Bedtime Stories

V: It's been a little while since I've seen this, so the memory's a bit fuzzy. But here's a stab. Pretty cute show all in all. We watched it with our kids and it kept the 4 year-old's attention - at least after magic stuff started happening. We are always apprehensive of Rob Schneider's obligatory appearance in an Adam Sandler movie as he's bound to bring crudeness. Despite our cringing, he kept it PG. There was some funny stuff. It was worth a trip to the red box. 3 stars.

M: Ya, pretty good, all in all. This movie is not going to change your life, but it is nice enough. Worth checking out. 2 1/2 stars.

The Waitress

M: For me, this movie was a lot like Johnny Depp's Chocolat. Everybody around me seems to be nodding their head in a deep and understanding way, as the actors talk of, and passionately cook, some sort of food product. I just sit there, thinking to myself that I must be missing something. Is it just me? Is food production really that meaningful and sexy. I don't get it. Also, I am not a huge fan of affairs in a movie. If one is going to happen, I like the spouse that is cheated on to sort of have it coming. Maybe I am naive in that way. This show had two spouses who were cheated on. One had it coming, the other, as far as I could tell, didn't. This made it very difficult for me to like the main characters. And when you don't care for the main characters, that can't be a good sign, can it? 2 1/2 Stars

V: This show has plenty of charm. It does, however, revolve around an affair, which made me uneasy for the duration. In defense of the food thing, (see above) . . . it's not the food (pies, in this case)- it's the care she puts into making the pies, the nostalgia she feels from when her mother taught her how to make them (she has been missing a caring/nurturing presence in her life), and the genuine interest and appreciation the co-adulterer has for the heroine's talent - those things mean something. Plus pies, specifically, are wholesome and comforting - things also missing from her life at the onset. It doesn't really matter what it is, food, music, art, nature - as long as someone cares about what you care about - it's romantic. Did it work romantically here? Yeah, a little. Mostly the pies were a great device for her to express any kind of emotion, e.g., frustration, gratitude, anger, guilt. And at times it was pretty funny. Keri Russell does a good job in this movie. I think I would recommend this show, with reservations because of the infidelity. 3 stars.

August Rush

V: Movie of a young boy who must "follow the music" to find his parents. This show had so many unlikely and unbelievable elements, we were constantly rolling our eyes, "yeah, right"-ing, or being plain creeped out. So girl and boy play in their respective concerts, girl meets boy on rooftop, boy sings Moondance and says he talks to the moon, so girl sleeps with boy on rooftop, they part the next morning, both forswear music and pine for each other for 11 years, 3 months and 15 days, son searches for parents, they all "follow the music" to their happily-ever-after. And when they find each other, they seem remarkably unsurprised and underwhelmed. The script was bad, predictable and rushed to dramatic points. This could have worked had it been treated in a more fantastical way (ala Big Fish or Pushing Daisies). But since it took itself so seriously, we just couldn't. The best part was the little African American girl from the church choir. (She had about 10 lines.) Music was good, by Hans Zimmer. 2 stars

M: A couple that knew each other for less than 11 hours pine away for 11 years, abandoning their music and being generally blue. Girl gets hit by a car and her dad forges her signature to give away her baby while she is unconscious. She thinks the baby is dead. Baby grows up in an orphanage, but can hear his parents "music" so, at about age 12, he follows it, literally, through the streets. Meets an incredibly creepy Robin Williams and his gang of singing ruffians. Creepy Williams really likes music. Baby, now kid, learns to play a guitar like a pro overnight. Escapes to a church, where he learns to play the piano and write symphonies in an afternoon. Is enrolled by the minister/choir director into Julliard (what is that, $40,000 a year tuition) where he naturally becomes the top student. Conducts the philharmonic in central park as they play his music. Of course! My neck hurts from shaking my head so much. Otherwise, its a feel good movie, if you can only accept the heavy heavy cheese that comes along with that good feeling. I couldn't. 1 1/2 stars