This is a response to the "PluggedIn" discussion I missed.

I hate those songs too (well, I've actually only heard parts of Poker Face and that's it, but I don't like that one at all)...but, I don't know, that's just not too big a deal to me.

I personally like Poker Face, but even if you don't like the messages in a song a kid listening to a brief section of it in a movie isnt really worthy of being called a "negative element". Most kids would either not remember it or they would not think much of it. I mean, kids tend to talk about the action, the humourus scenes, or certain characters when they finish watching a movie. I would never think of a kid coming from the movie saying "Hey mom, remember that short part in the movie when Percy was listening to Poker Face? I want to listen to the song and become just like Lady Gaga!!"

Anyway,
Part of the reason I hate PluggedIn is not because they just list bad content, but they go on an on about it and they make every film seem like a really bad movie. Then when you actually watch the movie you realize whatever it was isnt that big of a deal (and a lot of times I can't even find the content mentioned in his reviews) and that he made stuff seem more obscene and longer then it really was.

In addition, he always ends his reviews with the negative. Even if he likes the movie, he will end it with "but the language" or "but that said, the film's violence" or "despite its redeeming values, some subtle messages may influence kids to..." or all together "but this film has its flaws. It contains language, violence, and innuendo that keeps this film from being truely great"

Get the point?

Oh, I thought the special effects of it were awesome Narnian1, I just didn't like at the end when

like personally like Poker Face, but even if you don't like the messages in a song a kid listening to a brief section of it in a movie isnt really worthy of being called a "negative element". Most kids would either not remember it or they would not think much of it.

That's how it was in Percy Jackson, and there was so much else going on and so much back-up noise I probably wouldn't have given it much thought at all if I hadn't known it would be there.

Then when you actually watch the movie you realize whatever it was isnt that big of a deal

That's what happened when I watched Iron Man. It made a scene seem like a really big problem, then when I actually watched the movie it was only a few seconds.

I thought about staying for the scene at the end, but my bladder was not going to let me. And of course with Percy being the son of Poesidan and a theme of water, that doesn't help the bladder either.

It is good to know what things are in a film that might turn some one off, but I would be interested in thier review of a film like Princess Bride. With two bad words, would that be all it talks about? But that belongs in Past Movies. I've also seen a review of the Book of Eli by MovieGuide (a Christian based movie reviewer) and they also focused on the violence and the attempted rape scene. Yes, it's rated R and yes it does have that stuff, but there is more to the movie than that. MovieGuide just mentions that there are a few good, Christian themes, but no elaboration on what. So I too am not pleased with a lot of movie reviews. The best place that I have seen movie reviews is from World Magazine and from word of mouth.

I LOVE the book so far! It's great! Is the movie really that bad then? I might not see it now...I don't want to ruin the great images running in my head . But then again, I want to have my own opinion

Okay, so I saw the movie Percy Jackson today with my sisters and mom (I just finished reading the entire series to them, but warned them about how it would be completely different so we went in with very low expectations).

Starsy, my sister, and I agreed that as far as adaptations go, it's a little better than Prince Caspian but not by much. All the characters were "OOC" (out of character) except Percy and Sally. They were just like themselves, which was great to see. Logan Lerman did a phenomenal job portraying Percy Jackson. I especially loved his "spazz out" moments.

They left out most of the side characters (and a lot of key characters) which makes me think that making more movies would be a mistake. People would get confused for one thing, since certain important characters weren't in this first movie. Also the changes they made to certain characters IN the movie (specifically Annabeth and Luke) make the ending to the entire series impossible (going by the books).

HOWEVER, I did enjoy the movie. As entertainment it was . . . well, entertaining. It had some genuinely funny parts that I laughed at/with and Grover wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. (Persephone on the other hand . . . Ugh, not to mention Hades! Completely ruined his character. But then they completely ruined everyone's character except for Percy and Sally so . . . )

All in all it was a good movie. I liked it. Visualizing it as completely separate from the book, it was good. I would recommend seeing it first, before you read the books. But definitely read the books. They are much, much better. I feel that watching the movie first would help in the disappointment factor. If you read the books first, it'll be very hard to see this as a faithful adaptation. You'll have to go into it knowing it's completely different, the characters have been changed, and there is no hope for the ending from the books.

My sisters liked it, but we found there were more elements we didn't like than we did. But we also all agreed that Logan Lerman was the perfect Percy and that made the movie much, much more bearable.

P.S. By the way, how come Percy gets a cabin and everyone else has to sleep in tents? What's up with that?

P.P.S. Yes, after the credits

Spoiler

There's a note on the refrigerator that says "Do NOT open the refrigerator under ANY circumstances. --Percy." The fridge door is padlocked, but Gabe breaks it and opens the fridge, revealing Medusa's head. Her eyes open, the snakes lash out, the screen goes black and you hear the sound of Gabe turning to stone. Heh, makes me wonder who helped Percy with the note. Those were big words for a dyslexic kid.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

I'll be seeing Percy Jackson on the 27th, but I looked up some clips on youtube a couple days ago.

@Rising_Star:

Oh, I thought the special effects of it were awesome Narnian1, I just didn't like at the end when

Spoiler

Poseidon talks to Percy and says that he's why the Gods weren't allowed to see their children, because he ignored some of his responsibilities and became "humanish".

OH, that part! I agree with you 100% then, I didn't like that either.

@Rising_Star
"A little better in adaptation than Prince Caspian" LOL, I would never say that.
Despite all the changes in PC I see it as superior to PJ in every way.

Hmm so it's bad then I'm reading the books now before I see the movie? Oh well...I'm sure I wouldn't love it anyways *is physically keeping herself from clicking the spoilers*

Glenstorm: I'm just glad you're reading the books.

narnian1: we were talking more about characterization then. Everyone in PJatO was out of character except for Percy and Sally, and we feel everyone in PC is out of character except for Edmund. And while they left out A LOT in PJatO, they added a lot to PC. So really it's hard to make a comparison, but that's what we came up with in the end.

Lark: You're right.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

I'd love to see the Percy Jackson movie, although I know nothing about the books and have never read them. It just looks fun and entertaining.

Josh, I pretty much agree with everything you said about pluggedin. I do like how they are very specific in their reviews on "sexual content" and that sort of thing, it's helpful to know details rather then just vague things. I usually just skip the ending paragraph of each review though because they're almost always negative. It'd be more helpful, I think, if they just left out the conclusion, as it's always the reviewers last chance to convince the reader to not see the film.

^^I see how the conlclusions are negative but I still like pluggedin. They format their reviews well and are very specific.

Rising_Star: me too . I love them so far . I already requested the rest of the books from my library . I still want to see the movie, but I'm sure I won't like it as much as the books, maybe even not like it at all, idk .

*decides to add his two cents worth to the PluggedIn discussion*

I enjoy their reviews mainly for the fact that they do list everything in the movie. Though, I definitely agree that they do seem to have a bad habit of making some really good movies seem really bad just because a few characters curse or there is one scene of a guys head getting lopped off.

For instance: they made the first Pirates movie sound horrible, when in fact it's a really fun movie (with a few creepy scenes, of course). Same thing with Spiderwick Chronicles and Dragonheart.

Anyway, I still read their reviews to know what all is in a movie, but their opinion on said films I take with a grain of salt.

^^I agree about Pirates and Spiderwick. I can't say with Dragonheart b/c I haven't seen it. They make t he Pirates movies seem alot worse than they really are. I just suggest skipping the conclusion and reading the rest of the review, or just the parts you care/are concerned about...

I saw Shutter Island today. I thought it was a very well made movie, but I feel somewhat towards it as I did towards last year's Public Enemies. That is, it was good, yet somewhat disappointing because it seemed to have the potential to be so much better. That being said, I think that Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest working directors today, and even his average films are better than most of what Hollywood produces today.

The acting was superb: Leonardo DiCaprio was very convincing as always, and Ben Kingsley was excellent as Dr. Cawley. Michelle Williams also turns out a very chilling performance as DiCaprio's wife.

Much of the story is driven by flashbacks and dream sequences, which help to develop the story and help the viewer to fill in the missing pieces. In many cases these scenes, especially the dreams, are very hard to watch, but at the same time really add a lot to the movie.

As I mentioned earlier, the film is very good. Not Scorsese's best work, but not a bad movie by any means. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I left feeling like it could have been better. Overall, 7.5/10

^^is that a graphic movie? I know it's rated R but it sounds kinda interesting...why exactly is it rated that high? Would you consider the storyline being worth watching if there's some questionable stuff in it?