This review is the first of a new kind… Reviews from YOU! This one was written by Hailey, who is 13 years old.

I really liked Charlie St. Cloud because it is about letting go of things that make you sad and make your life hard. In the movie Charlie loses his little brother in a bad car accident and instead of Charlie dying too the ambulance medic prays to St. Jude and asks for Charlie to be given a second chance. Instead of enjoying his life, though, Charlie lives with the memory of his brother and works as a caretaker at a cemetery. Even though he chooses to literally live with dead people by living at the cemetery Charlie meets a girl. And in meeting this girl he has to choose to let go of the memory of his brother and live his own life. The story is good in that there are a lot of Catholic parts to the story like St. Jude. There is an unecessary scene between Charlie and the girl. Overall I liked the movie and Zac Ephron was very good.

Salt is a fun and exciting movie. It combines high-adrenaline adventure with suspense and the redeeming value of love. The heroine, played by Angelina Jolie, is a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian spy. We are not sure if she is a spy until later in the movie, but what is clear is that she is definitely a very talented fighter. Her adventures are exciting, but what really makes this move worthwhile and redeeming is Salt’s love for her husband. This love is what ultimately saves her and motivates her to fight to save the world from an atomic disaster.

Positive: Fight against the bad guys. Love conquers all.

Bottom line: a fun family movie about a bad guy who fails to become the most famous villian in the world but learns that being a father is much more fulfilling.

His little workers, the minions, are hillarious, and make the movie even more fun.

Positive: highlights the value of family.

Bottom line: It’s totally cool how so many people unite to defend the heroine, Bella.

Positive value: Risking your life to protect the person you love.

Romantic and scary, the Twightlight series continues. I like the fact that Edward and Jacob sacrifice so much to try to protect Bella and make her happy. Bella’s desire to want to live forever with Edward is beautiful, but confusing. How can she want to become a vampire? Regarding the vampire family of which Edward is a member the series continues to highlight the internal conflict of people who have become vampires yet fight to overcome the strong instinct to kill and murder. Their effort is heroic, but Bella’s desire to become one of them is troublesome. In this installment she explains that she has always felt inadequate and out of place in the human world, so she thinks that her desire to be a vampire like Edward is the answer to that. Of course, it is not that simple, and Edward continues to try to change her mind. He is unsuccessful.

The subject of marriage is also discussed openly in this installment. Bella doesn’t believe in it, because of the divorce of her parents, but Edward insists that they must get married before they “do it”. I am definitely cheering for Edward on this one! Marriage is a life-long commitment, and deserves to be done in the right way.

And it seemed that not only guys enjoyed the movie, even though it is more guy-oriented. There were also a lot of girls in the movie theater who came with their boyfriends, and they seemed to enjoyed seeing how crazy guys can be. They also seemed to like the tiny bit of romance that surfaced from time to time.

Bottom-line: A-Team has lots of high adrenaline adventure that is unrealistic but totally fun; kind of like a good video game. Just keep in mind that in real life bullets and bombs are definitely not fun.

Positive values: The movie does highlight the value of sticking together when there is trouble and shows we can be creative and humorous even in bad situations. Worth seeing to have a good time.

This is a good remake of one of my favorite movies. It highlights those typical experiences of not fitting in and being bullied that all of us have suffered growing up. I naturally found myself rooting for the kid to win that respect that each of us deserves. Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan did a great
Job of remaking the movie, which can be tricky because the first one is often better.

Smith’s character’s budding romance even brought back some personal memories about one of my high school crushes… She was Asian, and her parents wouldn’t let her go to the senior prom with me because I wasn’t from their culture… Well, God had other plans for me anyway, and I had a great time at the prom with another girl that I was friends with ( it was cool to go with a friend and have it be a relaxing, no pressure, fun time). Then, a few weeks later I went on a retreat to think more about my interest in the priestly vocation. I ended up falling in love.. with Jesus and the priestly vocation. So, I guess my Karate Kid adventure led me to a different kind of fight: spiritual warfare for Jesus.

Positive Values:

• The value of focus and perseverance.
• The value of having a coach-friend who teaches us to develop our values and strengths.

Pixar has done it again. They make us laugh, feel compassion, excitement, sadness, and joy. Yet all they use is a bunch of children’s toys. It’s an amazing accomplishment, showing the power of simple values. Buzz Lightyear is always hilarious with his self-absorbed, yet noble personality. And Woody teaches us loyalty to friends in a heroic way. It’s probably this lesson that most impressed me, but I sure had fun while I learned the lesson. This is a must-see for all ages.

Bottom line: Some adult themes, but worth it. The movie shows the members of a dysfunctional family struggling to be honest with each other. It is really funny at moments, but also shows redemption in a simple but moving way.

Positive values

1. Believe in love that can last a whole lifetime. Believe that you can find love.
2. Find a guy who is focused on you, not just on his work. If he can’t, he’s not worth it.
3. Italy is really beautiful. (It is! I lived there for about nine years.)

Negative values

1. Even though the movie doesn’t show any sex scenes, in the beginning it clearly insinuates that premarital sex is no big deal. It is a big deal: Hearts get broken by doing it. Guys & girls lose their respect for each other by doing it.