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musicmunki23
Reviews
The Cheetah Girls 2 (2005)
Same story, different locations
I wasn't very excited to watch this movie when I first saw the commercials. It looked, to me, as if it would basically be the same story as the first movie with a couple changes. I was right. It started with them singing and dancing again, which is fine, it makes sense that a movie about a singing group starts with the group singing. The thing is, the opening scene was probably the best. As it went on and they called Spain at 4:00 AM their time, it proved to be annoying and unrealistic. If the auditions were already closed, then no matter how much singing you do over the phone, they won't submit you. That's just how contests like that are. The rest of the story was worse, as we watched the Cheetahs go through a lot of the first movie again, Galleria gets big headed and just wants to do Cheetah stuff all the time, and the girls have other interests to pursue, so finally Galleria gets mad and leaves, yet she comes back to them by a song. So you still have basically the same things going on with the girls (Galleria gets big headed and then humbled, Chanel struggles with parental problems, Dorinda enjoys dancing) with the addition of Aqua and her fashion thing. Aqua was definitely developed more as a character in this movie, but her lines were spoken as if she was delivering them to a six year old half the time (dancing cats and dancing counts?...) Her so-called awesome fashions for the end number were pretty ugly too. I have nothing against the actress, just the way some of the things she said were written or said. This was basically the same story as the first movie, but with a better location and a few new characters. Instead of the "evil" producer guy from the first movie trying to break them up you have the "evil" mother of the competition. Don't waste your time watching yet another Disney failure unless you have only half a brain and are under the age of 12.
When a Stranger Calls (2006)
Soooooooooo Unrealistic
I watched this movie last night at a sleepover with my friends. It scared most of them -insert screams of junior high girls here- but I found it completely unrealistic. So maybe these movies aren't usually realistic. This one had wayyyyy to many flaws. I'll get to them in a minute. First I'd like to explain the movie so that the flaws will make since if you haven't seen it.
'When A Stranger Calls' is basically the story of a teenage girl (16) named Jill. Her parents force her to babysit to pay off her phone bill since she went way over her minutes. She gets to the house to discover that it is stocked full of EVERYTHING and that the kids are already asleep. It seems like the perfect babysitting job until she starts getting strange calls. She tries calling her parents, with no luck, and gets cut off while talking to her friends. When this guy continues to call, she calls the police. They say that it is going to be okay and then she says something about seeing the maid's car when she thought the maid was gone. A "friend" of hers, Tiffany, stops by and they try to talk about how Tiffany kisses Jill's boyfriend. Blah, blah, blah. Tiffany finally leaves (noting to Jill that she got in through the open garage door) and we see her attempting to leave. It takes a little while to get her car to start, and then she finds a tree branch in the driveway, blocking her path. She goes to move it, and stuff moves to make you think it is a trap. The guy keeps calling, and finally he asks 'Have you checked the children?'. Jill goes to check them, and once she gets downstairs the stranger calls again, this time asking 'How are the children?' She goes to close the curtains, and then calls the cops (almost hyperventilating) saying that the caller can see her. They tell her to keep him on the line for at least 50 seconds so they can trace it. She sees someone moving in the guesthouse (she was told that the college-age son often stays there) and tries to call. No answer. She goes over. The stranger calls her there. (different number) Finally after a long boring part with dumb "scary" music and her running frantically the police call and say "We've traced the call. He's inside the house! Get out now! Do you hear-" She's up in an upstairs bathroom by now and suddenly all of the power goes out. She looks down and sees a cell phone light blinking on and off. By it is the dead body of Tiffany. She runs to the children's room to find them hiding in the toy box. The look up and see the stranger. The rest is just a bunch of "scary" music and her and the stranger chasing each other and stuff. In the end he is arrested and she goes insane.
Now for the flaws. First off, how did the 'stranger' get the number for that house. You could say that he got it off of Tiffany's phone, except that he calls her before Tiffany arrives. How did he get the number for the guest house? That, I guess, you could write off with the fact that it was on the refrigerator. If he was in the house he could have gotten it there. And in several scenes where she's freaking out you see his shadow outside behind her. How did he get in without setting off the alarm. Yes, the alarm did go off at one point. But he is seen outside after that.
Another thing that got me: as her father was dropping her off at first, he said that he didn't want her out alone at midnight. Yet he leaves her out in the middle of nowhere (about 20 minutes away from ppl according to the police on the phone) for 'several' hours. Plus at the start of the movie you see another killing about 125 miles away that leads you to believe that he is doing this several places. (this is verified later in the movie by the cops) If the cops knew that it was going on so close, they would have paid more attention to her first call. She leaves the code to the security system by the security box thing. Any sane person would keep it with them. She also isolates herself in small rooms. If she were that scared she would want to stay where there was space to move around. Also, if you don't want silence alone, go get the kids. Yes, they may not be of much help (waking them up would probably stir stuff up) but at least you'd know where they were. And the kids were hiding in the toybox, as if they knew that there was someone in the room (he was visible) but he didn't kill them like several others.
All in all, don't waste your time with this movie. The ending is horrible, it is full of flaws (prolly more then I listed) and the scariest parts are in the trailer. Watch that instead.
Left Behind III: World at War (2005)
Could've been worse, could've been better...
I'm obsessed with the Left Behind series. I've read all of the kids books, and all of the regular books out except for 'The Regime' which I am currently reading. So I was really looking forward to this movie. I really liked it for the most part. There were just a few things that bugged me: 1. They didn't really stick to the books. The first time you see Rayford Steele is at the double wedding. Yes, we all knew from 'Tribulation Force' that Cameron 'Buck' Williams and Chloe Steele were in love. They then bring us in on their wedding, which did happen as a double wedding in the book, before introducing Amanda White, Ray's new wife. They should have told you who she was first. BRUCE DID NOT DIE OF A VIRUS FROM A POISENED BIBLE. THE TRIB FORCE MEMBERS WEREN'T THERE FOR HIS DEATH!!!!! Bruce died in a hospital bombed at the beginning of World War 3. Ray then found his body afterwords. They really shouldn't have rewritten this. There never was a virus.
2. What was WITH the last few scenes? By letting that bullet go through Nicolae, Cloud Ten is setting themselves up for a predicament should they choose to continue making these. How shall they kill him now? In 'Assassins' (the 6th book) he dies of a gunshot. But now in the movies a gun has already gone through him...
3. Nicolae did not show his extreme dislike for Christians this early. He also did not have it illegal to own a Bible. I think that law was actually put into place by Pontifex Maximus Peter Matthews in the books. Nicolae was still trying to be nice around this time.
So anyways, I really did enjoy the scenes with Chloe. It kind of bugged me how they made her get sick, but I saw it coming. That kind of altered the story A LOT, but at least they didn't kill her. The series would have been ruined. And for all of the people on here complaining because it's 'preaching under the name of drama', I'm pretty sure it says on the back of the box that it's a Christian film. So don't shoot down Christianity, that's how wars have started.
I'd tell anyone who asked to see this. It's a little unrealistic, but who knows what the world will be like after the Rapture?? It was a LOT better then the first two movies, even if they did stick to the books better.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Pretty Good
Okay so I really liked this movie. Yes, I saw it when I was probably 4 or 5 years old. That was several years ago. But it's still pretty good. It has its highs and its lows really.
Basically it's the story of a teenage mermaid who wants to live on land. She collects treasures from land such as a 'dinglehopper' (a fork, but she thinks it's a comb) and a statue of a handsome prince. She rescues this prince one night when he drowns and sings to him, deciding she's in love. Her father has told her time and time again not to go above the surface, but what does she care? He tells Sebastian, his lobster or crab or whatever, to watch her, but he gets dragged into the drama. In the end, she makes a bet with Ursuala the sea witch, where Ursula takes her voice and gives her legs. She has three days to kiss him or Ursula gets her 'Poor Unfortunate Soul.' Of course, she kisses him, they fall in love and get married, and her dad approves in the end.
The best part of this movie is the music. I'm listening to it now. It puts out that you should risk EVERYTHING for a guy you've never really met, and little girls shouldn't think that. The thing is, that's not what kids get out of the movie, no matter what some people say! One thing I really don't get is how she can get married. She's a teenager (I've heard 13, I've heard 16, it really doesn't matter which is true) so how does she marry?? Anyways, this movie has great music and awesome characters, and you can easily fall in love with it.
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Funny, but boring at times
I gave this movie a five because it's funny, but pointless.! Basically, the funny points, such as the tots, sleeves, milk, and others are in between boring dialogue. I liked it, but I was bored at times. The deleted scenes were funny, as was the Kip/Luhfawnduh wedding after the credits.
I really saw no point in most of the movie, and I don't see how it's so popular. Yes, I own a Vote For Pedro shirt, but it had its flaws. Summer has a big nose, the acting quality was weak, and if you watch closely you can see Uncle Rico spit out the steak. (He's a vegetarian!) It was somewhat decent, I guess!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Hilarious!!!!!!!!
I LOVED this movie. I was a little nervous about going because Johnny Depp seemed like a scary Willie Wonka from the commercial and made it look retarded, but I wanted to see it because I was recently in the play 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' so I now LOVE the story. The movie was hilarious though! I loved how Willie kept having flashbacks from childhood, and finally he says, "I'm sorry, I was having a flashback." "Do these flashbacks happen often?" Mr. Salt then asks. "Increasingly... today!" Willie replies. And the fact that all of the oompa loompas all had the same face! LOL And the robots! Everyone thought they were kinda childish and pointless, except Mrs. Gloop, who was kinda dancing along. And when they exploded, it was so funny! And then Willie pops up by Mr. Salt clapping. And then later with the 'recently added' robot hospital. ROTFL!!!!! The only major thing I didn't like is that the actors/actresses didn't react much. When the kids reached their eliminations, the parents didn't freak out much. In the play we were told to really react. I probably freaked out more in the play for my one part than all four parents combined. I just think they should have been a little more upset, but otherwise it ROCKED!!!
Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002)
I can't believe you people hate it!!
I loved this movie!! All of you people say you hate it, but I think that it rocked. You have the right to voice your opinion, but you don't have to purposely offend people when you do it. I am a Christian, and you guys are so offending.
Back to the movie. It is an awesome movie, with a great point. I've seen it at least 10x. I'd suggest reading the books after watching the movie. I saw the movie first, and I loved it. Anyone who reads the book first usually hates them. They rock, especially Chloe. Janaya Stephens plays Chloe really well. Kirk was awesome, too. You might like it, because it's awesome!! Just go watch it!!