Moved!

This blog has been moved here: http://julieatthemovies.wordpress.com/

Hope to see you there!
~Jules

Reviews

Since I last posted, I've reviewed:
Inception, Shrek: Forever After, The A-Team, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Flipped, Easy A, and Red.

You can find all these reviews (except Red, which should be posted in the beginning of November) at: http://arcadianews.com/movies/movies_1010.html

Karate Kid

My new review is up on ArcadiaNews.com
Enjoy my take on Karate Kid!

Just Wright

My new review on Just Wright is up on the Arcadia News website!

Don't forget to pick up your copy at the local convenience stores.

Thanks!
KidKritic

Join My New Facebook Fan Page!

I made a fan page where I'll tell you when my new reviews come out or when Kid Kritic updates.
Fans can also post anything in relation to movies!

Facebook Fan Page

How to Train Your Dragon

Review is up on ArcadiaNews.com!

Don't forget to pick up your copy of the Arcadia News at local stores and restaurants.

Clash of the Titans

Okay, so, I'm back! Yay, bet you're all so excited. anyway, on my travels, I saw this movie, so I decided I should review it.
In ancient Greece, on a stormy sea, a fisherman sees a coffin floating in the sea, when he hauls it up on deck, inside he finds a dead woman, clutching an infant boy, who is still alive. The fisherman decides to adopt the boy, who he names Perseus. Perseus's life is going pretty well in life, until when out fishing, his family's boat is destroyed by the Greek god of the underworld, Hades. Perseus, the only survivor, washes up in the city of Argos, and from then on his only goal is to join the people of Argos in their struggle against the cruel and merciless gods. He and several others go on a journey to find the Witches, who will tell them how to defeat the gods' greatest weapon, a creature named the Kraken. On this journey, Perseus learns to fight, slays titanic monsters, falls in love, and learns the secret of his true family.

Clash of the Titans ( named after the 80's hit) has everything that a modern movie requires. Lots of action scenes, romance, and a relatively stable plot combine to make this a truly epic film. My personal views ( and I'm sure that many will agree with me), are that it was a decent movie, but they could have been a little more accurate on some of the Greek mythological facts. That alone tortured me throughout the entire movie, though that's probably because I am the ultimate Greek mythology nerd. Overall, however, I would give it a solid 3 stars, 4 if I knew nothing about Greek myths, for good acting, great special effects, and sweet action scenes. And lastly, to all you parents out there, it earns its PG-13 rating, but it's not horrible.

Alice in Wonderland

Hey everyone! My newest review in the Arcadia News has come out on their site. Yay!
Even if you don't get the Arcadia News in the mail, you can still pick up a copy at local stores and restaurants.

Here's a link to my review on their website, as well: http://arcadianews.com/movies/movies_0410.html

Enjoy!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Kid Kritic here!
I'm now writing monthly reviews for the Arcadia News, a local newspaper. So, I'll be posting a link to their website where you can see my review once it's out, as well as doing other reviews here.

Here's the link to my Percy Jackson review: Arcadia News
And if you live in the Arcadia area, pick it up at a local establishment near you!

Avatar

Looks like I'm finally getting around to reviewing something again! It's been awhile, but I'm back...finally. But I digress. Time to review Avatar!
In the distant future, Humanity has spread throughout the galaxy, to a planet called Pandora, where they mine for a substance called "Unobtainium". The indigenous people of the planet, a species of aliens called the Na'vi, are less than pleased that the " Sky People" are taking over their world, resulting in tension between the humans and the Na'vi. Trying to ease the tension, a group of scientists discover a way to transport their consciousness into Na'vi-like bodies, or "Avatars", and learn their language to try to breed understanding between the two races. A scientist who was meant for the job was killed in a battle on Earth, and so he was replaced by his twin brother, ex-Marine Jake Sully, even though he is paralyzed from the waist down. In his Avatar form, he blunders into the jungles of Pandora, finds love and friendship, and ultimately makes an unchooseable choice. In addition to astounding special effects, colorful language, and a very James Cameron-esque budget, Avatar has captivated the modern audience so thoroughly that it would seem G.I. Joe was ancient history.

Despite all of my usual prejudices against action flicks, I'd have to praise this one for actually having a clear plot line, as well as good special effects. All in all, I'd give it a solid 4 star review. Well, ta-ta for now, and happy moviegoing!

Return to Me

Sorry for not updating sooner. I really have no excuse whatsoever. So again, sorry. And please enjoy my newest review!

Return to Me
This is a movie about Robert, who's wife died in a car crash, and Grace, who had a heart transplant. Robert's wife Elizabeth was a doctor at a zoo, and taught the gorilla Sydney sign language. She'd been trying to get enough money to give Sydney a bigger habitat to live in. Robert owns a construction company and planned on building it for her.

A year after Elizabeth's death, Robert and Grace meet when Robert goes on a blind date set up by his friend Charlie who accompanies him with his date. But Grace isn't the one Robert's meeting with Charlie. She's a waitress at the restaurant they go to, O'Reilly's Italian Restaurant. This is one of my favorite scenes, because of what Robert's date is like.

Grace's only family left is her grandfather Marty, and his brother Angelo. Marty and Angelo have a couple friends, Emmett and Wally. Marty and Angelo are the ones who run O'Reilly's. Emmett's daughter Megan is best friends with Grace, and we see her and her husband quite a bit throughout the movie. Megan and Joe have five kids, a one of which likes to repeat all the swear words that Joe says. And here is where I warn you that if you don't like movies with any swear words, then you shouldn't watch Return to Me. Though they don't swear all that often (it's really just what Joe's teaching his kids) and not that badly, I'm still giving you a heads up.

Robert and Grace start dating, and all is well, but what they don't know is that the heart Grace received was that of Robert's late wife. And when Grace finds the thank-you letter she sent to the heart donor's family on Robert's desk, things take a wrong turn. This is, however, not a spoiler. I assure you, I wouldn't do that to you in any of my reviews. The viewers knew pretty much the entire time, it was just the people in the movie that didn't.

A romantic comedy for sure, most of the comedy surrounding Grace's family and friends. I could go on and on talking about how much I like this movie and all the great parts in it, but that would spoil the movie as the great parts take place in all of the movie! This is one of those movies that I never get tired of watching. In fact, I watched it two nights in a row a couple days ago. I'll give this movie 3 1/2 stars! And now I have the urge to watch it again.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Just a reminder: If you'd like us to review anything in particular, you can email me at f1r3w1z4rd@gmail.com

And now, here's my review!
I read the review for The Vampire's Assistant in the newspaper, and it almost convinced me not to go. Almost. But, I decided to stick with my first instinct that the movie was something that I wanted to see, and went anyway. And I wasn't disappointed.
The Vampire's Assistant is about teenage Darren Shan, who gets good grades and doesn't really get into trouble. His best friend Steve Leonard is the troublemaker, and one day convinces Darren to skip class. While out, they find a flyer for Cirque du Freak, a traveling freak show. When they go, they see everything from a wolfboy, to a psychic girl with a beard, to a man with a performing, multi-colored, poisonous spider. The man, Larten Crepsley, is a vampire that turns Darren into a half vampire, in return giving Darren the antidote to save Steve from a fatal spider bite. Darren then must fake his own death and go to live with the Cirque du Freak.
Meanwhile, Steve gets mixed in the wrong crowd: the vampaneze. Being led to believe that Darren stole his dream of becoming a vampire, Steve falls victim to Mr. Tiny, a man with plans of war. As Darren learns more about what he's gotten himself into, the war between the vampaneze and the vampires seems inevitable, no matter what the truce says.
I'd like to know what the people who have read the books think of the movie, as I've heard that Rebecca the monkey-girl is an added character that's not in the books. So please comment or email!

I warn you that, if you don't want the books to be spoiled for you, you shouldn't look at the imdb (or Wikipedia, for that matter, as quite a few books were spoiled for me there as well) site for this film. The books were spoiled quite a bit for me while I was doing research for my review.

I thought this movie was great fun, with humor mixed in with adventure, I'd give this movie 3 stars, and I'd definitley like to read the books!

Quantum of Solace

The sequel to Casino Royale, the events described in Quantum of Solace take place but an hour after the events of Casino Royale. Typical bond, bust some heads, shoots some people, the usual. This movie is probably better than its prequel, simply because it's more like the bond we all know and love. Not to say, of course, that James Bond is all cute and cuddly, cuz, quite frankly, unless you are a hot female, he's not. He'll shoot you right dead as soon as look at you. Okay, I'm seriously getting off-topic here. So, to get back on, the movie. Lotsa big explosions, and some good plot twists, very unlike the previous one.I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars, for nostalgia's sake.

Casino Royale

Hallo, all, I'm the friend mentioned in last post, and this will be

my first post. Just to clear things up, my name is The Verderer. Don't ask me how I came up with the name, I seriously have no idea, but that's not important. the important thing is this is my first of many posts, and you'd better enjoy, or I'll send the bogeyman after you.

Casino Royale, compared to the other 007 movies, well, I guess it's not really like them at all. Still, It's pretty good, I mean, what could be better than seeing James bond beat poker experts at their own game, right? even though it's PG-13, I wouldn't recommend it to people 9 or younger. as far as a starred review, I'd have to give it a good 3 out of 5 stars.

9

Sorry for not updating in almost a year. I'm happy to say that I'm starting this blog up again. I believe a friend of mine will be helping me as well, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, for my new post, I'll be doing a review on the movie 9.

I think this movie was a lot of fun. I really like Tim Burton's stuff. It's about 9, a miniature creature made of fabric and mechanics, who wakes up to find the world to be one giant junkyard, where all the humans are dead and machines have driven the few others of 9's kind into hiding. 9 finds 2, and when they're attacked by a machine, 2 is captured. 9, with the help of 5 and 7, have to find and save 2. Things take a turn for the worst when a robot that is designed to build robots of all sorts is awakened. Now the group has to find a way to stop the machine, at the same time learning about what they are, and what their purpose is.

I can't say much else without risking giving too much away. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would love to see it again. All in all, I give this movie 3 stars.

Rear Window

This is one of my favorites. What I like about this movie is that the point is the story, instead of the special effects. There's no explosions, and only a bit of violence towards the end, so if that's what makes a good movie for you then this isn't the movie for you.

Rear Window is about L. B. Jefferies (aka Jeff), a photographer who broke his leg and now spends his days in his apartment looking out his rear window into the other apartments. One day, when looking out his window, he notices that one man's wife went missing over night. Jeff firmly believes that the man murdered her, even though there was a witness who claimed to have seen her leaving the apartment with her husband, her husband claiming he's escorting her to the train she's leaving town on. Jeff wasn't able to get the police on his side, because his detective friend, Doyle, believes the wife left town. The only two people who believe him are his girlfriend Lisa, and his nurse Stella. The three need to gather enough proof to back up there story, but things just get worse when it appears the man they suspect for murder is heading out of town himself.

I'm giving this movie 3 stars for a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Twilight: The Movie

In case you're wondering why I chose a photo of the Cullens instead of the actual movie poster, it's because I believe the rest of the Cullens need love, too.

Here's my review on the movie Twilight. Enjoy...?

Twilight:

I have to admit, I wasn't going to write this review in fear of scaring my readers. I was also afraid that I might get in trouble, and that my crime would be something like "writing more of a paragraph of complaints than a review". But, here it is anyways!

Just thought I'd let you know, I didn't have hope at all for this movie to be like the book. Okay, I'll just say it: Bella looked drunk and Edward looked like he really had to use the restroom. Also, there was so little of the other characters that I was surprised they weren't invisible! They left out so much that I actually expected something better than what it was, and that's saying something. They cast all the Cullens (the vampire family) well, except Edward. Luckily, there are a few things that I actually enjoyed! The baseball scene, for instance:

Bella was invited to watch the Cullens play baseball, and it was actually pretty good. I would have been happier with the movie if it skipped everything until that point, then stretched that one scene for the whole length of the movie!

My final word on this is that it's a 0 star waste of money, though the casting for the Cullens (minus Edward) gets 3 1/2 stars, because they were great!

Been Thinking...

I'm really sorry I haven't been posting! However, I can't use homework as an excuse because I really haven't had that much (at least not enough to take too much of my time away). I can't really give any excuse except that I've been distracted and this is the last thing on my mind these days...or months. Anyways, I was running through my old posts, and I noticed that I have different opinions on things now that I've thought them through. Not big changes, but I may have changed the rate I gave the book/movie when I first wrote the review (not always a bad thing! In some reviews, I changed my rate to a higher one). One thing I thought I should say about a change in one of my opinions:

I think I gave Twilight a bit more praise than I would now. I've thought it through and realized that I had pushed the love story out of my head because I was distracted by the vampire family (the only reason, I now realize, that I kept reading the series). I love the vampires in the books, though at times Edward's an exception (he seems to have the ability to tick me off...)

Basically what I'm saying is, if you look at the bottom of my Twilight review, you'll see the biggest change I've made in my ratings.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

My new review is here. Enjoy!

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy:

Skulduggery Pleasant is about...well, Skulduggery Pleasant, of course. Skulduggery's a detective with a twist: He's also a sorcerer and living skeleton! Skulduggery Pleasant was friends with Gordon Edgley, Stephanie Edgley's wealthy uncle. Gordon was a best-selling author of famous horror books, and when he died he left his fortune and house to his favorite niece, Stephanie. She spends the night in her late uncle's house alone, and in the middle of the night she's attacked by an intruder! He threatens her and demands her to give him "the key". Skulduggery bursts through the door (taking it off it's hinges in the process) and the intruder attacks. They get into a short fist fight, ending when Skulduggery throws fire at the intruder and the intruder runs away. Unfortunately, in the fist fight, Skulduggery's disguise falls off and Stephanie goes into shock when she sees that he's a skeleton.

This book is filled with action, and lots of humor, as Skulduggery and Stephanie investigate Gordon's murder. That's right, murder. Stephanie and Skulduggery believe Gordon didn't die of natural causes, but was actually killed by another sorcerer called Nefarian Serpine. Turns out there's a history between Serpine and Skulduggery, and Stephanie's just beginning to learn Skulduggery's past.

One of my favorite parts is when Skulduggery's talking to Stephanie, and says "See, I don't want them to view you as the 'innocent young girl'. I want them to view you as the annoying, insubordinate, rapscallion who has made herself my partner. Then, maybe they'll take pity on me." I give this book 3 1/2 stars, and I've already read the second book, Playing With Fire.

Breaking Dawn

I, recently, finished the fourth book in the Twilight Saga that a lot of people have been talking about. I decided I'd put up my review on it while it was still pretty fresh in my mind, so here it is!

The Twilight Saga book 4: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer:

I'm very disappointed in this conclusion to the Twilight Saga. There was way too much romance in it for me. I was hoping for more action scenes, or something, and I got a love story with a little bit of a problem at the end. I know these are supposed to be books about a love story, but I liked it when it was half that and half action and stuff, with evil vampires going against good vampires, and stuff. I did, though, like the suspense and little bits of some sort of problem with bad vampires after all the love stuff. Sure, there is a problem throughout most of the book, but not the kind of problem I'd expect.

I think I'm going to give this book 1 star, because it flat out stunk.