Ramona and Beezus

"Guts...Guts, Guts, Guts!!!"

It is getting to the end of the year and I would like to do a blog about my favorite movies of 2010, but I still have to catch up on a few. One of those was this film Ramona and Beezus. I, like most products of the 80's, have fond memories of the Ramona Q. Quimby books by Bevery Cleary. They went hand in hand with my Superfudge series. I saw a preview for this this summer and was excited to see it. My wife saw it first and liked it a lot. She said that the girl that played Ramona, Joey King, was beyond adorable. I must agree. With those bright blue eyes and wonderful facial expressions made this movie.

Ramona and Beezus is the story of Ramona and her family dealing with the loss of her fathers job, a big hole in their house, the neighbor who loves the aunt and mischief happening at every turn. Beezus is played by Selena Gomez, of Disney fame, mom and dad by John Corbet and Bridget Moyanahan. I have always like John Corbet especially his eccentric character, Lars, in Serendipity. The neighbor, Hobart played by Josh Duhamel (who every woman I know likes to watch)and the Aunt Bea played by Ginnifer Goodwin, were fun to watch as they teased about their past romance.

I like watching movies like this. It had a strong family message, it showed that it takes all types to make a family and that all the members of that family are important. I would hope to see another of the Ramona books made into a movie like this. I thought it was well done. The colors were bright, the characters were enjoyable and the message a good one. This a great movie to watch for a family movie night. I hope to see more movies like this made in the future.

7 out of 10

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

"You just headbutted my boyfriend so hard he burst."

I like Michael Cera movies just as much as the next. I rally like the dry humor of the kind of awkward, quick witted, quiet after thought comments. I did not know what to expect from this movie with the exception that it was a movie made to be like a video game. I really love he fact that the names would fit perfectly into any video game: Wallace Wells, Knives Chau, Gideon Graves, and Scott Pilgrim.

Scott Pilgrim, played by Michael Cera, is in a band and has just got a new girlfriend, Knives Chau. He Soon there after meets his dream girl Ramona. He quickly falls in love and dreads telling Knives that they need to break up. She continues to stalk him throughout the movie. Soon after meeting Ramona Scott find they if he want to be with her that he was going to have to take care her dirty past. Ramona has baggage in the for of 7 Evil Exes. It is up to Scott to defeat them.

What follow there after are a series of battles that will peak the interest of anyone who is a fan of 1990 video games of the Street Fighter sort. The movie actually is a cross between a video game and a comic book. There are fast shots that are boxed like a comic, including the written out sound effects. As he fights the bad guys there are points that pop up. I thought that it would get annoying, but I actually liked it. The written words did get a bit annoying, but they were never totally in your face, like an old Batman episode.

I was very happy to see some good actors in this film. Chris Evans plays one of the Exes Lucas Lee. Ramona is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead who was Royal Pain of Sky High. My favorite was Jason Scharztman playing Gideon Graves, the head of the Evil Exes.

I was not to happy with some of the sexual themes in this movie. I found myself torn between liking it and wondering if I should be liking it. I don't think I would let my kids watch it until they were older. It was rated PG-13 for a reason. I do like the whole idea that they brought out. It made me laugh when they would nail the video game ideas, like the coins for defeating the bad guys, and the 1 ups.

6 out of 10