The Last Song

Rating: PG

Movie Release Date: March 31, 2010

DVD Release Date: August 16, 2010

Plot 411: A teenager is forced to spend her summer with her dad and gets to know him for the first time.

Review: Ronnie (Miley Cyrus) is rebellious teen whose future is questionable due to bad choices in her life. She feels abandoned when her father (Greg Kinnear) divorced her mother (Kelly Preston) and hates having to spend the summer with him and her younger brother (Bobby Coleman). She meets a local (Liam Hemsworth) and embarks on a summer love affair that opens her eyes to other possibilities besides being angry and bitter. This is basically your typical coming-of-age story about a emotionally sensitive girl who's built a wall around herself and how she tentatively comes out of her cocoon. It's based on a Nicholas Sparks book so of course you've got to expect someone is either sick or dying or sick and dying. While it's not the best adaptation of his work (which in my opinion is still The Notebook), it's not the worst either (which I think is Nights In Rodanthe). I think all of these books have a great plot to work with, but it all comes down to the acting in the end. In this movie, I just thought that the relationship between Ronnie and Will (Hemsworth) was unbelievable. It developed too fast for the audience to buy into their romance. It didn't have enough of anything for me to believe that they were meant to be together. Also, Ronnie's complete change in character once she starts dating this dude is, again, unbelievable. After years of playing the bad girl to the point of being arrested for shoplifting, she becomes this fun-loving girl? I don't think so. However, besides that entire plotline, the relationship between the dad and kids is moving. Oh, as a side note, Hemsworth is apparently the youngest of three acting brothers from Australia. You may know his older brother Chris as George Kirk in Star Trek and the eldest is Luke, who is famous from an Australian soap. It's like they're all the next generation of Paul Walkers. Don't you think?

Watch It: If you're into those tear-jerker type flicks that reflect on life.

Skip It: If you're looking for a good tear jerker with believable actors.

Star Trek

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: May 8, 2009

DVD Release Date: November 17, 2009

Plot 411: A prequel to the Star Trek mythology that portrays the lives of young Kirk and Spock.

Review: Romulans attack the USS Kelvin on the day of James T. Kirk's birth, killing his father. Kirk (Chris Pine) grows up as a wild child and is recruited into the Starfleet as a young man. Simultaneously, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is struggling with his half human/half Vulcan persona and unsure which characteristics suit him best. When an emergency calls Starfleet students into action, the flight crew gains support from Uhuru's (Zoe Saldana) linguistic aptitude, Sulu's (John Cho) piloting abilities and McCoy's medical training (Karl Urban). The bad guy in this film is Nero, played by Eric Bana. He attempts to hurt Spock in retribution for the hurt that Spock has caused him. Again, despite not being big on the sci fi genre I think this movie was pretty good. There was humor and action, a small love triangle and definite emotional beats. Even though I didn't really know a lot about the backstory of these characters, I was still able to follow along and not get too confused. I'm sure there were dozens of homage's to the TV series and other films that the fanboys caught that I didn't. The fact that the movie is accessible to both types of audience definitely helps its success. Quinto's performance as Spock is awesome. He completely pulls it off. The emotion he keeps in check due to his Vulcan side really comes through in the performance. Even better is Bana's portrayal of Nero. He is almost unrecognizable in this role. It's a real credit to his acting ability that the audience doesn't know who the hell he is. Another plus about this film is that Leonard Nimoy makes an appearance. This movie also stars Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and Winona Ryder.

Watch It: Of course if you're a Star Trek fan or if you just like action in general.

Skip It: If you're a physicist since you know you'll only get irritated at the inaccuracies of the film. And yes, they did incorporate sound in outer space . . . again.