Family

Holiday Movie Review: Home Alone

11/17/2011
Kasey Schefflin-Emrich

As Christmas approaches, you are sure to see a young Macaulay Culkin pop up on your television screen, slapping on after shave and doing his trademark scream. This is just one of the many memorable scenes that appear in Home Alone.

'Cars 2' relieves its predecessor from 'worst Disney Pixar' film moniker

6/23/2011
Mandy Rodgers
Spectacular animation and the studio's 25th anniversary doesn't save the flick.

The argument that Cars is Disney Pixar's “worst” movie—still much beloved and critically acclaimed in its own right—will be turned on its head with the opening of the less-than-thrilling sequel. To be fair, Cars 2 has the disadvantage of being an average kids' flick in a lengthy string of highly successful Disney Pixar films which began with the iconic Toy Story in 1995. Racking up the award nominations from the beginning, Disney Pixar's golden streak might have just come to an end.

Now and Then

8/10/2009
Jennifer Chan
Four best friends recall one summer of fun and adventure.

Now and Then is a must see, must have 1995 film starring Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell, Melanie Griffith and Rita Wilson. Directed by Lesli Linka, the film tells the story of four best friends growing up in Savannah, Georgia. It's a wonderful story about friendship, love, hardship and growing up.

The film jumps from present to past as it tells the story about four 12-year-old girls who are best friends, and who are now adults living separate and completely different lives. In the beginning, the girls make a pack that they will always be there for each other.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars

Remember the Titans

6/18/2009
Jillian Brown
Based on a true story, this movie is the story of an African-American coach who unites white and black football players in order to build a championship-winning school team.

The story takes place in 1971 in Virginia when T. C. Williams High School decides to hire an African-American head coach...Herman Boone...to serve as the leader of the league's only integrated football team. Former, white head coach...Bill Yoast...reluctantly agrees to serve as Boone's assistant coach in charge of the defensive line.

Boone decides to build team unity by requiring all of the players to attend a football boot camp where he is equally tough on all of the attendees. Any misbehavior by a player will result in that player running a mile.

Reviewer Rating: 
5.00Stars

The Princess Diaries

6/18/2009
Jillian Brown
Walt Disney

Mia Thermopolis is a 15-year-old girl living in San Francisco with her single mother. She is a geeky teenager who does not fit in at school and whose best friend, Lily, is an offbeat character. Lily's brother, Michael, is Mia's other best friend who has a secret crush on the nerdy yet lovable Mia.

Mia's father did not take part in her upbringing; he was living in his home country of (a fictional European) Genovia, preparing to assume his role as king of the country.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.50Stars

Up

5/31/2009
Mandy Rodgers
The animated film opened the Cannes Film Festival this year and rose to number one at the box office opening weekend.

Thinking back to the original Disney/Pixar hit, "Toy Story," I remember a time when these family films didn't come with a depressing yet inspiring message. They were just entertaining romps for the whole family, perhaps with small messages and times to learn but not filled with social commentary like "Wall-E."With the studios' latest feature film, "Up," audiences can be sure to cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry - or at the very least feel sad, happy, sad, happy, sad. Most of these Pixar films are first promoted with teaser trailers that barely explain any plot points or characters. It's tradition.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars

4/21/2009
chantal waldholz
Heartthrob Zac Efron proves he's come a long way from

He shoots, he scores...it's what Zac Efron does best in 17 Again. With recent talk of the teen idol stemming away from musicals by stepping away from the Footloose remake, it seems as though the heartbreak kid has a good head on his shoulders leading him in the right direction.

The film opens up in 1989 with Efron and Matthew Perry's character, Mike O'Donnell, playing on his high school basketball team. Yes, there is a dance sequence and yes, Efron hops in with the cheerleaders because that's usually what star basketball players do before a big game.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.50Stars

Monsters vs. Aliens

4/14/2009
Sharon Ng
Don

Monsters vs. Aliens is a movie that works well in theory. It has a good story with a great team of characters. In actuality, however, the movie is a big disappointment. This is a case where it is perfectly OK to judge a book by its cover, so to speak.

The movie is about a young woman named Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) who looks forward to marrying her boyfriend, Derek (Paul Rudd), and going to Paris for their honeymoon. On her wedding day, however, she gets hit by a meteorite and transforms into a literal giant.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.00Stars

Marley and Me

1/2/2009
Amy Chandler
A family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog.

Marley and Me is the bittersweet tale of the "world's worst dog," Marley, and his family. The movie follows the 14 years of Marley's life, and follows his owners, John Grogan (Owen Wilson) and Jenny (Jennifer Aniston), as they get married, get jobs, have children, and move. The couple deal with normal relationship problems, but their love only grows as they take care of Marley and their children.

Marley and Me is not the stereotypical cute dog movie. While Marley is cute, especially as a puppy, the movie deals with serious issues, like divorce and miscarriages.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.00Stars

Labyrinth

10/26/2008
Jessica McCumber
Jim Hanson

Jim Hanson's Labyrinth is a favorite of mine.

I know, according to the box, the movie was copyrighted back in 1986, but I was excited to see, while walking the shelves, that it has apparently been making a comeback.

And why wouldn't it?

A fantasy world filled with a seemingly never-ending maze, danger around every corner, odd creatures, and, of course, a rock star singing with puppets . . .

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars
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