Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Middle school can be tough. What could make all of the changes of a ADHD and dyslexic 12 year old's life even worse? Try finding out that you are a demigod, the son of the god of the sea called Poseidon. To make things worse you find out in the same breath that said you are a demigod that you are also being blamed on stealing the most powerful weapon ever created, Zeus's Lightning bolt. From here Percy Jackson(Logan Lerman) must go on a quest to prove his innocence to the gods before Earth becomes a battleground of the gods.

The first thing I want to point out is that this is just a mythological story. Almost like a big history lesson about the greek gods. Zeus(Sean Bean), Athena(Melina Kanakaredes), Medusa (Uma Thurman), and Hades(Steve Coogan) are all included here and the gods are all shown to be selfish creatures with somewhat limited power. Percy Jackson's existence is due to gods coming down to earth and mating with humans, creating hundreds of demigods hidden on earth. A rule created by Zeus was also created that banned all contact from gods to their children.


The bad stuff is put to a limit as it is still a PG movie but does have some violence and very small sexual hints as he travels to Las Vegas as part of his journey. No language to be worried about though. There is also a lot of clean humor thrown in for fun. A funny fact that I found amusing was that Hollywood contained the earth's only passage to hell. It is also charming that the use of technology like iPods could be used to battle greek mythical creatures.


Although the movie is directed by Chris Columbus(yes that is his name) this movie is not like the Harry Potter movies. There is no "magic" in the movie, it is all just natural power used by the characters of the film. Perfect movie for the pre-teen crowd and a good alternative to the Harry Potter/Twilight movies and books. Once you can get someone hooked on the movie, you will likely be able to have read the books also (or vice-versa).

When In Rome

During this time of year there are often a group of chick-flicks that pop up and target the Valentine's Day audience to increase their profits. This being one of the lesser known Disney movies of the season starring Kristen Bell(Heroes) and Josh Duhamel(Transformers) along with some other familiar faces such as Danny Devito(Matilda), Jon Heder(Napoleon Dynamite), and Kate Micucci(Scrubs).

When Beth is looking for love in Rome, Italy she decides to reach in and takes some coins from a "Fountain of Love",wishing that the right man will come and find her. That does happen and when she returns to New York she finds herself being stalked by a group of men eager to fall in love with her. The strange variety of men include a street magician, a fit model, a painter and also a sausage businessman. Along with these men there is another man that Beth had fallen in love with while in Rome but now that he followed her back to the Big Apple she is not sure if his love is for real or if he was just forced by magic.


It is not a very good plot but it fits fine as a comedy. Some suggestive content would be some quick glimpses of nude drawings(for comical purpose) but with that aside there is a surprisingly low to no amount of mild language and sexual content. A good cheesy movie is what you will find here. If you have seen the movie Napoleon Dynamite (probably hitting the target audience) then you will probably find this movie amusing. Do not look for much substance because you will not find it here but it will be good for some light entertainment.

The Lovely Bones

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

My murderer was a strange man. I was so stupid but as I look down from up here, the inbetween of Heaven and Earth, I can see how the people I was connected to are coping with my loss. My murderer would never understand how much my father loved me."

With some themes said above you can assume this would be a pretty dark film and could turn away a viewer due to having to deal with a plot like that. Somehow Peter Jackson was able to turn it around and still make Alice Sebold's bestselling novel into an Award nomminated film. Nothing is to be found wrong with this movie that is wrong, save for a little bit of bad language that is placed purposefully, not just for the reason of placing it there because they felt like spewing cuss words out (like Tropic Thunder did). Aside from that there is also some blood seen in an intense scene. I am warning you that this is a depressing film and depicts how a young girl died and the events that followed. Not exactly your average feel-good Pixar movie but it is very well done.


The moral parts of this movie are just as good as the ones of "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". Although they do not mention God, there is a heaven that is not one that I would have imagined but it is what Director Peter Jackson made it out to be. Along with teaching how much a father can love, it is shown how Susie struggles to let go of her previous life on earth and move on to heaven. Like God does in real life, the story is a lesson overall how good can come about the wrong things in life even though we cannot always see it.

A few other allegories are spread in and out of the rest of the movie and the actors make it all piece together to form this masterpiece. Actors such as Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg and also Stanley Tucci (who was recently nominated for an Academy Award for his depiction of Susie's killer in this movie).