Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules I saw the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid and loved it. It was funny and heartwarming and had great lessons in it for all of us. My kids saw "Roderick Rules" before I did and they told me it was really funny so I expected the same thing from this second movie (based on the books by Jeff Kinney). It does end up to be funny and heartwarming with great lessons but first you have to wade through some of the most embarrassing, gut-wrenching, and awful times of young Greg's life. (Don't even get me started on the character of "Fregley"!)
I didn't particularly like the character of Roderick in the first movie and he is even more obnoxious in this one. In fact, he goes beyond obnoxious to pure evil. I can't believe some of the "pranks" he pulls on his little brother. And his advice on how to get along in the world is horrible. (Unfortunately, it seems that many kids in America follow it). There were so many times that my face was flaming and I was squirming in my seat for poor Greg that I almost left the movie.
I stuck it out, however, and the last half hour or so turned out to be really funny and heart warming. I will say that the audience was about 75% children and they LOVED this movie. They hardly stopped laughing. Also, Rachael Harris and Steve Zahn as the parents are great. Rachael Harris in particular is hysterical. If you are past puberty, and have any kind of empathetic bone in your body, you will want to wait for this to come out on video (if you see it at all). But if you are under the age of 15 or so, you should go see this ASAP.
Limitless
I was undecided about this movie. I really like Bradley Cooper though and he did not fail me in this movie. It kept me guessing and hoping for the whole movie. I'm sure you know the premise of the movie - slacker guy gets pill that makes him rich and famous. There were more twists and turns than I expected and I loved the ending. There was one kind of disturbing scene where he drinks someone's blood (ewww!) but it was for a good reason and the guy was a bad guy so it didn't bother me as much as it would have (maybe I've just seen too many vampire shows lately... just pretend it's chocolate syrup and you'll be okay).
For some reason I didn't realize that Abbie Cornish (Sucker Punch) was in this movie. She plays Bradley Cooper's girlfriend and she is really good. I'm very surprised that she is not more well known. I think she will become more of a household name after these two movies. Of course, Robert De Niro is wonderful as usual. You should see this just to see his face at the end.
This one gets two thumbs up from me. You should see if it you haven't already.
Source Code
Wow! I have to say that I haven't been a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal because of Brokeback Mountain (just yuck) but I really liked him in Prince of Persia and I have become a huge fan after seeing Source Code. I really hope that he continues to do action hero movies. It was awesome! He plays an Air Force captain who is sent back in time (sort of) to find the person who bombed a train in Chicago, killing everyone aboard.
He wakes up completely confused, sitting across from a lovely Michelle Monaghan who seems to know him, gets blown up, and wakes up back in some kind of capsule with a calm voice asking him to "acknowledge." From this confusing beginning, Gyllenhaal's character is continually thrown into this Groundhog Day-like dilemma. The action is engrossing, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat exciting and you are pulling for him all the way.
Vera Farmiga does an outstanding job as the calm voice of reason and compassion. (You may remember her as George Clooney's love interest in "Up in the Air" for which she received an Academy award nomination).
I left the theatre feeling pumped and happy. (And my husband liked it too!) If that's what you're looking for, you should see this one. Two thumbs up!
