Reviews

Kristen Stewart is a pretty good actress, when she is not being annoyingly stoic, like she is in the Twilight films, she can pull a descent performance.

The Evil Queen(Charlize Theron) who has the power to keep herself young, by sucking the youth out of young women, her mirror tells her that in order for her to be immortal, she has take Snow White(Kristen Stewart) heart. But Snow White escapes shortly after, The Queen hires a huntsman(Chris Hemsworth) to hunt her down and bring her back, but soon becomes her protector, and hopes to find an army to band against the queen, but will they succeed?

Charlize Theron gave quite a frightening performance as the evil queen, she really has you scared out of your mind. Chris Hemsworth as good also,he looks like he just came off the set of The Avengers, but he was still good. The actors playing the dwarfs are also memorable. And Kristen Stewart was very strong has Snow White, I don't what the critics say, I think she played the part with a lot of conviction. It stays true to the material of the story of Snow White.

The "Problem Child" movies have made us laugh our way into the 90s with a mischievous boy playing pranks and whatnot! Both movies are actually good; I liked the very first "Problem Child" the best, and the second movie may lack all the fun and funny elements from the first part, but it's still very fun! If you've never seen the "Problem Child" movies yet, then I suggest you find a way to view them! Look for it on TV, go to the video store, anything! Anything that will keep these movies from going into oblivion! (Yeah, it seems like it nowadays. :-( ) "Problem Child" - always fun, always funny, always great! :-)

Matilda is a heartwarming and amusing movie based on the novel by Roald Dahl. The film follows the story of a young girl named Matilda Wormwood, who possesses extraordinary powers and has a vivid imagination. Matilda had to take care of herself from when she could walk because of her neglectful parents, leaving her to seek her comfort, happiness and refuge in books. Thus, she learned a lot beyond her age. For example: In the movie, Matilda had to make her own pancakes for breakfast because her parents were not at home; her father left to sell used cars at unfair prices and her mother went to play bingo, leaving only soup on the stove in case Matilda got hungry. However, Matilda's life changes when she discovers her telekinetic power when forced to watch TV with the family by her father. Unbeknownst to her, the very next day, her father enrolls her in his new client school, Crunchem Hall Elementary School. The school is run by a Nazi-like figure, Miss Trunchbull Agatha, who is ruthlessly cruel and merciless towards the children. For instance, during her weekly classroom visits, Miss Trunchbull showed teachers how to handle kids, but when a boy named Julius Rottwinkle ate two M&M's during her lesson, she threw him out of the window. On the other hand, Matilda's teacher, Miss Honey, is a kind-hearted person who does her best to protect the kids from Miss Truncbull's cruelty. For example: Miss Honey demonstrated care and kindness by taking out Amana Tripp's braids and speaking warmly to her class, including introducing Matilda as if she were her own student. Throughout the movie, Miss Honey and Matilda form a teacher-student relationship which evolves into a close bond, and in the end, they become like a mother and daughter. Miss Honey reveals her painful past and her connection to Miss Trunchbull, but with Matilda's help, she is able to regain her family home and her father's money while also getting rid of Miss Trunchbull from the school and their lives. In the movie's conclusion, Miss Honey requests Matilda's parents to sign adoption papers, giving Matilda a happy ending.

Moreover, I love the movie Matilda because it has a family, comedy, humor and fantasy genre, making it enjoyable for both children and adults. It is heartwarming and touching, and the comedy made my stomach hurt from laughing. Furthermore, the movie addresses real-life issues such as abuse, neglect, and bullying, which are important themes that Matilda handles with a deft touch, not shying away from their realities. What's more is that Matilda has won numerous awards, ranging from Best Performance by a Younger Actor to Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film, proving its popularity with the whole nation. That's why I chose to write my movie review on Matilda, as it is one of my favorite films that I've watched many times. .

Overall, Matilda is a delightful and fascinating movie that people of all ages should watch and re-watch because of its great performances and humor, making it a must-see film.

I have watched Bekas and must admit it has certainly delivered something. Each of the kids' story, their surroundings, Iraq landscape under Saddam's regime along with the Kurds conflict can be a tempting subject for a heartfelt depressing drama. Bekas has managed to combine all and make us laugh. With all the empathy and the connection we made with the 2 kids, we still laughed. Perhaps how intact their innocence and spontaneity were portrayed was the secret behind such a good movie. Bekas is certainly not meant to be a comedy thou (in the classic sense); I think it is a real fantasy and an opportunity for a lot of us to reflect on what we had throughout our childhood.

Leap! is a great film with a big meaning. This film teaches it all - honesty, perseverance and the importance of practice, family, believing in yourself, believing in your dreams and passion. Felicie makes a lot of mistakes during her journey, which set her back, but that doesn't stop her from continuing to push through.

The story begins when Felicie and her best friend, Victor escape from an orphanage. They take a train to Paris so that Felicie can attend a dance school there and Victor can become an inventor. They arrive in Paris without any money. During their journey, they encounter many challenges. As Felicie meets new people, a love conflict arises as well as a conflict with a wealthy lady who is pure evil and wants to crush Felicie's dream.

A wealthy woman Regine (Kate McKinnon) is cruel, rude and arrogant, but a boy with a crush on Felicie protects her from Regine. McKinnon makes Regine sound totally wicked in a bad but great way. The boy, Victor (Natt Wolf) is portrayed as a timid, but an optimistic and caring friend.

The animation in this film is spectacular! It is very detailed and their mouths move with the words they are saying so well the animated characters seem real. The voice acting is spot on. The voices are filled with emotion and an inspiration to the audience, including me.

My favorite part is when Felicie watches a ballerina at the French dance school. She takes just one look at the ballerina's dance and knows she wants to dance and that she can dance. You can really see Felicie's passion for dancing right there. The whole movie is all about passion and the movie will inspire viewers to follow their dreams.

The message of this film is to follow your dreams. It show how, in order to succeed, you have to work very hard, believe in yourself and have passion. Felicie is an exemplary role model.

Leap! is a very inspirational film with a very important lesson and a pleasure to watch. I give it 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 3 to 18. Adults will love this movie as well. I really enjoyed watching this film.

When I first saw a preview for this movie, I knew it looked like it had potential. It had been a while since I saw a decent scary movie so I was looking forward to it. I went into it expecting some scares but nothing too bad. Wrong. This movie scared me out of my wits. I don't think I have ever jumped more during any other scary movie. The audience was spooked too. I saw many other people jumping out of their seats and even heard a few actual screams.

What I loved about this movie was that it actually tries to scare you, not gross you out. The images are frightening for sure. Insidious doesn't waste any time trying to creep you out. The scares already start with the opening credits. I sure was not expecting this to be one of the scariest movies i've seen but it lives up to that. That being said, I don't think I'd have the guts to see it again!

This was fun to watch. The setting is fun and oriented on two teens with the girl getting a lot of attention from her hunk. Many inferior suitors come for the girl but she is rarely dazzled by weak men. A positive message

I have just seen this film today and I loved it very much. They didn't change the story line one bit.Even some of the lines were from the book and the old cartoon film.It was very enjoyable.A film for the hole family.My favorite part was when everyone in the theater clapped.It was lovely.There was no reason anyone should be unsatisfied.The animation was fabulous and the casting was great too.It was fun.I really feel like a child again.It brought back memories of my sweet childhood.I love Daktoa Fanning, and putting her with animals was just the cherry one top of the ice cream! She was wonderful!A delight for the whole family! I loved the pig! He was so cute!The voice of the pig was wonderful! It was sad too.I cried :( (yeah I'm a big baby!)the movie showed that even when the best thing is gone...it still lives in your heart.

Fantastic Family Film Full of Heart - but only if you BELIEVE! I have just returned from seeing this movie with my family and had to write an honest review to counter the many unfairly negative reviews, some of which I read with trepidation just before we went.

All I can say is if you have a heart, a healthy imagination and love a good old fashioned tearjeking story with a feel good factor you will love this movie.

I never thought I would say it, but Tim Burton has absolutely outdone himself and his remake leaves the animated original in its sparklingly dark circus dust.

Everyone in my family loved it and my two daughters said it was their favourite movie ever, which is a really big deal coming from them as they are both pretty discerning teenage movie buffs.

We loved the story, the characters, the CGI effects and the soundtrack and of course Dumbo is just the most huggable CGI creation ever.

We all cried and laughed throughout and it has a real modern day moral to the story that I think is lost on those who would prefer to pick fault with minor issues, highlight CGI technicalities and criticise child actors as if they're reviewing a factual documentary.

Come on - it's about a flying elephant!! If you are not willing to suspend your disbelief whilst watching it then just don't go to see it. But don't try to slate it for others who still BELIEVE in movie magic!

If I remember correctly The Greatest Showman also received similarly negative, petty and pedantic reviews at the outset before real people who actually watched it started talking and turned it into a huge worldwide hit.

Time will tell with Dumbo - but it will be a firm family favourite for us that we will rewatch again and again.

Thank you Tim Burton for keeping a little bit of magic alive in our hearts!

Original, Beautiful Film- Not What You Expect

Rarely does a film surprise me at all but this film certainly did. Mike Flannigan created an enigmatic speculative on childhood love, loss, fear and death that is both uniquely interpretive and otherworldly fantastical. For those who go into this film anticipating a run-of-the-mill horror film with gruesome effects and bloody deaths, you will be exceedingly disappointed. This film is provocative in that it makes you think and feel throughout. It is at times vastly uncomfortable, but magnificently redemptive. What it achieves is a rare feat- one I would classify more in the realm of Pan's Labyrinth than something like The Ring. What it suffers from is completely misdirected and misleading marketing which has done this gem a huge disservice.

I'd watch it again. I'd recommend it to friends. Refrain from judging it based on the posters or the trailer. It's far greater than it's packaging and will probably be better received by audiences who expect more substance.

I remember this Peanuts movie-special, along with A Boy Named Charlie Brown, fondly as a kid, when they replayed these specials on Nickelodeon (or it might have been Disney's channel, can't remember which). Each one had several songs in each pot, all of them catchy to one degree or another, and featuring some of the genuine wit of the comic strips. This film is maybe relying on more sentimentality than the former, as in this one the issue of leaving home and belonging to an master/owner (and the attachment), and the comedy isn't as rampant as in other Peanuts specials. But of the dozens of Peanuts specials- and the short-lived television series- this is one of the better ones, as there are some moments that still stick in my mind many years after seeing it. One of these is the classic "No Dog's Allowed" song, with the perfect bass sounding voice. And the whole sequence where Snoopy is under protest taken in by a very determined little girl is brilliantly done for laughs. For some kids, depending on if they're attached to the Peanuts or not, may feel stronger with this film, with the very conflicting climax with Snoopy and his masters. There's enough fun though, as Woodstock's first appearance in the Peanuts series is well placed and delivered, with as many vaudevillian expressions as Snoopy.

Just good, family fun for all.

Honestly, I found the DVD of this film in my house and decided to give it a watch as I had nothing better to do. Truth is I really should have made the time before.

Although I enjoy all the other Disney/pixar movies, thankfully my teenage boredom did me a big favour in helping what this fantastic masterpiece. This film was so fantastically deep, meaningful and moving beyond relief.

It should be made necessary that everyone everywhere should see this film and I think the world would be a much better place - it really is that good.

A Perfect Tale of Adventure and Devotion Since I felt none of the other reviews here do the movie justice, I became compelled to write my own. It is the most inspired film I have ever encountered.

The creators of Toy Story 3 have an imagination that is unparalleled. I cannot begin to compare any of the other animated movies that I have ever seen to it. It is a fantasy in an unconventional sense: aside from the talking toys, the environment and settings are typical; commonplace. Yet, the Pixar Team manages to cram every last drop of energy into the incredibly clever story and inventive plot devices out of just common household objects. The animation is so brilliant that it captures shading, lighting, and textures that have yet to be seen on film.

Then, Toy Story 3 becomes a beautiful elaboration on the first two, with very clever character development. Its maturity of relationships is concise but witty: Woody, the wise sheriff, leading the other toys with courage and finesse; a spaceman winning the love of a cowgirl; the loyalty of the dog, slinky; the grumpy married potato and his devoted wife; the superficial relationship of Ken and Barbie; the broken spirit of a lost teddy bear. At the same time, Pixar uses a metaphor that is so strong that it drives the audience to love these characters with all of their hearts. It is a similar emotional complex to a happy puppy who is brought into a home and has nothing on its mind but playing with its youthful owners. But these toys never age, and as its owners, once in their playful youths, leave for work and college, these toys still know nothing more than their youth and happiness of living to one day play again. As you leave for work every morning, your dog doesn't know where you go. And every day, he does nothing more than pray that you come back to see him, every day waiting for you to bring out the ball again for a game of fetch.

Finally comes Pixar's ability to integrate so many emotions - fear, love, action, and comedy, among others - with each having so much vigor in its own right, that the movie becomes a roller coaster of animation and adventure, wound together by the constant movement of setting and storyline, always keeping the audience guessing on what might happen next. It is a brilliant tale; a perfect movie for children and adults alike. I cannot wait to see it again.

Here's yet one more sequel that more than lived up to its original great start. The first Toy Story was outstanding. This is just as good, if not better.

Very fast-paced and very entertaining, this doesn't have a lot of laugh-out-loud parts but is definitely fun to watch with many good lines. What I appreciated was the lack of a nasty villain and any evil overtones, as was the case with the rotten neighborhood kid in the first film.

I also appreciated the fantastic surround sound on the DVD, along with the magnificent colors. Not to be forgotten is a wonderful, tear-jerking song in here, sung by Sarah MacLaclan. It gets to me every time.

When you factor in all the nice characters, music, colors and sounds, this has to be one of the most beloved animated films of the modern era.

Y'know, I always suspected that my toys were coming to life when I wasn't looking!

In Andy's Room, his toys lead lives of noisy desperation come every birthday and Christmas - no one wants to be one-upped by a new addition to the toy box. Nominally led by Cowboy Woody (there's a Brokeback joke in there just waiting to happen), Mr. Potato Head, Rex the Dinosaur, Ham the piggybank, Bo Peep, Slinky the dog and a smattering of other playthings go about their toy business of playing checkers, hanging with the hometoys and "plastic corrosion awareness meetings," until Andy's birthday party, when they gather expectantly around a transistor radio, listening to the reports of their toy soldier troops "in the field" (downstairs watching Andy's gift-opening), hoping that no gift will be exciting enough to cause Andy to neglect *them.* There is. His name is Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger.

Directed by Pixar mainstay John Lasseter, with the voice talents of Tom Hanks (as Woody), Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger (forever Cliff from *Cheers*), R. Lee Ermey, Annie Potts, Jim Varney and Tim Allen (as Buzz), *Toy Story* is that *rara avis* that succeeds on all levels - in its animation, storyline, character development, its messages of friendship and self-realization and, most importantly, its entertainment value. The fact that this is a cartoon (or animated feature - just what DO we call this new wave of computer-generated movies?) is incidental. Which makes the slightly dodgy animation (of the "real people") irrelevant - it gets the point across with or without the technological finesse.

The "Disney Movie" has become synonymous with maudlin messages, redneck fundamentalism, anachronistic family values, boneheaded parents, smart-mouthing youngsters, too-hip-to-be-smart teens and insufferable pets. Though Disney's tyrannical umbrella overarches this film's production studio, Pixar Animation, *Toy Story* somehow avoided all trace of Disney's craven hand, which is doubly surprising, considering this is Pixar's first feature length film, after years of experimentation. Right outa the gate and right outa the field.

Sure, there are "messages," but they are heartfelt, rather than maudlin (Woody tells Buzz during Buzz's greatest depression that it matters not what Buzz thinks of himself, what makes him important is what his owner, Andy, thinks of him); there are emotional segments, which are truly heartbreaking, rather than cheesy (when Buzz's escape attempt lands him with a broken arm, proving he is Not A Flying Toy, the lyric, "Clearly I will go sailing no more," launches a thousand hankies); and the portrayal of Andy's family was Pixar's triumphal achievement. Boldly contravening Disney's *idée fixe* of the 1950's nuclear family and Norman Rockwell fantasies, one of the many incarnations of a modern-day family is presented: a single mother with two kids, who are neither geniuses nor monsters, just normal children; happy to visit Pizza Planet and disappointed when favorite toys are lost.

Buzz - who believes he is a real life space ranger on a mission to save the universe - become Andy's favorite toy over Woody. The funny thing is: though Buzz believes he is real, he still adheres to toy protocol of "playing inert" when humans are in the area. (Maybe it's instinct?) When he mentions saving a toy from Sid, the vicious boy next door, how does he propose to do it if he is to adhere to the inert protocol? Buzz's ingenuousness regarding his role as a toy infuriates Woody to the point of attempted toy-assassination. Through a concatenation of accidents, both he and Buzz become lost and must use teamwork, trust and ingenuity to beat their path back to Andy, which finds them ensconced in scorchingly funny vignettes (Buzz fastening himself in an over-sized seatbelt; both falling in with green, three-eyed aliens; Buzz hyperventilating as "Mrs. Nesbitt"). During a climactic rocket ride, the callback line, "This is not flying - this is falling with style," simply seals this movie's greatness.

At least I now have a plausible explanation as to why my toys always got lost: after going about their toy business, they would just go inert anywhere they happened to be, instead of paying attention to their master's infallible toy filing system.

Better Than I Expected

As a frequent movie goer, this was just about my only choice today since I've seen the other movies that are playing now. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I expected it to cater to teenagers, which is mostly did, but as a person in my 70s, I enjoyed it too. It does tug at the heartstrings, which I find manipulative, but it wasn't too hard to hold back the tears. The acting is very good except for Schwarzenegger, who is just OK as an actor, but his being so easy on the eyes makes up for it. The plot is predictable; anyone can pretty much guess correctly what's going to happen along the way, but for a romance-type movie, that's just what they do. And there are some plot holes, like Katie knowing how to swim when she's never been in the sun and her house doesn't have a swimming pool, and her attending a swim meet to watch Charlie swim but no explanation as to how she got from her house safely to the car and from the car safely to the swim arena. She had on a hoodie, but if that's all it takes, she could go out more often during the day instead of having been cooped up in her house during the day for all of her life. And if exposure to the sun for one day is deadly, how did she get home from the hospital when she was born before they knew she had this disorder. None the less, it's a good enough movie - just a little sappy - but I think the kids will love it.