Movie: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Movie: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Genre: horror

Synopsis: Sally (Bailee Madison) has been shipped off  by her mother to live with her father, Akex (Guy Pierce).  Alex and his girlfriend, Kim (Katie Holmes), are renovating an old mansion.  Sally discovers that the mansion has a hidden basement.  Unfortunately, she also discovers that the basement is haunted by some really ugly and really evil little creatures. Also unfortunately, Sally cannot convince her father that things are not right with the mansion.

My two cents: This was a good old fashion horror movie. The creatures were totally disgusting – and totally evil.  I liked that there was not a lot of blood and gore.  The best thing about the movie was Bailee Madison.  I have been a fan of hers since I saw her play Toby Maguire’s daughter in “Brothers”.  I have not been this impressed with a child actor since Dakota Fanning.  I don’t know any child star I have ever seen who can top Bailee at portraying someone who is absolutely frightened out of her mind and trying not to come apart at the seams.  If you like horror movies, you should like this movie.

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Movie: One Day

Movie: One Day

Genre: romantic comedy

Synopsis: This was based on the book of the same name.  Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) are from two different worlds.  Emma has working class parents whereas Dexter comes from a life of privilege.  They have both just graduated from college.  They somehow wind up with each other the day of graduation and spend the night together – but without having sex.  The movie follows the two through the next 20 years as they maintain their friendship over the next 20 years.  We are updated every July 15.

My two cents: I might have liked this better had I not finished reading the book the day before I saw the movie.  I thought this was one of the worst novel adaptations I have seen.  The biggest obstacle is that the novel spends a lot of time telling us what the two are thinking.  Without this insight, a lot of the actions – and reactions – of the two do not make sense.  Perhaps a voice-over would have helped. Even Anne Hathaway could nto save this movie – although I did think she did a great job of portraying Emma.

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Movie: Our Idiot Brother

Movie: Our Idiot Brother

Genre: comedy

Synopsis: Ned (Paul Rudd) is the black sheep of his family, with three sisters: Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Liz (Emily Mortimer), and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel).  Ned is basically a nice guy.  His problem is that he trusts people too much.  He has just been released from prison and rotates temporarily lives with first his mother, then each of his sisters.  Each sister ends up blaming Paul for the bad luck that seems to follow him.

My two cents: I quite enjoyed this movie.  I thought it was quite different from what the commercials indicated it was about. It was much better than I expected.  It was fun to watch Paul stumble around in his own little world where he naively believes everything people tell him.  It was also fun to watch the sisters come to the realization that maybe their brother is not a simpleton after all.

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Movie: Colombiana

Movie: Colombiana

Genre: thriller

Synopsis: Cataleya’s (Zoe Saldana) parents were killed by a Columbian drug lord when she was nine.  She managed toescape to the U.S., where she is raised by her uncle. Fast forward to the present where Cataleya is an extraordinarily skilled assassin who is out to avenge the murder of her parents.

My two cents: Zoe Saldan has rocketed up my list of favorite female action stars.  Watching her was kind of watching a female Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible).  I liked this movie from beginning to end.  Hopefully, a sequel will be along soon.

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