Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After having seen Hotel Transylvania 2, I had to go back and watch the first one. We get a little more history on Dracula in this one, including learning about his wife and why he (and his family) originally hate humans so much. There's also the first hand reveal of the "real" monsters at a local monster party that is highly amusing. Most of the movie is really about Mavis growing up and Dracula learning that his prejudices might not be justified after all if he's going to be a good father. There's more than a little hilarity that results of the entire debacle. Definitely one of the more fun and entertaining "Halloween" films.

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music (1965)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was a childhood favorite and still is today. I've been in a bit of a musical mode what with rehearsals for Fiddler on the Roof in full swing. My Favorite Things is a well known song that has come up in several different avenues of my musical career, mostly vocal and piano. Maria seems to be a bit like a fish out of water until she manages to help heal a family and ultimately find a home of her own. It's amazing what a little determination, a lot of music, and a kind heart can accomplish in the right setting.

Hotel Transylvania 2

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I need to go back and watch the first one as daddy had already watched it with our little girl when I joined the party. It seemed like this would be a good series pick given Halloween is just around the corner and it has such high ratings. We had no clue what to expect of it going in, but found out it was rather hilarious. The characters are all just a little bit of an extreme in their chosen way of life, and it makes for some amusing interactions. Nothing is what it seems when your family is an odd mix of humans and monsters. Not everything that goes "bump in the night" is necessarily bad.

The Martian

The Martian (2015)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This wasn't one we planned on seeing, but we ended up with some ticket vouchers that had a deadline along with a convenient night off without the kids for our anniversary and this was the movie that caught our interest the most of what is currently in theaters. Probably didn't hurt any that we both like Matt Damon from some of his other performances, including Bourne.

Mark Watney is an botanist and an astronaut. A storm on Mars leaves him injured and alone on the planet trying to survive despite the odds that help will not arrive on time to save him. It seems like any time things start looking up, something will happen to knock them back down. If you watch this looking for an accurate account of space life, you will go nuts. There are a lot of things that are incorrect, especially with the whole successfully growing potatoes on Mars idea. If you can watch it just for the story though and not pick at the science, it's an enjoyable drama. The ending however, leaves a lot wanting and is wear the majority of the stars get deducted. After such a touch and go survival operation, it suddenly skips years into the future, completely bypassing the actual return home and reintegration into society (really, you survive that long on your own thinking you'll die and there's no trauma? I think not). Instead it's just kind of a "hey look, everyone got back home and has moved on with their lives" idea. If not for that, the overall movie keeps you wondering what's next rather successfully despite there not being a lot of big action scenes to draw you in like a lot of the other big movie names right now (like the MCU).