Movie Review: Ever After

Name: Ever After

Director: Andy Tennant

Starring: Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston

Rated: PG

For: brief language and mild thematic elements.

Brief summary: Ever After tells the story of the "Real" Cinderella, Danielle De Barbarac, played by Drew Barrymore. Danielle, like Cinderella, has the wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. Unlike other adaptions of the fairytale, instead of waiting for her prince, Cinderella, or Danielle, in this case, rescues herself. Instead of having a fairy godmother, Danielle has Leonardo DiVinci to help her out. Danielle overcomes her hardships, escapes from her evil family, marries her prince, and gets the famous happy ending.

Age level: Ten and up

Cautions: Kissing and some violence and immodesty.

If you like this movie, you might also like . . . A Cinderella Story

Personal Opinion: As a lover of fairy tales and re-tellings of fairy tales, I obviously love this movie. It's fun, action filled, dramatic, romantic, and everything else you can think of. You have to love Danielle more than Cinderella: she is the ultimate poster girl for "Girl Power!" The casting was great, especially with Drew Barrymore as the heroine. I love Drew Barrymore and she DOMINATED this movie.

Overall rating: 9/10

Random tidbit: I'm boring and don't have any. *le sigh*

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince

Name: Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince

Director: David Yates

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson

Rated: PG

For: scary images, some violence, language, and mild sensuality

Brief summary: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their sixth year of school. Over the summer, the trio saw Harry's enemy, Draco Malfoy, at a sketchy store. Harry is convinced that Draco is a Death Eater, a follower of the evil wizard, Voldemort. Ron and Hermione, however, are convinced that Harry is biased and overreacting. Also during the summer, Albus Dumbledore, Harry's mentor and the headmaster of Hogwarts, takes him to convince an old teacher, Horace Slughorn, to come back to Hogwarts to teach. During the year, Harry goes to regular meetings held by Dumbledore, to help Harry understand what Voldemort was like before he went bad. This movie was filled with action, humor and, believe it or not, a great deal of APPROPRIATE romance.

Age level: Eight and up

Cautions: A girl kisses a boy passionately, A boy makes a sexual face to a girl, A boy and girl kiss, there is some violence and blood.

If you like this movie, you might also like . . . Any of the other Harry Potter movies.

Personal Opinion: I have to admit, after the disappointment I experienced after "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", I was expecting "Halfblood Prince" to have the same outcome on me. However, as soon as the movie had started, I was happily proven wrong. The movie not only had supberb filming, directing, acting, and cinematography, it also stayed much more true to the books than any of the other movies, except maybe for the first or second movies. The one thing I was disappointed in was that they cut out one of my favorite parts in all the books. "Roonil Wazlib". Not that it was at all important in the book, it was just funny. There were somethings that happened in the movie that made me raise my eyebrow (I won't say what, just in case you haven't seen the movie yet and plan on seeing it), just some stuff that was random and didn't happen in the book. And, ummm, is MAYBE NEEDED in the next movie?? I dunno. *shrug*

Overall rating: 9/10

Random tidbit: Rupert Grint was my first celebrity crush. I am now in love with him again. *giggle*.

Movie Review: Up

Name: Up

Director: Pete Docter & Bob Petersen

Starring: John Ratzenberger & Christopher Plummer

Rated: PG

For: Some Peril

Brief summary: Carl is about to fulfill his and his late wife, Ellie's, life-long dream. Going to "Paradise Falls" and forgetting everything. When Carl gets violent with a construction worker, he is forced to move into a convalescent home. However, before the bus can pick him up, Carl makes his grand escape by tying thousands of balloons onto the top of his house. When he's in the air, he finds out that he is not the only one making the voyage. Russell, an eight year old "wilderness scout" had climbed onto his front porch and is now making the journey with him. On their way to Paradise Falls, Russell & Carl encounter many things, including Carl's childhood hero, a giant bird, talking dogs, and much more. This movie is sweet, appropriate, and perfect for the whole family.

Age level: All ages

Cautions: A woman has a miscarriage, a man hits another man, making him bleed. A man is ordered to go to a convalescent home. A boy mentions having a stepmother and says that his relationship with his dad isn't so great. There're some scary parts. Some fighting….

If you like this movie, you might also like . . . The Incredibles!

Personal Opinion: Okay, I was expecting this movie to be "Okay". Just in the first five minutes, I was drawn in and I KNEW I was going to love it. Weird, huh? Dug, the talking dog, WAS HACKING HILARIOUS! Most of the jokes he made kids wouldn't get (they weren't inappropriate, just for an older age group. You either have to OWN a dog or know someone who owns a dog to really get it.). Also, at the end of the movie, there's a great scene including sacrifice which I TOTALLY loved. But, younger kids wouldn't really get it. It was a totally sweet, funny, all around good movie. I really liked it and can't wait to drag my family to it. ;) MUAHAHAHA!

Overall rating: 10/10

Random tidbit: John Ratzenberger has been in every Pixar movie. And he's from the town my dad grew up in! Which is technically right next door to MY town! And my daddy saw him on the train, and he's been to the diner we usually go to… What I'm trying to say is… He's a cool dude.

Movie Review: TWILIGHT!!!

Name: Twilight

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Peter Facinelli

Rated: PG-13

For: Some violence and a scene of sensuality

Brief summary:Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has always been a bit different, never caring about or fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother Renee (Sarah Clarke) remarries and decides to move with her new husband to Florida, and Bella decides to go live with her father, Charlie (Billy Burke), in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn't expect anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she's ever met. Intelligent and witty, his piercing eyes see straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than any cheetah, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Most importantly, he's a vampire. Like all vampires, he's immortal. He doesn't drink human blood (they're vampire "vegetarians"), which is rare among the vampire population. Instead, they go on regular "hiking" trips, where they feed on prey such as grizzly bears and mountain lions. For Edward, Bella is the thing he has waited ninety years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. And what will they do when James (Cam Gigandet), Laurent (Edi Gathegi), and Victoria (Rachel Lefevre) come into town and James sets his sights on Bella? Will true love prevail when Edward is forced to save her life and conquer his thirst? The true question is, When you can live forever, what do you live for? (from IMDB.com)

Age level: 13 and up

Cautions: umm, violence, you see a vampire girl jump onto a vampire and hear her break his neck. you hear a vampire break a human's leg.. there's a scene of sensuality. not too bad. some passionate kissing, they end up on the bed, but the guy jumps back. a guy watches a girl as she sleeps. a guy and girl sleep together in bed, but nothing happens. a girl sleeps in a tight t-shirt and undies. there is some cleavage shown and a joke made about "speedo stuffing"

If you like this movie, you might also like . . . Titanic? A Walk to Remember? The Notebook? Harry Potter? I don't know!

Personal Opinion: It got very... cheesy at some parts. And when Robert Pattinson leans down to kiss Kristen Stewart, he makes this weird face... But it's definetly more of a love story than an action-adventure movie like people assume. I would call it a darker chick flick. It was very different than the book, but overall, a very good, well made movie. I loved the casting of Alice, Charlie, Esme, Carlisle, Edward, Bella, Jasper and Rosalie. Emmett... I was pretty disappointed. I really liked him in the book... not so much in the movie. But Carlisle and Esme were AMAZING! Just how I had pictured them.

The baseball scene was AWESOME! I loved how Alice pitched. And the ending totally delivered.

There was this awesome scene where Edward and Bella are climbing this really tall tree, it was so cool.

But I have to say, I loved it when the vamps ran. They made this awesome 'WHOOSH!' noise. It was sweet.

My favorite part was when Edward saved Bella's life. Well actually, both times. The first time when the car's about to hit her and the second time when he's sucking her blood. *sigh*

Overall rating: 9/10

Random tidbit: When Harry Potter 4 came out, ALL my friends were obsessed with Robert Pattinson. I on the other hand, liked the guy who played Krum. Stupid immature me...

COMING SOON!!

COMING SOON ON REVIEWS BY KATIE!!

Music review of Taylor Swift's CD, Fearless.

Music Review of the Sweeney Todd Soundtrack

Book Review on New Moon, the second book in the Twilight Saga.



Book Review on the Lilies of the Field

AND LASTLY....

MOVIE REVIEW OF TWILIGHT!!! Starring the Love of my Life, EDWARD CULLEN!!!

I'm actually getting ready to go to the Midnight Showing!!

Movie Review: High School Musical 3

Name: High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Director: Kenny Ortega

Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Ashley Tisdale

Rated: G

For: Well, personally, I think it definately should have been PG. At one part when Troy and Gabriella are dancing (Gab's wearing a short skirt) the skirt goes pretty dang high... and one girl does a dance move and you can see her undies... :/

Brief summary:As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future. (from IMDB.com)

Age level: 8 and up

Cautions: Really just the stuff I put in the rating

If you like this movie, you might also like . . . Camp Rock.

Personal Opinion: Uhhh... Wow. I was laughing the whole time. It was kinda... really corny... LOL. But the music was good, it was clean (enough), but... THE CHOREOGRAPHY WAS AMAZING!! Wow... that's all I can say. I guess they have a bigger budget cuz they could afford three choreographers. The story line was pretty dumb, though.. I recommend you wait for it to be on Disney Channel every night to see it.

Entertainment: 6/10

Highlights: The songs "The Boys Are Back" and "I Want It All"