Too Many Movies, Too Little Time

Sometimes I worry about how much I love to read and go to movies.

I seem happy enough with my life; why do both of my favourite pastimes involve escaping into the lives of others?

Oh well, maybe a little too deep for a lazy Saturday morning.

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I've seen two movies in the last week - both movies chosen to please others, but both movies that I enjoyed.

Tuesday evening (my regular "movie night" - Main Man and I alternate Tuesday evenings out to the show with friends. Tuesdays are written in stone - sacred.), my "movie buddy" from work and I went to Stormbreaker. My friend wanted to see it, and I felt I maybe should see it, as it it based on the popular young adult book by Anthony Horowitz, featuring reluctant teen spy Alex Rider. The kids - especially the boys - in my class are lapping up these books, and the timing of the movie couldn't be better.

Anyway, Stormbreaker was actually pretty good, and I'm glad I saw it. I know my boys will love it. Basically, Alex Rider is a fourteen-year-old James Bond, complete with gadgetry and even an ever-so-subtle Bond girl. Warning: as you might expect, there is a certain amount of violence, such as explosions, car crashes, martial arts sequences, and shootings.

Commercial break: We have discovered a great website that rates movies on sex/nudity, violence/gore, and profanity for kids. It breaks movies down to the bare bones in these categories and describes exactly what your kids will be watching in the movie. It also give a rating out of ten in each category. If you are a parent who has ever stood at the video store, wondering, wondering, wondering if a certain movie would be appropriate or not, you have to bookmark Kids in Mind. And now, back to our regular programming......

I read on IMDB that the role of Alex Rider in Stormbreaker was one of the most physically demanding roles ever created for a teenager, and I believe it. As I watched some of the fight scenes, I remember thinking, "Yeah, right, no fourteen-year-old kid would have muscles like that!" But it turns out, Alex Pettyfer (the actor) is sixteen years old, so I guess it's almost possible.

Last night, we rented Stick It, on the request of #1. I was wary, thinking he just wanted to see the girls in gymnastic leotards, but it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.

It's the story of Haley Graham, a girl whose life seems to be falling apart: she's devastated by her parents' divorce, she's literally walked away from a promising gymnastics career, and she's having run-ins with the law.

She is "sentenced" to attend a gymnastics training school, and, of course, turns out to be the rebel without a cause. Eventually, though, she finds a cause, and I found the indictment of several aspects of high-level gymnastic competition enlightening.

Nothing seems sacred in this movie except the competitors. On the chopping block are over-ambitious coaches, meddling stage-mothers, and ridiculous judging rules.

Comedy breaks work well, too, as two of Haley's friends from her "wrong side of the law" days visit her at the gym school and inject their own interesting perspective.

Not half bad for a Friday night family video.