City of Ember (2008)

★★½

I was disappointed by this movie in so many ways.

First, I will say that I liked the look of Ember in the movie even more than how I had pictured it to look in my mind's eye. I also liked the casting for Lina a lot.

And now for the things I didn't like...

The movie did not do as good of a job as the book in showing how the city of Ember was falling apart. A big deal was made in the book about how Lina longed for colored pencils, but in the movie she had assorted crayons readily available.

In the book, Lina sensibly carried around just the paper on which were printed the instructions. Why did the movie have her lugging around the big box everywhere?! There was a key in the box - that wasn't in the book - but that could easily have been carried in a pocket, as the mayor had carried his.

I didn't like how Mrs. Murdo was made into a flake, and I didn't think changing Lina's father's story really added anything at all.

The enormously sized insects were just weird.

The manner of egress was may more complex than it was in the book, which made it less believable because the movie's method depended on mechanisms still working 200+ years after they were built, whereas the book's method was simple and relied only on the continued existence of the river.

My absolute favorite part of the book - the existential image conjured up when Doon and Lina looked down upon their city - was fleeting at best. The movie poster itself was misleading, as I don't recall seeing any scene in the movie in which Lina and Doon were so closely above Ember.

Even in the book, the way in which Lina and Doon passed on the instructions to the rest of the people of Ember was pretty far-fetched, and hardly a reliable method at all, but the scene in the movie was even more unbelievable.

Finally, I had high hopes that the movie would provide better closure by incorporating information provided in the second chapter of the sequel, The People of Sparks. Alas, it did not, and the movie ended in the same way as the book, e.g., with me saying, "It ends just like that?!"

The Polar Express (2004)

★★½

Sebastien's Pre-K class had a "Polar Express Party", where they planned to wear pajamas, eat popcorn and pizza, and watch The Polar Express. Unfortunately, it was planned on a Wednesday, not a day Sebastien usually goes to school. He actually didn't mind at all, and we just decided to have our own "Polar Express Party" at home instead, on the same day.

At first I was afraid that Isabelle would be upset about missing out, but as it turned out, she said she didn't want to watch the movie anyway. She's seen it already, at the "Polar Express Party" when she was in Pre-K, and she didn't like it!

Now that I've seen the movie myself, I can totally see why Isabelle doesn't like it. In the book, the boy is sure that Santa exists, despite the fact that he has friends who tell him otherwise. In the movie, the boy doubts Santa's existence and is on the verge of not believing. Clearly, it is not a movie for very young children - by showing this movie to a child who believes in Santa, you are essentially introducing doubt! This movie is really for older children who are already doubting, or who have outgrown Santa but wouldn't mind a bit of childhood nostalgia.

The movie is furthermore geared towards older kids because it really is filled with one scary / anxiety-filled scene after another. First a little boy almost misses the train - Oh, no!!! Then the main character boy almost loses another girl's ticket - Aaahhhh!!! Before you know it, the boy is walking on top of the speeding train in the freezing cold in the middle of the night all alone, where he encounters some kind of ghost hobo who vanishes into thin air?!? Then there's the roller coaster ride from the front of the train, the train trying to outrun the breaking ice, and the creepy marionette in the train car for recycled toys. It is nothing like the train ride in the book, which was an altogether pleasant ride of Christmas carols and tasty snacks. Even the moment when the boy first sees Santa Claus - or rather, can't see him (because of the crowds) or hear the sleigh bells - is more of an anxious moment than a joyous moment.

Sure, the movie ends exactly as it does in the book, but the whole ride really wasn't worth it. Too bad. Just stick with the book.

What To Expect When You're Expecting (2012)

★★½

Another one of those movies that follows several story lines that have the same theme, and the characters' paths cross each other tangentially.

This movie is so completely geared towards people who are or have been pregnant (or the significant others of those people) that if you don't fit that category, I really don't see why you'd bother with this movie. The story lines seem to cover the bases of what you might go through when you're expecting a baby, and one of the character's pregnancies reminded me of my own, so I could really relate. Other than that, though, a lot of the scenes went on for too long, and I expected more funny stuff from the dad's group - the trailer I saw focused almost entirely on the dads.

Again, a movie you could watch as part of a girls night, but only if those girls are moms, or pregnant.

New Year's Eve (2011)

★★½

This movie is just what you'd expect it to be. A couple mildly interesting characters and story lines, at least one disappointing ending, nothing surprising or particularly entertaining, but diverting enough for a girls night out.

Eclipse (2010)

★★½

I haven't read the books, so I'm not really vested in the story, but I was disappointed by this latest installment. It just dragged. Really slow and melodramatic, everyone speaking in dramatic whispers all the time, Bella always frowning. A lot of bad acting and overacting by the vampires.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (#2, 2002)

★★½

A disappointing follow-up to the first installment. It gets confusing, with too many questions posed along the way that aren't answered until much later.

Waiting for "Superman" (2010)

★★½

Usually, watching a documentary involves me learning lots of new things with a reaction like, "Really?! Wow! I didn't know that!" But in this case, as a former high school teacher, I actually have inside knowledge about the public education system, the topic of the documentary. Armed with additional information, I've decided that this film is a skewed presentation of only some of the facts, and it does not provide all sides of the story.

This documentary highlights some of the problems faced by public schools - mostly inner city schools in poor neighborhoods - and it paints a pretty depressing picture. While it poses the question of whether bad neighborhoods create failing schools, or if failing schools create bad neighborhoods, it doesn't actually make much of an effort to answer that question. Instead, it makes a pretty bold conclusion that bad teachers are the problem, and charter schools are the panacea. The documentary holds up Michelle Rhee as a positive figure, but for me, this film simply reinforced the reasons why I'm not a fan.

In regards to teachers: There was no mention of how these bad teachers came to be. There was no discussion about the lack of good mentoring programs for new teachers, the lack of on-going professional development for experienced teachers, the lack of sufficient evaluation processes, or why school administrators allowed these poor teachers to stay on in the first place. The fact that 50% of teachers leave the profession within the first 5 years - a fact that this documentary leaves out - says a lot about the working conditions, and begs the questions, "Are the good teachers leaving or staying? And why is that?"

In regards to charter schools: This documentary - like many sources that put charter schools on pedestals - conveniently neglects to point out that charter school students, though selected at random from an applicant pool, are a self-selected subgroup made up of motivated kids with involved parents. When quoting the numbers that indicate success, the film also overlooks the fact that in many cases, the size of a particular class is smaller than what it started as; perhaps some students voluntarily transferred to other schools, but it's worth noting that charter schools are allowed to kick out or force out students based on whether or not they meet the standards of the school.

The documentary showcases a handful of families in which very concerned parents enter their kids into lotteries for acceptance into charter schools. As a viewer, you certainly get the feeling that these kids might not "make it" unless they get accepted; you get the impression that if they are forced to enter the public school system, they will fall through the cracks and will be doomed never to succeed. Though I certainly felt disappointed for the families that did not win the charter school lottery, I still couldn't help but feel that because these families were the ones in which the parents do care, because these kids do want an education, they would probably turn out okay (I hope).

To the documentary's credit, I do agree with its portrayal of tenure - it is too easily obtained, it provides excessive job security, and it makes it nearly impossible to get rid of an ineffective teacher.

Northanger Abbey (1987 TV Movie)

★★½

This movie was, disappointingly, the least well-done screen adaptation of a Jane Austen novel I've seen yet.

I do think most of the characters were well-cast, though both John Thorpe and General Tilney (who perhaps overacted) were made out to be worse than they were in the book. Catherine was okay, but appeared to be as young and naive at the end of the movie as in the beginning.

Liberties of all kinds were taken. The way in which characters were introduced was quite different from the book, and events were a bit jumbled. Catherine and Isabella's friendship seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Sometimes, even as dialogue was taken from the book, the scenes were entirely changed; in significant deviations from the book, characters go to public baths, they row on a lake, and the Tilneys have visitors at Northanger Abbey. Strangely, a mysterious French woman was inexplicably added to the cast, and the Tilney men were all made to take snuff. And what was with the black servant/slave boy!? Finally, as if the filmmakers were running out of time, Catherine's departure from Northanger Abbey was practically glossed over.

The fantasy sequences adequately showed Catherine's preoccupation with Gothic romance novels, but the music was a bit overdone. Amusingly, the music in the last scene - which deviated from the book significantly - was so clearly from the 1980s.

Four Christmases (2008)

★★½

I don't know, I really like Reese Witherspoon, and she's great in other fun, fluff movies, but this one just wasn't up to par. Not quite cute, not really that funny, very predictable. It wasn't bad, but just not so interesting.

Knowing (2009)

★★½

It was fun to see the names of places I know as settings in the movie, even though it was obvious that indoor scenes were not shot on site, and it was weird that events in the movie depended on a fictional geography of MA. It started out good, more like a straight-up drama/thriller; it wasn't until the end that you were hit with a sci-fi whopper. Lots of scenes seemed contrived for dramatic effect. I don't like horror movies, and at least a minute or two of this movie felt like one.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

★★½

Certainly visually entertaining, but some of the plot elements seemed random. Even taking into consideration the fantasy realm, a couple points confused me, leaving me with questions like, "How can it be that...?".

The International (2009)

★★½

The plot was decent, but the movie just wasn't there. Clive Owen was one-dimensional and unconvincing. Naomi Watts was good, but her character was peripheral. The whole movie seemed like it belonged in the middle of a series, picking up in the middle of an investigation, and without a satisfying ending. The use of the Guggenheim Museum, however, was pretty cool.

2012 (2009)

★★½

An end-of-the-world movie that relies primarily on one visual effect for action: the main characters repeatedly stay one hair's breadth in front of natural disaster. It happens so much, it's comical. Nothing too surprising about the plot.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

★★½

Very National Treasure-ish, but not nearly as good. Goofy enough to get a few hearty chuckles out of me, but just too corny. I probably missed out by not seeing it in 3D, and I imagine the whole movie experience would have been better if I had.

The Informant! (2009)

★★½

It just wasn't as funny or as interesting as I thought it would be. Matt Damon plays a bit of an odd duck. No one in the movie elicits any kind of sympathy from me, so I had no one to root for or side with. Events just kept happening and changing, without any real sense of plot.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

★★½

Total chick flick, complete with women who squeal hello and sing into hairbrushes. Having Greece as a backdrop made the movie beautiful to watch, but since the storyline and singing were corny, maybe it's best seen on stage. Also, I had to get over the fact that the bride-to-be, who was supposed to be 20, looked more like 14.

Public Enemies (2009)

★★½

It was okay. Kind of slow. Visually dark; maybe it's my poor eye sight, but I sometimes couldn't even tell what was going on. Lots of characters with bit parts, sometimes confusing. I love Johnny Depp, but I just couldn't get into it.

Angels & Demons (2009)

★★½

Surprisingly, given my rating for it, Ken said the movie was actually better than the book. The pace at which events unfolded made the timing in "24" seem reasonable. Lots of predictability, but I admit I was surprised by a major twist.

Vantage Point (2008)

★★½

An interesting conceit, the way the plot unfolds for the audience, but it wasn't enough to overcome a few shortcomings. Too much suspended disbelief for a non-sci-fi, non-superhero movie, and Ken predicted the ending within the first 15 minutes.

Twilight (1998)

★★½

A great cast, but nothing original about the work. Or maybe it only seems unoriginal after having watched 10 years of prime-time crime dramas? Actually a decent movie as a derivative of old-fashioned gumshoe films, but all the questions that were posed were answered in unsurprising ways.