicted characters are enough to make it a must-see, even in 2D.

I recommend this highly for all family members.  Nice humor, some small dramatic tension, nothing embarrassing to adults in front of the kids, and little tearfulness all combines to produce a heart-warming story that is fun to watch in every scene.

Moneyball is a Homerun

We weren't sure what to expect, maybe more comedy.  But what this show did deliver was a refreshingly honest and well-acted story.  While the bare facts of the story are rooted in true history, enough drama and tension has been realistically injected into the show to make it an engaging viewing.  Brad Pitt was great fun to watch.  This movie is well worth a ticket.

True Grit

I first thought, who would DARE to remake a John Wayne classic? After having seen this movie I have to say, Well Done!!!!!

I remembered the original, but not as well as I thought I did until this remake reminded me.  And then it did better than that by being a more realistic depiction.  That Jeff Bridges is not John Wayne is a blessing to this film, as he retained the Grit while eschewing the drunken-macho-buffoon persona that saddled the Duke's every performance.

The characters were spot-on, the action was brisk, and the dialog was quirky and engaging.  The film was also visually stunning, as to be expected from the Cohen brothers.

Tron Legacy

Great movie for the whole family.  The younger generation liked the action well enough and the parents loved the nostalgia and the continuation of a long-past sci-fi fantasy.

Jeff Bridges did himself proud. The younger new hero was very watchable.  The graphics and the action was quite well done. The storyline was -- well, who really cares in a movie like this one.  The "miracle" was implausible, impossible, irrelevant.  Go and see it for the fun and the special effects. 

Well done, Legacy!

Date Night

This movie was everything that we could have hoped it would be. It was fun, clever, predictably happy-ended, and it got the psychology of our demographic (late 40s, married with kids, average in most every way) just right. Steven Carell and Tina Fey were great together. The action sequences were thrilling enough, but they were also imbued with enough humor to make the audience howl. Oh, yeah, Mark Wahlberg had a relatively small, but endearing, role to play in the absolute success of this movie.

My wife pointed out that the movie used some very adult language, at times -- not profanity, exactly, but adult. Many parents would not be comfortable with their teens watching this movie, even though it is rated PG13.

This movie was great fun and we left the theater saying to each other, why aren't there more movies like this one?

The Blind Side

RuthAnn, Steve, and Courtney saw this movie and all loved it. Everyone will love this movie. It is a feel-good movie that manages to drum up some drama without the anguish of any really painful plot line.

The movie became especially poignant after the conclusion when pictures of the actual persons were juxtaposed with those of the corresponding movie characters.

This movie will sell many dvds and everybody will like watching it.

Up In The Air

RuthAnn and Audrey saw this movie and gave it luke-warm reviews. They said it was timely and relevant, and that George Clooney did a good job. They would not buy the dvd and gave only moderate recommendations to others to see it.

Invictus

RuthAnn and Audrey loved this movie. They both commented that it was good to learn more about that time in history and some of the events and forces involved.

Steve had trouble staying awake and felt frustrated by the slow and plodding place, and the deliberate style that seems to be a characteristic of movies directed by Eastwood.

Sherlock Holmes

Steve thought this movie was good for special effects with excellent cinematography. Robert Downy was great to watch, and the relationship between Holmes and Watson was well portrayed and humorous. But the plot seemed forced, overly complicated, and difficult to follow. The writers tried to cram too many meanings into the movie and the audience was left to not care much in order to keep watching. Although they did tie up all the loose ends in the concluding act (somewhat like a House episode), by that time the audience has pretty much given up caring.

RuthAnn and Audrey both enjoyed the movie well enough and did not have the same complaints that Steve had, but did say that the movie seemed long to them.

Young Victoria

RuthAnn and Audrey both loved this Jane Austen-esque movie. They liked watching it and will probably buy the dvd to watch it again and again.

Courtney and Belle (the younger crowd) did not like the show nearly as much. In fact, they had trouble staying awake.

The Princess and the Frog

RuthAnn kicked off her seven-movies-in-eight-days marathon with this animated show. It served as a good start to her week of entertainment. She said it was good enough to recommend to others to see, but that it was a little bit slow for her.

Audrey says that it is a very cute movie with a good message and the music and characters were fun, but the plot was nothing special.

Belle and Rachel (the young audience) seemed to love the show very much.

The Informant

We went to see The Informant, after having seen movie trailers that made it look like a comedy. I guess that what was most intriguing in the short clips was seeing Matt Damon acting like such a geeky, nerdy guy. It turns out that that is indeed the only interesting thing in the whole movie. My wife and I agreed that this movie is not a comedy. It is not a drama, either. What it would best be is a made-for-tv Sunday night movie. I guess that the story is based an actual events, but there is little in this movie that draws the audience in and makes them care for any of the characters. It was also hard to escape the feeling that one was watching Jason Bourne in disguise.

UP

It has been some time since I first saw this movie, accompanying my eight-year-old daughter and my wife. I was expecting good production quality because it was a Pixar-Disney film. What I was pleasantly surprised to find out was that the movie was also humorous, psychologically savvy, and inspirational. I watched UP another time with other relatives and found it to be equally delightful the second time.

I highly recommend this movie for the whole family. I already know that it will be a permanent addition to my own personal DVD collection.

Slumdog Millionaire

This movie was hard to watch. I had thought it was a "feel-good" show, but it is not much of one. It is mostly a gut-wrenching field trip through the dregs of India with subplots of brutality and betrayal.

There is also a subplot of enduring admiration, love, and generosity, but the good feelings are thin throughout this story.

It is a good show to watch. It is a hard show to watch. Sensitive viewers should exercise great care when selecting this movie -- it will be too rough for some.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I know that I liked this movie because I had fun watching it and I have thought about it days later. The images from the movie evoked feelings that are fun to recall.

I also know that for some reason I did not like this movie because at some point I asked myself how long is this going to last? It was not a bladder condition that had me looking at my watch, but a certain feeling of restlessness. Maybe that it what the movie was going for...

It felt like an epic movie that should be filled with profound lessons. Maybe they were there and I just did not see them. There was a lot of storm imagery -- water, hurricanes, war, etc. There were some revelations of secrets long hidden (a universal theme of discovering that things in our childhood were different than we had thought). There was the peculiar oddity of aging backwards (I had heard that Merlin of King Arthur's Court "youthened" as he got older) that was very well portrayed -- Pitt's understated performance gave the experience a context of grace and patience that comes as close to being a message as anything else in this movie. There were "I want to live life the to fullest" lines inserted here and there -- I suppose an existentialist message in the face of hurricanes, aging, and other forces that overwhelm our human experience.

All-in-all, I would recommend this movie -- with the warning that you might not like it, but I would love to talk with you about it after you see it.

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!