Movie Review: **^A Kid in King Arthur's Court

Calvin Fuller (Thomas Ian Nicholas) plays baseball (poorly) for the Knights.  Merlin needs a champion to save the kingdom, and mistakingly pick this ball player.  So this film is about the funny things that happen when  someone from the modern world, with no medieval skills, is thrust back in time.  Calvin falls for the younger princess (Paloma Baeza) while her older sister (Kate Winslet) is to marry the champion of a tournament.  However she already has a love, just not a royal.  This movie has the made-for-TV feel.  In loses itself in the middle, with a rescue scene which is too far fetched.

Christmas Movie Review: ** Christmas Carol, The Movie (2001)

 I must admit, this is not my favorite version.  It does have Kate Winslett as a love interest to Scrooge and she sings beautifully, but it doesn't have much else to recommend it.  It has a non animated section, which I enjoyed.  It showed Charles Dickens traveling to America, and reading the story with some changes. This part was well done.  When he tells the story it is animated.  The movie adds two mice, with the motivation of attracting children to see the show.  The mice just seem obnoxious to me and don't add anything.  In fact they change the tempo of the action.  The animation seems poorly done, although there is a long list of animators.  This is not the version I would pick to see.

Movie Review: Sense and Sensibility ****^(1995) ***(2008)

This of course is based on a Jane Austen book.  Last night I had an enjoyable time watching the Columbia pictures Sense and Sensibility (1995) via instant Netflix.  This last week I also watched the newer Masterpiece Theater version (2009) from home delivery Netflix.  Miranda pointed out that the original version has five actors from the Harry Potter movies--Snape, Professor Trelawney, Madame Pomfrey, Dolores Umbridge and Cornelius Fudge.  On the other hand the new version only has Mr. Weasley.  On that score alone, I recommend the 1995 version.  The characters are fun, and the acting is superb.  The new version, although entertaining, just lacks the same character.  It tries to add sensuality, especially in the first scene, but it really doesn't fit.

So for the 1995 version, which had me in stitches.  Remember, this movie was made at the start of many of these careers.  Turns out Dolores Umbridge is married to Dr. House, who has the attitude you would expect Dr. House to have.  His sarcasm and wit is just as biting as in his future work.  I found it pleasing that Dolores was getting her pay back, after all she put Harry through.  It was fun to view this way.  In addition, Professor Trelawney loves Hugh Grant, And Snape loves Kate Winslett.  What could be funner than that?  The highlight of this movie is when Elinor (Emma Thompson) discovers that Edward (Hugh Grant) is not married.  She breaks into tears in front of  him.  It is a moving scene, and the humor of her collapse adds to it greatly.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself.   This moving kept me entertained from start to finish.   Mrs. Jennings and Sir John do an excellent job of teasing and needling the girls, and they make the movie fun while not taking itself too seriously.

So I heartily recommend the 1995 version, and don't recommend quite so much the 2009 version.