Dear John

PG-13
Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried & Richard Jenkins
1 Hour & 48 Minutes

This is a romantic, highly-anticipated chick flick geared directly for young women. The story is about a young and handsome soldier named John who is very troubled and confused about his past and his childhood. His mother left he and his father when he was a small child, so he was raised exclusively by his father. His father was very quiet and hardly ever spoke to him. His father immersed himself in coin collecting. John's childhood memories revolve completely around his father's coin collecting.
He enlists in the Army's "special ops" division and is sent to dangerous places all over the world. Many of his mission's are highly classified. While he is sent home for some R & R, he meets a beautiful young woman whom he starts a relationship with. She comes from a well to do cultured family and background. Her friends are not happy that she is seeing this new stranger. He keeps pursuing her and she falls for him. A confrontation and physical fight ensues between him and her friends and he is labeled by them as an outsider.
Their love continues to grow stronger and they cannot stop seeing each other. She insists on meeting his father who is pretty much a recluse. He is reluctant and finally allows her to meet his father. He has to go back to his special ops mission and they cannot bear to be apart. He waits everyday to receive letters from her. When he finally receives his infamous "Dear John" letter, he is devastated. She decided to marry another man! He is severely injured in a roadside bomb and he is sent home. His father also passes away and he is very lonely! He decides to go and visit her and she did not marry the man he thought she had. She married a man who was very ill and had a young son with special needs.
They finally end up together after many years.
This was a movie that was very touching and really gave you insight into a soldier's life in the battlefield.
I would recommend this movie to people thirteen years and older. Be advised that there is a love scene with kissing and intimacy.
There is some mild profanity and some physical violence as well as realistic violence on the battlefield. There is also drinking. I really enjoyed this movie and it really made me appreciate living in America!

The Blind Side

PG-13
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates and Quinton Aaron. 2 Hours & 6 Minutes
This is the outstanding true sports drama about all American football star Michael Oher.
Michael Oher played by Quinton Aaron stars as a practically homeless struggling high school student. He has had a very difficult childhood. He has been raised by his mother who has drug and alcohol issues and is incapable of being depended on. They live in a very depressed area where crime runs rampant.
He is found walking down the road on a cold and dreary night when he is taken in by the Tuohy family of Nashville, Tennessee.
Leigh Ann Tuohy played by Sandra Bullock is a great person and a very caring mother and immediately takes him under her wing. The whole Tuohy family finds themselves drawn to Michael and they decide to ask him if he would like to stay with them.They each form their own special relationship with him. Mr. and Mrs. Tuohy become his legal guardians. They hire a tutor to help him with his education and to raise his GPA. They also talk to the football coach and get him on the high school team. After working and practicing very hard he starts to succeed. Mrs. Tuohy has to show him how to guard his teammates so he finally understands his position. Then he really excels and helps them to win many games. When the college coach's hear about Michael, they all become interested and they all beg him to attend their universities each with prestigious football programs.
He goes on to graduate from high school and he decides to attend "Ole Miss"(the Tuohy's alma mater) for his university career. Michael succeeded at "Ole Miss" and was drafted by the NFL to play for The Baltimore Ravens in 2009. This was a great heartwarming story that just makes you feel good and believe in mankind again. I would recommend it for anyone over 13 years old. It is rated PG-13 for brief violence, sexual and drug references. Blind Side has been nominated for two Oscars. One for The Best Picture category and the other for The Best Actress category. I personally think Sandra Bullock deserves this award. She was spectacular in this role.

When In Rome

PG-13
Starring: Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel and Dax Shepard
1 Hour & 31 Minutes

A fun and happy movie to help beat the winter doldrums. This story is about a darling young girl who is a workaholic. She is recovering from a relationship that has gone bad. She goes to Rome to attend her sister's wedding. While she is there she makes the mistake of taking several coins out of a fountain and taking them back home with her. Each coin represents a man who automatically falls in love with her. They will go to any length to earn her affection. Two of the characters are Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez from the Napolean Dynamite movie. It was fun to see them reunited on the big screen again.
Her sister informs her that all of the men who are chasing her are doing so because of the coins she took from the fountain.
Her heart is stolen by Josh Duhamel. However she is under the impression that he only loves her because of the power of the coins. She finally realizes after many twists and turns that he is genuinely in love with her.
This is a movie that is appropriate for ages 13 and up.

Fame

PG
Starring: Debbie Allen & Kelsey Grammer
With a whole new cast of talented young people: Naturi Naughton, Collins Penne, Kay Panabaker, Asher Book, Kherington Payne, Walter Perez, Anna Maria Perez De Tagle, Paul Iacono, Kristy Flores & Paul McGill.
1 hour & 47 Minutes

This is a re-make of the 1980 classic film that follows the students as they audition to get accepted into The Performing Arts High School in New York City. It continues on as they are Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors and then finally, Seniors.
It just shows the students and their individual stories with their successes and failures and the difficulty in trying to achieve their goals. They must attain at least a C average or they will automatically be suspended from the Performing Arts School. Each of these students has a talent that is showcased and I found it quite entertaining. I enjoyed all of their talents and how they worked to develop them. I enjoyed the music and the dancing too.
This movie is geared to a younger audience, but if you enjoy current music and dance, you will enjoy this movie.
This is a movie for teens and adults.
This movie is rated PG for thematic elements. It contains some strong language, kissing and under-age drinking.

Surrogates

PG-13
Starring: Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell
1 Hour & 29 Minutes

This movie is based on the novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.
Five minutes into this movie I knew it was going to be a major disappointment. I was hoping for an exciting thriller with twists and turns, and it just did not deliver.
People own their own personal "Surrogates" to take over for them and live their lives for them. The "real" person spends their time in a special chair/bed device which makes them capable of experiencing everything their surrogate experiences. They have the same feelings and emotions and they have total control of their Surrogate. The Surrogate is designed to keep the "real" person safe and out of harms way. They design their own Surrogates. In looks, the Surrogates are absolutely perfect. Bruce Willis' Surrogate sports a blond wig which looks ridiculous on him.
Someone has invented a special gun which can shoot the Surrogate and actually kill the real person. The storyline follows Bruce Willis' quest to find out who invented the gun and stop them. Willis plays FBI Agent Thomas Greer. His Surrogate is attacked by humans who are fed up with technology. They shoot him, stab him, beat him up and set him on fire. The real Agent Greer takes over the case and it leads him to a very sick evil man who is causing all the trouble. There is also a character called "the prophet" played by Ving Rhames who rules over the robot-free people. His character was unbelievable and ends up being a robot himself. It is all just too much and to me was completely ridiculous. I would not waste the price of a movie ticket on this movie.
Surrogates is a Sci Fi Action thriller which contains: violence, language, sexuality and a drug-scene.

G-FORCE

PG
Featuring the voices of: Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz & Sam Rockwell
1 Hour & 30 Minutes

Jerry Bruckheimer's first Digital 3D movie. This movie is about a team of special guinea pig's trained to be official espionage agents for the FBI. They were trained because of their intelligence and their small size to be able to go places that humans cannot.
They were confronted with an evil mole who turned everyday appliances into a giant robot with magnetic powers to pull space debris down to earth to force the human race underground.
The story was lame and silly for adults. Children will appreciate this animated movie it also has your typical crude potty humor which children seem to enjoy. Also, some mild guinea pig abuse by a young teenage boy.
However, the 3D special effect's were very good and it was really crisp and clean.
You can take your children they will be entertained and you will have some time to relax.
Crude humor and mild action.

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince

PG
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Tom Felton
2 Hours & 33 Minutes

This movie is based on the sixth book.
The movie begins with the wizard world going crazy and attacking London. The Death Eaters cause violence and turmoil when they use their very destructive evil powers to wreak havoc and cause fear and agony.
This is a coming of age Harry Potter. He discovers that he is the "Chosen One" and he also discovers that he is starting to have romantic feeling's for Ginny Weasley.
Draco Malfoy is also a "Chosen One" by the Dark Lord Voldemort. They have an intense battle in a large bathroom in Hogwart's where Harry nearly kills Draco.
It also follows Ron Weasley and Hermoine Grange as they struggle to find their own feelings for each other.
There was a great game of Quidditch and the special effect's in this movie were astounding. The audience was absolutely riveted and spellbound. You could have heard a pin drop in the theater and the theater was completely packed! Be advised this movie does contain several scary scenes which may be too intense for younger children.
There were scary images, some violence, and mild sensuality.