Summer Movie Fest 2011

It has been a Summer Movie Fest for the Wards this year. We kicked off the summer early by seeing Kung Fu 2 during the last week of school - we couldn't wait for summer to officially be here - because we knew there were so many great movies coming out in summer 2011! Here is a quick run down of all the shows we saw and what we thought of them... Our grading scale is from 1 (not so great) to 5 (we LOVED it!).

Kung Fu 2
5 stars

We LOVED this movie. It was inspirational, entertaining, and 100% family friendly. It also helps that we are huge Jack Black fans around here :)

Super 8
4 stars

Just Jeremy & Jennifer saw this movie. It was so well done - just like every other Speilberg movie. We didn't think it was as fantastic as the critics made it out to be, but still very very good. It was a combination of Goonies and ET. Set in the 70s, lots of language, a sci-fi twist, with a gang of no-name kid actors.

Rango

3 stars

Jeremy took the kids to see this one at the $3 theater. He said there were some super funny bits and that the kids liked it better than Rio.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2 stars

Jeremy went to see this movie for a 'guys night out'. He said, "There was a lot of CG action." Autobots battling Decepticons. I say, "What did you expect?"

Cars 2
2 stars

We were SOOO excited for this movie release. Our family LOVED the first Disney/Pixar Cars movie and were highly anticipating the next installment with our favorite characters. As with so many sequels, the film makers try really hard to out do the first movie. It was too much.We were sorely disappointed :( Several time through the movie Jackson (5 years old - should have totally enjoyed this show) put his hands over his ears and said, "I don't like this movie!" The news clip scenes were so long, the social drinking was inappropriate (I know they were drinking 'oil', but for heaven's sake it looked like alcohol!), and they jumped all over the globe - it was hard to keep the story straight. Now that I've killed this movie, let me tell you what we did like: the animation was great, the characters were the same loveable ones we met in Cars 1, and it was great to see Mater have a bigger role.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
5 + stars!

It was certainly a summer of sequels and HP did not disappoint. This movie was the big finnisher of all finneshes. The Grand Finale to a generation of Harry Potter mania. We did not wait outside for hours and hours like so many die-hards did ;) Instead, we bought the double feature tickets that showed HP 7 part 1 at 8:30 and then the premier at midnight. It was the way to go! We got to sit in a comfy theater seat with air conditioning and entertainment while we waited for the midnight showing. We were so happy with this movie. It stayed true to the book, true to the characters, and true to the fans.The story wrapped up so nicely with lots of action, one great kiss, and a super sweet ending.

This photo was taken AFTER we saw the show at about 3:00 am.

I Am Number 4
4 stars

To confess, we did not see this movie in the theater. We got the disc through Netflix and were pleasantly surprised with a fun teen sci-fi flick! So pleased, in fact, that we've watched it several times. Beware some language and some super scary bad guys.

Thor
3 stars

We began our preparation for next years Avengers* movie by taking the kids to see Thor. It was a good fantasy/mythology genre movie. We liked this movie well enough and look forward to seeing Thor's character again in 2012.
*The Avengers movie will star 4 Marvel Comics heroes: Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk. No worries, we have both Hulk movies in our Netflix queue and Iron Man recorded on our DVR. We will be prepared!

Captain America: The First Avenger
4 stars

The boys were most excited to see this movie. They'd seen the trailers on TV and couldn't wait to see a scrawny man transformed into a hero. We were surprised at the PG-13 rating. The 1940s setting was like a breath of fresh air. Clean humor, modest clothes, clean cut hair, and bright red lipstick! The boys most liked Captain America's super human strength, speed, and cool shield. These days, Jackson is especially enamored with anything resembling the American flag.

Those are all the movies we've seen up to this point in our Summer Film Fest. We have been highly entertained and stuffed with lots of FREE popcorn (thank you to Yahoo! and Regal for 1 million free bags of popcorn promo!). Do not fear! We are not done yet! There are still several films we'd like to see before summer officially comes to a close.

'To See' before summer's end:
X-Men First Class
Adjustment Bureau
Green Lantern
The Smurfs
Cowboys vs. Aliens
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Help

Take you to Rio, Rio

It's STAR testing at our school this week. That means that our kids do NOT have any homework for a solid week! Yippeee! What do we do to celebrate these extra few hours of freedom? We go to the movies of course!

The only family friendly movie that fit into our Tuesday schedule was the vibrantly colorful Rio.

This movie was made by the creators of the Ice Age movies. There is an Ice Age short just before the feature film begins. It was quite funny. That Scat (squirrely prehistoric creature) is a comedic character that we all muchly enjoyed.

Here's what we liked about Rio:
1. It had GREAT music! We'll be downloading several songs from the soundtrack for sure.
2. The colors were so vibrant
3. The setting was gorgeous - never been to Rio, but would like to see for myself if it is as fantastic as it was portrayed to be.
4. It was fun to hear a star studded cast of animated characters: will.i.am, Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network guy), George Lopez, Tracy Morgan, Jaime Foxx, Jayne Lynch.

Here's what we disliked about Rio:
1. The story was only ok. Not super engaging.
2. There were some skanky costumes towards the end (they go to Carnival in Rio) It seemed sort of inappropriate to watch a character in a children's movie walking around in a bikini.

We give this movie 2 1/2 drooling bulldogs out of 5.

Go see this movie if you're up for a family friendly experience. But take care to go to the $3 theater.

Don't go see this movie if you dislike talking animals, great music, or if you plan to just rent it at Red Box for free.

Or, just watch the Ice Age short and download the soundtrack from iTunes.

Wimpy Kid is a Winner

Our kids are huge fans of the Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney. They own and have read every book. Jeremy was a great sport on his birthday and decided that we should see this movie as a family.

The kids thought this movie was great. They love seeing their familiar characters come to life on screen. Jeremy and I are Steve Zahn fans and he rocks the dad role. He's hilarious in a velour lime green polo. My favorite character is Greg's best friend, Rowley. He is the most secure, well adjusted, loveable kid. His best line in the movie: [Talking about Greg's love interest] "Wow. She is pretty. Almost as pretty as my mom!" Gotta love that boy!

Watch out for a a laugh out loud chocolate candy bar stain (ew!) and a most uncomfortable tighty whitey chase scene.

After this movie you will ask yourself: "Would I loan eyeliner to my teenage boy if he asked to borrow it?"

DO NOT go see this movie if you are looking for a "thinker" movie with action packed scenes and a great twist at the end.

DO go see this movie if you are looking to be entertained, by light (mostly bathroom) humor, and a family oriented plot.

We give this movie 4 exploding diapers out of 5.

Watch the trailer if you haven't seen it yet:

Megamind: The Review

It is the Vetran's weekend - a most anticipated 4-day weekend. We made a list of all things fun we wanted to accomplish before we had to go back to school/work and we are well on our way to having a most relaxing entertaining family fun weekend of all time!

One thing we wanted to do on our weekend extravaganza was go see a movie. A real full price new release movie. We are movie loving people here and I had 2 groupons of FREE movie tix for our family that needed to be used. Our movie of choice? MEGAMIND. The latest animated family film. Starring the voices of Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill.

There were only a few laugh out loud moments. And the storyline was totally predictable (As we were driving over to the theater Jeremy told us how he thought it would all turn out in the end and he was right!) Even the dialogue was predictable! Having never seen this movie before, I said some of the lines right along with the characters.

During the movie you'll ask yourself: How do you pronounce the name of that city? Metro City or Metrocity?

If you love Will Ferrell then this movie is definitely for you. He is ALL OVER and through, inside and out this movie.

Here were our reactions when I asked everyone, "what did they think of the movie?" as we walked away from the theater:

Me: meh.
Jeremy: It was ok.
Logan: But it wasn't better than Dragon. (Our new favorite movie is "How to Train a Dragon". We watch it at least once a day right now.)

Overall we give it 3 brain bots out of 5.

This movie was totally family friendly. Take your children young and old as it is appropriate for all ages. But, I think we could call it a rental.

Our Perceptions of Inception

Some critics have categorized this movie under Sci-Fi. Let us put your mind at ease if you are not necessarily a Sci-Fi movie lover. There was plenty of action, drama, plot & story, suspense and CG effects. And NO aliens. We have heard reviews from 2 friends that are NOT Sci-Fi fans and they both LOVED this movie.

It was fun to see a star-studded cast - Leonardo Dicaprio, Ellen Page, guy from 3rd Rock from the Sun and 500 days of Summer, and Alfred from Batman. I was personally skeptical of Leo's acting. I can't get past his Titanic performance and was bracing myself for his awkward delivery of lines or his voice to crack, but neither of those happened - thank heavens! He did really well in this role.

Jeremy thought this show was great. Here's what he said about it: "It was a movie unlike any other and really grabbed your attention. It's one of those movies that you think about afterwards. It helps to talk through those thoughts with someone else so you both understand it."

I thought it was the very end - the last 5 seconds of the show - that gave us the most to talk about. Some guy that was in the theater with us loved the ending so much that he clapped one great clap, and yelled "YES!" when the screen went dark.

Jeremy and I compromised on our rating (he said 4 and I said 5) - together we give this movie 4.5 dream levels out of 5.

Total ECLIPSE of the Heart

About 2 months ago Buffy decided what she wanted on her birthday - a midnight premiere showing of ECLIPSE! All of us mamas (that are usually in bed and sleeping by 10PM) decided to brave the twilight fever crowds and do this crazy thing! It was a late night for sure, but so much fun. We rarely get out with just the girls, but all of our hubbies and babies were at home sleeping so we felt no guilt staying out late just enjoying our time together!

We've all read (and re-read) the Twilight books. Some of us are Team Edward and some are Team Jacob. Some are both. But we all agree that the books are so much better than the movies. It has been fun to see our favorite characters come to life on the big screen. And we all agreed that this movie was the best so far of the 3.

The acting was better. The hair was better. The fight scenes were better. It was all around better than the first 2 movies. And that tent scene was great. When the 2 guys finally hash out their feelings for Ms. Bella. Oh, it was classic. My favorite line of the show: "Let's face it... I am hotter than you."

If you like the books then see the movie. You'll love it. If you can't stand vampires or are repulsed by this twilight phenomenon then it's not for you. I give it 4 hand carved wooden wolf bracelets out of 5. Or is that 4 heart shaped diamond bracelets out of 5? Either way, it was almost perfect.

Here's the trailer just in case you haven't seen it yet.

Iron Man 2 Review

Jeremy and I snuck out one Thursday evening to go see Iron Man 2. It was the first time we'd done anything spontaneous in years - and it felt great! We were like 2 kids in a candy store giddy and tickled pink to be out on a weeknight.

We were both big fans of the first movie, Iron Man 1. We are suckers for big budget movies that are action packed with a star studded cast, some humor, and a bit of romance. This movie fit the bill perfectly.

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and even Paul Bettany (in a small role) were great! They delivered solid performances and entertained us well. We are still on the fence about Don Cheadle. Yes, he is a fabulous actor. Yes, we thought he was excellent in Ocean's 11, 12 & 13. We like him. We do. He just wasn't Terrence Howard that played Rhody in the first movie. It feels like Holllywood was trying to pull a fast one on us. And we don't appreciate that! The big bad evil guy was played by Mickey Rourke. He had a great screen presence. He was the ultimate comic book villain with a cool older guy rocker image.

We were fully entertained and pleased with this movie. Jeremy liked it so much that he took our boys to see it the next week!

Here's an interesting tid bit that happened during the last 5 minutes of the movie: the last action scene is taking place, the tension is building, the windows on the screen are breaking, the theater is shaking with all the crashing and booming sounds, and all of a sudden a light bulb in the theater comes crashing down on the floor in front of us. Yes, a REAL LIGHT BULB fell out of the ceiling and burst into a thousand pieces just in front of the front row seats. The movie was so intense that it shook the light loose! Ha! After the movie finished Jeremy went down front to survey the scene and picked up the biggest piece to take to the manager. The workers were as shocked as we were! No, we didn't get any free tickets or concessions for bringing this matter to their attention, but we did get a good story out of it!

So, here's our recommendation... If you liked Iron Man 1 then you will most definitely like Iron Man 2. Go see it. Go to the full price theater or wait until it's at the $3. Or rent it when it comes out on DVD. Any way you see it you will like it!

We give it 4 1/2 drones out of 5.

http://www.ironmanmovie.com/videoWidget.html?v=raspu_2_ft980

The Tooth Fairy Rocks!

As part of our Mother/Daughter Date Night Lizzie and I got to go see the Tooth Fairy movie at the $3 theater! This movie was released on DVD 3 days after we saw it at the theater.

Lizzie and I both thoroughly enjoyed this show. It was a perfect family film. The humor was cheezy (you have to expect that), there were fairies for girls, sports and guitars for boys, and Dwayne Johnson in tights for the adults to hee haw at.

The funniest part of the show was the amnesia powder - the Tooth Fairy hits an entire family with too much powder and they couldn't remember a thing! I laughed so hard I snorted! Maybe I was just so giddy to be out with the girls... but really, it was so funny. :)

Billy Crystal, Julie Andrews, and Ashley Judd also starred in this show. It was like seeing old friends on the big screen again. And whoever the guy was that played the "tooth fairy trainer" was good too - a little creepy looking at times, but definitely funny with his British accent.

The moral of the story will leave parents satisfied. The movie wraps up nice and warm and fuzzy in the end. Everyone will still believe in the Tooth Fairy and in themselves.

We give it 4 tubes of shrinking paste out of 5. Enjoy this movie with your kids - you won't be disappointed.

When the boys are away...

....the girls go out and PLAY!!

Friday night was our ward's Father & Son's overnighter campout. Lizzie and I took full advantage of this time with no boys around and planned a fun filled evening of all stuff girly!

1. We went to Red Robin with some girlfriends for dinner. I had strict instructions from Lizzie that we would NOT be greeted by the Robin. She is not a fan of larger than life restaurant mascots.

2. Then we all went to the $3 movies to see the Tooth Fairy with Dwayne Johnson. (This show was a perfect family film - check out our movie review in a few days.)

3. We picked up a dessert at McDonald's and then headed home.

4. At the movie theater there was a photo booth. The girls begged and begged to get their picture taken. The mamas all agreed that $5 was a rip off for 3 pictures so we said a firm "NO" and kept walking. I reminded Lizzie that we had the "Photo Booth" program on our computer and we could take lots of silly pictures as soon as we got home.

And heeeeeeere they are!

Check out Lizzie's cute piggies she wore today. The ringlet curls melted my heart!

We took pictures for about 30 minutes before we finally got tired (it was after 10Pm already!) and decided to call it quits.

5. We started the Project Runway finale that was saved on our DVR because Lizzie still hasn't seen it yet - she LOVES watching the clothes they make! Yeah, she passed out in less than 5 minutes.

6. Mama popped in a movie (Whip It with Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore - fun girl power show) and then another (August Rush with Kerri Russell - tear jerker, suspenseful "will they ever reunite?!" show) and finally fell asleep around 2AM.

7. We woke up the next morning and hit the donut shop for breakfast. We painted our nails while we ate and left feeling full and glittery gorgeous.

It was a great date night for just Lizzie and Me.

We prefer NO 3D with our Dragon. Thank you very much.

We got to see this movie during our 4 hour break at Trevor's DI State Finals competition. (Lizzie and Jackson were not there and they still don't know that we saw this movie so let's all keep that on the "down low/hush hush" until it comes out in the $3 theater.)
Anyway.

We are NOT fans of the 3D movie craze that is happening right now. Wearing those glasses for an entire movie is so cumbersome and uncomfortable! We chose to see the regular version.

The beginning was slightly slow moving, but the pace picked up pretty quick once the main character finally met the dragon. There were several belly laugh moments - the giving of the new helmet scene was my personal favorite.

We (Jeremy, Jennifer, Trevor, & Logan) thought it was a great movie. It was a different change of pace for the movie industry - a film about vikings. There aren't many of those out there these days.

We'll definitely get it on Netflix when it comes out on DVD. We may even buy it (depending if I can score a great coupon deal or not). If you like animated movies, have children, you are a child, if you've ever wanted to fly, if you like dragons, vikings, and like being entertained then this movie is for you. We thought it was a perfect family show. You may want to wait to see it in the $3 theater or just rent it from the RedBox, but any way you see it, you'll enjoy yourselves. It was made by DreamWorks after all. They gave us Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. They know how to make a superb movie.

I like this consensus from RottenTomatoes.com:
"Consensus: Boasting dazzling animation, a script with surprising dramatic depth, and thrilling 3-D sequences, How to Train Your Dragon soars."

We give it 4 Night Fury Dragons out of 5.

Clash or not to Clash? That is the question. And we have the answer.

This weekend Jeremy and I got a special treat. Our kids were invited to stay the weekend with Jeremy's parents! They like to take the kids on a weekend near our anniversary so we can celebrate without worrying about a babysitter. It is a treat we are most grateful for. The kids look forward to spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and we get to have piece of mind knowing the kids are in good hands.

For our first night alone together we decided to do something we rarely have time to do. We did dinner AND a movie - all in one night! Shocking, I know. And, bonus, we had gift certificates for both. Ya'll know how I love FREE stuff.

Dinner was at a new place we'd never been before. (Maybe it's not a new restaurant, but it's new to us!) Bella Pasta. Ever been there? The atmosphere was charming, service was good, and the food was super tasty. It was drenched in butter. Our favorite. Everything is better with butter, right? Jeremy got the gnocchi and I had the fettuccine alfredo with chicken. Yes, it was a carb fest, but we rarely go out for pasta. So it was a treat any way you look at it.

After dinner we headed out to the movie. We had 2 choices. Date Night with Steve Carrell or Clash of the Titans with the guy from Avatar. I admit, I was the one that chose Clash over Date Night. And with that comes all the responsibility of what comes next. The movie review.

I was not one of those lucky folks who got to see the 80's original version of this show. Jeremy watched it with the kids recently. Now I wish I'd been on the couch with them watching the streaming movie from Netflix so I could've had a more educated decision in making my movie choice.

We were both in agreement on this one. It wasn't that great. The story could've been better and there were just too many action/fighting scenes.

The GOOD:
Avatar guy did a great job acting. We did liked seeing Liam Neeson as Zeus, but his costuming was just odd.

The BAD:
Medusa was ENTIRELY computer generated! I, personally, would have liked to have seen at least the face of a real actor on her snake body.

The UGLY:
What was up with all those scorpions? And who were the alien/metallic/blue hearted guys that spoke their own language? That was just weird.

I don't feel like I can safely say, "If you liked the original then you'll definitely like the remake." You may or you may not. Jeremy, definitely did not. We most likely won't even rent this one when it comes out.

So... we give it 2 Crackens out of 5. Yes, it was entertaining. No, it wasn't horrible. But we were not impressed.

Not so Wimpy to me!

Our kids LOVE the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney. They own every single one of these books and cannot wait for the next one that comes out later this year. We saw previews for this movie several months ago and knew it would be a hit with our crowd.

We took the kids for a date last Saturday night to see this movie and they LOVED it! We all had our favorite parts - be on the look out for a talking belly button, the Cheese Touch, a potty chair at the dinner table, the mother/son dance & dance routine, black socks with Birkenstocks, and an awesome scare scene in the bathroom.

Trevor and Logan assured us that there were several parts of the movie that followed the book, but there were so many things that were different. Isn't that always the case?

If you enjoy bathroom humor (swirlies, wedgies, and boogers), Jr. High school myths, great one-liners, have children that enjoy all of those things, and are possibly a Jr. High school teacher or administrator, then this movie is for you.

I have to say that Jeremy and I laughed our heads off several times. It was so funny!

After the movie you will ask yourself, "How do you spell the word diaper?"

We give it 4 "I love my mommy t-shirts" out of 5. We will even rent it from Netflix and watch it over and over when it comes out.


***DISCLAIMER*** For the record, Jeremy gave it 2 1/2 stars out of 5. He says he was not as impressed as I was. Although, I did hear him laugh out loud more than just a few times...

Percy Jackson is our hero

For a family date night on Valentine's weekend we took the kids to see the new Percy Jackson movie - The Lightning Thief. Jeremy has been reading this book to the kids at night before bedtime for about a month. They finally finished the first book the night before we headed to the theater to watch the movie.

The kids were so excited to see their new favorite characters come to life on the big screen. (Lizzie and Jackson both did not want to go - they were trying to get us to split up - "You boys go see Percy Jackson and the girls will go see something else." Yeah, that didn't work.) Let me tell you, this movie did not disappoint.

They were hooked from the get-go. ALL of them were hooked - even Lizzie and Jackson who didn't really want to be there in the first place! The movie was quick paced and the many action sequences kept the movie rolling right along. This movie poster shows my personal favorite scene of the movie. When Percy finally realizes the potential of his powers - it was so cool!!

So, in the end, we all really liked the movie. Jackson still asks for it, "Mommy, we see Percy Jackson?" It was great family fun entertainment. A must see. Big screen or rental - whatever. You should see it!

Now, after having given a great review of the movie, there has to be a comparison between the book and the movie. We tried to warn the boys beforehand that the movie is NEVER exactly like the book. They understood, somewhat. While walking back to the car from the movie, we always give everyone a chance to say what they liked the best about the show. They each took a brief moment to say their favorite part and then the book/movie comparison began. They talked almost all the way home about the differences and omissions from the book. They went on and on about how the story was totally different and how it actually happened. (I was surprised that they were actually listening to the reading!)

Overall, we give it 4 1/2 pairs of Hercules flying shoes out of 5. It was great. As they say, Percy Jackson is the new Harry Potter. So, if you liked Harry, you'll also love Percy.

ALLL-VIN!

We took the kids to the movie for a final hurrah on this winter break and headed out to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel.

My favorite tidbit was the fact that Zachary Levi had a substantial role in the movie. One of our favorite shows on TV is Chuck and he's the main character from that program. So it was fun to see him in something else. Lizzie was enamored with the Chipettes. They were so cute and sparkly - perfect for our Lizzie. Trevor, Logan, Jackson and Jeremy were all over the bathroom humor - swirlies, "dutch oven", and toilet jokes kept the boys rolling!

The music was fun too - if you don't mind the traditional chipmunk sound. It felt like they sang several 80's songs remixed for today's crowd. Because that's when the Chipmunks first appeared right? in the 80's. They also sang my favorite song - the Single Ladies - which was very enjoyable.

The kids loved it. The humor was right up their alley. I, on the other hand, was indifferent. It was fun to go out as a family, but the movie was nothing special.

If I were you, I'd wait to see it in the $3 theater or just wait and get it from Netflix.

Overall, we give it 3 cheese balls out of 5.

"A remotely controlled body called Avatar"

Jeremy and I took advantage of a free afternoon (thanks to Grandma Elizabeth) and headed out to the movies! Our destination - AVATAR.

We love big budget movies. We live for the thrill of entertainment - no matter if it's sci-fi, fantasy, action or comedy. And this movie did not disappoint.

We were drawn in from the very beginning. The idea of the Avatar - a remotely controlled body - was intriguing. The futuristic technology, new planet, and alien race was so fascinating. As we were introduced to this new population (the Na'vi) that lived on the new planet (Pandora) it was purely awesome and refreshing to learn about their culture and spiritual beliefs. The computer graphics and images added to this incredible introduction to the Na'vi.

It was an amazing show. It should have been for the most outrageous budget it took to create. We've debated about taking our 2 older boys - they would love the action, but it is long (162 mintues!), it is PG-13 for alien violence and some language, and it's slightly over their heads. We are still undecided on that. But you, you should definitely go. Go before Christmas Break is over. This is a must-see-on-the-big-screen show.

We give it 5 "seed of the Tree of Souls" out of 5 - yes, it was THAT good.


Official Avatar Movie

Kissin' a frog

While the boys were up at the snow for their ski day, the girls (and Jackson) got to go for a date. We began at the dollar store - their favorite place to shop - and picked up some movie treats while we were there.

Our movie of choice was the new Disney show The Princess and the Frog. It has been a long time since Disney released their last princess movie. And this is a traditional princess movie - no 3D (we'll be so happy when the 3D movie phase is over!), no computer graphics, no modern animation whatsoever! It was a real, down home, animated movie like they've always made in the past.

The animators that created the look of this movie were the same ones that did Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. There were many similarities to those older movies in the look and feel of this show and I liked that.

The movie is set in New Orleans. We visited New Orleans a few years ago and it was quite a treat to see all of those places again. Of course they were animated, but still - it was fun to watch them come alive on the screen.

The music was fun (Mama Odie's song "Dig a Little Deeper" was my favorite!), the southern accents were so great, the story entertaining, the scary parts were not too scary, and it all wraps up so nicely in the end - just as it should in a fairy tale story.

Take your family to a matinee during Christmas Break if you can afford it or just wait for it to come out on DVD. It is a must watch show. Your kids will tap their feet and clap their hands to the beat in several of the songs.

We give it 4 wishing stars out of 5.

It's the end of the world as we know it

Well, it was a very movie week for our family. 3 movie reviews in 3 days - that must say something about how we like to spend our holiday....

Jeremy and I got a free afternoon (thank you to Gramma Elizabeth and Grandpa Louie) and we took advantage of the free babysitting to go to the movies!

Overall the feeling of the movie was like the movie Independence Day (you remember the one with Will Smith?) - minus the aliens. The end of the world is near so what are we going to do about it? The first half of the movie is spent pulling you into the characters and their lives. The second half of the movie is destruction, unimaginable natural diaster, death, and devastation.

The CG effects were cool. The sub-woofers were booming. The story was good. The characters were believeable and the action was great.

Be on the lookout for our favorite parts: the scene inside the grocery store, the animals, and the action when exiting the airplane.

We give it 3 "billion dollars per seat" out of 5 and therefore tag this one as a RENTAL.

Carol by Carrey

We were all slightly skeptical of Jim Carrey playing the lead character in this newest rendition of A Christmas Carol. He tends to be overly goofy ALL the time* and he didn't seem to fit the character of Mr. Scrooge in our eyes. But lo and behold, he actually did a great job!

We saw the 3D version only because that was what was playing at the time we intended to go to the theater, but the regular version would have been equally enjoyable.

Did we like the movie? Yes.
Was the animation excellent? Yes.
Was the movie close to the book? It was the closest we've ever seen. The language seemed to have been taken directly from the literature.
Were there some scary parts? Oh my, Yes!
Did our kids like it? Yes, but it was scary at times and even our 10 year old covered his eyes through some parts.

We give it 5 out of 5 gold coins. (But we wouldn't recommend taking your young ones.)

*Stay alert toward the end of the movie and you'll see Scrooge become Jim Carrey if only for a few dancing seconds...

who's team are you on?

Well.... did you like it? Why yes I did, of course!

Was it better than the first? Much, much better

Did you take your husband? No way

And have you also made the switch to team Jacob or what? Absolutely


I give it 5 cliff dives out of 5. How about you?