Jerry Howell

This flick was of interest to me for two reasons: One, my mom is a longtime fan of Broadway musicals, especially this one, so, I grew up hearing the songs and knowing the story. While I've never read the Victor Hugo novel--I know; what kind of reader am I?--I've become familiar with it thanks to its various interpretations. Two, Anne Hathaway is an old Hollywood "flame" of mine. In March of 2005, she replaced Hilary Duff as my number one favorite female celebrity after I saw Ella Enchanted thanks to a friend's recommendation. (Believe it or not, not only was that friend of the male gender, he was a former drill sergeant; no joke!) So, when I saw this recently at a garage sale, I knew I had to give it a whirl.

In short: I was blown away. The grand scope of the story; the performances, especially from Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Samantha Barks; the authentic sets; the musical numbers; pretty much everything about this flick wowed me. Better yet, it portrayed faith in God in a positive light; so much so, I almost felt like I was watching a Pure Flix production at times. An appearance by original Broadway cast member Colm Wilkinson was a plus. Not since the celluloid adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera have I been this impressed with such a film. Despite their popularity and my penchant for Disney Channel media, even the High School Musical and Camp Rock flicks didn't have such an effect on me.

However, I did have one quibble: There were certain moments that I found unnecessary. I understand that violence and sex were a big part of the original novel, and any faithful adaptation would have to be at least "PG-13"; still, there were a few brief scenes that could have been left out, and that would have embarrassed me if I'd had a friend--especially one from my church--watching it with me. So, discerning viewers may want to proceed with caution.

When Disney bought Marvel, people had a lot of questions: How would the universes of beloved characters such as Spider-Man, the X-Men, or the Avengers be affected? Some people had their doubts, and rightfully so; when the Mouse owned Saban, the Power Rangers seasons they produced are still to this day widely considered to be the worst, and many longtime space opera fans feel that The Last Jedi was a shark-jumping moment for Star Wars. Still, Disney has gotten their own franchises wrong, too; The Lizzie McGuire Movie may have been the first theatrically released film to be the series finale of a television show, but it betrayed the now-iconic sitcom on which it was based. So, they could have either hit a home run...or completely strike out.

Well, if this movie is any indication, then Mickey's ownership of Marvel is working very well. This film packed a punch unlike any animated movie I've seen in a while. Some scenes made me almost tear up, whereas others made me want to cheer. The animation was outstanding; seriously, it was on par with Pixar's creations. As usual, there was plenty of action and heroism, not to mention a cameo by Stan Lee, albeit one after the credits.

However, I do have to warn viewers that, though this movie was amazing, it is also very emotional. Early in the movie, the main character's brother is killed; later on, multiple characters are feared dead, including the protagonist's robotic companion. For those who can't handle seeing such tragedy because of events in their own lives, it might be best to avoid this.

I've always been a fan of strong female characters. My first celebrity crush was the original Pink Power Ranger, and most of the ones I've had since were best known for playing characters who were both powerful and feminine: Lizzie McGuire, Mindy McConnell, Mia Thermopolis, Maddie Fitzpatrick, etc. When I was a senior in high school, I wrote a novel (of sorts) about a super-heroine who, alongside her best friend/significant other, saved her entire town from the threat of a dastardly villain. Part of it was inspired by the first two Tobey Maguire Spider-Man flicks; however, I would never have even come up with such an idea if I hadn't seen my high school's production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers...which featured a longtime female friend of mine as its lead. Looking back, I think the Disney sitcoms were a big influence, too.

So, to see a film center around a superhero of the fairer sex is a dream come true. True, we already got that when Gal Gadot wowed the world as Wonder Woman; still, Captain Marvel features a former Disney actress as its lead, so, in a way, I was more eager to see her flick than Diana Prince's. The fact that it takes place in the 1990s--complete with grunge music on the soundtrack and a scene in a Blockbuster Video location--had my curiosity piqued even more.

While good for what it was, it wasn't quite what I've come to expect from Marvel. Superhero movies usually have epic battles and lots of excitement; though there was some action towards the end, parts of this film were a bit dull. Brie Larson is attractive, but, her acting leaving something to be desired here. If this wasn't a Marvel flick and didn't feature a female superhero, I wonder if it would have gotten nearly as much acclaim as it has.

I'm a sucker for a story.

Seriously, anytime I hear, read, or see a story--in any form--I always want to know what happened next. I still remember years-old incidents where somehow--flipping channels, being at a friends' house, a technical problem, etc.--I saw only part of a movie or show; to this day, I wonder what happened before or after what I saw. True, some tales are not worth telling; if it's morally offensive, I don't want to hear any part of it. However, as long as it isn't sinful, pretty much any story can grab my attention.

So, despite the critical drubbing this movie got, I found it to be a captivating tale of redemption, with a charming historical setting. The performances were wonderful, and the production values were amazing. It seems to me that the critics were just too hard on this movie because it fell into the genre of Christian cinema. I would say that we need more films--and, for that matter, television shows--like this.

Then again, I'm such a sucker for a story that I stayed up past midnight to finish watching The Witches of Oz, which had the worst special effects I've ever seen, so, maybe I'm not a fair judge. To adapt an old song lyric, "Here I am now; entertain me!" That's what this movie did; you may feel differently.

(I do want to issue a content concern: This film has a surprising amount of violence; more than I would expect in a "PG". The initial shock I had while watching this is akin to what many people felt when Prince Caspian first came out. While there's no blood or gore, the intensity of the action made me feel like this should have been "PG-13" instead.)

First off, a little personal history: All the way back in 1995, I received a computer game as a Christmas gift called Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon. My mom didn't even know what it was; I still can hear her saying, "What is that? A golf game?" Despite its title, it had nothing to do with any sport; Putt-Putt was actually an anthropomorphic purple convertible that actually gets launched on a rocket to the Moon while visiting a fireworks factory. As the game progresses, that titular vehicle does everything from save an alien from moon goo to play the arcade game Bear Stormin' to meet up with an abandoned NASA Rover...and, eventually makes it back to terra firma. I quickly got addicted to that game, and soon got my hands on not only other Putt-Putt titles, but also others from the same developer, Humongous Entertainment. One of their games, Let's Explore the Airport, I awaited owning for well over a year, playing the demo to death the whole time. Words can't describe my excitement when my mom randomly decided to purchase it for me as an end-of-school reward.

Fast forward to 2004: I hadn't touched any Humongous Entertainment games in years, but I did fondly remember playing them on my first Mac, which was long gone. That November, I went with some friends from church to see The Incredibles in theaters, where the trailer for the first Cars flick was unveiled. As you can imagine, those Putt-Putt games were the first thing I thought of; it was almost like a 3-D version of a childhood favorite. I actually didn't see Cars until well after it came out on DVD, but I enjoyed it, particularly the vehicle-themed spoofs of other Pixar films during the end credits.

That was years ago; the Cars franchise is now a trilogy, and I'm just now seeing the second outing. What did I think? Honestly, I had a blast with it; the action and intensity was on point, and Mater's triumph over dire circumstances was very inspiring. I loved the voice actors, especially the female British spy, Holley Shiftwell. As usual, the animation was excellent. Despite what some people may think, I think this is another winner from the studio that pioneered computer animation; it was vastly superior to the last one I sat through: the dreadful, nerve-grating Incredibles 2. If you like family-friendly action/adventure flicks, this one is for you.

This is a review of both parts of "Broken Bow".

I was very late to the party with Star Trek; I hadn't even watched one of the films in its entirety until I borrowed Nemesis from the library, which was like starting a TV show by watching the series finale. It took me a while, but, I eventually got into the franchise, in both The Original Series and Next Generation form, not to mention the J. J. Abrams films. Still, like usual for me, I liked the television episodes better than the flicks. Since I'm already well into the second season of two other Star Trek series, I thought: Why not give another one a try? After all, my local library has the entire series of Enterprise on DVD.

So...what did I think? I would say that, just like TNG, this series started off a bit roughly. While I liked the plot and the action, the episode ran a bit too long, the theme music was terrible, and some of the computer animation was cheesy, especially for something made in the 2000s. There were some content concerns as well: While I expected occasional profanity, the language quotient was higher than I would have liked, and I definitely could have done without seeing T'Pol in a tight, midriff-baring outfit alongside a shirtless guy.

Still, a premiere episode doesn't define a series; if I'd stopped watching The Next Generation after the mess that was "Encounter at Farpoint," I'd be missing out on a lot! So, I'll keep watching; I won't say the only way to go from here is up, because it isn't...but, there's still plenty of room for improvement.

I've been a fan of Scooby-Doo for over two decades. Ever since a family member introduced me to it just as I was finishing fourth grade, I've enjoyed "those meddling kids" in various forms: television shows, movies (both animated and live-action), books, comics, and even a soundtrack on audio cassette. For the first two years or so after getting into it, I was known--for good or for ill--for being a big fan of the franchise.

When I heard that they were making a movie that told the origin story of Daphne and Velma, it sounded like something worth checking out; while Scooby may have been the most popular character, I liked the whole gang (well, except shark-jumper Scrappy.) The fact that the two leads were played by Sarah Gilman (I Didn't Do It) and Sarah Hyland (Geek Charming) only sweetened the deal.

However, I barely started it when I considered giving up on it; even though I didn't, it didn't get any better. If this was supposed to be the early days of two teenaged characters who first appeared in 1969, then, why do they have modern conveniences, not to mention technology that seems like something out of Spider-Man 2099? As much as I like Brian Stepanek (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), he was just plain stupid here; I wonder how he felt playing such an inane role. Also, this movie betrays its "G" rating; while there's no profanity or sexual content, the scariness--which is more intense than anything in the old-school Where Are You! cartoons, partly due to the live-action setting--should have earned a "PG," and is likely to frighten youngsters, even ones who have seen the original show.

I do have to give the makers credit; they didn't decide to add drug references ("What's your name?" "Mary Jane." "Like, that is my favorite name!"), occultic plot devices, or profanity like they did in the first live-action flick featuring "those meddling kids". Still, just like in the case of the Mystery Incorporated cartoon, I think this is an insult to the legacy of Hanna and Barbera; they were likely turning in their graves at the release of this butchering of their most popular creation.