A year of movie rentals – A review.

The end of the year is coming, and I thought I’d do something fun and take a look back at all the movies I have watched this year.

We rarely go to the theater, but rather we wait for the movies to come out in the rental store. Movie night is a family tradition we try to do on Sunday nights, finances allowing. How else can you entertain a family of five for under ten dollars?

Now,… Big Daddy and I have different taste in movies (and different standards as well) so some of these are movies that he picked out. I decided to include them on my list anyway so I could go ahead and tell you what I thought of them. 😉 And since we rent from the movie store, some of these actually came out at the end of 2005.

So, after two weeks of slowly working on this and without further ado, grab your popcorn and soda of choice and peruse my 2006 movie rental reviews (in alphabetical order).

The Break-Up

Pros – None that I can come up with.
Cons – Littered with shallow, self-centered, and petty themes with no redeeming plot twists at the end.

I didn’t like this movie. The plot lines were shallow and petty, and actually pretty ridiculous. It is labeled as a romantic comedy and it was neither romantic nor a comedy. The laughs were far between, and the romance fizzles with an ending without certain hope or certain closure. In addition, it’s littered with sexual slang and innuendos and thick with harsh profanity. It is not one we will be buying. For a detailed review, click here.

 

The Brothers Grimm –

Pros – Good jump scenes, music. Pretty good acting for the most part.
Cons – Definitely not a family movie, too scary for children.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I rented this movie, but in the end I liked it. It wasn’t my usual type of movie (I usually avoid things with witches and ghosts, etc, I get scared too easily) but the movie was a good mix of scare factor, lightheartedness, the love story angle between the chick and the guy, and a good sense of the good guys winning in the end– which is always a real plus for me when it comes to movies with evil/scary things in them. I also liked how the fairy tales were incorporated into the storyline and that he was writing them all down for his book. It was fun to recognize each fairy tale here and there. On the downside, it was speckled with a few instances of mild profanity (I’d prefer they leave that out altogether, but nobody asks me) and several occasions of cleavage (ditto.) Overall I really enjoyed it, but I haven’t bought it and I probably won’t because I tend not to buy movies that I can’t watch with my children. For an in depth review, see here.

 

Cars

Pros – Nice animation, big name actors, likable characters and plot
Cons – A few minor infractions on language or gross humor.

A fun, likable story, the kids really liked this movie. Though there are many attitudes and behaviors exhibited by the characters that are undesirable–such as self-centeredness, pride, cheating, lying and boasting–the main point of the movie is that the main character learns to be a better person (car) than what he has been being, and learns to be giving, kind, and selfless. We really enjoyed this, and I’d like to buy this for the kids.For a more detailed review, click here.

 

Casanova

Pros – humorous, good acting, good plot developments
Cons – not a family film due to (expected) sexual content

I knew this one was not going to be a family friendly movie, and it isn’t. We rented it one night for a date night on my birthday. I like Heath Ledger and I have a weak spot for romantic comedies. I generally try to avoid rated R movies, but this time I didn’t. All in all we both enjoyed watching it because it came through on the comedy part as well as the romantic part. Most of the sexual content were suggestive comments and allusions to things that had happened, but there were also many cleavage shots and many instances of Casanova being chased out of somebody’s bedroom. Again, it’s another one that I enjoyed but won’t be buying. For a more detailed review, see here.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia

Pros – Good directing, acting, stuck to the novel pretty well, a great family movie
Cons – Some intense moments for younger children

While there may be a few intense moments, this movie was done with the right mix of visual discretion and enchantment to keep both the young and the young at heart on the edge of their seat and entertained through the whole movie. I was very satisfied with how close the storyline stuck to the book, and I was so taken by the movie that I found myself thinking about if for several days after watching it. It’s definitely a movie I recommend buying. This is one that I intend to buy.For a detailed review, click here.

 

Click

Pros – The only “pro” I can think of is that he learned a valuable lesson through his experiences.
Cons – Heavy profanity/ sexual content/ crude humor

I did not care for this movie, and I could not wait for it to be over. It was frustrating to watch, as the main character’s position went from worse to worse and it began to drag out. It’s only redeeming quality was that he learned a valuable lesson through his experiences and a chance to make the right decisions. For a detailed review, click here.

Curious George

Pros – Great animation and colors, lovable characters, good music and storyline. Family friendly.
Cons – none.

I loved this movie! It was so cute and adorable and so much fun. Very entertaining. The girls liked it, and I didn’t have to worry about them watching it. They captured the personality of George wonderfully, and Drew Barrymore and Will Ferrell did a fabulous job on the voices. One might take issue with the fact that they are searching for an idol, though I doubt many will since it is a museum searching for an ancient artifact. There are also a few instances of lying and deceit, but it’s done in a way that displays it as inappropriate rather than acceptable, and “the bad guys get it in the end.” This movie is definitely a favorite and a keeper! (The kids got it for Christmas from my grandmother.) For a detailed review, click here.

 

Fun With Dick and Jane

Pros – I can’t think of any.
Cons – Glorifying immoral deeds, heavy profanity.I did not like this.

I rented this one because Big Daddy likes Jim Carrey and it looked like something he would like. (I’m not sure if he liked it either, though.) Everything about it was morally wrong (though I suppose one could argue that it addressed some kind of issue about people who suddenly become unemployed and have no avenue for assistance) and when I thought that the movie couldn’t get any worse, it did. The comedy and script writing weren’t all that great, either. For a detailed review, see here.

Hoodwinked

Pros – Family friendly, no profanity or innuendo, fun and creative.
Cons – None.

A fun, new and enjoyable take on an old fairytale, I really enjoyed this movie. Good storyline, good plot development, interesting plot movement, great characters, and good voice casting all work together to make this movie a hit. Working with the idea that there’s more than one side to every story, Hoodwinked is presented in “whodunit” fashion while trying to determe what really happened in Granny’s cottage. A family friendly movie, there was humor for the kids and the adults without using over-their-heads innuendo. The kids liked it and I did, too. I’d definitely like to have this one. You can find the detailed review here.

 

Keeping Up With The Steins

Pros – Happy Ending
Cons – Not my kind of comedy, some profanity and crude humor

This movie was okay, but not memorable. It had trouble keeping my attention at times and wasn’t as funny as I thought it was going to be. It isn’t family friendly due to some profanity, crude humor, and sexual content. Perhaps there was potential — it had a good cast and a good basic storyline — it just didn’t live up to it’s full potential with the script writing. As a result, it’s not on my “gotta have” list. For a detailed review, click here.

Nacho Libre

Pros – Only one mild language infraction.
Cons – Violence, slow plot movement.

I was actually very disappointed with this movie. I was expecting it to be a lot better than it was. The trailers made it appear to be very hilarious when in reality, all the hilarious parts were the ones shown in the trailers. I felt it had a lot of potential with a good story and good actors, but there was something weird and slow about the way the story “moved.” It was distracting, and combined with the lack of gut-busting laughs it was almost boring. Well, it was boring at certain points. I wish it had been better done and even though I was being disappointed, I found myself wanting it to redeem itself in the end, which it never did. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it, either, and the end result is a somewhere-in-the-middle ” Eh. *shrug*. ” A detailed review can be found here.

 

Over the Hedge

Pros – Various famous voices, lovable characters, no profanity
Cons – Some violence and crude/innapropriate behavior.

The whole plot is based on stealing.My initial reaction as I was watching this was negative because they were all stealing. A lot. It bugged me enough to slip in a few nonchalant comments to the kids: “wow…are they stealing? Well that’s not good.” In the end, the main character admitted he had done wrong, learned the importance of family, and stealing was addressed but not fully. They didn’t return everything they stole, and the people they stole from were presented as bad guys and captured and everybody lived happily ever after. On the other hand, what the movie failed to address was easily addressed in a few simple comments while watching the movie. Bottom line is that the children did enjoy it, and they were excited when they received this from my grandmother for Christmas. I find it fairly cute and tolerable. Click here for a detailed review.

 

RV

Pros – Good plot resolution, learning valuable lessons
Cons – Slow moments, weak humor in most places

I was told, “if you’ve ever vacationed in an RV, you’ll enjoy this movie.” Well,… sorta. It is a ‘things go from bad to worse while the family works out their differences and learns to love each other’ plot style. There are a few hilarious moments, some moderately humourous moments, and a lot of stupid/goofy humor moments that make an attempt at funny. The film is full of disprespect towards each other, crude humor, lying, innuendo, and–believe it or not– some bad language (and it’s PG.) Not a keeper. For an in depth review, see here.

 

Yours, Mine, and Ours

Pros – Good fun, family friendly, good casting & script
Cons – Plot a little “guessable” at times

I thought this was cute and fun. It wasn’t belly-busting but it was enjoyable. The kids enjoyed it and it had a good story with “a lot of heart.” I also enjoyed watching the making of, behind the scenes, etc. in the extras. It also had several actors that I like and the kids liked seeing some actors they know from tv shows they watch. First impression was accurate: Having eighteen kids in one household has got to be good for a least a couple laughs! For a detailed review, click here.

Well, 2006 brought some good movies and some not-so-good ones. My favorites would have to be The Chronicles of Narnia, Hoodwinked, Curious George, and Brothers Grimm. My least favorites, well, those should be obivious.

Here’s to new movie rentals in 2007 and to cheap family entertainment!! (With sparkling cider, of course!) 😉