THE TWILIGHT SAGA, ECLIPSE (Running time: about 124 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner

The second movie in this series was disappointing, but this one is a big improvement, perhaps because it is more focused on the relationships rather than the fighting. Bella (Stewart) is still planning to become a vampire on her 18th birthday. Edward (Pattinson) is not happy about her choice but is beginning to see that she is determined.

Meanwhile her lifelong friend, Jacob, who is a werewolf, has fallen in love with Bella, too. The guys are competing for her affections. While Bella is committed to Edward, she also loves Jacob and he offers her one benefit that Edward can’t compete with: she doesn’t have to become one of the living dead to live with and love him. In my book that would be a big plus! And Bella considers it.

What I liked so much about this movie is that there is no real sex. Bella tries to convince Edward to sleep with her, but he refuses. He comes from Victorian times or even farther back than that when men didn’t defile the women they loved; they married them instead. There are several sweet, sexy kissing scenes with Edward and Jacob, the kind of scenes that are about love not sex, that should be in the dreams of teens and ‘tweens.

Also good were the Native American stories about the beginnings of the wolfmen and the vampires. The wolves actually work together with the vampires to protect Bella and defeat the bad guys. That was a good twist.

The father and mother in this movie are not as extreme or obnoxious as in the past. They both seem like reasonable people. The scene where the father tries to talk to the daughter about sex is pretty funny.

There is a scene where one of the female vampire characters talks in veiled terms about a rape long ago and how she was “drac’d” and then got revenge on her rapists. There is plenty of violence, too. But that is standard with this series. With no bad language, there is a lot to like in The Twilight Saga, Eclipse - which should be fine for teens and ‘tweens 12 and up. Parents might enjoy this one, too. By the way, the wolves are cute.

FUNNY HORROR FILMS, WITH NO NIGHTMARES

DRACULA, DEAD AND LOVING IT (Rated PG-13) - How can you beat Mel Brooks and Leslie Nielsen for laughs? You can’t, especially when they team up in this spoof, with Mel Brooks trying to drive a stake into Nielsen’s heart. Bring tissues for tears of laughter.

LOVE AT FIRST BITE (Rated PG) – This movie finds the handsome and debonair George Hamilton playing a very sexy and attractive Dracula who got kicked out of Transylvania. He ends up taking a bite out of the Big Apple and falling in love with Susan Saint James in this hilarious spoof.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.

GROWN-UPS (Running time: approx. 1 hr. 40 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spadce, Rob Schneider

 It’s hard to believe an Adam Sandler movie can actually be called Grown-Ups. I do admit that time is improving Mr. Sandler’s movies as they become more about family and less about the wonders of the bathroom and bachelorhood.

This movie is about a group of five men who grew up together and played on a championship basketball team when they were kids. The men have kept in loose touch, but haven’t seen each other much in thirty years. When their old coach dies, they reconnect at his funeral and plan a holiday weekend together in a lake house. Each guy is a different personality with different jokes associated with his family and his life. Some of the situations are funny and some are not.

What does come through are good old-fashioned family values as the parents connect with their kids in simple pleasures, like skipping rocks, making telephones with tin cans and string and water rides, instead of the high tech-low involvement toys of today. Old rivalries with men in their town resurface and a re-match is scheduled. In the end, the old friends re-evaluate their lives and drop their masks to be honest with each other.

While some of the jokes are juvenile, and with this group that should be no surprise, it was still a funny and entertaining movie. I enjoyed it more than I expected to. There is no violence, but some sexual humor and bathroom humor. Grown-Ups should be fine for kids 10 and up, but especially for parents who yearn for a little time with their kids, doing the old-fashioned fun stuff they used to do when they were young.

KNIGHT AND DAY (Running time: approx. 1 hr. 40 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz

I was looking forward to this movie and what a disappointment it was. Tom Cruise, while excellent playing spies in action movies just fell flat in the romantic comedy department with Cameron Diaz. This movie, like Killers, is about a regular woman getting mixed up with a killer/secret agent. Here we have Roy (Cruise) bumping into June (Diaz) at the airport so he can slip something into her luggage and sneak it through security. On the flight, we find out that every passenger is someone sent to kill Roy. There is a very funny scene with June in the bathroom while Roy is killing everyone on the plane, including the pilots.

The movie is fast-paced with a plot that requires attention to know who the bad guys really are. I liked the plot, I liked the action and I liked Cameron Diaz as a cute, smart and spunky June. But Mr. Cruise’s performance was dry, cold and unfunny. I was disappointed as I was expecting the sizzle he gave out in Jerry Maguire, but it wasn’t there.

There is lots of violence, some great car chases, motorcycle chase, fight scenes, a little bad language and no sex. Killers is a better movie, funnier and sexier. But you won’t be bored by the plot in Knight and Day.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.

THE KARATE KID (Running time: 140 minutes)
Rated PG Starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan

Very long movies can sometimes be annoying, The Karate Kid, at two hours and twenty minutes works beautifully. The movie takes time to develop a more complex story than just a boy learning how to fight bullies.

The story opens with Dre (Smith) and his mom moving to China. His father is dead. But it isn’t long after they arrive that Dre meets the Kung Fu neighborhood bullies. He gets beat up a couple of times because he forms a friendship with a cute Chinese girl. Like a typical 12-year-old boy, Dre refuses to tell his mother what’s going on.

One day the maintenance man, Mr. Han (Chan), an older Kung Fu master, breaks up a gang-up of six bullies beating on Dre. Mr. Han takes Dre to the Kung Fu school that teaches these bullies in an effort to make peace, but the Master teacher is a bully at heart himself and is teaching his students to show no mercy and hurt their opponents. So Mr. Han has to agree to put Dre in the Kung Fu tournament in order to get the bullies to leave Dre alone.

Of course Han has to teach Dre Kung Fu. The training sessions are fascinating as he teaches Dre all about control and focus, emphasizing defense rather than offense. Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan are terrific. During these sessions, the action moves to the Great Wall of China and the Chinese countryside, which are beautiful.

We get to know Mr. Han and why he is living the way he is and the girlfriend who plays the violin. The emphasis in the movie is on Dre’s life, and the mother plays a secondary role. I liked this movie because the messages of getting back up when things go against you, learning to have confidence and defend yourself, tolerance for differences are so positive and presented in a non-preachy way. The Karate Kid has violence but no bad language and no sex. This movie is very well done and a “don’t miss” in my book for parents and kids as young as 7 or 8 and up, who can sit through a long movie.

THE A TEAM (Running time: 117 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson , Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel

This action movie has great special effects, humor and a complicated story that lets out younger children. The special team, called “the A team” in the military are involved in a mission to obtain plates being used to create billions of dollars of counterfeit money by a foreign country. But they get double crossed and land in jail after being dishonorably discharged. The CIA guy springs them and they retrieve the plates, only to be double crossed again!

I had a little difficulty following the plot and always knowing who the bad guys were. But it was fun trying to keep up. There were tons of explosions, gunfire, repelling from tall buildings in single bound and clever touches.

I found The A Team to be very entertaining. It has lots of violence, occasional bad language and no sex. It should be fine for kids 11 and up who can keep up with the plot, and parents, too.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the museum auditorium . . .  

The terror has surfaced. A movie so bad it makes chum look good. We triple dog dare you to join us at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown, Raleigh on Friday, May 7, at 7 p.m. for this mysterious and unnamed shark feature, Natural Horror Picture Show: Shark! Shark! Shark! Shark! Shark!  Plus, enjoy biting commentary and a shiver of terrifyingly bad shark-related shorts from the A/V Geeks archive. Parental guidance encouraged.

The Museum stays open from 5 to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month, inviting visitors to wander through eye-catching exhibits, enjoy snacks and beverages from the Acro Café, and listen to live music from Stave Harvell and Daniel Sean. Visitors can also check out the inspiration for this month’s movie as the museum’s special exhibit, “Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived,” offers discounted admission with last tickets sold at 7 pm. This exhibit closes May 9. Additionally, the museum store offers after-hours shopping and an opening reception (6:30-8:30 p.m.) for Mark Bashista, whose photographic views of North Carolina are on display May 7-31 in the Nature Art Gallery. All exhibited art is for sale.

-- Jonathan Pishney, Communications Director, N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences

OCEANS (Running time: 103 minutes)
Rated G Narrated by Pierce Brosnan

While Oceans may not be the most intellectually educational experience, “big fish eat little fish,” it is the most marvelously photographed film I’ve seen in years. Each underwater scene has the breathtaking beauty of a great work of art.

Oceans takes its time exploring the under-the-sea world, looking for the most exotic, the largest and the smallest creatures. Each tableau is filled with vibrant color and movement as we see how really enormous the blue whale is, watch a man swim with a dangerous shark and root for a small crab that fights in vain for its life.

The movie takes its time and moves slowly, like some of the sea creatures portrayed. I did learn much about sea creatures, from the mammals to the fish, but mostly it was just learning by watching rather than trying to remember many facts being thrown at you.

One of the reasons this film should be great to see with kids is that it doesn’t feel like a classroom, but rather a mesmerizing visual experience that should fascinate kids and adults alike.

There is nothing scary in Oceans so it should be fine for kids five and up who can sit quietly and still for 103 minutes. Don’t miss this one and bring the grandparents, too.


THE BACK-UP PLAN (Running time: 1 hr. 40 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin

I was looking forward to this film and enjoyed the mommy, pregnancy and dating humor in the beginning. But I’m an adult. What I didn’t like the inappropriate messages for teenage girls, the only kids who might be interested in seeing this movie.

The big message sent from the whole film is that if you’re not married by a certain age, which is never specified in the movie, then buy sperm, get yourself artificially inseminated and have a child on your own. Don’t we already have enough single moms and pregnant teens?

The ultimate message in the film is that when Zoe considers her relationship with Stan, who agrees to raise her inseminated twins, she is only thinking about Stan’s impact on her. There is never any discussion of what kind of father he will be or that it is important for these kids to have a father and maybe she shouldn’t dump him so fast because that will leave her kids with no dad. This is an “all about me” mommy film.

Other questionable parts of this movie for teenage girls are the scenes that make childbirth look like the most horrible experience in the world, all done for laughs. There are many scenes of implied sex and jokes about how sexually responsive pregnant women are. Again, I find that, while the scenes were funny to me, they are not appropriate for teenage girls.

Do we need to subject teenagers to a film where the babies come first and the marriage comes later? Isn’t there already too much of that in real life? There is no violence in this film, but there is some bad language plus sexual scenes. I found parts of the film hilarious, but would not take a teen to see it.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.

THE LAST SONG (Running time: 107minutes)
Rated PG Starring Miley Cyrus, Greg Kinnear, Liam Hemsworth, Kelly Preston, Bobby Coleman

Taken from a Nicholas Sparks novel (He wrote “The Notebook” and “Dear John”), The Last Song is a lovely movie about family relationships, first love, and loss of a loved one. Ronnie (Cyrus) and her brother Jonah (Coleman) are sent to spend the summer with their father in a southern beach town. Ronnie shares musical talent for the piano with her father, but when her parents got a divorce and her father moved far away, she stopped playing.

Ronnie is still angry at him and doesn’t want to be there. She resists his efforts to reconnect with her and stomps off to the beach where she meets a handsome, young beach volleyball player. They share a mutual interest in protecting sea turtle eggs from raccoons and he takes an interest in her. They fall in love.

Meanwhile, Jonah does reconnect with his father over a stained glass project for a church that had burned down. There is some mean girl behavior as Ronnie, a New York girl, does not fit into the southern lifestyle. Some misunderstandings also move the plot along. The Last Song is a sweet, moving story of love and loss. While Miss Cyrus is not the greatest actor on the screen today, she is okay in this role. There is a little violence, no bad language and no sexual situations. The Last Song should be best for ‘tweens and teens age 11 and up. This is not Hannah Montana, so you can go, too, and enjoy it.

DATE NIGHT (Running time: 88 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Mark Wahlberg

I haven’t laughed this much in a movie since It’s Complicated debuted. The story is about a married couple who want to break out of their routine and renew their relationship by having a date night at a trendy restaurant in the city. When they can’t get a table, they steal someone else’s reservation. Little did they know that bad people are looking for the couple whose reservation they stole. Now the bad people think they are that couple and have an important flash drive in their possession. Soon our couple is on the run from the bad guys.

While the premise and the writing are good, Steve Carell and Tina Fey put it over the top with terrific comic acting. They are absolutely hilarious as the couple gets deeper and deeper into a morass of blackmail and corruption involving the police and the mayor.

There is violence, some questionable language and lots of sexual humor, plus sexual situations and scenes that take place in a “gentlemen’s” type of club with pole dancing and scantily clad women. This setting just makes Mr. Carell and Ms. Fey’s antics even funnier.

There a car chase which is one of the funniest I have ever seen. Though most of the humor is for adults, including humor about parenting and sex, Date Night should be fine for teens, 13 and up. This is a “don’t miss” for parents who can easily relate to this couple.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.

CLASH OF THE TITANS (3D) (Running time: 106 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes

I was not expecting to like this movie. I thought it was only about big scary monsters, but I was pleasantly surprised. The movie follows Greek mythology into a war between the gods and man. We meet Perseus (Worthington) when he is a baby, discovered by a fisherman who raises him as his own. Perseus is born a god, being fathered by Zeus (Neeson), but is raised as a man, making him a demi-god.
After Hades (Fiennes) kills his family, Perseus has nothing left to lose so he joins the battle of man with the gods on the side of man. They take a journey to find Medusa, get her head and kill the Crackin, a huge beast that will destroy Argos.

I found myself caught up in the story and characters. You can’t help but love Perseus, an honorable fellow with the best of intentions and the powers of a god! The story has some strange characters and monsters, like giant scorpions. While the 3-D was not great, it did make the monsters pop out a little more at you. Even Medusa with her serpent’s tail and hair of snakes was pretty frightening and forget the Crackin, with several serpentine tails and a giant head that seemed to be one big mouth with huge sharp teeth. Needless to say, this movie is not for young children or any children who are prone to nightmares. But for kids 11 and up who won’t be scared, Clash of the Titans is an entertaining flick.

There is loads of violence but no blood, no bad language (they didn’t have the “f” word back then) and no sex. See it with the kids.

WHY DID I GET MARRIED, TOO (Running time: 121 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Janet Jackson, Tyler Perry, Tasha Smith, Malik Yoba

Mr. Perry wrote, directed and produced this sequel to Why Did I Get Married. We revisit the revised couples; Sheila dumped Mike for Troy in the last movie, as they head to the Caribbean for their annual renewal of friendship and marriage.

Of course there are issues, mostly about infidelity, trust and jealousy. The obnoxious and excessive Angela becomes comic relief in this serious drama that shows how married people can hurt each other yet still love each other. Each couple has their own issues, but every couple was affected in this movie.
The ending is very dramatic with one couple going through a very angry divorce culminating in tragedy. This is not a movie for kids, but might teach some life lessons to teens.

I enjoyed Why Did I Get Married, Too. Mr. Perry creates engaging characters that you care about, uses humor and empathy. While the movie is long, just over two hours, I found myself eagerly to see more and totally engaged.

There is violence, especially a scene where a husband and wife have a horrific fight, smashing things and getting physical with each other. There is little bad language but there are some sexually suggestive scenes and discussions about sex and fidelity. See Why Did I Get Married, Too with your teens, 15 and up.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (3D) (Running time: 98 minutes)
Rated PG Starring Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera

How to Train Your Dragon is a lovely movie that espouses non-violence and acceptance against a background of wonderfully colorful 3-D graphics and creatures. The story is about a Viking boy, Hiccup, 12 years old, who is the scrawny son of the head of the Vikings. Hiccup is more of a thinker and not of a fighter. Their village is plagued by dragons flying overhead stealing their sheep and eating humans.
While these creatures sound scary, there are a few scary moments, mostly they are colorful and funny looking. Hiccup is determined to kill a dragon, win his father’s respect and the love of the pretty girl dragon fighter. So he invents a machine that hurls a weapon into the air. He bags a black dragon. But when he goes up to find the dragon, he cannot kill it. He befriends the dragon and calls him “Toothless.”

The rest of the plot involves Hiccup becoming a hero by taming dragons through understanding he learns from Toothless. Hiccup discovers that the dragons are forced to steal sheep and such to feed a huge dragon that lives in the dragon nest like a giant queen. So he tries to explain all this to his dad, who refuses to listen. The father goes charging into the nest, aiming to kill all the dragons, then this huge beast comes out. While the other dragons are scary a little bit from time to time, this dragon is the real deal and scared the stuffing out of me, especially in 3-D. I loved How to Train Your Dragon, except for the big scary guy at the end. There is violence, no bad language and no sex. This film should be fine for kids 10 and up who don’t scare too easily. Go watch it with them, it’s a lot of fun.

With no other movies for kids opening this week, here are some highly recommended classic DVDs for the whole family:

Babe
The story of a pig who thought he was a sheep dog because he was raised by border collies is a classic that shouldn’t be missed. This is the perfect movie for kids and adults because it is funny and touching with nothing objectionable and yet not boring. It’s a "don’t miss" if you or your kids haven’t seen it.

Milo & Otis
This ageless comedy about an orange tabby kitten and a pug puppy that sail into adventure is hilarious and sweet. You meet different animals as Milo and Otis wander through woods and fields, searching for home. A chicken, a hungry bear and a fox add to the silly but mildly exciting adventures with the voices are done by Dudley Moore. Milo and Otis is a great first video to share with smaller children.

Free Willy
This is the one movie where the story is as much about an orphan boy and his adoptive family as it is about a whale. The whale is missing his freedom while the footloose boy is looking for a family. They form a friendship that helps the boy adjust to his new life while he helps the whale find the freedom he seeks. This is a very moving story with a happy ending.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (Running time: 120 minutes)
Rated PG Starring Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn

Middle school is probably the worst time in the life of a child. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is about the difficult adjustment to middle school, especially if you are a small male. Taken from the best-selling book, this movie highlights all the real and imagined horrors of middle school bullies. This how-not-to-survive manual in diary form follows Greg (Gordon), who thinks he can be cool, and a winner in middle school and his best friend, Rowley (Capron), who is heavy, red-haired with freckles and very dorky.

The sarcastic running commentary by Greg keeps putting down his friend and showing an overblown opinion of himself. I found this very annoying. Rowley says that his mother told him just to be himself and he’ll do fine in middle school, while Greg is trying to create an image of himself that is false to be popular.

Some of the shenanigans in this movie are mean and some are funny. Rowley ends up being popular while Greg ends up being despised. It isn’t his falseness, but rather his totally selfish attitude and complete lack of loyalty to his friend that destroy his image. I found Greg to be a mean-spirited, disloyal egotist. Rowley was a much more interesting character to me. I kept wondering what he saw in Greg. Perhaps that is the point of the movie.

Of course in the end, Greg redeems himself and he and Rowley become friends again. The lessons here are good. Diary of a Wimpy Kid has some almost violence, no bad language and no sex. It should be fine for kids 10 and up, who nervously await their turn at middle school.

THE BOUNTY HUNTER (Running time: 110 minutes)
Rated PG-13 Starring Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler

This romantic comedy includes some suspense and a little violence. The story is about a couple who were married for nine months and are now divorced. Milo (Butler) got kicked off the police force and has become a bounty hunter. Nicole (Aniston) is a newspaper reporter, working on a big story. She has been arrested and has to appear in court. But a hot lead comes in and she disappears to pursue it.

So her name goes out to bounty hunters who bring in bail jumpers, like Nicole. Milo is a gambler with a big debt to pay off. He needs this fee, so he goes after her. The movie is cute and clever following this former couple as Milo chases down Nicole.

Just as he has caught Nicole and is bringing her in, the bad guys she was pursuing for her story come on the scene and try to kill her. Now our couple is trying to get away from them and to figure out what they still mean to each other. This is the romance part of the movie.

Then Bounty Hunter goes back to suspense. The movie is very entertaining. I found the leads charming and funny. There is violence and a little bloodshed, sexual references and a little bad language, but nothing extreme. The Bounty Hunter is a fun chick flick best for ‘tweens and teens 12 and up, see it with the kids, it's fun.

-- Written by Jean Joachim, writer of a nationally syndicated movie review column.

Read more of Jean's Movie Choices For Kids.