Movies

Several weeks back we watched The Santa Clause (1994,PG) (ScreenIt! Review) for family movie night.  From ScreenIt!:

A father unwillingly takes over Santa’s duties after the real Santa falls from his roof.

Funny to think that Home Improvement was in it's prime when this film was made.  I didn't watch either his show or this film back then.

I give it 3 out of 5.

This evening the fam went to see Monsters vs. Aliens (2009,PG) (ScreenIt! Review).  From ScreenIt!:

After being struck by a meteorite, a bride-to-be suddenly grows to 50 feet tall and finds herself, along with a group of monsters long-held in secret by the U.S. Government, in a battle against an extraterrestrial, his clones, and the alien robotic probes sent to conquer Earth.

I thought it was OK, though not as good as I was expecting.  I found myself paying too much attention to the identity of the voices and not enough on the story.  I thought it was very nice visually.  Maybe my expectations were too high based on the comments I'd heard other people make.

I give it 3 out of 5.

A few weeks back we watched I Am Legend (2007,PG-13) (ScreenIt! Review) after turning off Will Ferrell's disappointing GWB special.  From ScreenIt!:

The lone inhabitant of post-apocalyptic Manhattan must not only contend with having no human contact, but also the evolving actions of zombie-type, infected beings, all he continues his quest to find a cure for the contagion that afflicts them.

I like Will Smith and liked this film well enough, though I don't particularly care for blood/gore/suspense in my cinema.  I didn't know anything about the book on which the film is loosely based, so after watching the film it was interesting to read about the plot of the book as well as the original ending of the film.  Not only was the original ending of the film more consistent with the spirit of the book, but it was also more interesting than the actual ending of the movie.  However, I can understand the ending the filmmakers chose in the end was the safer one...we like a clear line between the good guys and bad guys and clarity about which is which.

By the way, there's going to be a prequel.

I give it 3 out of 5.

Since the boys were out of school today and tomorrow, we decided to have a special Thursday-night edition of family movie night.

We watched Five Children and It (2004, G).  From Wikipedia:

Five children are sent to the country to live with their mad uncle during the war. When there, they meet as Psammead (a sand fairy), who grants them wishes - with unexpected consequences.

I was kind of surprised that I haven't heard of this one and until we watched it and I realized it was fairly unremarkable.  I give it 3 out of 5.

I came across this meme on Twitter: #backflick - movie plots backwards.  Here are a few of my favorites (especially the first two):

Superman - A guy who flies around, putting people into precarious situations, then hiding.

Rambo - Sylvester Stallone healing people with his magical bullet vacuum.

Supersize Me - dude vomits hamburgers until he loses 20 kg and regains his health.

Star Wars - Contract presentation ceremony, then go to repair Death Star, return home to desert family.