So many movies, so little time...

Okay, I'm going to approach this a little different. I'll list the movie, number of stars I rate it (5 being excellent 1 terrible and my thoughts about it. Don't worry I won't reveal any specific plot twists. I love plot twists. I'm always trying to figure out what's going to happen. You know if everyone is happy and the movie still has an hour left that something is going to go wrong. I like to figure out what that something is. Have I mentioned that I LOVE MOVIES!!

Here goes:

1. ***** "Waterhorse" - great family movie about the Loch Ness Monster and friendship.

2. ***** "The Illusionist" (Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel) - wonderful must see movie. Paul Giamatti is fantastic; great love story but not a chick flick.

3. ***** "The Other Boleyn Girl" (Natalie Portman [from "Star Wars"], Scarlett Johansson [she was the little girl in "The Horse Whisper"]) - story about King Henry the 8th, Anne Boleyn and her sister, Mary. Make sure you watch the bonus material on the DVD, very interesting history.

4. ***** "Next" (Nicholas Cage, Jessica Biel, Julianne Moore) - a different kind of movie but I love it. Good plot twist movie.

5. ***** "Ghost Rider" (again Nicholas Cage, Peter Fonda, Sam Elliott, Eva Mendes) - very sci-fi. Tom didn't like it that much, but I loved it. (He also didn't care for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films but I loved them, also). Spiritual content - good triumphs over evil.

6. ***** "Enchanted" (Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey [McDreamy from "Grey's Anatomy"]) - great fairy tale movie. Anna Gracen & I saw it at the movies and then rented it when it came out. Must admit the guys didn't enjoy it much (pre adolescent chick flick)

7. ***** "Alvin and the Chipmuks" - (Jason Lee, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, duh) - great family movie. Christian liked Theodore the best. They are all so cute!

8. ****1/2 "Evan Almighty" (Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham no relation to Laura Graham) - good family movie. I had my kids tell me the similarities and differences between Evan and the story of Noah.

9. ****1/2 "Cleaner" (Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, Ed Harris) - great plot twist movie. Warning lots of blood (the main character cleans up crime scenes).

10. ****1/2 "Michael Clayton" (George Clooney, enough said in my opinion) - strong language, but awesome movie. Great twists.

11. **** "Underdog" (Jason Lee is the voice for Underdog; James Belushi) - another good family movie. We enjoyed it.

12. **** "National Treasure" & "National Treasure II: Book of Secrets" (Nicholas Cage, Jon Voight) - good mystery, lots of twists, full of adventure.

13. **** "Charlie Wilson's War" (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts) - good movie; based on true story. Tom Hanks is great at every role.

14. **** "Jumper" (Hayden Christensen [young Darth Vadar], Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane) - sci-fi-ish, Tom and I both liked it. Action packed (I had to cover my eyes several times).

15. **** "Gone, Baby Gone" (Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris) - WARNING: extrememly strong language. Dark content. Lots of plot twists and turns. I like this movie because it kept me guessing what was going to happen next.

16. ***1/2 "Walk the Line" (Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon) - about Johnny and June Carter Cash. Joaquin and Reese did their own singing - they sounded just like Johnny & June. Gives some insight into Johnny's life and the battles he battled.

17. ***1/2 "Vantage Point" (Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver) - something happens and you get to see what each character saw from their vantage point. Then the pieces are put together. Great twists.

18. *** "Chaos" (Jason Statham, Ryan Phillippe, Wesley Snipes) - good cop movie; which cops are good which aren't? What are the bad guys up to? If you figure it all out you are better than me. I tried and got a few things right.

19. *** "The Bucket List" (Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, Sean Hayes) - funny at times, sad at times. Made me want to make a bucket list. Some surprises. Great chemistry between Freeman & Nicholson.

20. *** "August Rush" (Keri Russell, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams) - nice love story - love between a boy and a girl; love of music and love of family.

** Movies: "Georgia Rule" - dark content; strong language; "Juno" - somewhat slow; "Untraceable" - graphic violence; "The Waitress" - okay movie.

* Movie: "Perfect Stranger" (Halle Berry, Bruce Willis) - strong adult situations; "Bella" - I found this to be a slow movie; "Air I Breathe" - dark content - not a feel good, happy movie; "Into the Wild" - based on a true story, interesting, but sad and disheartening; ""The Kite Runner" - very dark content - the best part was watching how the kids run kites; "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck) - I didn't think Brad Pitt was a very convincing Jesse James. Interesting background on Jesse James and how he died. I didn't know the story about Robert Ford.