The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005, U.S.)

I had to do it. Cute little Taylor Lautner! But I have to say, if I was a kid or had kids, I would really like this one.

The characters are really good. The main character is just an average boy with an extraordinary imagination. The heroes aren't the most heroic; they have flaws. Lavagirl is clumsy and Sharkboy alternates between tough, vulnerable, funny and a smartass. (He's even part animal... Jacob Black much?) So adorable.

The characters, adventures, and scenery seemed to come right out of a kid's mind (which in fact it did—it came from the mind of the director's son). I bet it looked really awesome in 3-D.

I can't decide whether to call a lot of the jokes cheesy or corny, because there was definitely a lot of food involved in the scenery especially. Either way, it was fun. And I loved the bad puns, especially the ones from Mr. Electric, the villain (aka Mr. Electricidad, the teacher).

In addition to all the fun and adventure, there was a good message to kids about keeping their dreams and making the important ones into reality. Sweet little movie, good for boys and girls.

Rating: 3.5

Inception (2010, U.S.)

I don't even know what to say about this one. I had to make a conscious effort to relax my brow at the end of the film because I was doing some intense thinking the entire time. It is one of the most confusing things I have ever watched. There were essentially four stories nested within each other, plus side plots as flashbacks and goodness knows what else.

The basic premise is that a team is going to make a lot of money by placing an idea into a man's head. To do this, they have to approach him in a dream within a dream, thereby penetrating his subconscious as much as possible. The lead, played by DiCaprio, is slightly broken—mentally because he's gone into the dream world one too many times and emotionally because of what happened to his wife. He's a great actor, and he's complimented by a lot of other great actors. Joseph Gordon Levitt is a personal favorite of mine, and the rest of the cast was strong.

Two of the most important parts of science fiction are the world building and convincing science, and both were wonderful. It's one of those things that has to be seen, not explained, however. In fact, I probably need to see it again so I can remind myself what happened.

There were a couple of inconsistencies, but if you like a good thinker, this is definitely one for you.

Rating: 4.0