Over Christmas break I watched a LOT of movies. Reruns and Christmas specials just weren’t cutting it, so I took full advantage of the Redbox and even managed to get to the actual theater a couple times. Here’s the review:
Inception: I was all prepared to have my mind blown, per every single Facebook post I’d read about this movie. While I don’t know if my mind was actually blown (Certainly it was not literally blown. That would be gross.), this was a GREAT movie. I really enjoyed it and would love to watch it again. With friends who like to dissect and analyze every little detail afterward. Any takers?
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Since I’ve been embracing my nerd-ness lately, I figured why not add a movie based on a graphic novel to my rapidly expanding nerd repertoire? (You know, the one that includes Harry Potter and Joss Whedon? Yeah.) Well, I didn’t love the movie, but I did like it a lot. Michael Cera just cracks me up, although that may be residual appreciation based on my love of Juno and Arrested Development. The movie was super quirky, but a lot of fun. Thumbs up.
Tangled: We took Annalyn to see this on Christmas Day. It was her first movie in the theater, and it was a huge hit. Our whole family enjoyed it, and I’m sure we’ll add it to our video library as soon as it comes out on DVD!
How Do You Know: Smitty and I went to this one because there wasn’t really a movie out that we were dying to see. It was okay. Owen Wilson is not my favorite, but I did like Reese Witherspoon’s performance as a female athlete. And Paul Rudd’s character was as charming as the Paul Rudd my friend Chelley fell in love with back in Clueless.
Step Up 3: I love the original Step Up. I really do. In my line-up of favorite dance movies, it falls somewhere after Dirty Dancing but slightly higher than Save the Last Dance. I could watch it every week. And, actually, after watching this sequel, I was dying to watch it. Because Step Up 3? Not so great. The dancing is amazing, but the story and the acting are less than stellar. Pretty awful, actually. It was disappointing, though I’ll be the first to admit, not surprising.
Salt: When this movie first came out, I read that it was originally written for a man. Tom Cruise was supposed to play the part of the main character. Somewhere along the way (I suppose that would be when Tom Cruise decided he needed to play his crazy self in Knight and Day.), they changed it all up and Angelina Jolie took over the role of Salt. Who IS Salt? Is she a spy? Is she a traitor? Do we really care, as long as we get to watch Jolie kick butt? The action and the story, the idea behind the plot were both good. But I found it to be pretty cold. I love spy movies and action, but I would have liked a bit more emotion from the main characters.
A-Team: I never watched this show when it was on TV, so I didn’t have either a base knowledge of or nostalgia for any of the A-Team references in the A-Team movie. That left me with a group of dumb guys blowing stuff up and cracking jokes…which I don’t mind. But I didn’t love it either.
Easy A: LOVED it! This teeny-bopper movie was smart, sassy and fun. And I loved it. I can’t wait until it’s on cable all the time, so I can watch it whenever I want. You know, like Mean Girls. But better.
Letters to Juliet: I’d heard that this movie was really good, but I kind of wondered if it would be a little, well, dull. I mean, reuniting old people who were in love 50 years ago? It might not sound fascinating, but it was SO good! Sweet and cute and clean – and I liked it a lot.
Karate Kid: This remake was cute. It was also two and a half hours long and a little slow. But, you know, Jackie Chan is always pretty funny. So it had that going for it.
Did you watch any movies over the holidays? What were your favorites?
We saw Tangled over break (kind of by accident) and ended up LOVING it! Great music and a great story. Loved that bar scene!
We also saw the Narnia movie (from the front row–ugh!) which was also really, reallly good. I cried like a baby at the end.
I’ve seen Letters to Juliet a couple of times and enjoyed that one too. I watch movies for the scenery (just as I read books for their setting), so this was a huge hit with me. Beautiful!
I have heard great things about the Narnia movies, but I’ve only seen the first one. I LOVED those books as a child, but I really need to re-read them as an adult. I am sure I’d pick up a lot more than I did when I read them so long ago.
This is so funny – I actually just watched Easy A last night and thought it was great! And I actually own the Mean Girls DVD, is that bad ;)?
Not bad at all. Sounds like we’ll get along at Blissdom just fine! :)
I too have loved Paul Rudd since Clueless. ;-) Thanks for all the movie reviews, I haven’t seen any of those, though Inception is toward the top of my must-see list.
Inception really was good. I wish I’d seen it in the theater, but I’ll settle for a second viewing with friends who want to dissect the whole thing with me! :)
Not necessarily on my list, but I’m told I do dissect things, so if you get it sometime while I’m there, I’d be happy to. :)
Perfect. When are you coming down?
I got Easy A for Christmas so come on over- I’ve already watched it like 4 times. Although, I don’t think anything could ever top Mean Girls. That movie is phenomenal :)
You’re right. Mean Girls IS awesome. I might have to rewatch both a few times before figuring out which I like better!
We’re lost in the 50’s so don’t usually watch too many new releases. Paid $14 to see True Grit with Jeff Bridges and it wasn’t our cup of tea. My hubby said other things but I won’t post them. The girl who played Maddie was great.
Thank you for this…there were several I had on my watch list I was wondering about.
I’m so glad you loved Easy A! I haven’t seen it yet, but when it was advertised at the theater, I really wanted to. And I felt kinda guilty about thinking it looked so good. :)) I must admit I wouldn’t have thought Letters to Juliet would be good either; maybe I’ll check it out now that you say that. I do want to see Tangled (what a good first movie for Annalyn!:) and I did grow up with A-Team, so that might be kind of fun. Other than that, I dunno… maybe the Paul Rudd one (and thanks for the mention!;)
I can only think of one movie I saw recently, and that’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Like I said before, it was better than the last 3 at least. :)
I didn’t know you’d said that about Deathly Hallows. I avoid all your HP posts so I’m not spoiled!
I’m watching Inception tonight, I’ll let you know how it goes and we can discuss!
Well…what did you think?
Thanks for the reviews! We don’t see many movies so it’s always good to know if one is worth renting.
I took Mags to Tangled and we both LOVED it. I cried, like twice. I’m such a wimp.
Me, too. BIG WIMP.
You make me really want to see inception. I had to laugh about the mind blowing and FB comments because I have seen those too :) I’m so glad your mind is still intact. We are going to watch SALT tonight. I hope it’s not too bad. We loved Tangled! It is the first girlie movie that has come out that I finally got to take my daughter to. It was fun to have a girls night out :) I found you from Blogging with amy but I have also seen your articles on (in)courage. I am looking forward to following your blog!
Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God
Thanks for stopping by, Melinda! I hope you liked Salt…you’ll have to let me know what you thought.
This is great. I’ve seen NONE of these. I used to watch the A-Team but I’m still not sure I would really want to see the movie.
I also wondered about Letters to Juliet. It seems fairly predictable. BUt it’s also my type of movie, so I think I might just rent that.
And I’m sure my girls would love Tangled. I need to get that for them.
Thanks for the recap!
Letters to Juliet is no less predictable than any other chick flick, but it had several really sweet moments that I adored.
Always so helpful to read your movie reviews! I didn’t go see nearly as many as I thought I would, and this has certainly helped! I was really wondering about “How Do You Know?” so now I’m thinking I’ll just wait for it on DVD. I can’t wait to see “Tangled”! I can’t believe we haven’t seen it yet. We LOVEEEE Zach Levi! I loved A-Team and Karate Kid both, except A-Team used a lot of God’s name in vain and a lot of language, and all unnecessarily. That was really disappointing. The second time I saw it on DVD I definitely lost interest in it. Karate Kid I’ve watched over and over though, and love it more each time! I’m hoping to get to the Narnia movie soon too. But that’s about it right now for me I think.
I need to watch the Narnia movies. I’ve only seen the first one!
Hi, Mary! The only movie I saw over the holidays was The Tourist and my LORD was it awful. I don’t really like Angelina movies anyway, but was with my M-I-L and her friend who gets sick at 3D movies (otherwise we would’ve seen Narnia…nuts!) and she was driving, so I could get out of it. Hoping to see The King’s Speech this week and pull myself out of the funk The Tourist left me in for a month :x
That is so good to know, Lindsey. I *almost* saw The Tourist twice; now I’m so glad I didn’t!
I promise we were separated at birth! Tangled may actually be my new favorite Disney movie above Aladdin, Easy A is probably going to be watched on a weekly basis now that I own it, Step Up is one of my favorite dance movies ever – just below Footloose and just above Center Stage – Letters to Juliet was adorable and I also believe Inception was brilliant – not too mind blowing that I was confused, but just enough to keep me enthralled and asking questions. There was a lot about Scott Pilgrim that I adored, but I did get a bit bored in the middle.
Awesome reviews! Thanks!
I do like Center Stage, too – but it’s definitely below Save the Last Dance for me!
OH! I did really enjoy A-Team. I watched the show as a kid, but really I just thought those actors were hilarious! It was simply a fun movie. Nothing great about the plot.