Avatar

Disabled Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) travels to planet Pandora to become an avatar, ingratiate himself with the natives and help Americans mine lucrative unobtainium. But he finds himself in an interstellar conflict after falling for Na'vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). James Cameron writes and directs this Golden Globe-winning CGI odyssey that has broken box office records. Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang co-star.

I was not ready for what I was about to experience. I admit, I expected this one to be pretty good. Ticket sales were going through the roof and the trailer was pretty good. As I stood at the ticket counter and forked up the dough for six adult tickets plus two more dollars for the 3-D glasses I thought to myself, “This better be worth it.” When the show was ending I couldn’t believe how fast time had gone by. I was 100% entertained for over two hours. I don’t know when that has ever happened before. Forget all the hype about it being a “Save the Earth” film, this was a wild ride that will be hard to beat. The story has been told many times over; bad white guy persecutes poor simple minority group, and is converted by beautiful woman. But, put the story is this setting, of a far away planet that literally comes alive in 3-D and it’s like it’s never been told before. The computer animation, the sets, the wonder of it all is just beyond words. I found myself wishing that I could go to Pandora, no, wait a minute, does it really exist? I don’t know, maybe it does. Anyway, I can hardly wait to buy my own copy of this movie. Kimball **********+

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Knowing

Play Preview Fifty years after a time capsule was buried at a local school, teacher John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) examines its contents and discovers that it holds many shockingly true predictions. Soon, John is convinced that his family will play a role in an impending apocalypse. Rose Byrne co-stars as Diane Wayland, the daughter of the woman who first buried the capsule, in this tense blockbuster thriller from ace sci-fi auteur Alex Proyas.

I like Nicolas Cage, so I liked this movie for that reason. It was interesting, and fun as a SiFi but I didn’t really like the story. It was too dark and too depressing. Besides, I can’t really connect with the whole global warming, man verses nature, end of the world crap. A bunch of aliens come to save samples of earth and to transplant them onto another planet. Great, but the aliens far dark, scary, and almost evil. It’s someone’s creative explanation for the Adam and Eve story. I didn’t buy it. Sorry, I know this show was popular, but I wasn’t impressed. Kimball ***

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Star Trek

Capt. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his trusted team on the starship USS Enterprise boldly go where no man has gone before in this installment of Gene Roddenberry's sci-fi franchise that follows the early days of the intergalactic adventurers. The crew includes Spock (Zachary Quinto), Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg) and Sulu (John Cho). Eric Bana co-stars, and Leonard Nimoy appears as an older version of Spock.

Everyone knows that I'm a Treky, but you don't have to be a Treky to love this show. JJ Abrams was brilliant in his directing of this "beginnings" story about the timeless characters of the Starship Enterprise. I can't begin to express how impressed I was with the acting, the action, the story and the development of the characters. I have to say that I really had my doubts about ressurecting James T. Kirk, but between Pine's acting and Abrams directing they really pulled it off. The only negatives in this film was the imorallity which was so unnecessary, and Leonard Nimoy's terrible acting, which was surprising. -->Kimball*****

Netflix link to Star Trek

Galaxy Quest

Decades after the success of the sci-fi series "Galaxy Quest," the show's washed-up stars -- Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver) and Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman) -- are recruited by actual aliens to pull off an intergalactic rescue mission. At first, the actors assume the so-called Thermians are just another group of die-hard fans. But as the plot thickens, they realize they're working with real-life extraterrestrials.

Ok, so what, I like this movie. I don't care what you guys say I think this is a classic that deserves to be on this prestigious blog page. This is a great "change of heart" movie complete with acts of faith, hope and sacrifice. No, really. Who couldn't watch this film and feel committed to live a more worthy life? Who wouldn't fall in love with our hero, Jason Taggert? I think this show should be manditory material. -->Kimball *****

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City of Ember

Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Martin Landau star in this adventure set in Ember, a city illuminated only by artificial light. When the city's generator begins to fail, two teens race to solve an ancient mystery and save Ember's citizens from darkness. Based on author Jeanne Duprau's enchanting children's tale, City of Ember stars Harry Treadaway and Saoirse Ronan as the two heroic teens. Toby Jones and Mary Kay Place co-star.

Strange, but fun for the younger kids. Too many unbelievable and unrealistic action scenes made it a bit silly. However, it was an interesting story. A city built underground to last 200 years while the surface of earth recuperates from bad management. No bad language, not sexual innuendos, in all it was pretty clean. Bill Murray didn’t have a very large roll but he still outclassed everyone else. Worth watching, but not as the main feature. –>Kimball * * *

Netflix link to City of Ember