4 out of 5

A few weeks ago we took a family trip to the movies and saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007,G) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

After the whimsical owner of a magical toy store announces he's leaving, his protégé has doubts about whether she can run the shop without him.

Lisa really liked it.  I though it was OK, and the kids seem to like it.  I give it 4 out of 5 for actually being a decent movie that doesn't make you cringe for you kids to see.

One of the advantages of a writers' strike is that you get a chance to clean out some of the DVR backlog.  Tonight I watched Syriana (2005,R) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

The complex paths of disparate individuals eventually converge as the U.S. government and a corporate oil giant position themselves in response to an Arab Gulf State seeking to realign its oil ties and business.

The multiple plot lines were a challenge to follow, but I enjoyed it and thought that the treatment of petroleum politics had the ring of truth.  I give it 4 out of 5.

For movie night this afternoon we watched Happy Feet (2006,PG) (ScreenIt! Review).  Since it's PG an the boys were watching, I read the ScreenIt! review ahead of time.  While watching the movie it was interesting how I otherwise wouldn't have noticed many of the things the review mentioned.  This made me feel better about the boys watching it...and it was pretty tame regardless.  From ScreenIt!:

After being tossed out of his colony for expressing himself through tap dancing rather than song like everyone else, a young emperor penguin sets out to prove his worth by solving the mystery of what's happening to their food supply.

We enjoyed it.  I give it 4 out of 5.

Tonight I finished watching Borat (2006,R) (ScreenIt! Review).  From Wikipedia:

[Borat]...is a 2006 Academy Award-nominated mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles. It stars the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in the title role of a fictitious Kazakh journalist, traveling through the United States recording real-life interactions with Americans. It is the second film built around one of Cohen's characters from Da Ali G Show, following Ali G Indahouse, which also featured a cameo by Borat.

It wasn't as enjoyable as I was expecting.  I'd probably already seen too much of it ahead of time...knew too much of what to expect.  The most entertaining segments came near the end...Borat with the holy rollers and Borat throwing a sack over Pam Anderson to kidnap her and make her his wife.

I give it 4 out of 5.

Last night we finished watching the documentary Spellbound (2002). From Wikipedia:

Spellbound is a 2002 documentary, directed by Jeffrey Blitz, nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. It follows eight competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee: Harry Altman, Angela Arenivar, Ted Brigham, April DeGideo, Neil Kadakia, Nupur Lala, Emily Stagg and Ashley White.

We enjoyed it. The kids are pretty amazing, and it was also quite interesting to the engagement of the parents and how the whole thing is quite an experience (and lots of hard work) for both parents and children. I give it 4 out of 5.