Valentine's Day

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: February 12, 2010

DVD Release Date: May 18, 2010

Plot 411: An interwoven story about people who live in L.A. on Valentine's Day.

Review: This movie tries to pull off a heartfelt statement about love in L.A. ala Love Actually and a massive ensemble cast. However, I don't think it has quite enough heart to follow in those footsteps. The various plot lines are as moving. They don't tug quite so hard at your heartstrings. It's as if we're just following these people around for a day in the life or something just as moronic. The movie opens up with Reed (Ashton Kutcher) proposing to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba). Most of his friends, including BFF Julia (Jennifer Garner) and Alphonso (George Lopez), are surprised when they find out she says yes. The multiple storyline unfolds here with kid love, teen love and even senior love. The all-star cast is great, but they don't seem able to pull off a really solid American representative of Love Actually. Also in this film are Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts, Hector Elizondo, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Shirley MacLaine, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift. Phew, by the time you say all their names the flick is over. My bet is that they signed up for this project hoping to get paid for not doing much. It probably worked.

Watch It: If you want to catch a glimpse of stars young and old.

Skip It: And watch the British version, which is better hands down. Who said Brits were cold and stuffy?

Planet 51

Rating: PG

Movie Release Date: November 20, 2009

DVD Release Date: TBD

Plot 411: An astronaut lands on an alien world but finds that he is like an alien.

Review: This was a cute animated film starring Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) as Chuck, the captain of a space shuttle, and Justin Long as Lem, the alien teen who discovers him. When Chuck's shuttle lands on a planet, he confidently bounds outside and stakes the American flag into the land to claim it. Little does he know, the land is already claimed by a group of little green beings who live in an idyllic world similar to Earth's 1950s. The green men quickly form a manhunt to capture him because they think he is trying to invade their world and turn them into zombies. The rest of the movie is about Lem's attempt to reunite Chuck with his ship and the obstacles that prevent this occurrence. The movie was mostly light-hearted fun and was filled with many movie and song references throughout. The highlight of the film was the 1950s music. The world of the little green people was a highly stylized version fo the 1950s with hippie protesters and secret government experiments. There was even a hidden base similar to all the Area 51 conspiracies. The movie was humorous and had a quick pace throughout. It didn't spend too much time setting up plot points, which I suppose is very good in a children's film. There were moments of cleverness, but it's mostly just adequate and nothing special. Seann William Scott was very unrecognizable as Skiff, Lem's best friend. Jessica Biel was almost nonexistent as Neera, Lem's crush. Her presence was barely felt and could probably have been eliminated altogether.

Watch It: For your kids beg you to go see this.

Skip It: If you don't have any kids. This isn't a must-see like Wall-E.