Latest movies

Gnomeo and Juliet.  Took the kids to see this; very cute and great use of Elton John music, but sort of forgettable (though that damn song is still stuck in my head 3 days later).  Note that Emily Blunt, voicing Juliet, plays a very similar character to the one she played in Gulliver's Travels.  Bonus - some great gags and Shakespeare references that the kids will miss completely.

Ponyo.  The kids and I watched this on Netflix Instant Play.  Very inventive and lovely, but kind of weird  - for example, how could a mother go off and leave her young son alone during a flood?  And was the "wizard" of the sea the bad guy or not?  But the kids really enjoyed it, and I'm glad I finally saw it.  Not going on my Top 10 of All Time list, though.

New in Town.  With Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.  Not terrible, but not terribly funny, and not nearly enough romance (rather a waste of attractive and appealing leads). 

Gridiron Gang.  Caleb and I watched this, which is basically a remake of a documentary about a football program for LA kids in juvenile detention, with Dwayne Johnson.  Very good, though more violent than we were expecting (I think Cal was pretty disturbed by the murders portrayed at the beginning of the film).

The Other Guys.  Another one that Cal and I watched.  Funnier than I expected, and kind of weird and offbeat.  Like a lot of guy-oriented comedies, I think it needed an editor - they tend to throw in the kitchen sink, along with everything else they can think of - not every setup and punchline are equally worthy of inclusion.