JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

"You're the man, Uncle Trev!"
"That's what I've been telling the scientific community for years!"

Trevor Anderson is your average messy professor. He is trying desperately to keep his deceased brother Max's research on progressive volcanology alive. When his nephew Sean comes to visit for a few days, one of Trevor's inactive sensors starts getting some interesting data - it reads exactly the number that it read when Max disappeared. Trevor sees this as his only chance to find out what happened to Max, so he and Sean team up with an Icelandic mountain guide named Hannah to the rumored center of the earth.

When Walden Media and New Line Cinema come together, you know you can expect cool things. My sister watched this for her birthday, and I was impressed at how good it was! At first, Sean is mumbly and disrespectful to Trevor, but soon his uncle begins to fill the void left by the death of the father he never knew. This movie is aimed at kids, but adults can enjoy it too. The effects are believable and great, and the cast is awesome. We all know the Brendan Fraser is good, and Josh Hutcherson is one of the best kid actors I've ever seen. The storyline is not THE LORD OF THE RINGS, but doesn't leave you rolling your eyes either.

As for the negative content, Sean and Trevor place "dibs" on Hannah a few times. There are a couple of kisses. There are dinosaur chases, big scary fish, and carnivorous plants that the gang has to fight off, but it's not flat out scary - they interlace everything with jokes and funnies. Still though, watch this before your little kids do. Some time after Trevor comments about the different types of schist rock, Sean groans, "Oh, we're in deep schist". Besides that little nod, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is completely clean.

This film is an interesting, action packed, watch-with-popcorn-in-the-dark type family movie! Check it out - it's a worth a watch or two!

Directed by: Eric Brevig ~ Produced by: Brendan Fraser (executive) ~ Written by: Jules Verne (novel), Michael Weiss, Mark Levin ~ Starring: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem ~ Music by: Andrew Lockington ~ Cinematography: Chuck Shuman ~ Editing by: Paul Martin Smith, Dirk Westervelt, Steven Rosenblum ~ Distributed by: New Line Cinema, Walden Media ~ Release date: July 11, 2008 ~ Running time: 92 min

HORTON HEARS A WHO!

"All right, I gotta get this speck up to the top of Mount Nool A.S.A.P, whatever that means, probably 'act swiftly, awesome pachyderm'! I mean, how hard can that be?"

~ Horton

When an easygoing elephant named Horton hears a tiny spec call out, he is certain that there are people living on that spec. Turns out he's right! He has made contact with the Mayor of Who-Ville, who has 96 daughters and 1 son named JoJo who all share a bathroom! The Mayor is shocked to find his world is a spec, and Horton swears to make sure no harm befalls them. The problem is, none of the other citizens of Who-Ville believe the mayor when he shares his concerns about the land where nothing ever goes wrong. Little does he know, Horton is having the same problems with a fierce Kangaroo and her mean henchmen. Can the Whos come together and prove to an angry mob that they exist?

HORTON HEARS A WHO! is a funny movie based off of Dr. Seuss's book with great voices and great animation! Unfortunately, it's not above some of the usual transgressions. The funny-ness sometimes spills over into the land of stupidity and sometimes it hangs around on the border between the two. But don't get me wrong - there's plenty of funny. But kids will be a lot more into this one than the adults will, which brings me to my next concerns.

JoJo is a sulky kid who is misunderstood by his dad and doesn't say a word till the end (something I've noticed that is getting more and more fashionable in cartoons). The mean Kangaroo's son disobeys her in the end and gives the spec back to Horton, and it's good that he did, but there is still the disobeying part. Vlad, the vulture that is hired to get rid of the spec is supposed to be funny, but he still might scare certain kids. The Mayor is called a "boob" which is funny until your 3-year-old says it, and the part where Horton is tied and the spec is held over a boiling pot of doom could get a little scary as well.

Now for the good stuff: IT'S FUNNY! Horton is 100% devoted to the well-being of the spec, even when he is encouraged to "go 99% just once". The Kangaroo repeatedly says something to the effect of, "If you can't see it, hear it, or feel it, it doesn't exist!" bringing a little spiritual thought into the whole thing (though probably not intentionally). JoJo comes through for everyone in the end, and makes up with the mayor. Everybody turns nice in the end, "and so, all ended well for both Horton and Who's, and for all in the jungle, even kangaroos. So let that be a lesson to one and to all; a person is a person, no matter how small."

This is a good one - but not a winner in my book. Enjoyable, but not for more than probably three times:)

Directed by: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino ~ Produced by: Bob Gordon, Chris Wedge ~ Written by: Dr. Seuss (book and story) Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul ~ Narrated by: Charles Osgood ~ Starring: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Dan Fogler, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jaime Pressly, Seth Rogen, Jesse McCartney, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Selena Gomez ~ Distributed by: 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios

NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN

"It's so still."
"They're trees. What do you expect?"
"They used to dance."
~ Lucy Pevensie and Trumpkin the Dwarf

One year after the four Pevensie children stumbled back through the wardrobe into their own world, they are whisked into Narnia again by a desperate blow of Susan's horn. They find the Cair Paravel, where they used to reign, all in ruins as if it has been sitting there for centuries. 1 year for them - 1300 years for Narnia. The children learn Narnia has been invaded by the Temarines and the handful of Narnians left are hiding from their persecutors. But the one that blew the horn is not Narnian at all - he is a Telmarine prince who is outlawed by his evil uncle Miraz. He wants the hiding dwarves, centaurs, and... mice? to help him take back the land and they can come out of hiding and rule again. The Narnians and the Pevensies learn to trust him, and engage in risky battles and duels to save Narnia from the Telmarine tyrants.

I went to see this with a bunch of friends during my recent visit to my hometown. I will readily admit this: it was a FANTASTIC movie. Very well-made, good acting (even if the casting was a bit... wanting in my opinion), good affects, great storyline, quippy lines, the whole sha-bang. BUT I will also be very brave and admit this: I was slightly disappointed. Understand, my expectations were to have this movie ONLY top-notch. I was prepared to be disappointed if it was anything less than LORD OF THE RINGS. Of course, everybody knows that's not possible, and that law still stands. The movie did not follow the book as well as I'd like. The little things like making Reepicheep one foot tall instead of two, light brown instead of almost black, normal-guy voice instead of squeaky yet insanely tough voice REALLY served to tick me off. Reepicheep IS my favorite in the book, and he didn't shine like I would've liked. Not like he wasn't funny and great anyway. Trumpkin is everything I could've imagined -the perfect smart-alec cynic. Ben Barnes's version of Caspian didn't rock my boat to Hawaii. It would've helped if he wasn't so selfish. It would've helped if he wasn't 26 in real life. It would've helped if he didn't talk like Inigo Montoya. I found he was playing that priceless character in the theatres before he got cast for Caspian, and it made me even more iffy to have a comedy king playing an sword-fighting savior. But all the Telmarines had spanish accents, and it was alright for them. There's a bit more darkness and fighting than there was in the first one, so watch it before your six-year-olds do. There was a stupid, MnM hurling, add-in at the end between Susan and Caspian strictly for the twelve-year-old girls. But there are many wonderful battles, scarcely a cheesy line, a few excellent add-ins, and marvelous spiritual significance with Aslan and Lucy. To sum it all up, I enjoyed this movie very much and would watch it a zillion more times. But second of all, I do not think C.S. Lewis would be proud like I imagined he'd be if he watched the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. But, it's worth your money to see in the theater!

Directed by: Andrew Adamson ~ Produced by: Andrew Adamson, Cary Granat, Mark Johnson, Perry Moore, Douglas Gresham, Philip Steuer ~ Written by: Novel: C.S. Lewis Screenplay: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely ~ Starring: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes, Sergio Castellitto, Liam Neeson (voice) Eddie Izzard (voice) Peter Dinklage ~ Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams ~ Cinematography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub ~ Editing by: Sim Evan-Jones ~ Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures ~ Release date(s): May 16, 2008 (USA) ~ Running time: 145 minutes

NIM'S ISLAND

"Be the hero of your own life story."

"Don't hand me that line - I wrote that line!"

11-year-old Nim and her marine biologist Daddy, Jack, live on their own secret island. It is perfect with a volcano, a beach, satellite internet, shipments of exciting Alex Rover books, and plenty of pets of course! When Jack goes out to sea to find a new microscopic organism, Nim insists on staying home because the sea turtle babies are about to hatch. "You've left me alone before - I'll be excellent! Little does she know her daddy will not fare so excellently at sea.

Meanwhile, the writer of the Alex Rover stories, Alexandra Rover, is working on another book, and e-mails Jack for some information about volcanoes. Nim is delighted, and starts to e-mail back and forth with her. When Jack is late and some sailors find the island and bring tourists, Nim prepares to defend the island and asks Alex Rover to help. But what she doesn't know is that she isn't writing the gadabout adventurer from the story - she is writing the obsessive-compulsive author who won't leave her apartment. Then Alexandra finds out that Nim isn't Jack's research assistant after all - she's his daughter and she's all alone and in trouble. Alexandra's created character Alex Rover convinces her to make the journey and and help the little girl. But will the tourists leave? Will Jack be alright?

I went to see this at the movies with some siblings and it was clean, funny, enjoyable, and great for the whole family! For little kids that are scared at watching bees chase Winnie the Pooh: Sharks circle around Jack's boat waiting for it to sink and Nim falls and gets a cut on her knee. Later she catapults lizards into the tourists making them shriek and run away, but most kids will probably think that hilarious. Jodie Foster as Alex Rover did a spectacular job! This movie is enjoyable for kids and adults alike. Don't miss this one!!!

Directed by: Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin Produced by: Cary Granat, Paula Mazur Written by: Joseph Kwon, Paula Mazur Book:Wendy Orr Starring: Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler Music by: Patrick Doyle Distributed by: 20th Century Fox Release date(s): April 4, 2008

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA

It's the day of the big footrace at school. But Jess Aarons is stuck with his big sister's old pink sneakers. This only draws more teasings from all the bullies at school, but Jess was their constant victim. He's also the victim of his parents' neglect and his sisters' fights. But this school day is different. A new girl, Leslie Burke, walks in the classroom and later lines up for the race, the only girl. She beats Jess but encourages and tries to be friends with him. It turns out that she moved just next door to him and she opens the doors to the magical world of Terabithia, teaching Jess the power of imagination.

That's all I'll give you of the storyline, as spoilers for this one would be deadly. But if you are looking for a second NARNIA, you've come to the wrong place altogether. The land of Narnia is closer to real, and Terabithia is strictly short and clearly imagined when it bursts through the real world. The plot is a bit wobbly and all over the place. There are scruffy scary-ified squirrels and a friendly giant pops up here and there in Terabithia. Younger children may be afraid of all this. Overall, there's really not a lot of Terabithia, this movie's happenings take place in the real world. The bullies are all very mean. They constantly tyrinnize the schoolyard, call people names, and steal precious twinkies. Jess and Leslie get even with one of the bullies by writing her a fake love note from the coolest kid in 8th grade. It turns out later that this bully is subject to abuse from her dad, and in turn gets left out by her fellow bullies. In this time, Leslie gives her advice on how to deal with teasing. Jess pushes his little sister, Maybelle to the ground and leaves her out of his play, but makes up with her in the end. There are a few cuss words. Jess mimicks his dad. The Aarons take Leslie to church with them one week and Leslie remarks later, "You know that whole Jesus thing? It's pretty interesting!" Maybelle tells her, "it's not interesting - it's scary." She says that God will send you to hell if you don't believe in the Bible. But Leslie doesn't believe that for a minute. She thinks that God is too busy with his creation to send people to hell. Later Jess's father tells him that he doesn't think that God sends good people to hell.

I don't have much on the good side to say about this movie, besides the fact the AnnaSophia Robb's performance was astounding. Josh Hutcherson wasn't bad at all, but AnnaSophia Robb is just about equilvalent to the child version of Keira Knightley. If you are thinking about watching this film, be forewarned: despite the glamor of the cover, this film isn't one of Disney's gems - it's just another bit of Disney's trash. If you are a kid under 13, definatley have your parents watch it first. BRIDGE to TERABITHIA is not worth your time or money. But just to be fair, I shall put this intruiging little trailer on here!:P

Directed by Gábor Csupó Produced by David Paterson, Lauren Levine, Hal Lieberman, Written by Katherine Paterson, David L. Paterson, Jeff Stockwell, Starring Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Robert Patrick, Zooey Deschanel, Bailee Madison, Music by Aaron Zigman Cinematography Michael Chapman Editing by John Gilbert Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures (USA) Walden Media (non-USA through Summit Entertainment) Paramount Pictures (Latin America) Release date(s) February 16, 2007

ENCHANTED

"I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss..." Set in the land of Andalasia, this Walt Disney movie kicks off as your average Cinderella-type animated princess show for dreamy-eyed six year old girls. Princess Giselle is rescued from a troll by Prince Edward. It is love at first sight, and they prepare for their wedding the next day. But Edward's evil queen mother does not want to give up her throne, so she sends Giselle to an evil land where there is no happily ever after - New York City. She meets a divorce lawyer, Robert, and his daughter who try to help her and are quite flabbergasted by this girl that seems to have jumped right out of a fairy tale book. She sings, dances, continually talks about her Prince Edward, and has animal friends. He tries to teach her about reality, but strangely she is teaching him just as much. Meanwhile, Edward learns of her disappearance and resolves to go to New York and rescue her. The prince causes as much confusion as Giselle, and his mother sends her henchman to make his job difficult, fully equipped with some poison apples for Giselle. But despite the hardships of being from once-upon-a-time-in-a-faraway-land in New York, Edward finally finds Giselle - and starts singing of course. But will they get back before the evil Queen steps in?

I went to see this movie with Mom and it was absolutely HILARIOUS! Giselle is a naive little princess that brings some innocent purity and fairy tale magic into New York. In a conversation with Robert about his former wife, he tells her that he just woke up one day and faced reality. She is astonished and asks, "What made you wake up?" She also meets a couple just after an appointment with the divorce lawyer and comments about their beauty and sparkly eyes. "No wonder you're in love!" Robert quickly whisks her aside and tells her they are being divorced and she starts to cry. Later the couple rethink their priorities and decide to stay together after all. She talks - er, sings - about telling the woman you love that you love her and about bringing her flowers. Giselle is a lovable, positive character that makes you laugh.

On the not so good side, Giselle innocently tells Robert he can open the door just as she is getting out of the shower. Some birds fly in with a towel in the nick of time. After she is wrapped in it, she trips and falls on top of Robert - right as his girlfriend walks in. Giselle helps mend that rift, though not really understanding it. The queen's henchman turns out to be funny and nice, and the queen herself turns into a great dragon (sufficiently fake-looking) and ends up falling to her death.

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, but guys won't get the nearly the same humor and enjoyment out of it that girls will!

Directed by Kevin Lima, Produced by Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld, Written by Bill Kelly
Narrated byJulie Andrews Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Covey Music by Alan Menken Cinematography Don Burgess Editing by Stephen A. Rotter, Gregory Perler Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)November 21, 2007 Running time 107 minutes

MEET THE ROBINSONS

"With a little science and imagination, we could make the world a better place!" A twelve-year-old orphan inventor tells potential parents again and again. But nobody seems to want a spiky-haired science geek that keeps his baseball-loving roommate, Mike Yagoobian "Goob", up all night. But who COULD want him? Maybe... his mother who reluctantly gave him up to the orphanage doors! Lewis invents a memory scanner to bring up the memory of her to his mind. But who should show up, but a cop from the future, Wilbur Robinson! He warns Lewis to watch out for a tall man with a bowler hat (who stole his dad's time machine, but too late. The bowler hat guy sabotages and steals the invention to ruin Lewis's future. Wilbur takes Lewis on a wild ride on his Dad's time other time machine to the future, where he and the bowler hat guy are from. But due to a crash landing, Lewis has to fix the time machine, and so meets the Robinson family! Together they battle the bowler hat guy and his evil sidekick, Doris - or is it Doris and her evil sidekick, the bowler hat guy? With some secrets of the future and some perseverance, these inventions of a boy could change the world. You've just gotta keep moving forward!

We watched this movie on our family's annual Egg Nog night this year. Everybody absolutely loved it! I would highly recommend it to anybody looking for a good family movie that adults and kids alike will enjoy.

As for those negative elements, the most blatant thing is name-calling. "Stupid" "Idiot" "Booger Breath" and "Pansy" are as descriptive as it gets. No cuss words, but when "helping hats" briefly take over the world, it may cause fright in some toddlers. Also when a dinosaur chases Lewis, but that ends in another funny moment. Even the bad guy is funny and nice in the end and his worst scemes in the movie are taking the broken memory scanner, calling a T-rex, getting a talking frog under his control, and toilet-papering buildings. All things considered, it is one of those movies that is rightly rated "G"!

Directed by
Steve Anderson
Produced by
Dorothy McKim
Written by
Michelle Spritz

Jon Bernstein
Starring
Jordan Fry

Harland Williams

Tom Kenny

Steve Anderson

Angela Bassett

Tom Selleck

Nicole Sullivan
Music by
Danny Elfman
Distributed by
Walt Disney Pictures

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

In this 20th Century Fox film, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is a divorced father who just wants a dependable job to avoid eviction and moving away from his ten-year-old son. Night watchman at the almost forgotten Museum of Natural History? Sure, why not? The three old night guards, Cecil (Dick Van-Dyke), Gus, and Reginald give him a tour of the place. It's just your average museum: some wax figures, miniature settlers, a T-rex skeleton, some stuffed african animals, and a mummy with his Egyptian Tablet. The men leave him with an instruction manual and the words, "Just don't let anything in... or out." Do men ever read the instructions? No. What's to know about being a night watchman, right? To his amazement, the T-rex skeleton comes to life before his eyes! He thinks that maybe he should've read that manual before the capuchin monkey tore it up. And before Attila the Hun and the dinosaur set him running for his life. Luckily, a kindly wax Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams) helps him bring order to the museum on the first night. The freaked-out watchman is informed that the mummy's Tablet is what makes everyone come alive at night. As long as nobody gets out of the museum to turn to meet a terrible fate of turning to dust at dawn, things should be just fine. This is NOT what Larry bargained for, but he wants to make his son, Nick, proud again, so he brushes up on some history and tries to make Huns, squabbling settlers and Romans, and monkeys get along. But when the tablet is stolen and the occupants of the museum turn loose into the streets, what can Larry do?

This is a funny movie directed at kids, but one that adults can laugh at too. But it does fall a tad short of being perfectly family friendly. There is a cuss word, and some mild violence (some fist-fighting with burglars, being shot with a tiny "poison" dart, getting bit on the nose by a monkey, etc). A tiny bit of disrespect is shown by Nick to his father, basically because Larry has lost it by the divorce and his job shifting all the time. One of the old nightguards has a bad temper and likes to call people names like "weirdee" and "snack shack". But good heart is shown in that everybody stops fighting and starts partying and being friends in the end. But this "roll-on-the-ground funny" is justly rated PG.

Directed by
Shawn Levy

Produced by
Chris Columbus
Stephen Sommers
Bob Ducsay

Written by
Ben Garant
Thomas Lennon

Starring
Ben Stiller
Robin Williams
Dick Van Dyke
Owen Wilson
Mickey Rooney

Music by
Alan Silvestri

Cinematography
Guillermo Navarro

Distributed by
20th Century Fox

Release date(s)
December 22, 2006

Running time
Theatrical:108 minutes