Manna From Heaven

So Manna From Heaven had some fairly large actors in it. Well, not huge actors, but most were recognizable. It's a pity that the movie turned out so bad with all the talent that was provided. This is the second movie I've watched lately (see "Millions") where money has fallen from the sky and the people believe it to be a gift from God. Now, I can see in this day and age, what with all the acts of God going on, how people might think money from the sky is actually a gift from the Almighty, but maybe if they stopped to think about it for a second, they'd realize He's more into the floods and burning bushes. I don't know, maybe it's just me. Boring, boring, boring. --5.5/10

Guess Who

Guess Who is a look at an inter-racial relationship between Ashton Kutcher and Zoe Saldana. A comedy about racism? Is that cool now or something? Bernie Mac was not funny, as usual, and every time he opened his mouth I wanted to shut off the film. I don't know what it is about him, but it's the same with Cedric the Entertainer (what a stupid name), every time they come on screen, I need to leave the room or I just get annoyed and angry. Anyway, not a horrible movie, not a great movie. The scene with Ashton telling black jokes at the dinner table could have been left out because it left me feeling bad for stupid white people; totally inappropriate. --6/10

Wedding Crashers

Wedding Crashers --- Hrrmm... what a pile of junk. There might have been up to 10 times where I just wanted to shut it off. Complete waste of my time. I normally like Owen Wilson, even though he usually plays the same character, but teaming up with Vince Vaughn for this was a mistake. Avoidable at best. --4/10

The Longest Yard

Karen watched The Longest Yard with Rose and thought it was horrible. I was in bed at the time and finally got to it a day or two later. I don't know... It wasn't too bad. I haven't seen the original, maybe that helps. I think Karen saw Adam Sandler's name and instantly thought it should be a comedy. It really isn't. There are a few scenes which made me laugh, but overall it was just an interesting look at life in prison (through the eyes of Hollywood). What struck me was that I had already seen this movie. No, not this exact one, but a MUCH better version called Mean Machine. I didn't realize that Mean Machine was a remake of the original Longest Yard until yesterday. Watch if you're an Adam Sandler fan, if not, or even if you are, watch Mean Machine, it's overall presentation is better. --6.5/10

Fantabulous Quad

"Fantastic Four": I'm a little up in the air with this one. I'd say typical comic book movie, but I can't because of Batman Begins. I suppose it was typical of all the other movies of the genre; boring, uneventful, bad acting, etc... Except that it kept me interested throughout the whole thing. I didn't turn it off, so that's gotta count for something, doesn't it? Okay, if you like comic book conversions, not so good if you don't. --5/10

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Well, it's been a few years since I've seen the original movie, and even more years since I've read the book. Somewhere between 20 and 25 I would guess. We watched the remake with Johnny Depp last night. I've always said this, and I'll repeat it again: Mr. Depp is the absolute best actor in all of movie making time. A remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sounded to me like a bad idea. I mean, come on, it's been done before and Gene Wilder did a pretty good job in 1971, but this version was outstanding. I think the thing about Johnny Depp is that every character he plays in each movie he does is a different character. Now, I don't mean different as in "always a gangster," but different in the sense that at times it's hard to tell if it's actually Johnny Depp behind that makeup and costume. Someone like Robert De Niro (except in Raging Bull, he was brilliant in that) or Al Pacino, heralded as the great actors of the day, always seem to play the same character over and over and over and over and... you get the point. Watching their movies is a bit like listening to AC/DC I suppose, if you loved that first song, you'll probably love all the rest that came after it, only because they ALL sound the same. Well, Johnny Depp is far from anything like that in my opinion.

A movie for kids? I don't know so much about that. Tim Burton's style of directing isn't really that appealing to me. I know a lot of people who would argue with me and I'm not saying it's not good, it's probably amazing, just not for me (Rose, don't hit me if you read this). Anyway, enough blathering... Great movie, great acting (the rest of the cast did extremely well), great movie. 9/10