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It seems to me that reviewers don’t want to give this movie a chance – most can’t seem to get over the fact that Will and Jada Pinkett Smith bought the rights to put their kid in the movie.

Well no one (including myself) likes nepotism, but Karate Kid was a bundle of surprises.

First off, let me say that it was really good.  Jaden Smith was better than you’d expect any kid that age to be, and you can already see the potential there for him to become a serious actor as he grows up.

And let’s face it . . . none of us expected the Fresh Prince to become the actor that Will Smith has become. Everyone has to start somewhere, and Jaden Smith made a rather remarkable showing in this movie. The awkwardness and insecurity that was apparent fit the character that he was portraying – it was exactly the same awkwardness that all children that age possess, and made the character just that much more believable.

Jackie Chan was an absolute pleasure to watch.  I’ve always been a big fan of Jackie Chan, but many of his more recent American produced movies have seemed to focus far too much on the slapstick and silliness, and far too little on a good story or good characterization. It was nice to see him do so well in a serious role, and the story in this movie is as much Mr. Han’s as it is Dre’s. Both the teacher and the student have something to learn from each other.

This is one time I’ll tell you all to pay no attention to the negative reviews. I think anyone, even those who aren’t fond of “kung fu” movies, would appreciate this film. It’s only about kung fu on the surface, after all – the real story here is about relationships and family.

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The goal that the producers of Repo the Genetic Opera claim to have is to create a new rock opera cult hit on the order of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

As far as creating a rock opera masterpiece, they were absolutely successful.  The music blew me away, and considering the number of wonderful musical artists involved, I really shouldn’t be surprised.

The story and setting itself is an interesting mix of dystopian post-apocalyptic horror and science fiction that, in light of the current controversy over health-care and the business end of it, actually provides a great deal of food for thought.  I’m not sure the writers realized, upon setting on the idea, just how much it would fit the feel of the current times.

As horrific as the basic premise of the movie is, it doesn’t seem all that far-fetched, these days.

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First of all, it wasn’t bad.  At least not as bad as I’d been lead to believe from many of the reviews I’d read.  The base plot was actually a step up from the first movie.

Second, it had a lot of room for improvement, but most of that improvement could be summed up with this list:

1. Get Rid of All Humping, whether it’s dogs humping each other, dogs humping legs, or mini decepticons humping legs.
2. Get rid of the unnecessary scrotum references. Really, why does a robot need balls?
3. Get rid of the jive-talking twins.  Though the chinese ice-cream truck was charming, the twins themselves, I think, shall forevermore be the Jar-Jar Binks of Transformers.  That is, they’re really, really annoying.

Honestly, some parts of this movie seemed to have been written by rather than written for twelve-year-old boys.

Had they left all of that out, it would have improved the movie 100-fold.  It was still fun, though. Both Optimus and Bumblebee were awesome to watch.  It was a fun action movie with plenty of robots fighting each other.  When you go to see Transformers, what more do you expect?  It’s not Oscar material here, not something intended to be an art-house flick.  It’s an action movie, pure and simple, fun and slightly stupid (though in the above cases, stupid far beyond what it had to be). Expecting it to be more than that will just leave you disappointed.  It also is not, and never will be,  the Transformers that we all grew up with….

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Pixar movies have, by and large, always been uniquely accessible to both children and adult moviegoers, and are becoming more and more sophisticated in their plotlines with each successive movie.  Up! is no exception.

Of course, who knew that the summer kid-flick movie would feature a . . . grumpy old man trying to live out the dreams of his dead wife?

As little cheer as that thought may have, that’s exactly the premise of this movie.  The facts of life and death are presented extremely matter-of-factly in an initial introductory montage, scenes from the life of a couple who dreamed big, but never got to go on that big adventure because Life, with all of its trials, tribulations, and celebrations, just seemed to get in the way.

Yes, there’s plenty to appeal to an adult audience in this little unassuming kid’s movie.  It says a lot about aging, disappointment, and how sometimes the things that you think are a disappointment to other people….really aren’t.

Of course, there’s a lot for kids too, thanks to a sweet little boyscout who’s never been on a real adventure, a talking dog, and a momma bird named Kevin.

Take your kids to see it. If you don’t have kids, go see it anyway.

P.S. Am I the only one excited over the trailer for the movie adaptation of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?

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The review in a single short burst:  Star Trek was Awesome. <Insert Geeky Fangirl Squee Here>

Spoiler Free Review:

We had here a new cast, playing old and very beloved characters. There were some very large, difficult shoes for them to fill and it would be extremely difficult to do so without making a parody of them, particularly the more, erm, unique qualities of, say, Bill Shatner.

So the new cast/writers/etc. had a lot to live up to.  I don’t exaggerate when I say that they did so in an absolutely phenomenal fashion.  Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban were, in particular, absolutely spot on as Spock and Bones, about as perfectly played as anyone could have asked for.  McCoy was appropriately grumpy and complaining about something every time you saw him.

Spock was as you would expect a very young Spock to be – still fighting the conflict between his human and vulcan self.  I particularly appreciated this treatment of the character, watching how he became what he became later on where he had resolved his two halves.  Quinto simply could not have done a better job even if he had been Nimoy himself.

There were plenty of nods to the originals that only a fan would notice, and those done with a respect for what had come before.

The real test of it was that it felt like the original Star Trek’s felt.  Not with sad nostalgia (a la Indy IV) or with some sort of vague imitation.  It felt like Star Trek, not something trying to pretend to be Star Trek.  Not only that…it felt like one of the best of the movies with the original cast. Wrath of Khan quality.

Even the most devoted Trekkie shouldn’t be disappointed with this movie.

And now come the Spoilers:

This is a complete reboot of the series, complete with alternate timeline.  I’m not quite sure how I feel about that, though I realize that this allows them the opportunity of creating sequels without worrying about stepping on the toes of the movies and shows that have come before.  Since it is an alternate timeline, the stuff that happened before has no relation to this timeline.

However…it rather means that the stuff that happened before, on the original timeline…didn’t happen, and likely will not. I think that this is where my uneasiness about it comes in.

Time travel stuff always gets a little wonky.  However, it didn’t seem like they were using it as a crutch here, it made sense and fit well into the universe they were creating. This isn’t the first time Star Trek’s gone time travelling, after all.

The sets were wonderful. The Enterprise actually looked like a battle-ready ship rather than a cruise liner, complete with independently firing gun turrets and defenses.  She was beautiful, as Scotty would proudly proclaim. His engine room, too, was huge – exactly the sort of scope you’d expect on a ship that size.  And that’s exactly the feeling you got from it – that feeling of size and scope, that this wasn’t a dinky little boat they were flying about in but an enormous fighting vessel.

You really could not have asked for a better cast of characters to replace the ones that had come before. They do a wonderful job and honor the people that had played these characters previously without making a parody of them.  No, Kirk doesn’t have his …. familiar …. and …. infamous …. Shatner-speak, but he is most undoubtedly James T. Kirk with all of his reckless rulebreaking and lack of respect for authority.  Though not as perfect in character as Quinto and Urban were, Chris Pine did a wonderful job in the role.

And yes, I’d use the word perfect for Quinto’s Spock, particularly.  He was, without any doubt whatsoever…Spock. Young and unsure and emotionally conflicted, yes, but Spock nonetheless. It would have been unrealistic to expect a Spock that young to have fully resolved his human and vulcan sides, to not be fighting his emotions.

That conflict is the real story of the movie.  Nero and his vendetta provide a vehicle, a villain to fight against, but it is Spock fighting with himself, and how his friendship develops with Kirk, that becomes the central plot.

It would be a lie to say that I didn’t get a little misty-eyed when Spock (Prime) reached out to Kirk and said, “I am, and always will be, your friend.”