If you've got a kid, bolt to the theatre--

Bolt (PG)

Everyone seems to make a big deal when John Travolta makes a movie, no matter what it is. Even Battlefield Earth (which I'm still trying forget), so paired with Hannah Montana, Bolt was properly hyped.

A cute, new concept, Bolt is about a dog that has been cloistered on a set of a television show about the same dog having super powers and saving his "person" Penny (Miley Cyrus), having no idea that he is just a normal dog (so that the emotions on the dog are real). During an attempt by the network to get better ratings, a cliffhanger is left where Bolt is convinced Penny is actually captured and breaks free of the set.

I've been wary of Disney movies of late, but since the Pixar merge, the animation story lines seem to be improving (though I wish they wouldn't completely give up on traditional animation). Bolt proved that the merge has been working, because is has enough entertainment value for kids and their parents.

Bolt ties himself to a cat Mittens (Susie Essman) believing she is the agent of Dr. Calico () the evil fiend who captured Penny. Mittens, is just an alley cat, who is now tied to a crazy dog and is one of the more witty parts of the film. Although she did have one moment where she claimed all cats wanted to be dogs, which anyone who owned a cat would find laughable. They're later joined by a brave hamster in a ball named Rhino (Mark Walton) who has seen Bolt on the magic box and thinks he's real.

The thing that really puts Bolt over the edge is just the general care and detail about dogs and how they behave. It will really hit with not only dog lovers, but any children. There's something enjoyable to get out of this film, even while some six year old is kicking the back of your chair.

Not so curious after all--

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (PG-13)

It is no surprise that most people went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, because they were curious. A movie about a man growing younger instead of older in a post World War I New Orleans is a bit of an oddity in itself.

A beautiful piece of filmmaking, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is very visual, but misses the entire point of its own story. The film starts off as Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is left at a rest home and taken in by one of the caretakers. So an elderly infant is left with elderly people, an interesting commentary and concept. Unsurprisingly the movie focuses on time and the passage of it (brought more succinctly in the small prologue about a blind man and a backwards clock expressing his grief about lost sons in World War I).

As he grows he is stuck in the body of an old man, but clearly has the mentality of his actual age, which his main love interest Daisy Fuller (Cate Blanchett) seems to notice immediately when she meets the young/old Benjamin. The movie wants to be a love story between the carefree, effervescent Daisy (who utterly shines in this role) and Benjamin, but it falls flat. Instead of putting together a series of highlights from a couple in love, it instead settles for much more sex (nothing graphic, however) than you'd expect from this type of film.

Pitt and Blanchett have fair chemistry, so I think I'll lay this at the feet of the writing where most of the problems lie. The directing is beautiful and all the acting is a solid good (excluding Blanchett who is superb), but the writing doesn't seem to know what to do with itself. The Curious Case is making a statement, an obvious statement, that time isn't meant to be wasted - yet that is what the film seems to do. A few characters that should be important (Benjamin's surrogate father, his sister, and his and Daisy's daughter) seem to only be in the periphery.

One of the films biggest mistake in regards to this "time wasted" message is that Benjamin does just that, after he's supposedly learned this message. In an act of supposedly self-sacrifice he instead does something immensely selfish and loses (and takes from his loved ones) years of good years because of his fear of growing younger.

Another flaw in this movie is that Benjamin doesn't actually grow younger. In appearance he does regress in age, but in mentality it is a normal development. This is not a different view of the world in terms of living backwards (like Merlin in Arthurian legend), but a physical deformity.

In short, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is another one of those glorious big budget art films that tries too hard to have a message, and yet has no message at all. Blanchett has a wonderful performance, and some of the side characters light up the screen, but overall the writing brings it down too much and in the end the only thing I was curious about was when the movie was going to stop.

Marley is heartfelt, but I still wouldn't want that dog--

Marley & Me (PG)

It's hard to understand why the person who cried like a baby at the Fox and the Hound would intentionally see a movie where (spoiler) the dog dies at the end, but I'm glad I did. Not to say there weren't an array of tissues spilled over the empty popcorn tray by the end of it, but I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to animal (don't even get me started on the sobfest that was 8 Below).

Marley and Me is a tale of life between a newly married couple John Grogan (Owen Wilson) and Jenny (Jennifer Aniston) with the time line of their terror of a Labrador Marley (named after the famous Bob). It is based on the real life of John Grogan and the real terror of a dog that he based his column and later book around.

Some of the draw for seeing the film (other than the chance to ogle an adorable puppy reeking havoc for the first twenty minutes) was Jennifer Aniston, who hasn't been in a memorable movie since the ill-fated turn in The Good Girl (which I'm still not sure if I liked or hated). I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of her and Wilson as a couple, but they not only managed to make that work, but I actually liked Owen Wilson as the protagonist (something I have trouble with in every film he's been in).

I'm not sure if part of this is his change, since the recent suicide rumors last year, or if the writing was just more attributed to his character (rather than the one sided flop as part of Wedding Crashers - not everyone can be Vince Vaughn). Wilson as John takes us through mostly his view of development as he and his wife (and eventually three children) raise this rambunctious dog.

Marley is a horrible dog, one I'm not sure even I could put up with, but just like the Grogans the audience will easily fall in love with him. It's clear that even through his terrorizing house-sitters and delivery men, not to mention the couch, Marley is all heart.

It's a heartfelt film and hard to dislike with Marley's crazy antics that would seem less funny if they were happening to you. The only downside is a slightly cut off ending that should have summed up where John Grogan was with his life, not just when it pertained to Marley. Because one of the things that really makes the film is that it is a story about a man with a dog. Not just a dog.

A highlight of the Holiday movie season, I would recommend Marley and Me, because it goes into exactly what you want this time of year. It's a great family film, has serious laughs, a solid look at family, and a tearful, heartfelt ending.