Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

This fourth installment of the Pirates movies puts Captain Jack Sparrow and a lot of the other villains on the quest for the Fountain of Youth. Along the way there are of course various treacherous obstacles to overcome and only one person will actually be able to drink from the fountain so the battle is to see who that person will be. I don't know if I am just getting tired of the series or what but I found myself much more interested in what was happening with the mermaid and Philip than I was the Pirates...maybe I just missed Orlando and Kiera.

Thor

I have to admit I am kind of a sucker for any type of "super hero" movie and this one surprisingly did not disappoint. The special effects were much better than I anticipated and Chris Hemsworth was the perfect choice for the hammer wielding hero. Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hiddleston were also great in their roles of Thor's father and brother. I would have loved to see this film in 3D, but still enjoyed it immensely.

Black Swan

Natalie Portman was amazing in this complicated picture about a sweet, hardworking ballerina who is striving for the lead role in Swan Lake but whose director is not quite sure she can handle the role of the "black swan". She must find a way to reach a completely different side of herself to achieve the role, but without losing herself in the process. An intriguing movie, with a few controversial scenes that make this a movie for a more mature audience.

Aliens in the Attic

When two families join up for a relaxing vacation the kids are sure it is going to be boring. When the vacation house is invaded by Aliens and the kids are determined to fight them and save the planet all without letting their parents know, things get a lot more exciting. A cute family movie that kids will enjoy.

Dragonball Evolution

Justin Chatwin is a martial arts student who is charged with trying to collect all of the magical dragonballs and save the world. Of course the goal is to find the dragonballs before the bad guys do. This is another attempt to turn a manga book into a movie and unfortunately this was not a good attempt.

Race to Witch Mountain

Dwayne Johnson plays Jack Bruno a bored cabby who has a couple of strange kids show up in his cab one morning that starts him on a journey of a lifetime. A race begins to see if he can get these aliens/children to their spaceship before the government or the bad buy get them. A mediocre movie, but kids will probably enjoy it.

Push

This movie is about some children who have "special" abilities and who are hiding from a corrupt governmental group called the Division who are trying to take all those with abilities and create an all-powerful weapon. They have to unite to defeat those who want to destroy them. A major disappointment.

The Spirit

Similar to Sin City, The Spirit is another made from a comic book movie with the typical crime fighter, bad guy, and sexy ladies. Unfortunately that is where the similarities end because even though it had a great cast it was really poorly done and kind of boring.

Inkheart

Brendan Fraser plays Mo Folchart a "silver tongue" who every time he reads allowed he brings the story to life. When he accidently brings out some unwilling and some unsavory characters of the book Inkheart and his wife is read into the book Mo spends years trying to figure out how to fix his mistake without causing more damage. It wasn't a bad movie, but it just felt like they missed a lot of the story when it was over.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Keanu Reeves plays an alien visitor who basically tells the humans that he needs to destroy the human race to protect Earth because it is the humans that are killing it. Along the way he meets a scientist and her young son who work to convince him to give the humans another chance. This movie was really poorly done and I'm sure most just watch it because they like Reeves.

Hellboy 2

Hellboy is back in this sequel about the demon/man secretly working for the government to fight other non-human evils. This time he comes up against an evil Elf trying to cause havoc. The same lovable characters return in this second Hellboy. I enjoy these movies...they are funny and action-packed at the same time. If you like the first you will like the second.

Bedtime Stories

When hardworking hotel maintenance man Skeeter (Adam Sandler) is stuck watching his niece and nephew he has no idea what to do with them so decides to make up bedtime stories. Strangely the next day after he tells a story they seem to come true. Skeeter tries to make the stories up so that great things happen in his life, but the children have other ideas. This was a cute movie and if it is wasn't for Sandler using a really annoying voice I would have enjoyed it much more.

City of Ember

This is the story of a hidden city built to try and protect the human race and keep it alive from a worldwide disaster. As time goes on the Mayor is letting the city rot and so when a young girl discovers some old papers about a way out a quest begins to see if the instructions work. Unfortunately the Mayor doesn't want to lose his city so they must try to avoid him at the same time. This was a very cute movie that's uniqueness was enjoyable.

The Incredible Hulk

Edward Norton is David Banner a scientist who when angry turns into a mean green beast. To try and avoid any incidents Banner is hiding out in Brazil until he is forced to come out of hiding to meet with a professor who thinks he can help him. When an army of soldiers try to detain him so that they can use him to develop other monsters for their army, Banner must use the Hulk to stop them. I really thought I was going to hate this movie, but as a huge Norton fan decided to try it...I actually thought it was pretty good.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

After waiting a year the four Pevensie children are finally called on again to return to Narnia. This time their task is to help Prince Caspian claim his spot on the thrown and return Narnia and all who live there to the previous glory. I found this one as enjoyable as the first and look forward to the third.

Hancock

Will Smith plays a not so superhero in this movie about a man with superhero powers but that most the world dislikes because he is bitter and mean. One day he saves Ray, (Jason Bateman) a public relations agent, who tries to repay him by cleaning up his image and making the world love him. As he gets to know Ray and his family Hancock finds out some new information about who he really is. An enjoyable movies because it was not your typical superhero movie.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

In this movie Brendan Fraser plays a scientist who just cannot accept his brother's death, so when he finds some cryptic notes one of his brother's books he takes off on a journey to find the truth. I'm sure this was not an easy novel to make into a movie and really it was not well done, but some will find it entertaining.

Iron Man

When genius weapons building billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) gets held hostage by an evil terrorist organization the only way to escape is by building a "superhero" suit. Once he gets home he gives up weapons building and goes to work perfecting his new invention so that he can use it to fight crime.

The Forbidden Kingdom

Jackie Chan and Jet Li team up in this martial arts movie about a young kid who is accidentally transported into the past with a magical staff belonging to the Monkey King. The 2 martial arts legends have to train Jason and help him on his quest to return the staff and go home. A fun and enjoyable movie worth the watch.

The Spiderwich Chronicles

After being uprooted from their home Jared Grace (Freddie Highmore) and his family move into an old mansion left to them by their strange Aunt. Jared starts to investigate weird sounds and rooms in the old mansion and comes across a strange book that once opened unleashes a whole world of magical creatures. Some of the creatures are friendly and some are not, but the Grace family must work together to keep the evil Ogre from getting his hands on the book and all of its secrets. A very cute movie and Highmore is always a joy to watch.