Entertainment

Back in March we went to see Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in the theater.  From ScreenIt!:

A former museum night guard tries to rescue his museum figure friends -- that magically come to life at night -- from an Egyptian pharaoh figure that's likewise now animated and desirous of resurrecting his army of the dead.

The kids liked it, but I thought it was pretty bland.

I give it 3 out of 5.

Back in July we watched E.T. for family movie night.  From ScreenIt!:

An alien misses his spaceship ride home and is befriended by a young boy until his crew returns for him.

This is one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater (I was 10).  The first one was Star Wars (when I was 5).  I also remember seeing a Star Trek film but I don't know if it was the 1st one (when I was 7) or the 2nd (when I was 10).  It was actually a drive-in when I saw E.T. as a kid.

I give it 5 out of 5.

We went to see Where the Wild Things Are on opening night (October 16).  I'd been looking forward to it.  From ScreenIt!:

A hyperactive child imagines traveling to a distant land where he becomes the king of a group of large creatures that have their own share of personal and interpersonal issues that they and thus he must deal with.

I wonder how much all the ambiguous angst of adult relationships that saturates the film registers with kids.  Anyway, I enjoyed it, and they did too.

I give it 4 out of 5.

Friday night we watched Back to the Future (1985,PG) for family movie night.  From Wikipedia:

Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis, co-written by Bob Gale and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, as well as Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson and Thomas F. Wilson. Back to the Future tells the story of Marty McFly, a teenager who is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955. He meets his parents in high school, accidentally attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by causing his parents to fall in love, while finding a way to return to 1985.

This is one of my favorites of all time.  I remember walking out of the theater after seeing this film and realizing that I had been so engaged that I had spared zero attention for anything else but the movie for those previous two hours.  I'm not sure I've had that experience with any other film.

I give it 5 out of 5.

Tonight we watched Burn After Reading (2008,R).  From ScreenIt!:

Fitness center employees' attempts to blackmail an ex-CIA agent go awry and end up involving more people than expected.

Coen Brothers.  Nuff said.  I give it 4 out of 5.