DVD Review: Old Dogs

Rated PG

Starring Robin Williams, John Travolta, Seth Green, Rita Wilson, Kelly Preston

Dan and Charlie have been best friends forever and are co-owners of a successful sports marketing firm, living the high life. In the midst to closing the biggest deal of their lives, Dan's ex-wife Vicki (whom he married on a whim 7 years prior while on vacation, their nuptials not even lasting 24 hours) shows up, desperately needing someone to watch her 2 kids while she spends 2 weeks in jail for activist shenanigans. Dan quickly realizes, the children are his - the result of their brief nuptials 7 years ago.

Reluctant at first, Dan evenutally agrees, wanting to get to know the kids a bit (not to mention he never got over Vicki either). However as Dan struggles with figuring out fatherhood, him and Charlie continue to attempt to close their business deal.

In the end, they learn what's important in life (and it's not living the high life) and grow as people as well.

Much like Travolta's previous Disney family flick Wild Hogs, Old Dogs is geared towards the same audience catering more towards adults although kids will enjoy the youngsters meddling in their father's (and "Uncle Charlie's") life. It's definitely a feel good movie.

DVD Review: Shrek Forever After

Rated PG

Starring Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Walt Dohm

The Final Chapter, or so they say. In this 4th installment of the Shrek series Shrek, now both a father and a husband to 3 ogre babies finds himself tired of the same old day to day routine - his life isn't nearly as exciting as it once was. People are no longer afraid of ogres either. Just for one day would Shrek like things to go back to how they once were.

As it is, Rumpelstiltskin has a bone to pick with Shrek - it just so happens that as Fiona's parents were about to sign away their kingdom to Rumpel in exchange to undo Fiona's ogre curse, they received word that Shrek had rescued Fiona from her tower and called the whole deal off. Upon overhearing Shrek's frustration, Rumpel offers Shrek to have his day, the only catch is Rumple gets to choose what day Shrek is to lose.

He just so happens to choose the day Shrek was born, thus altering the franchise's timeline, putting things into an alternate universe where Rumpel is in charge and ogres are an outlawed rebel force, led by Fiona (who is now a Xena-type warrior chick) who take shelter in the woods, hiding from Rumpel's witchy guards. The only way to set things right and get out of his contract is for Shrek to get Fiona to fall in love with him again, however that is not an easy task as she's much too busy planning an upcoming attack on Rumpel's palace. Oh and he only has 1 day to do it too otherwise he is to fade from existence!

This one did have it's funny moments and elements, with Rumpelstiltskin and his witchy crew adding some fresh laughs, however unlike many critics and reviews, this installment was not as good as the original. While the story was more of a cautionary tale of "be careful what you wish for" and "you don't know how good you have it until it's gone" a 4th installment in this series really wasn't needed. Worth a rental if you're a fan of the franchise, otherwise skip it!

Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Rated PG for fantasy violence

Starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson, Simon Pegg

Set a year after the previous film, Lucy and Edmund are stuck in Cambridge staying with their annoying stuck-up and self-centered cousin Eustace. Older siblings Susan and Peter are off traveling in America with the family but make mention of the family being reunited once World War II is over.

Bored one day, Lucy notices a painting of a ship that looks very Narnian. Soon her and Edmund get locked in the room with Eustance, water begins pooring out of the painting, seeming to drown them, however when they break for air they are rescued in the middle of the see by former Prince and now King Caspian and brought about his magestic ship The Dawn Treader. Caspian explains it has been 3 years in Narnia-time since they had last met and that he is on a journey find 7 missing Lords that were banished during his evil uncle's reign. Lucy and Edmund are up for the adventure and thrilled to tag along while Eustace does nothing but complain and act as an annoying nusciance.

After visiting the Lone Islands, where the 7 Lords were last believed to have been, Caspian, Lucy, Edmund and Eustace are all captured by the slave traders who run the island and learn that some of the slaves are sent by boatloads into the ocean and sacrificed by a mysterious green mist. Our heros are rescused by the remaining crew and set off to find the 7 magic swords of the Lords as it's believed that by combining them that the evil green mist can be stopped and that the 7 Lords had set out to do so but were unable to complete the task.

On their journey each of our main characters are tested - Lucy struggles with insecurity and desperately wants to be just like her beautiful sister Susan; Caspian struggles with living up to being the king his father was; Edmund struggles with having to answer to leadership and follow orders from Caspian; Eustace struggles to just be a nice person in general. Each one will have to overcome their struggles within and make sacrifics in order to defeat to the evil mysterious green mist.

While the previous Narnia film - Prince Caspian - was a bit action-packed and violent while straying quite a bit from the books and received many mixed reviews, Dawn Treader brings back the fun of the first film. It's got fantasy and magical talking creatures (Simon Pegg does an excellent job as Reepicheep - Caspian's talking, fighting mouse sidekick - this time around).

Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is good fantasy fun on the high seas for the whole family to enjoy!

Ramona and Beezus

Rated G

Starring Joey King, Selena Gomez, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Duhamel, Sandra Oh

Ramona is a 9 year old with a very vivid and wild imagination - she pretends while crossing the monkey bars during recess that she is really climbing across a great big canyon and when construction workers break a hole in her home to build a new addition to the house she takes great fun one afternoon, with various costumes and props jumping out the hole and into the dirt, at one point imagining she's parachuting through the sky!

The movie seems to pick up somewhat where the beloved Beverly Clearly books left off, in the sense that in the last Ramona book she becomes a middle child with the birth of her baby sister Roberta. However Ramona's world is about to change even more!

Ramona has a close connection with her Aunt Bea, who can identify with her being a younger sister as she too is a younger sister, however she begins to feel that she's losing her Aunt Bea to her friend and next door neighbor Howie's Uncle Hobart, as he is Aunt Bea's former high school sweetheart who lost his chance with her and is now back in town, cleaning up his Jeep and trying to woo her one last time before he takes a 2-year journey to Alaska.

Also, the company her dad works for gets bought out and decides to down-size, laying him off in the process. Beezus and Ramona overhear their parents talk about the bank taking their house away, which scares Ramona and she quickly tries her best to help earn money to save the house. She gets another scare when a classmate informs her that when her dad lost his job her parents soon divorced - after Beezus and Ramona overhear their parents having an argument regarding the house situation one night, with dad ending up sleeping on the couch, Ramona worries even more! Eventually dad does land one of his many interviews, however the job is clear on the other end of the state, meaning the whole family will have to move. Despite her previous annoyances with younger sister Ramona, Beezus bonds with her in the sense that she too is scared of having to move and make all new friends, which she deems is hard to do by the time you're 15.

This really is a cute coming of age movie, as Ramona struggles and has to deal with a handful things kids can face as they begin to grow up - the feeling of losing a close relative who's getting married, losing the family pet, getting picked on by other kids for being different, feeling inferior to a sibling who seems to be perfect and more. The whole parent losing a job and the family worrying about keeping the house issue is also becoming more and more common these days with the current recession and we often forget that while we try to hide our own fears and worries from the kids, it still affects them and they can sense what's going on.

It also shows the bond between sisters - while they may argue and be complete opposites, with the older sister deeming the younger a pest while the younger feels everyone likes the older sister better, they do share a bond that near the last third of the film is quite clear.

Also, Ramona's dad is a great example of what a father should be - he's loving to the girls, yet strict when he needs to be, but also understanding. He does his best to provide for his family, even giving up his quest for his dream job to settle for one with good pay that allows him provide for them. When he loses that job, mom goes back to work part-time for a doctor while dad picks up the slack at home and helps take care of the girls while going from interview to interview. Ramona really inspires him, saying the she thinks he can do anything he wants when he's job hunting. He also has a really great drawing skill, which he shares with Ramona. Eventually he gets a job that allows him to do what he loves.

While Selena Gomez (of Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place) stars as older sister Beezus, the film really focuses on young Joey King as Ramona, who plays the part spot on, stealing the scenes she's in. John Corbett shines as their dad Robert Quimby. Sandra Oh plays Ramona's teacher Ms. Meacham, who is strict in class but near the end of the movie shows a softer side towards Ramona once she really starts trying to take school more seriously. Ginnifer Goodwin (whom I often mistake for Maggie Gyllenhal) also shines as Aunt Bea. We see a different side of Josh Duhamel in this movie, as he's more of a goofy, uncle type.

If you grew up reading Beverly Clearly's Ramona books or have a young daughter (or even son) be sure to take them to this one, as it's fun for kids with Ramona's wild and vivid imagination and her well-meaning antics that always seem to go wrong, but it's also heart-warming for adults!

Despicable Me

Rated PG for slapstick humor and mild cartoon violence

Starring Steve Carrell, Jason Segal, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fischer, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Julie Andrews, Kristen Wiig

Gru is the most notorious villain of all time, having stolen many famous objects, that is until a new villain in town named Vector pulls of the heist of a lifetime by stealing the Great Pyramid of Giza! In order to reclaim his title of best villain ever, Gru decides he must go into the space, shrink the moon and steal it, however, in order to pay for the materials for his minions to make his rocket, he needs to get a loan from the bank. The bank president for villains says they will not fund the project until Gru at leasts gets a shrink ray gun, which he eventually steals, however his celebration is too soon, as Vector immediately steals it from him!

When Gru spies a trio of orphaned sisters selling cookies to Vector, he hatches a plan in which he will adopt the girls and escort them back to Vector's when the cookies arrive, stealing the gun back while the girls distract him.

While Gru's plans for villainry begin to fall into place, he didn't plan for him to actually fall for the girls and begin actually caring for them. When he learns their ballet recital falls on the same day as his soon to be famous heist of the moon, Gru must decide which is more important to him!

Kids will love all the slapstick comedy and humorous antics of the girls and the minions, while parents will have their hearts warmed watching Gru go from from Super Villain to Super Dad. While the film has a strong message of family (which it seems like many animated films lately do!), it also has a message to not give up on your dreams, as we see that as a child Gru always wanted to go into space but his mother told him it would never happen - despite her, Gru still always held onto that dream.

While there is quite a bit of slapstick in the film, it's nothing more than 3 Stooges or Looney Toons type of slapstick. There are a few tense moments at the end, but nothing a kid can't handle!

Be sure to check out this cute, silly family film that both kids and adults will enjoy.

On a sidenote, Best Buy has a "Movie Mode" app for smartphones that is supposed to translate what the minions are saying during their antics in the end credits. While you're more than welcome to try it, there has been many complaints about the Android app not always working, as you're supposed to turn the app on prior the beginning of the movie (during the trailers) and it's supposed to vibrate when the credits start (it also automatically puts your phone in silent mode) - some complain it never vibrates for them and doesn't come out of the standby screen ("Enjoy the movie"), some complain it vibrates and starts translating about 20 minutes early, others have complained that it leaves your screen on the entire movie, thus draining your battery. While it says in the commercial it's for the 3D version, there have been plenty that have verified it works for the 2D version as well. User beware and good luck if you can get it to work for you (I couldn't), as I hear the translation really enhances it and it's pretty funny!

Toy Story 3

Rated G
Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Blake Clark, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Jeff Pidgeon, Jodi Benson, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, and Laurie Metcalf

Our story picks up shortly after the 2nd movie - Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang of Andy's toys are playing together in Andy's wild imagination adventures. Due to a montage via home video footage, we see Andy beginning to grow up and fast forward and he's now 17 and getting ready to go off to college. Stuck in the old forgotten toy chest for so long, the toys make a few last attempts to get Andy's attention, in hopes of one more rendez-vous with him, but with no such luck.

Andy's mom tells her son to go through his toys and everything else in his room and decide what he's taking to college, what can go in the attic, what can get donated to the daycare and what should be thrown out. While he decides to take his old pal Woody to college with him, the rest of the toys he puts in a trash bag to take up to the attic... however mom mistakes the bag for trash and promptly places it on the curb. In an attempt to rescue his friends, Woody dashes out to save them, in which they all wind up being donated to the local daycare.

While the rest of the gang is thrilled to be welcomed by the rest of the daycare toys and are thrilled to learn that there's no owners and always kids who'll play with them, Woody insists they all go back to Andy's as they're still Andy's toys and he didn't mean for them to get thrown out or donated. Wanting a second chance to get played with, the gang decides to stay so Woody sets out for home on his own. Soon after he leaves though, him and the rest of the gang learn that Sunnyside Daycare isn't all it's cracked up to be - the new toys get stuck in the Caterpillar room with the toddlers who don't know how to properly play with toys and strawberry smelling leader Lots'o Huggins Bear isn't the gentle old sweet wise bear they first thought he was!

Woody has to go back and rescue his friends before things get much worse!

Once again, Disney and Pixar have done it again - creating a wonderful family film that all can enjoy. It's got hilarious moments and pop culture references, homage to a lot of the previous Pixar films, excitement, thrills and even touching moments that really pull at you - everyone I know that's seen it has sad they teared up during the movie at one point or another (I know I did at one part in particular near the end).

Kids will love all the excitement and adventure that this one continues to offer in the same fashion as the previous installments, and parents will be laughing at all humor thrown in that kids might not get (the scenes with Ken doll are pretty hilarious, as he's very metro-sexual despite repeatedly refusing to admit and comes to terms with being a girl's toy!).

Also, keep your eyes open for all the "easter eggs" in the film - there's references GALORE (here's a link of ones just seen in the trailers)! In one scene the Pizza Planet truck makes an appearance, as well as other toys and versions of characters from other Pixar movies (there's quite a bit of toy cars resembling the vehicles from Cars). There's also a rumor going around online that one of the little girls seen in the daycare is a slightly older Boo from the upcoming Monsters Inc 2, as Pixar likes to sneak in a character from an upcoming movie as a teaser. And keep your eyes open during the scenes with the garbage men - one of them is actually the neighbor boy Sid from the first movie, all grown up but still wearing his skull t-shirt!

This was definitely a great way to tie up the Toy Story franchise and while they could have ended it on a sad, emotional note, I'm glad they didn't - like one teen sitting further down the row from us commented at the end, ending it that way could have scarred the little kids that were watching (it was pretty emotional!). Not to give away the ending, but I'm pleased with how this part of the Toy Story turned out.

DVD Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Rated PG for slapstick humor

Starring Jason Lee, Zachary Levi, Wendie Malick, and David Cross, with the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Christina Applegate, Anna Faris, and Amy Poehler

Everyone's favorite singing animated Chipmunks are back in this sequel to the 2007 movie.

After a freak onstage accident that lands Dave in the hospital for awhile, he orders Alvin, Simon and Theodore to go home, obey Aunt Jackie who will be watching them, and go to school. Well, Aunt Jackie gets injured soon after the Chipmunks meet her and her slacker grandson Toby at the airport, leaving Toby in charge.

Between playing video games, eating all the food and trashing the house, Toby makes sure the boys go to school, where they first have trouble adjusting - all the girls think they're cute and so naturally all the other guys get jealous of them. Being able to shoot baskets across the cafeteria, Alvin is quickly brought into the "jock" circle and learns how to play sports like football (where he becomes the team's secret weapon), however his increase in popularity soon goes to head and like the other jocks, he begins to pick on Simon and Theodore.

After the 3 get in trouble, they are told their punishment is to compete at a local school talent competition on behalf of the school, as the winning school will win a large money prize.

However, the Chipmunks aren't the only new students at school - ex-music mogel Ian (from the first movie) is back, this time with an innocent group of singing girl chipmunks who call themselves the Chipettes and admire and look up to the Chipmunks. Determined to get back at the top of the business, Ian manipulates the girls into thinking he was a victim of the Chipmunks and decides to have the Chipettes face-off against each them for the school's representation at the talent competition.

While this movie was pretty cute, especially with the introduction of the Chipettes, it didn't seem nearly as good or as clever as the first movie. While the lesson of family and sticking together is a good one, the jokes and the laughs just seemed like more of the same from the first movie, not really improving in quality or substance.

Kids will enjoy it, and like I said, the Chipettes were a pretty cute new addition, however unless you have kids that really want to see this one, you can probably just skip this chapter of the Chipmunks and watch the original or the classic animated episodes instead.

DVD Review: 17 Again

Rated PG13 for brief language, some innuendo, teenage sexuality

Starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Michelle Trachtenberg, Thomas Lennon

What if you could have a do-over? Would you?

And so is the question this movie poses.

In a similar tale to those of the movie Big and 13 Going on 30 where the main characters wish they were older, in this one, the main character wishes he could go back and redo the end of his senior year.

In 1989, Mike is the star basketball player and a talent scout is at the big game just to watch him. Do well and he has a college basketball scholarship. But then his girlfriend Scarlet makes an appearance during halftime. He can tell she's upset, so he goes to talk to her and learns she is pregnant with his child. At first he goes back out on the court, but then, after seeing her leave, he chases after her and proposes, telling her that they're in this together.

Fast forward 2 decades later, and Mike, having had another kid with Scarlet, has constantly regretted giving up his opportunity for her and they are on the brink of divorce, as she feels like he never could get past the past and build a future together.

After a strange encounter with the high school's janitor, Mike wakes up the next morning and he's 17 again. Realizing that maybe this is his 2nd chance to get that scholarship and make something of his life, he enrolls in the high school again, with the help of his lifelong friend geeky Ned (who is now a multi-millionaire, despite getting picked on in high school), whom he poses as his long lost son. ("Uncle Ned never mentioned having a kid..." Mike's teenage son points out to his 17 year old father. "Yeah, my mom didn't want anyone to know she had a kid with Ned - can you blame her?" he responses. He son accepts that, agreeing with him at the logic.)

After his first day though, Mike realizes that it's not his 2nd chance at a scholarship, but his 2nd chance with his kids, as his purpose for being 17 again must be to help them. His teenage son Alex is the school punching bag, despite having his father's natural talent for basketball and his teenage daughter is dating Alex's main tormentor, and despite having gotten accepted to Georgetown, she is planning on going to school nearby and moving in with her jerk boyfriend soon after graduation. By hanging out with Alex and getting on the basketball team with him, he is able to give him his moment to shine as the basketball and catch the eye of a cute, sweet cheerleader he's been crushing on but is too afraid to talk to.  He is also able to teach Maggie that not all guys are horny jerks and that her and her friends should have more respect for themselves. And he also gets to reconnect with his wife (who can't get over the fact how much Uncle Ned's kid looks like her husband at that age), really learning about her interests and helping out when he can (she enjoys landscape art, something he thought was dumb before).

This was a cute twist on the classic "what if..." story, despite the awkward scenes with his daughter coming onto his teenage self (think Back to the Future) and his longing for his wife despite appearing as a minor. It also has some funny "geeky" moments in a subplot that involves geeky Ned (who's home is decked out in various sci-fi, movie and gaming memorabilia) trying to date the school's principal (the eventually realize they have a common love for Halo and Lord of the Rings and can both speak Elvish).

It also really stresses the values of marriage and family, and being involved in your family and their lives. Mike was too busy wallowing about his missed opportunity for nearly 20 years that he missed all the other opportunities he could have had with his family. He had minimal involvement in his kids' lives and always made his wife feel bad for asking her to marry him.

While not necessarily for younger kids, this is definitely one to watch together with a spouse and the older kids.

Alice in Wonderland

Rated PG for some scary moments, fantasy violence

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen and Stephen Fry

In this Alice story, Alice is now 19 years old and her father has recently passed. For the past 10 years, she has been having the same "nightmare" where she visits a strange place. She thinks she is going crazy, however her father always told her that "the best people tend to be a little bit!" Her mother accompanies her to a formal outdoor party, which Alice soon learns is to be her engagement party to a boy named Hamish, who's father was partners with her father and now is the sole owner of their trading firm. When Hamish pops the big question in front of all the guests, Alice panics and is distracted by a strange white rabbit she had noticed several times throughout the gathering. She excuses herself and chases after the rabbit and ends up at a rabbit hole and falls in.

Arriving in a strange room, she must figure out the puzzle of how to squeeze through a tiny locked door. Once on the other side, she is greeted by The White Rabbit, a dormouse, a dodo bird, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Despite them acting like they know her, she don't recall ever meeting any of them. Confused as to whether The White Rabbit brought them the "right" Alice, they take her to Absolem the Caterpillar to let him decide. See, in this version of Wonderland (or Underland as they say it's called), the evil Red Queen has overthrown her younger sister, the White Queen and has been ruling with an iron fist, offing people's heads for reason or another. And well, Frabjous Day is coming soon and it is told that a hero named Alice will slay the Red Queen's wicked beast - the Jabberwocky, and free everyone from her rule.

"I'm not that Alice! And even if I were, I can't kill anything and I won't!" Alice cries. She also seems convinced that this just her having another one of her nightmares, as the people and place are exactly the same.

Believing that Alice is back, the Queen sends her right hand man - The Knave of Hearts - with the Bandersnatch, Jubjub Bird and solider-like playing cards to retrieve her and stop her. While they capture most of Alice's group, the Cheshire Cat shows up and helps her escape, taking her to the Mad Hatter and March Hare and rejoining her with the dormouse. The Mad Hatter is able to explain to her what went wrong, trying to get her to remember her previous time in Underland ("You were so young back then... you even kept calling this place Wonderland!"). But soon enough, it seems that everyone who comes in contact with Alice gets capture by the Red Queen's lackeys. Before being captured, the Mad Hatter gives her directions to get to the White Queen who can assist her in preparing to fight the Jabberwocky. But Alice would rather rescue the Mad Hatter and innocent beings the Red Queen has captured.

Is this Alice indeed the "right" Alice? Will she end up fighting the Jabberwocky? Will she stay in Underland?

Now some have complained that Tim Burton took the classic Alice stories and turned them upside down. Others have criticized it for being nothing like the original Disney version. What you must understand going into this one is that no, it is not a remake of the classic story nor an adaption. You could almost consider it to be "the next chapter" in the Alice story, as it takes place years after the events of the original stories (which we see in a flashback segment). The characters are all still there, however Wonderland is a much darker place than now than we may recall.

I personally loved it. The story was great, the characters were amusing and the scenery and details were definitely works of art! Oh and there's lessons for everyone that you shouldn't make choices for yourself based on what others think is best. Be responsible and make your choices for you.

Now this film is being offered in both 2D and 3D formats. We saw it in 3D IMAX and while I can't really say if the 3D enhanced it any, the IMAX was well worth it, as it really made you feel like you were in the movie, and this one of those movies where that effect really works great!

Little kids might be a little scared by the Jabberwocky and Bandersnatch, but other than that, this is a great film for a family outing!

DVD Review: Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Rated PG for brief violence, some crude humor and innuendo, mild language

Starring: Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Keir O'Donnell

Paul Blart is a Jersey mall cop who takes his job seriously and aspires to be on the local police force, however one thing holds him back from that dream - he is severely hypoglycemic and when it hits, if he doesn't have a candy bar nearby he instantly passes out. He lives at home with his mother and pre-teen daughter, who both try to set him up with online dating, as his wife left him soon after their daughter was born and she acquired her green card.

One day, the mall is taken over by a group planning on wiping out the credit machines to get rich and held hostage inside are Blart's daughter and his love interest Amy among a handful of others. Distracted at the time the mall was taken over, Blart is the lone man on the inside and the local force's only hope at stopping the crooks and safely getting the hostages. Is he up for the job?

This film is oddly similar to another film that came out this year that we reviewed - Observe and Report starring Seth Rogen - as both films deal with mall cops who aspire to be something more than just that as well them bothing having to defend their malls. Buth while Rogen's film is dark and depressing, James' is amusing and heartwarming. This film was actually a lot better than I was expecting it to be.

If you're looking for a fun film the whole family can laugh at and enjoy together, be sure to check this one out.

DVD Review: Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

Rated PG for brief sexual innuendo, slapstick violence

Starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Bill Hader

Taking place several years after the first film, Larry Daley is now a successful inventor of random household gadgets based off things he came up with to do his job in the first movie (ie: glow in the dark flashlight, unloseable keyring, etc) and hasn't visited the Museum of Natural History for some time. Upon revisiting, he learns that they are renovating the museum, replacing many of the exhibits with interactive holograms. Larry is told by Teddy Roosevelt that while he and a few select others will be staying at the museum, the rest will be moved to the Smithsonian Archives in Washington DC, and they will be going without the magical Golden Tablet Of Ahkmenrah which makes them all come alive at night.

Soon after the move to the Smithsonian, Larry receives a frantic phonecall from tiny Jedediah - apparently Dexter the monkey stole the tablet from the Museum of Natural History and everything is coming alive at the Smithsonian - including Pharaoh Ahkmenrah's not so nice older brother Kahmunrah who seeks the tablet to raise his army of the dead with the help of other classic bad guys such as Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, and a young Al Capone. War is breaking out among the historical characters and Larry must get to Washington in time before Kahmunrah gets his hands on the tablet!

Since the one mostly takes place at the Smithsonian and it's multiple museums, we are introduced to a plethora of more historical characters than the first, one of the major ones being free-spirited Amelia Earhart.

This is a great adventure film for the whole family, as kids will learn about more history and adults will appreciate the humor and maybe even learn some history even they didn't know! If you enjoyed the first one, don't miss this one!

Up!

Rated G

Starring Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, and Jordan Nagai

Everyone wonders why Carl Fredrickson is a grouchy old man. Not many know that he lost his wife, who was the love of his life.

Ellie and Carl met when they were just kids. They shared a love for adventure and exploration and both want to growup and explore the world like the famous explorer Charles Muntz. They made a pact to someday move their clubhouse (an abandoned home in their neighborhood) to Paradise Falls, a mysterious place in South America where Muntz is rumored to live. Carl and Ellie get married and they moved into the old abandoned home, making it theirs for good. As the years go by, they try to save for their trip to Paradise Falls, but different financial hardships come to them. On the eve of presenting Ellie with their travel tickets, she gets sick and passes, leaving Carl alone.

Years go by and the city begins to grow up around Carl and the house. After getting into a fight with a nearby construction worker, Carl is required to move into Shady Oaks Retirement Home. But he has other plans for himself and his house. Just as the orderlies are about to take him to the rest home, Carl launches thousands of balloons out his chimney and the house takes off into the air towards Paradise Falls, in an attempt to keep his promise to Ellie. Only Carl didn't plan on the neighbor Wilderness Explorer, Russell, to be hiding out on his front porch when the house took off!

On a course for getting the house to the perfect location in Paradise Falls before all the balloons pop, Carl and Russell encounter a "talking" dog named Dug, a colorful tropical bird Russell names Kevin, and Charles Muntz himself. However Carl learns various life lessons on their short journey and realizes that sometimes the people you idolize may not always be who you think they are.

Disney and Pixar have done it again, with their 10th film together, creating another heartwarming story that both kids and adults can enjoy. Adults will be moved by Carl's undying devotion to Ellie and his promise to her, while kids will love Russell, Dug and Kevin.

Wall-E

Rated G

Starring Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Fred Willard, Sigourney Weaver, John Ratzemberger

In the future, earth because has become covered with trash from products sold by the Buy N Large corporation (think Walmart). In an effort to clean up it's mess, the corporation creates a space hub for earth's inhabitants to live, while hundreds of WALL-E's a garbage collecting robots, have been left to clean up the mess. Years pass, and only WALL-E remains, still working hard to clean up the mess, while collecting trinkets and treasures out of the mess. One day, another robot, named Eve shows up, on quest to find proof that life is once again sustainable. WALL-E falls in love with her and shows her all his findings.

Upon seeing a plant WALL-E's kept alive, Eve takes it and goes into standby mode, where days later she is wisked away by a giant space ship. WALL-E, thinking she is in danger, latches onto the ship and gets taken into space and the space hub, where humans have turned into obese blobs have had computers dictate their entire lives for over 700 years, never needing to leave their mobilized chairs. When the auto-pilot computer, acting on secret instructions given many years before by the corporation, tries to prevent the people from returning by stealing the plant, WALL-E, Eve, the portly captain, and a band of broken robots stage a mutiny to regain control and go home.

It was really really cute! There's not much dialogue, but with the animation and interaction of the robots, it doesn't need it. The robot relationship between Eve and Wall-E is really cute and Wall-E's way of living on a deserted earth is clever as well. Pixar goes the extra mile in a few of the space scenes just to show off how visually amazing they can be, but it's well deserved!

The satire messages of what happens when big corporations take over the world and people relying on technology too much are also pretty clever.

This definitely a good, harmless film to take the kids too, and if you're a fan of the Disney/Pixar films, you'll like this one just as much as the others.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Rated PG13 for adventure violence and some scary imagery

Starring Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt

It's been 17 years since we witnessed Indy's last adventure with his father, who is now deceased. Our story opens up, roughly 20 after the events of the previous installment, with Indy and fellow World War II veteran pal Mac (Winstone) being held captive by the Soviets and are forced to lead them to a crate stored in a warehouse on Hangar 51 in New Mexico. The crate is rumored to contain an alien corpse that was recovered from the crash at Roswell 10 years earlier. Indy manages to escape, but is placed under FBI investigation due to his ties with Mac. Soon after, he is told to take a leave of absence from his job at Marshall College due to the investigation.

While on a train out of town, Indy is approached by a greaser named Mutt (LaBeouf), who informs him that his former colleague Oxley (Hurt) disappeared after discovering a crystal skull in Peru, and he needs Indy's help to find him, his only clue being a coded letter Oxley sent. While on their adventure to find him, Indy and Mutt learn that the Soviets are also after the skull and have captured the now demented Oxley, as well as Marion (Allen), to use as leverage to get Indy to go after the artifact.

Despite mediocore reviews, this fourth installment of the classic Indy series was great. The critics and everyone had worked it up to be this great huge epic movie because it's been 17 years since the last one, when Spielberg did it with the same B-moviesque feel and corny dialogue one would expect of an Indy adventure after seeing the others. Too many people went into it expecting the greatest movie ever, holding it to such high expectations that they came out disappointed.

I personally thought it fit in just fine with the previous films in the series. If you liked and enjoyed the fun and adventure of the previous Indy movies, you'll like this one as well. And be sure not to miss all the subtle references to the previous films this one makes as well - seeing little things, like Ark of the Covenant from "Raiders" made this one all the more special.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Rated PG for adventure violence

Starring Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Sergio Castellitto and Eddie Izzard

Following where the previous book left off, it's been a year since Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy have visited Narnia. However, for Narnia, it's been about 1300 years. The land has been overtaken by the Telmarines and General Miraz; the Narnians, who fled to the woods, are thought to be extincted. That is, until Prince Caspian, the 10th, flees from the castle, upon learning that Uncle King Miraz and his wife have finally bore their own male heir and that, like his father, he'll be dead soon if he doesn't run.

While fleeing, he runs into Narnians, who he's heard old stories of, and blows Susan's magical horn, bringing the kids back to Narnia. Working together, wondering where Aslan is, they make several attempts to bring down Miraz's troops, so Caspian can rightfully take the throne and make it so the Narnians and Telmarines can leave in peace.

It was a lot of fun and the battle sequences were really neat too. Plus, who doesn't love talking animals - especially a knight mouse who thinks he can do anything? If you enjoyed the first one, you'll like this installment as well.

Horton Hears a Who

Rated G

Starring Jim Carrey, Steve Carell

It’s been a long time since I read or watched the original Dr. Seuss story of Horton the elephant and the tiny speck he finds, in which Whoville is located, but I must say, I enjoyed this one much better than I enjoyed the Grinch remake (note - How the Grinch Stole Christmas was one of my favorite Christmas shows growing up and I hated how much they changed the simple story in the big screen adaption).

Jim Carrey as the voice of Horton really makes this film, as he plays the role so well. The anime-type scene in the middle was woot as well.

This definitely a good one to take the family to, as it’s geared towards kids (and kids at heart) of all ages.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Rated PG

Starring Nicholas Cage, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Justin Bartha, Ed Harris

This sequel starts out with the assassination of Abe Lincoln in a flashback. Ben Gates and father surprised at a lecture when presented with a missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth listing their relative Thomas Gates as one of the consiprators of the Lincoln assassination. In their quest to save the family name and clear their ancestor, the Gates and Co, including Abigal and Riley, go on another global treasure hunt which sends them searching for clues in Paris, England, DC and the rumored President's Book of Secrets.

It had the same wit and cleverness as the original, as well as the same Indiana Jones type history adventure the original had also. This is probably going to be the main family Christmas movie this year. Expect a third installment in the future as well, as it clearly alludes that there will be another treasure hunt.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Rated PG

Starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Justin Long, Jesse McCartney

In this big screen version of everyone's favorite chipmunks, Alvin, Simon and Theodore are whisked out of their woodland home and find themselves and their tree in the middle of an office building. In their quick escape, they end up in Dave Seville's basket. Dave is a struggling songwriter tried to get a break in the music industry. After coming to terms with his new furry houseguests he learns of their singing talent and writes the infamous Chipmunk christmas song we all know of. Wanting to get in on the action, "Uncle Ian" (Dave's record producer friend from college) tries to convince the chipmunks that Dave is holding them back, with rules among other things and tells them that they're superstars now - they can do whatever they want! In the end, Dave must come to terms with himself and the chipmunks must choose between a life of fastpaced fame with Uncle Ian or a structured life with Dave.

It was a good family feel-good movie with silly humor and the chipmunks were cute too!

Enchanted

Rated PG

Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon, James Mardsen, Idina Menzel, Timothy Spall

In Disney's latest family film, we start out watching animated Giselle and her forest friends create a Prince Charming, as Giselle sings about the qualities she'd like in the man and how she'd like to have her 1 true kiss. By chance, she meets Prince Edward. The 2 immediately fall in love and plan to be wed the next day. Jealous of her beauty, Queen Narcissa (Prince Edward's step-mother) sees Giselle as a threat and tricks her into falling down a magical well to a place where there is "no happy endings" - that place, is Manhattan and New York City. Scared, wet and cold, Giselle tries to find her way back to the castle and her home Andalasia. In her search she comes across Robert and his young daughter (who is the only one to believe she really is a princess). Together Giselle teaches Robert about love, while he teaches her about reality.

Disney pokes fun of all the cliches it's built over the years with fairytales, which made this movie pretty funny, not to mention cute. The musical number in the park was hilarious, as was Giselle's chipmunk friend Pip, who can speak in the animated world, but has to resort to charades in order to communicate in the real world.

If you're looking for a good family film for the holidays - definately check out this one!

The Game Plan

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars as Boston Rebels quarterback Joe "The King" Kingman. He lives the life of a celebrity, having a huge bachelor pad covered in memorbilia of not only himself, but Elvis as well. Despite what the father on the team tells him, he thinks he has "the life." Then, after a huge new years party, the next morning a little girl named Peyton shows up on his doorstep, claiming to be his daughter from his short-lived marriage and will be staying with him for a month while her mom is in Africa. Over the course of the next few weeks, Joe goes from being a bad dad, leaving his daughter unattended at a nightclub opening, to being a concerned parent, looking after her and actually taking part in her life and the things she enjoys. Then comes the twist, where all is not as we think it is.

The little girl that plays Petyon is adorable and steals the show, holding her own against the other football players, Joe's agent Stella (Kira Sedgwick for tv's "The Closer") among others, while The Rock shows just how charismatic he can be.

For a Disney family film, it was pretty cute and clever. I'd recommend it for a family night.