Speed Racer (PG)
What Happens in Vegas (PG-13)
Iron Man (PG-13)
Made of Honor (PG-13)
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (PG)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (PG-13)
Sex and the City (R)
The Strangers (R)
Movie Review Archive (Prior to July 2007) or search by keyword
For those of you who watched the series on HBO, “Sex and the City” has the same diverse group of cosmopolitan, New York women in search of the perfect relationship, picking up 3 years later where the series left off. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is the only one left of the “fabulous four” friends who is not in a committed relationship, which is the major focus of the movie. She and longtime on-again, off-again beau “Mr. Big” (Chris Noth), decide to commit and get married, and with Carrie’s career as a writer, the wedding becomes such a production that “Big” gets cold feet and leaves Carrie standing at the altar. Feeling dejected and humiliated, Carrie is whisked away by Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) to a posh Mexican resort, initially intended for the honeymoon. Once back in Manhattan, Carrie eventually runs in to “Big” again, and they find out if they're meant to be together. If you liked the series , you won’t be disappointed in the motion picture. The setting is exactly the same; so is the wit and wisdom of the whole ‘Sex” gang. If you missed the series, not to worry. The movie has a brief intro on all the characters to catch you up to speed. I watched several seasons of the series and thought the movie was true to form for all the familiar characters. It did seem to drag on a bit towards the end, but the humor kept me interested. Rated “R” for adult sexuality and language, it’s not for the whole family. If there’s a sequel, I’d probably go to see it. – Debra Malarchik
In The Strangers (R), it's not a matter of if someone is going to die, it's when will they finally get it over with. A young couple, Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) and James Hoyt (Scott Speedman), arrive at James's summer home after a friend's wedding. Their getaway is interrupted by an eerie knock at the door, and from there their lives continue to go downhill, as does the movie. Although I was grateful the movie lacks the usual overload of gore that most current horror movies have, the only "scary" things about it are loud noises and a few things jumping out at you. The plot becomes nonexistent as the "strangers" slowly begin finding their way into the movie. The end of the movie is just as dull as its scare tactics; there is no twist and no explanation for the intruders' actions, other than their monotonal "you're home." The rating could honestly be PG-13. The movie has hardly any language, and sexuality is at a minimum. Violence is the only objectionable content for the R rating, and even that is significantly less than most PG-13 movies today. – Michelle Cobb
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (PG-13) sees the return of Harrison Ford as the adventuring archaeologist, a few years later. It's 1957 and Indy has been kidnapped by Russian mind-control expert Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). Spalko is obsessed with artifacts of paranormal power, and believes Indy can help her track one down. It's only when Mutt Williams comes to Indy and asks for help in tracking down his parents that Indy really gets on the trail of the crystal skull. Karen Allen again plays the feisty and adventurous Marion Ravenwood, along with John Hurt as Professor Oxley, and Jim Broadbent appears as Indy's professor friend Dean Charles Stanforth.
I fondly remember the Indiana Jones movies I watched in my childhood, excepting one scene involving monkey brains, and I've come to expect a certain level of entertainment from my Indiana Jones movies. When I heard the negative reviews, I went in trying not to expect anything, but I couldn't help it. It's Indy up there on the screen, complete with theme music and whip, but he's mired in a plot that is, at times, entirely incomprehensible. The villains are cartoonish, the action sequences are over the top, and the ending has to be seen to be believed. And all that may be true about the other movies in the series, but never before has it seemed quite so crazy. My friend who went with me entirely disagreed and called it the least hokey of them all, and really enjoyed it; so it's up to you to decide. Rating is for action sequences and some scary images. – Ashley Merrill
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (PG) opens in Narnia, where one child is being born and another, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), is threatened. He flees for the woods and toward the wild country, taking the final gift from his professor, Queen Susan's horn. In our world, the four Pevensie children from the first movie are back in London, about to begin another school year, while the memories of their lives in Narnia make them feel out of place. When he's in trouble, Caspian blows the horn, and the Pevensies are drawn back into a Narnia that is 1300 years from their untroubled reign. Everyone expects them to be older and is disappointed to find they return as children, including the dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage). In the meantime, Caspian is forced to stand for his life and his rightful crown against his uncle the usurper King Miraz. The lengths to which they must go to free Narnia from the Telmarines are tremendous, and test all the children.
While this adaptation is not entirely faithful to the actual book, it does a good job of putting the story on the screen. I was especially charmed by the choice for Reepicheep the mouse's voice, and the stunning visuals make me excited for the rest of the series. Some of the scenes are a little scary, especially some of the battle ones, so younger children might not do well with this movie, either attention-wise or content-wise. – Ashley Merrill
Speed Racer (PG) is a turbo-charged story of the Racer Family. The movie is a live-action version of a 1960’s anime television series that originated in Japan and later made its way into America.
Racing is in the blood of the Racer Family. The father (John Goodman) designs racecars, the eldest son Rex was a well-known racer who had set records in the World Racing League.
His younger brother Speed (Emile Hirsch) sets out to try and break those records .
Instead of trying to break records, Speed finds himself trying to combat the dark side of racing.
The Wachowski Brothers, known for their work on V is for Vendetta, pack Speed Racer with so much eye candy viewers will leave with a feeling of sugar shock.
The movie contains a few curse words. The fast pace makes it hard to follow the storyline early on, however, families with elementary-school aged children should enjoy the racing thriller. - Jon Therrien
What Happens in Vegas (PG-13) - Ashton Kutcher plays Jack, a womanizing carpenter who has just been sacked by his father (Treat Williams) for not taking his job seriously. His best friend Steve (Rob Corddry) persuades him to take a trip to Las Vegas to cheer himself up. Buttoned-up, New York based commodities trader Joy (Cameron Diaz)'s best friend Tipper (Lake Bell) has persuaded her to embark on a Vegas cheer-yourself-up bender because she's just been dumped by her fiancé (Jason Sudeikis).
With the alcohol freely flowing, Jack and Joy have a wild night together, after which they wake up to find themselves married and then quickly fall out, just before winning a $3 million slot machine jackpot.
Back in New York, they appear before a judge (Dennis Miller), who delivers one great line: "Gay people aren't ruining the sanctity of marriage. People like you are!" But then, the judge announces -- "I sentence you to six months' hard marriage!" He froze their winnings and sentencing them to live together for six months and see a counselor (Queen Latifah) before he'll grant them a divorce and divide up the loot. So Jack and Joy live together with the attitude and all the comedy actions of if I can annoy him/her enough to quit, I will get all the money.
Kutcher, Diaz, Corddry and Bell deliver a spirited comic performance. Be prepared to laugh hard at some of the scenes. As with Made of Honor, this movie was predictable, but is still a good romantic comedy, even though it had more comedy than romance. Is this movie worth seeing? Despite the silly plot, the comic performances deliver plenty of laughs and ensure that What Happens In Vegas is worth seeing. – Lucy Brower
Iron Man (PG-13) stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the privileged genius behind Stark Enterprises. Stark's business is making weapons, and it's a business he does well. He has an exclusive contract with the American government to provide new weapons for them, and his buddy Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard) is an Air Force pilot. Stark goes to the Middle East to demonstrate a new weapon, the Jericho missile system, when he is kidnapped and forced to recreate it for a band of terrorists. Instead, Stark, with the assistance of a captive doctor, creates Iron Man.
I haven't read any Iron Man comic books, and I knew next to nothing about the character going into the movie, but it was a blast. Downey is a great actor, and he does an awesome job with Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as his assistant Pepper Potts, and while I usually find her irritating, she didn't irk me in this film. Jeff Bridges also stars as Stark's business partner Obadiah Stone. Rating is for violence and action, and brief suggestive content. - Ashley Merrill
Made of Honor (PG-13) Millionaire Tom (Patrick Dempsey) lives the perfect life. Girls, cars and a completely self-serving set of rules mean that his only real attachment is to his best friend Hannah (Michelle Monaghan). Their platonic relationship has been a crutch for both of them for the past 10 years. Tom is preparing to tell Hannah that he is in love with her, but Hannah has returned from a month long trip to Scotland with some big news of her own: She's now engaged to Colin (Kevin McKidd), a wealthy Scotsman that she met while she was in Europe. Desperate to stop the wedding and tell Hannah how he really feels, he accepts the role of ‘Maid of Honor’ for the upcoming wedding and works from the inside. Unable to tell Hannah sooner, they end up going for the elaborate ceremony in Scotland, but is it too late for Tom?
This romantic comedy is overly familiar and very predictable. It combines both "When Harry Met Sally" and "My Best Friend's Wedding". I really did enjoy this movie even with its predictability. It’s a chick flick all the way, but my husband seemed to enjoy it too. It had humor that he could relate to.
"Made of Honor" is rated PG-13 for crude sexual humor and language, some strong profanity, comic violence, brief nudity, derogatory slurs, and some brief sexual content. - Lucy Brower