Movie Reviews

Josh and I have watched a slew of movies lately.

• Gremlins - I got this one because, believe it or not, I'd never seen the whole movie before, only clips. I'm surprised that it was marketed to kids when it came out. I know that I definitely would not have liked it as a child. I would have thought it really scary. (I never liked alien movies when I was little except for the original Star Wars trilogy. ET? I hated it! But I digress ...) Gremlins wasn't bad. The special effects were very 1980's-ish, and it was neat to see a movie again where fantasy characters weren't all CG. However, now that I've seen it, I probably won't watch it again.



• Rent - (I watched this one by myself.) I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I didn't like it, and normally I like musicals. In fact, I only watched about 1/3 of it. The music was good, and the actors and actresses seemed to play their parts well, but I didn't like the storyline. I didn't know what the musical was about before getting it. I probably wouldn't have gotten it from the library if I had.



• A History of Violence - I thought the premise of this movie sounded interesting. A small town cafe owner saves the people in his restaurant one day when 2 mobsters show up and he shoots them. He is then "mistaken" for an ex-mobster, so the viewer needs to figure out if he really was part of a crime ring or not. The answer comes out by the end of the movie. However, the movie was fairly violent, and I was uncomfortable with the level and type of intimacy shown between the lead actor and his wife. The movie also took a little while to get moving. You can skip this movie



• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Great movie! Both Josh and I really liked it! Although I've read the Prince Caspian book, I've only read it once, and it's been a few years, so my memory of its details is foggy. Consequently, I can't very well compare this movie to the book, but the movie stands well on its own. You can tell Aslan is a CG character, but his facial expressions are amazingly lifelike, even if he is a lion who talks. :) Good plot, casting, costumes, and special effects. It's rated PG, but, knowing our kids, they wouldn't be ready for it ... maybe when they're about 12 YO.



• Lakeview Terrace- Interesting take on how a black cop (Samuel L. Jackson) views and deals with his new neighbors who are an interracial married couple. Josh commented that this movie has some horror film elements ... "Hmmm ... It's dark, the lights are out, the door to the house is open. I think I'll go inside" ... and other such predictable scenarios. I was bothered by the way the husband and wife kept things from each other, weren't themselves with each other, and manipulated their spouse. You can bypass this movie.