The Host

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, William Hurt, Max Irons, Jake Abel and Chandler Canterbury,
PG-13

Stephanie Meyer, the incredibly popular author of "The Twilight" series, is at it again. She wrote the novel "The Host", which this movie is based on. She once again focuses on the young female genre for her audience. This movie is about aliens that have come to earth to take over the human race. Their motivation is to find humans and implant them with a glowing centipede type of creature that completely alters and takes over their body and their identity! After the alien transformation takes place, the victims eye color changes to a bright blue with a white circle around it. As with the "Twilight" series, she centers her main character around a beautiful young woman, Melanie/Wanda (Saoirse Ronan), as a very conflicted young woman who has had her body taken over by the aliens also know as the "Seekers"! However, her real identity as Melanie has remained alive and now she and her body host Wanda as a new personality inside her body. Wanda has more dominion than Melanie and therefore is stronger than her. Melanie has to learn to accept this condition and move forward to try and save her younger brother and the few remaining family and friends that are hiding in a remote mountain bunker, before they are discovered and taken over as well. After the transformation takes place, she manages to escape her captors and heads out to find her people. She has an internal struggle with Wanda and ends up in a bad car wreck out in the middle of nowhere. When the Seekers discover she is missing, they set out to find her to bring her back. After wandering in the desert aimlessly for a couple of days, her people find her and take her back where she is safe with them. When they discover she has been transformed and her eyes are different, many of them do not trust her and they are reluctant to have her there with them and feel that she is a threat.
Now it gets even more complicated. Melanie had previously been in a relationship with a very handsome young man named Jared (Max Irons), now he is angry and feels that he has been betrayed and has lost her forever. Next enter Ian (Jake Abel) also a very handsome young man who takes sympathy on her, befriends her and starts to have a relationship with Wanda. This becomes very strange and uncomfortable. She finds herself able to turn on her Melanie personality for Jared and her Wanda personality for Ian. A unique and unusual love triangle to say the least.
All in all, it was a very different movie. It did keep my interest and I found the plot and the story unique. This movie will definitely appeal to the young female audiences! After the screening of the movie was over, the young audience erupted in applause! My own daughter went with me to the screening and she had read the book three times! She was very excited to see it and was curious to see how they were going to portray the book on screen. She enjoyed the movie but liked the book a lot more.
I would recommend this movie for children twelve and over. There are some disturbing images, some sexual situations and some scary situations.
I am giving "The Host" two and a half bags of popcorn!

The Croods

PG
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke.
Running Time: 1 Hour and  38 Minutes

This is a story about a family that takes place in the caveman era. They are one of the only remaining cave families that have managed to survive during this very predatory time. This family consists of the very protective father Grug (Nicholas Cage), the mother Ugga (Catherine Keener), the grandmother Gran (Cloris Leachman), daughter Eep (Emma Stone), son Thunk (Clark Duke) and Guy (Ryan Reynolds).
Grug is trying with every fiber of his being just to keep his family safe, fed and alive which is very difficult with so many outside influences trying to attack and devour them constantly!
They have a cave where they live and stay for weeks on end when they are being pursued. When they finally get an opportunity to venture out of the cave and hunt for food, it is always a fiasco!
They encounter every kind of enemy that you can possibly imagine. Every living creature tries desperately to confuse and stalk them into being their next meal!
Grug is very protective and is constantly trying to fend for his family, but his daughter Eep is fiercely  independent and is growing weary of their lifestyle. She is tired of constantly living and staying inside the cave. She yearns for sunlight and wants her freedom. One night she sees a light outside of their cave and slides through the small opening and runs after it. She discovers a torch that is lit with a small fire! She is very intrigued by this and then discovers a young caveman Guy, who invented this fire! When Grug discovers she is gone he goes out and searches for her. He finds her and brings her back.
After their cave is destroyed when the earth moves, they are forced to leave and find a new residence. Once again they are up against all the odds.
They encounter Guy, the young caveman again and after struggling to befriend him, Grug finally accepts him and allows him to stay with their family. He finds out that Guy is full of new ideas that can benefit and help them out. Grug becomes impatient and upset with himself and feels that he has no ideas and nothing new to offer his family.
Once again, they encounter all kinds of calamities and hardships, but they stay together through thick and thin because of their great love for one another!
The father and daughter finally come to terms with their relationship and discover they have a bond that cannot be broke!
This was a beautifully animated movie! The colors are rich and vibrant, the scenery is lush with vegetation.
It was a sweet story of love and commitment and family togetherness. I felt like they were somewhat mocking the father and making him look a little bit unstable, I also got tired of the innuendos of the father wanting the grandmother to die.
Overall, I feel like this is a movie that children age five and over will enjoy, they will get a kick out of the story and all of the unique characters. Some of the characters are a little intimidating, but not anything that will really scare them.
I am giving "The Croods" two and a half bags of popcorn!