The Lovely Bones (2004)

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Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

UPDATE: This review is for the book, not the movie

How do you make a beautiful story out of the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl? You let Alice Sebold write it. I bought this book a while back but hadn’t had the guts to dig in – just couldn’t wrap my mind around the premise. I needn’t have worried. Though there are a couple of missteps, or rather “unnecessary detours” which I will discuss in more since they are spoilers, all in all it is a wonderful ride.

I have not yet decided whether to recommend this to my sister, as the Heaven presented here is not the one she believes in. But the way it follows the characters and their different grieving processes is remarkable. Those type of questions cost it on the word of mouth scale, which you may remember is based not on how good the product is but on how likely I am to recommend it to my family & friends.

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Shrek 2 (2004)

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Shrek 2

Shrek 2

Princess Fiona’s parents invite her and Shrek to dinner to celebrate her marriage. If only they knew the newlyweds were both ogres.

A movie that survives as a sequel. Loved all the references to other films, love Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy, love John Cleese and Julie Andrews. Don’t get why they needed Cameron Diaz in the part, let alone paying her $20 million to do it – she doesn’t bring anything extra to the role. We laughed straight through, I would definitely watch this one again. And again.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 89%; Audience 69%

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

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Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

It’s Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts; not only does he have a new “Defense Against the Dark Arts” teacher, but there is also trouble brewing. Convicted murderer Sirius Black has escaped the Wizards’ Prison and is coming after Harry.

I liked this one, for all the reasons I enjoy the Harry Potter stories. Unfortunately, having read the book, this movie fell short – not just for what they left out but for the whole feeling of the flick. Though still quite an amusing film it suffers in comparison to the first two – just not up to par.

Still; it’s a Harry Potter movie, the young stars are great, the story is intriguing. If I was not familiar with the original story, or the first two films, it would be getting a higher rating.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 91%; Audience 85%

About A Boy (2002)

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About a Boy

About a Boy

So, last night S.O. Man suggests we “do something together”

Great. Sounds good to me.

“Hey, let’s rent a movie. We’ll get something you want to see, a chick flick – how about Basic?”

That’s what he considers a chick flick? Well, there is a chick in it ~ I think. I heard it was incredibly bad and I am not in the mood for a bad John Travolta movie (of which there are many)

Fortunately, I managed to get “About a Boy” instead. I had heard it was quite good, and I really enjoy Toni Collette’s work. Happy to report it was a nice movie. A middle-aged man coming of age story. Heartwarming, moving, funny and all that.

I enjoyed it and it got S.O Man laughing. A smashing success.

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 93%; Audience 51%

Pay It Forward (2000)

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Pay It Forward

Pay It Forward

OK, so I am a bit behind. We just saw this movie Thursday. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think I would ever watch it because of the Helen Hunt factor [how does this horrible actress keep getting parts?] In the end, Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment were too promising to pass up. The movie was generally nice, Spacey and Osment were moving (boy does that kid sell the “I’m brokenhearted” look!), Hunt didn’t suck any more than expected, Angie Dickinson was amusing as a bag lady. I do have a gripe, however – but don’t read any further if you haven’t seen the movie yet…

Rotten Tomatoes: 40% critics, 82% users

I give it 3.5 because it is the kind of movie most of my family & friends would/will enjoy

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