I enjoy baseball movies–sometimes even bad ones–so I was certainly willing to watch 42, which is about Jackie Robinson integrating professional baseball.

The movie could have easily become a sappy bio-pic, but it was well done. The acting and writing were good. It is a story about determination and courage, and illustrates quite well how trying it was for Jackie Robinson to remain professional in the face of vile discrimination and contempt.

Robinson could easily have sunk into despair and responded to the actions of some of the people he came up against. His ability to overcome such situations without publicly reacting is part of what made him a great person. And he was an exceptional baseball player, too. In fact, his base-stealing ability seemed to be a pretty good combination of speed and ability to mess with the other players.

42 is an excellent movie, and it’s about more than just baseball. It’s also about history and courage, and the power of faith and the durability of the human spirit. It would recommend this movie to anybody, even those who don’t like baseball.

Hollywood often seems to suffer from a lack of originality. However, I have enjoyed the trend recently of taking myths and fairy tales and making movies out of them. Usually there is a twist to the story, something that makes it different from the original.

In the new movie, Jack the Giant Slayer, Jack the farm boy is the hero who saves a whole kingdom from giants. He is helped by the princess Isabelle and some of her guardians. The story is helped, as many today are, by special effects. The story is also helped by the acting, especially Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor.

Jack the Giant Slayer is an entertaining twist on the old story, and it appropriate for most audiences, although there may be a bit of unnecessary gore.

John McClane has been a well-loved movie cop since he first appeared on-screen in the ’80s. Maybe it’s a combination of his “die-hard” personality, his quirkiness, his humor, how he gets the job done, or his loyalty to his job and family. Regardless of why he’s popular, there are now five movies starring McClane, played, of course, by Bruce Willis.

The newest one, A Good Day to Die Hard is set in Russia, where McClane travels–while on vacation, as he keeps pointing out–to find his son, Jack. If you thought Lucy, from Live Free or Die Hard, was angry at her dad, Jack’s anger is worse. It is one of the conflicts in the movie.

The other main problem in the movie is how to stop the Russians from getting uranium. Of course, since this is a Die Hard movie, the viewer should know that the McClanes will succeed. There are numerous explosions and gun battles along the way, of course.

I think the main thing that has kept the franchise going for so long is Bruce Willis. He has consistently played McClane with a sort of “aw-shucks” charm and rugged individualism, managing (barely, sometimes) to keep away from caricature and to keep McClane an interesting character. However, they do seem to be now scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to plot.

A Good Day to Die Hard is a good action movie, and will be especially liked by those who enjoyed the previous Die Hard movies. It may, however, be a little too ridiculous or violent for everyone. But I’m sure McClane would have a joke about that, maybe something to do with cowboys.

Many modern comedies quickly sink into vulgar humor, never to recover anything resembling sanity or even real humor. Parental Guidance is, thank goodness, not one of those comedies. It’s actually about the inter-workings of families, and how our parents can affect how we raise children.

It may be a predictable movie in many respects, but it’s still humorous and even heart-warming. There is a redemptive aspect to the movie which makes it appealing, but it’s not without depictions of some of the worst things about families.

Parental Guidance is an interesting movie, and one that I would recommend for the whole family.

There have been times over the years when I wondered where the Bond franchise could possibly go next, in their attempt to top each previous movie. That’s perhaps one reason I wasn’t in a rush to watch Skyfall, the newest Bond movie, starring Daniel Craig as 007.

Skyfall is possibly the best Bond movie to date. It shows a human side of Bond, and explains some of the events from his past that helped shape him. It is simultaneously a return to many of the old-school aspects of the movies that fans love, and a humanization of an iconic figure. And it was well done.

I would recommend Skyfall even to people who aren’t Bond fans. It’s a good, enjoyable movie about determination and loyalty, and has something for almost all movie-goers to enjoy.

Rise of the Guardians is a new DreamWorks movie that hit the theaters just in time to get people in the mood for Christmas. It is a story about legends–North (Santa), Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and Jack Frost–who have to join together to fight against the darkness and fear spread by the bogeyman Pitch.

It’s a relatively predictable story, but it has enough fresh touches and humor to make it enjoyable and entertaining. What I found particularly amusing is that North merely tolerates the help of the Elves, but the real work in the North Pole is done by Yetis. Also the Easter Bunny, with his Australian accent and ability to open tunnels anywhere, is pretty amusing.

Much of the story focuses on Jack Frost and his search for belonging. It’s also about the faith of children, and the ability to keep a sense of wonder. It is an entertaining movie, one that both parents and children can enjoy.