Movie Monday: Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules Review (Guest Post)

This the first installment of a new feature that is being guest posted by my brother, Tony - the movie buff in the family! He is going to be reviewing family friendly movies for the blog from time to time (recently released to DVD/BluRay).

FYI - This is not a paid review - just his honest opinion of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. I felt this review was a perfect place to start and welcome him to the blog because the Lil Divas and I recently saw the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid on television and we loved it.  Personally, we are looking forward to seeing Rodrick Rules.

The Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules

Rated: PG

Runtime: 99 mins.

Starring:

Steve Zahn

Zachary Gordon

Devon Bostick

Rachel Harris

Robert Capron

Director: David Bowers

The original Diary of a Wimpy Kid was a big hit in my house. Or as my daughter Emily likes to call it “Touch the Cheese!” So when the sequel came out on Blu Ray it was a definite must rent.  Above all, these movies are funny. I think the appeal is that we can all relate to either the characters directly or at the very least some of the awkward situations they find themselves in. Just think of it as an updated “Wonder Years” without the adult narration. Now that’s high praise coming from someone who has nearly every episode of that series committed to memory.

This film differs from the original “Wimpy Kid” in that instead of focusing solely on main character Greg Heffley, his older brother Rodrick shares a lot of the spotlight this time around. The brothers find themselves forming an unlikely alliance in order to get over on their parents. How long will the truce last? How is Greg adjusting to another year of middle school? Will anyone get the dreaded “Cheese Touch” this time around? You won’t find any spoilers here.

While the original was hard to live up to, “Rodrick Rules” is a worthy second offering. You won’t feel like you wasted your afternoon sitting through it. Sibling rivalries are often complicated but the lucky ones will realize at some point that when it comes to parents it’s usually us against them, as it should be.

Final recommendation: Rent without hesitation.

Blu Ray Ratings:

Movie: 3.5/5

Video Quality: 4/5

Audio Quality: 4/5

Netflix Rating: 3/5

Flixster Rating: 3.5/5

Vudu Rating: 3.5/5

The Official Movie Trailer:

So what do you think?

Have you seen the movie? What are your thoughts?

I'd love to hear what you think of us having a Movie Monday from time to time.

Bern

Gnomeo & Juliet - A Review of the Garden Gnome Love Story

So in honor of Valentine's Day today the hubby and I took our Lil Lovebugs to see Gnomeo & Juliet. We enjoyed it so much I thought it was worth reviewing! Note: we did not see the 3D version!

Living next door to each other at "2B" and "Not2B" (insert laugh) on Verona Drive are Miss Montague and Mr. Capulet. The feud between these two enemies/neighbors is so fierce(though no one knows why) it has extended to their red and blue hatted garden gnomes who come to life when humans are not around and battle (a.k.a engage in lawn mower races and sabotage).

Shakespear's star-crossed lovers are of course Garden Gnomes in this animated tale. While I usually find garden gnomes creepy, I found the movie to be full of quirky and likeable characters and thought the story was heartfelt and entertaining. I especially enjoyed that Juliet was brave and willing to go after what she wanted.

While it is a love story this isn't just a movie for lil girls. The many pranks, sabotage, slap stick and exciting lawn mower races will have the boys attentive and for the big kids (a.k.a. adults) there were many in-jokes to keep you laughing. Plus with Elton John as producer and writer/performer of much of the music I enjoyed the music - some new and some old - and was completely entertained by it all.

We even had a happy ending which was nice (and a far cry from the original tragedy) considering it is a kids movie after all! :)

So to sum it all up - Is this a movie worth seeing? Yes - especially if you have kids! ;)

My Top 10 Movies of 2010

These are my Top 10 Movies of 2010 - of course I can only include movies I have actually seen so many of the year's top rated movies will not be found here! I missed so many good movies that I actually made a list of my Top 10 Movies that I still want to see and added it below!

My list has quite a few family/kid friendly movies - go figure! :)

Again these are not in any particular order, enjoy!

1. The Social Network

2. Toy Story 3

3. Inception



4. Tangled

5. Shutter Island

6. The Town

7. Despicable Me

8. How to Train Your Dragon

9. Megamind

10. Iron Man 2/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

(I had a hard time coming up with a #10 - so many more movies I wish I had seen - I wasn't blown away by these 2 but they were good & I couldn't decide which I wanted to include more so I left them both!)

Here are the Top 10 Movies I wanted to see but did not get to see in 2010. I plan to watch them at some point.

1. 127 Hours

2. Blue Valentine

3. Black Swan

4. The Fighter

5. The Kids are All Right

6. Ghost Writer

7. The Expendables

8. Rabbit Hole

9. Solitary Man

10. Catfish

What was your fave movie of 2010?

What movie did you miss that you still want to see?

Bern