The 7 Word Weekend Review: Salt, Ramona and Beezus, and the Russians

New Movie Releases Reviewed in 7 Words Each

Countdown to Zero (limited) - In short, we're all going to die.

Farewell (limited) - Pretty much 'Countdown to Zero' part one.

Salt - Pretty much 'Countdown to Zero' part deux.

Ramona and Beezus - What do you know... Not about Russia.

Salt... Salt... Angelina Jolie... Hey, Inception did pretty good last weekend. If you haven't seen it or were waiting out the crowds, why not check it out? DiCaprio... awesome effects... great story... no lead actress who looks like she has a butt for lips... feels like a win to me. 

Okay, so granted I'm not what you would call a traditional Jolie fan, what with my not being able to stand her and thinking that she sucks the energy out of every scene she's in.  However, several years ago one of my sisters pointed out that her lips looked like a butt. It's one of those charming images that stays with a person. Certainly didn't help me on the liking her front. While all this is true I rarely let her get in the way of watching and enjoying a film. In the case of Salt, I just have no enthusiasm for it. Oddly enough I suspect it comes down to the title itself. Salt just comes off cheesy and hackneyed. Plus the marketing didn't help. The 'Who is Salt' campaign completely underwhelmed me.

I bet you thought I was joking about the first three movies. Well alright, half joking. But seriously I have to wonder if this was planned. Countdown to Zero is about the cold war and how the world is in more danger from the nuclear threat now cause of how it's spread out then it was decades ago. Farewell is based on a true story of a spy during the cold war. And Salt is about a CIA agent who everyone suspects is a Russian spy. It's like they're trying to tell us something. Possibly about our future. Possibly, that there is trouble ahead. Or maybe, just maybe it's...

Ramona...

That's right, that little trouble maker who lit up countless (technically counted) numbers of books with her mischievous ways is back. I'm not saying she's accidentally going to blow up the Kremlin or something like that. All I know is that in a weekend filled with the cold war, Ramona seems like the wrong person to put your trust in. You want to know who Salt is? Ramona, that's who. FYI, I admit I read a couple books in the series when I was a kid and I probably will watch the movie after it leaves theaters.

Which leads me to a good question for the weekend. There have been a lot of theatrical adaptations of children's books. Some great like Holes and Where the Wild Things Are. Some not so great like The Cat in the Hat and Series of Unfortunate Events (which still pains me since I loved the books).

So my question to you for the weekend is, what's your favorite movie adaptation of a kid's book?