The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)

I really liked the first one, but this one doesn't measure up. It could've easily been subtitled "Jean-Sharers in Crisis!" Witness:

• Tibby has a pregnancy scare and breaks up with her boyfriend...because he's too great about it, I think?
• Lena's Grecian god of a boyfriend quickly marries a hometown girl he thinks he knocked up (two, count 'em TWO, pregnancy scares)
• Carmen's feeling neglected and it sucks that her new bff is jealously trying to undermine her as lead in a summer play
• Bridget has parent issues and is, basically, Serena Van Der Woodsen on an archaeology dig.

The bonding trip to Greece feels like a silly stunt -- more Bradys in Hawaii than an organic part of the story. My expectations weren't terribly high, but I was expecting a couple of hours of chick-flick bliss. Instead I just got annoyed.

C

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Third viewing.

A knock-out of a movie with so much going on. It had been nearly ten years since I'd viewed it, but the film has staying power. No matter that I knew how the knots would untangle, I was still completely under its spell. The one exception is that I'm still not enamored with Kim Basinger's performance -- but I also remember how tremblingly grateful she seemed when she collected her Oscar, so I can't be too hard on her.

Loved seeing such a young-looking Simon Baker and being amazed anew at Crowe's versatility.

A-

Bolt (2008)

I was completely charmed and entertained throughout this movie -- and I don't think it received undue attitude bump for being this year's excuse for leaving the family's Thanksgiving festivities early, but I can't be entirely sure about that.

This was my first in-theater 3-D experience (besides the Michael Jackson short that used to run at Epcot) and I had a ball -- the look was incredible without ever bothering with the "eek! that bird is flying right at my face!" gimmicks I expected. I thought the story was winning and I actually bought the provided backstory on why the suits raised Bolt to believe he was super -- despite my skepticism going in. The voices (particularly Travolta and Miley Cyrus) were well-cast rather than distracting because of their familiarity.

All-in-all, a great family night at the movies!

B+

Twilight (2008)

Although I'm into the books, I kind of hate myself for it because they're clumsily written and the relationship at the center is truly shallow. I admit that I'm a sucker for "true love," but I've never been convinced that Bella & Edward possess that pure emotion -- he seems drawn to her by smell only and she is transfixed by his oft-mentioned inhuman beauty. So, they're each obsessed with the other's physicality and it's hard to see any romance in that. I mean, we'd tut-tut at a story that had a guy chasing a chick because of her huge ta-tas, right?

The more interesting angle of the book is the possibility of vampires living as a family that overcomes their dangerous instincts. Unfortunately, the movie focuses most strongly on the "relationship" between Edward and Bella and suffers for it. Basically, the good news is that it was much better than I expected it to be. The not so good news? I was expecting it to be pretty crappy.

C+

Redbelt (2008)

After watching, Gary said "I enjoyed that." When I gave him my no way look, he defended the statement with "Sometimes I'm in the mood to bust on a movie." This made a lot more sense, as we had punctuated most of the scenes with our expressions of disbelief or annoyance. For me, however, the experience was far from enjoyable.

There are tons of movies which deserve to be trashed because they SUCK and then there are movies like this that just feel like missed opportunities: great vibe, good cast, good acting...all forced to support a shtick that makes little sense. Why? What? Huh? to so much of it. Was the movie star and his wife on it? Was the jujitsu dude's wife planning all along? Who was in on what and WHY? Just felt like Mamet wanted to do yet another double-cross con game movie, whether or not it makes any sense in the world of these characters.

Disappointing because it was in an original setting and could have been so good.

C

Quantum of Solace (2008)

While I could tell that the action scenes, especially the initial car chase and rooftop pursuit, were cool, I had a hard time following them and was actually confused about which guy was which (both in dark suits with close-cropped hair) in the scaffolding/pulley scene. At least now I understand how my father probably feels during most movies, so often did I have to say "who's that?" or "which one is the bad guy?"

In short, doesn't hold a candle to Casino Royale. The villain, the chick, and the whole vibe was a notch lower. Still, alright, though felt far longer than its actual length.

B

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Underachieving, overweight panda Po (Jack Black) idolizes the "Furious Five" -- elite martial artists who train at the town's mountain temple. When a Dragon Warrior is to be selected, Po scrambles to attend the ceremony and winds up stumbling into the appointment himself.

Can such an unexpected choice be the right choice? Can Po possibly live up to the legend of the Dragon Warrior and fight when necessary? Um...duh.

Cute but loaded with clichés -- just felt pretty obvious and tired. Looked great, though.

C+

Get Smart (2008)

The trailers made it seem as though Carrell's Maxwell Smart was a bumbling idiot (the "missed it by that much!" clip that I somehow saw approximately 800 times made me cringe every single one of them). Refreshingly, this was not the case. The script, instead, makes Smart new to field work, but in possession of a sharp mind.

The entire cast was up to the task of looking as though they were having a blast and making sure the audience did as well. It was just a ton of fun -- an Ocean's 11-type trifle.

B+

RocknRolla (2008)

This movie contains exactly one fantastic scene (the second robbery & subsequent chase) and the last act pops -- probably comparatively -- but, as a whole, it felt pretty "eh." The wrong character played narrator and the whole thing just seemed to meander.

A couple of things that particularly bugged me: the key painting never being seen was a complete rip-off of Pulp Fiction and, also, who lends out a painting?? I thought for sure that the offer would wind up being some gimmick by the owner...but, no, it was just there as an implausible plot device. It also wasn't clear that Lenny (Tom Wilkinson) was a well-known gangster until a couple of low-level businessman were scared to shaking when they saw him -- I just thought he was an exacting businessman. Whatever.

C+

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

Reminded me quite a bit of the double-feature matinees I used to go to with my friends when we were 10 or so -- back when we could take a brown bag containing a peanut butter sandwich, greasy chips in a baggie and a can of pop into the theater without bothering to conceal it.

Good-natured, but not a whole lot to it and the female love interest was a dud. Would've been a lot more fun if we'd watched it with a kid -- without one in the room, Gary and I felt a little silly.

C+

Changeling (2008)

It seems like there's a fascinating true story to be told, but this film just doesn't do it justice. It's presented in a "this happened, then this happened, then this" format, with very little flair. Although all of the actors are good and the material should be interesting (boy disappears and is "found" weeks later -- but the mother insists it's not her boy), it's somehow not.

I think that most of the problem lies in the fact that we should have wondered, along with the rest of the public, whether the mom was crazy. Instead, we find out almost immediately that she's not...so we're just left with police corruption and a constant persecution of the mother who won't play along, which gets old faster than you'd think.

C

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)

This is the movie in which we discover that Abigail Breslin's success is a rather undeserved one. She's about "lead in the elementary school play" level here. The movie itself isn't bad, but it feels cheap - more like a TV movie than a feature film. Also, when you have a film TEEMING with children, it seems a no-brainer that it should be a priority to choose your director based on his ability to work with them...but, apparently, not so.

I did appreciate that the subject of this film, the depression, is different than the usual stuff in films aimed mainly at kids. It's treated as a fact, and with an appropriate level of information for children.

C+