I have not posted a movie review in ages but when Avatar came up for review, I said, 'Count me in!' I think my husband and I are the only two people I know who didn't see it in the theater. And after seeing it on DVD, I truly regret it. The movie looked almost animated on my television while I understand in the theater, it looked life-like.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie at home in the privacy of my laundry folding bedroom. I also screened it to see if it was suitable for my kids. I gave it up the thumbs up and wow, what leverage it has been lately. They are getting ready for bed on time and not dragging their feet. I have been breaking my 'screen free weekday rule' and letting them watch fifteen minutes or so every night. Frankly, I need a break. The school year wears me down. By summer time, I am ready to give up all bedtime and homework rules and let it be a parental free for all!

So, thank you James Cameron. I know you made the movie to entertain and increase environmental awareness, but you have also given me a much needed bribery tool to make my kids listen and get to bed on time. Are you and Suzi completely horrified?

I just hope you are at work on Part Two. I am going to need it to get through the upcoming years of puberty!

Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, Denholm Elliott

I don’t like to advocate television or movies as babysitters, however, if you happen to need one the INDIANA JONES collection will do the trick. I was a huge fan of the films, so I had to watch them all first with my kids. Now they watch them when I have deadlines, phone calls or just raw nerves (aren’t I ‘Mother of the Year’?)

The first three movies are included the boxed set.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The first one is my favorite with hot young Harrison Ford, Karen Allen and the pit of snakes. This movie taught me the meaning of ‘movie star’ when I was a kid. My friends and I used to talk about how ‘Harrison was a carpenter’ and all that jazz. Just a regular handsome jo.

Notes from RottenTomatoes.com
The groundbreaking special effects and furious, never-ending pace make for a stylish whirlwind of a movie, topped off with a fabulous sense of humor. This bare-knuckled, barnstorming, pot-boiling, eye-popping bucket of Technicolor popcorn became Paramount Pictures' highest-grossing film, and deservedly so--RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is quite simple one of the most enjoyable movies ever made.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
This is the one with Kate Capshaw, Stephen Speilberg’s wife, who tries to tempt Harrison with an apple. I had to study that scene in a film class once. It has never been the same for me since! This movie has the freakiest scene where a man’s heart is pulled out of his chest. My kids thought it was cool but yours might be freaked.

Notes from RottenTomatoes.com
Exotic locales, wild chases, death-defying cliffhangers, last-minute rescues, screaming damsels, and tribal sacrifices are the order of the day as the threesome attempt to acquire the stolen stone. A few scenes originally planned for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK showed up in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM--most notably the mine chase sequence, which was part of the 80 percent of TEMPLE OF DOOM shot on a soundstage. Spielberg cast actress Kate Capshaw, who would later become his real-life wife, for the film.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Sean Connery plays Indiana Jones’ daddy who is in search of the Holy Grail, like father, like son. Entertaining to see James Bond bounce around with Harrison and River Phoenix.

Notes from RottenTomatoes.com
“Spielberg wanted to make the film about a father-and-son relationship, and Connery was his first choice to play Indy's dad. The selection was perfect, considering Spielberg and producer George Lucas first came up with the idea of the series as a rival to the James Bond movies in which Connery had starred. Before shooting THE LAST CRUSADE, Spielberg was planning on directing RAIN MAN with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise but gave up the project to fulfill his contractual obligation with Lucas to make a third Indiana Jones movie.”

10 out of 10 binkies—this set rocks my world and my kids’ too.

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris

Directed by: Jon Turtletaub

Two-disc Gold Collection DVD and Blu-ray Disc
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
DVD is priced at $29.99 SRP; Gold Collection DVD and Blu-ray Disc are each $34.99 SRP.  

Reviewed by Cricket Hater 

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) is on another mission. This time it’s personal. He and his father, Patrick, have just presented new information on the assassination of President Lincoln. As the elder Gate’s concludes his speech, from the balcony of the lecture hall, Mitch Wilkenson (Ed Harris) offers information implicating Gates’ Great-Grandfather Thomas, as a co-conspirator in the plot to kill the former President. A global chase to save his family’s honor ensues. From the Statue of Liberty…in Paris (which I guess I ahd forgotten about!) to the Queen’s Resolute desk in Buckingham Palace (my favorite scene) then on across the United States. Gate’s and his team discover clues that ultimately lead to the “City of Gold”, buried beneath Mount Rushmore.

To this film’s credit, there is an amazing cast of characters with multiple award winners. (Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, just to name a few) Another stand out part of the movie has to be the special effects that really did make me wonder “How’d they do that?”. For example, when they finally find the “City of Gold”, there is an amazing set with lots of rushing water, a suspended floor and lots of nooks and crannies. It was quite impressive. It was also a little ridiculous but, the effect was still impressive. Fortunately, the Bonus features told me how it was built and worked! Diane Kruger, who plays Abigail, said working in the water was fun the first day but after a week, not so much.

The scene in Buckingham Palace was my favorite. It was funny and still kept you wondering if they could get away with being in the Queen’s office without getting caught. What they discover it that the Queen’s desk, called the “resolute desk” (to which there is a match in the Oval Office) has a secret compartment and they figure out the code and find a clue hidden inside. It was fun to watch!

The romantic sub-plot between Ben and Abigail was cute, as well as the sort of funny sparring between his estranged parents (played by Voight and Mirren)

The character of Riley Poole, played by Justin Bartha stood out as the comic relief. He has a great wit about him and was a good compliment to the intensity of Cage’s character.

There is a lot of information given on the Bonus Features segment. From behind the scenes, special effects and deleted scenes, it was interesting to see how it all happened. The director, Jon Turtletaub was very informative and the set also includes a version you can watch with his commentary.

Overall, I didn’t like it as much as the first one. I sort of felt like they tried too hard to go lots of places but I do get it…it’s a race to find the treasure and so lots of twists and turns make it more suspenseful. A family friendly film, I would say with a minor warning of a chaotic car chase, dark and scary places with some skeletons in the Mount Rushmore scenes, but really nothing too intense. I can tell you, this movie made me look up things about landmarks and American history on the internet that I didn’t know before, so for that reason alone, I think it’s a good movie to educate!

8 out 10 binkies!

Beowulf (2007)
Actors: Robin Wright Penn, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Angelina Jolie
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Format: Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Rating: Unrated (Director's Cut) (I saw the regular version was PG-13

Studio: Paramount DVD Release

Date: February 26, 2008 Run Time: 114 minutes

Pride is the curse. An excellent synopsis is here. Beware of SPOILERS there!

Computer Generated Imagery is a big hit at our house with the continual playing of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 by our 3 and 5 year olds (you may recall that that when Toy Story was released in 1995, it was the first fully computer-generated feature film). CGI has come a long way since then. Unlike Toy Story, the CGI in this movie was used to "animate over" the actions of onscreen actors (think The Polar Express for a similar film). I have to say that I don't think CGI has quite evolved to the point that it succeeds in making humans look very real yet. So I was distracted at first by how wooden and puppet-like the characters in Beowulf seemed. But the fights and the scenery really pop and eventually I got used to the CGI. I think I may actually prefer this way of viewing epics of this kind - unlike other live action films, where I had to turn my head from gore because it was so realistic, I was able to watch this film in it's entirety. As far as the plot line - In Beowulf (a CGI film for adults only!), I think Hollywood was attempting to turn the ancient epic poem Beowulf into a modern fantasy along the lines of Lord of the Rings. As I recall from my high school

English days (with the help of Wikipedia), "Beowulf is a legendary Geatish hero and later king in the Old English epic poem named after him, the oldest surviving piece of literature in the English language. The poem is a piece of Anglo-Saxon literature which dated to between the 8th[1] and the 11th century, the only surviving manuscript dating to circa 1010.[2] At 3183 lines, it is notable for its length." If you read the full story of Beowulf the hero, you'll see this Hollywood version doesn't follow the story line but so far: "

In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, who is attacking the Danish mead hall called Heorot and its inhabitants; Grendel's mother; and, later in life after returning to Geatland (modern southern Sweden) and becoming a king, an unnamed dragon. He is mortally wounded in the final battle, and after his death he is buried in a barrow in Geatland by his retainers (source)." In this version, when a Danish kingdom is threatened by the monster Grendel, Beowulf does come to the rescue. But after that, the story takes off on a different tangent - while still delivering a great action film. One review I read said "the story is a surprisingly emotional spin on the stone classic which pits the heroic-yet-fallible warrior, Beowulf, against monsters that are products of -if not representations of- human weakness." I enjoyed this movie and do recommend it to anyone looking for a good action flick. Just don't expect it to follow the same story line you learned so long ago in English class!

I give it 7 out of 10 binkies.