Reviews by Jennifer

• January 7, 2009
• Moviepie Musings

For me the movies of 2008 can be summed up in one word: disappointment. It seemed like I was forever waiting for something to come out (i.e. Rambo, 88 Minutes, and Righteous Kill) only to be grossly disappointed once it finally did. My best trip to the movies centered...

• December 29, 2008
• At Home, Drama, Romance, War

American Son is a timely, thoughtful indie film about a young man named Mike (Nick Cannon) who is about to be deployed to Iraq.  Only a four-day Thanksgiving holiday stands between him and the scariest undertaking of his life, so Mike catches a bus to Bakersfield to spend time...

• December 16, 2008
• At Home, Drama, Romance

Nicholas Sparks is clearly an agent of evil. Who else can write stories that are sappier than maple syrup and still win you over in the end? I made fun of Nights in Rodanthe right up until the last five minutes of the movie. I heckled it. I mocked...

• November 26, 2008
• At Home, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Fred Claus has issues. For one thing, he’s spent most of his life living in the shadow of his saintly brother, Nicholas (yes, Saint Nicholas, a rotund goody-goody of a little boy who grows into the man we all know and love as Santa Claus). This has caused a...

• November 25, 2008
• Books

I have always held Robert Wagner in high esteem. He’s one of those “handsome actor” types who is as adept at being gorgeous as he is at being funny. I grew up watching him on Hart to Hart, and relished every moment of his role as #2 in the...

• October 27, 2008
• At Home, Western

All good things must come to an end, but after four hours, I still couldn’t get enough of Broken Trail. Set in 1897, this compelling mini-series follows Print Ritter (Robert Duvall) and his nephew, Tom (Thomas Hayden Church), as they drive five hundred horses from Oregon to Wyoming. Though...

• October 23, 2008
• Action, Adventure, At Home, Comedy

One of my favorite things about classic Rankin Bass specials is that they’re as quirky as they are endearing. They don’t just give you traditional holiday tales, they throw in random details like the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and they send familiar characters...

• June 27, 2008
• Action, At Home, Television

After watching Season 2 of CHiPs in its entirety, I think I’ve found my calling. Seeing all those chases and rescues inspired something in me, something that made me watch four hour-long episodes in a row, even when it was getting to be 2:00 a.m. and I knew I...

• February 28, 2008
• At Home, Drama, Family

I have spent my entire life laboring under the impression that International Velvet is very old and stars Elizabeth Taylor in a sequel to her own National Velvet. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was released in my lifetime, and stars Tatum O’Neal, Christopher Plummer, and Anthony...

• February 23, 2008
• Animation, At Home, Family

I like the Peanuts gang as much as the next person, but they have given me moments of pause in my life. Like when I was six and they ran some sort of Snoopy/Red Baron special that just went on and on, and at first I thought, “Look it’s...

• January 29, 2008
• At Home, Drama

The Miriam Collection edition of El Cid is truly a sight to behold. First there’s the stately cream-colored box that you almost don’t want to touch for fear of getting grubby fingerprints all over it. Then you open it up and find a gorgeous set of six stills from...

• January 21, 2008
• Adventure, Animation, At Home, Comedy

There’s nothing like an overly-complicated kid’s movie to make you feel like an absolute moron. There are so many things to like about Arthur and the Invisibles, but at a certain point, I felt like I lost the plot. Either I was too busy trying to identify the famous...