Brave

A young Scottish princess battles against tradition, her countrymen, and most trying of all, her mother. As she struggles to understand her own role and what is required of her she comes to the realization of what is most important.

This was cute. Not Pixar's best, nor their worst, nevertheless I was not expecting the story at hand. I went in ready to see a Scottish version of Mulan and ended up with a sort of Beauty and the Beast meets Brother Bear. Yeah, weird right? Anyway as I said before, it was cute. The characters are well developed and take fun liberties with the Scottish culture.

This could be a tad scary for the wee ones while there are several intense fight scenes. Also it may not be able to hold a captive audience, young or old, as it does kind drag in the third act.

Overall fine family fun.

*** Must See
Rated PG (for violence)

The Avengers

Hello! I am back from the dead.... long story.

Marvel's heroes come together to save the world.

So if you haven't seen this movie yet, you should. It is probably the most fun of the Marvel comic series since the original Iron Man.

They do a great job of bringing all the characters together and not focusing on just a few, but really making all of them as a group "the main character."

The Hulk was surprisingly my favorite and I was amazed at how much I preferred Mark Ruffelo to Edward Norton, I know shocking!

This was actually really fun and well done, if I had any complaints it would just be that they spend too much time re-introducing each character to S.H.E.I.L.D. as we all stayed till the end of the credits on each of the preceding films, right? Speaking of, this one is no different. Wait it out... all they way to the very end.  It's awesome!

*** Must See


Rated PG-13 (for language and violence)

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

A peculiar crew of Pirates seek out fame and fortune, in hopes that their own Captain will win Pirate of the Year.  Along the way they run into several obstacles including a vengeful Queen Victoria and a determined Charles Darwin.

Although this contained very clever dialogue the story itself was terribly weak and a bit boring. I wanted so badly to like the story and to care about the characters, as I am a huge fan of Chicken Run, nevertheless, the skillful quips are somewhat lost on the audience due to the on screen over kill. The claymation is, as always, amazing.


** Rentable


Rated PG (for mild rude humor)

Chimpanzee

A documentary following the remarkable story of a young orphaned chimp and his community.

So I kind of have a complaint when it comes to Disney Nature.  Chimpanzee, like its predecessors, is overly fraught with human emotion. This comes from the over use of narration. I get that perhaps they feel this is necessary in order to appeal to children and keep them entertained, but they are wrong.  I grew up watching nature programs, ones that had very limited narration and also didn't edit out the natural drama that comes from the wild.

The footage that they had for this movie is amazing.  The story of this little three year old chimpanzee that is orphaned and then cared for by the alpha-male is unheard of.  In fact scientists say that it is common for males to kill orphaned young, not to play nurse maid.

The story is sweet and cute, the nature part is however, I hate to say it -- "disneyfied", thus taking something away from the actual spectacle.

Nevertheless I took a six and four year old to it, and they were entertained. The four year old lost interest about an hour in, and again I attribute that to too much narration and not enough nature.

** 1/2 -- Its fun to see on the big screen


Rated G

Bully

A documentary that follows the stories of five children and their personal experiences with being taunted, teased, emotionally and physically abused by their peers.

This is a very sad, very interesting story about the effects of bullying.  It is more than just the simple story of teenage angst or the horror we know as Jr. High or Middle School.  It is about community and how important the "golden rule" really is.  How being kind to others, particularly children, changes lives. In turn how being cruel can destroy them.

I saw this weeks ago while it still carried a "Not Rated" status. My understanding is that it went to the MPAA and received an R rating, due to content and language.  As this film is trying to reach out to the teenage demographic, it is being or has been re-edited to obtain a PG-13 rating.  Take your kids!

*** Must See


Currently "Not Rated" but should be re-released as PG-13 (for language and content matter)

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

A very stiff upper lipped Salmon expert is forced into helping a millionaire Sheik introduce Salmon to the Yemen.

This is a very predictable, very sweet, very slow indy flick.  If you are a fan of either Emily Blunt or Ewan McGregor you will no doubt be charmed by this movie.

It is neither here nor there really.  The story is pretty basic and airtight. The acting is decent. The dialogue is fun and witty. And the view is pretty. Again totally forgettable.


** Rentable


Rated PG-13 (for language and sexual content)

Mirror Mirror

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs... with a little twist.

This was a creative, although, dissapointing attempt to throw new life into a classic fairy tale. Julia Roberts is funny as the evil queen, who also acts as the narrator, trying to tell the story from her point of view -- another piece that doesn't quite work.

It is altogether somewhat of a flop that was not unique enough to be new nor traditional enough to be nostalgic. Not to mention that there is a horrific "Bollywood" type ending that comes out of no where.

It tries to be family friendly but does have a lot of oddly placed sexual innuendos, but kids may find it funny enough to like it.


* 1/2 -- Perhaps rentable


Rated PG (for violence and rude humor)

The Hunger Games

A young girl volunteers as a tribute to represent her district in a fight to the death reality television program that is sponsored and forced upon the people by the reigning government.

OK so I think I may be one of four people on the planet that didn't read this book, so I am reviewing this purely as a movie goer....

I went to the mid-night screening in LA -- the Director, Gary Ross, and the young cast members, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Alexander Ludwig were all there, along with most of the production crew.  It was fun to be amongst the excited and over eager crowd.

Again as a non-reader, I was pleasantly surprised and delightfully engaged by the story, although at the same time horrifically disturbed at the concept in general.  The acting was great and I particularly liked Woody Harrelson, who I heard was a disappointing casting choice by the readers, but I thought he was great.  As I had zero expectations, I suppose I am less critical of the story, not knowing what was left out. Nevertheless, as a film, it worked well and was entertaining.

*** Must See (especially for the pop-culture followers)


Rated PG-13 (for language and violence)

A Separation

A couple separates in preparation to divorce in a tumultuous culture and community. With multiple personal issues at stake, their choices seem to effect the entire world around them.

This was a very, very well made movie. It is a bit slowly paced, but that really only adds to the anxiety of the story itself. There are huge issues of frustration and/or misunderstandings that one would think could be easily fixed but are only made more complicated because of the country that they live in and the dynamics of religion and government.

Again a tad slow, but eye opening and thought provoking.


**** Oscar Worthy


Rated PG-13 (for language)

Gone With The Wind

So this was playing for one day only and I went and saw it.  It was the first time I had ever seen it on the big screen and I just have to say... it was fabulous!

If you ever get the chance to go and see this movie in an actual movie theatre -- do it! You will be reminded of why it is such a classic and still holds its own even by today's standards.

The characters are amazing, the story is fantastic, and the acting is brilliant. It is also somewhat poignant to realize how beautiful the men and women in this film were -- no airbrushing, truly classic movie stars grace the screen.

**** Oscar Worthy (and worth the repeat!)


Rated PG