I am Number Four(2010)

Directed by D. J. Caruso

There are nine of them, Aliens charged with protecting their race. They as infants are sent to earth to hide from their brutal enemies. The nine are separated and raised by the protectors.

Unfortunately the enemies have found earth and are now killing the nine off. But they can only be killed in order. And Number 3 just died. so Number 4 is next.

Number 4's protector takes him to a little town in the middle of no where hoping to hide Number 4(John) but the enemies somehow find out where John is. But John unfortunately has fallen in love with an aspiring photographer in the town. Now John's kind only falls in love once. Its like when they find someone they love, they know its their true love(convenient right). John doesn't want to leave Sarah(the photographer). So the enemies come to him and John has to fight them, and when he is about to die by one of the aliens, it is blasted by Number 6, who is going to help save John's life.

The movie was actually surprisingly entertaining. The visual effects were really good. The acting was good for the most part. Of course there was no religion in it. But for me it didn't really make that much of an impact on the actual film. It is not I repeat not a children's film, there are scary monsters in it that will give children nightmare(it gave me a creepy dream, not a nightmare but a creepy dream) and there is a very disturbing scene that is better left not described. It is not a children's film, but it is a good teen/young adult film.

Review by Sweetie Pie

P.S. A lot of my dreams are creepy, it makes the exciting.

The Last Airbender(2010)

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Based of the popular TV show on Nickelodeon.It tells the story of Aang a young boy who is told he is the Avatar, the only one who can restore peace among the four nations. Water, Earth, Fire, and Air.
In this world people can bend these elements. There are Water benders, Earth benders, Air benders, and Fire benders,

The Fire benders are at war against the other three nations, the only one who can stop them is the Avatar. when Aang is told that he is the Avatar, he is scared and runs away. And ends up freezing himself and his flying bison, Appa, in an iceburg. He was in that Iceberg for a hundred years. Until a young water bender and her brother accidentally find Aang.

Meanwhile in the Fire Nation, The young prince Zuko is banished by his own father, and the only thing Zuko can do is to capture the Avatar. Zuko has been searching for Aang for a couple of years now, and he is near the southern water tribe when Katara and Sokka(the water bender and her brother) find Aang.

Zuko manages to capture Aang and strts taking him back to the Fire Nation but his is ambushed by Katara, Sokka and Appa. Aang escapes/rescued and starts heading towards the North Pole, where the northern water tribe is, so he and Katara can learn water bending.

This movie was surprisingly good, I had watched pretty much all the epsiodes of the TV show and I enjoyed watching this. There is a spirit world and Aang is the 'link' between the spirit world and the other world. So there is some stuff like that, but it isn't over powering and I was able to enjoy this movie.

Review by Sweetie Pie

Soul Surfer (2011)

By Sean McNamara

I have finally been able to see Soul Surfer, which did not disappoint. This movie lost points for bikinis, but gained points for cinematography, plot, acting (except perhaps Carrie Underwood), dialogue, and Christian values. Mission trips are promoted, obedience is promoted, love, respect, and honor are all encouraged. Bethany is not forced to surf (she is pressured by her dad, which proves to be a good thing), but when she decides to, she does it with the full support and help of her family. AnnaSophia did a phenomenal job, showing all the emotion and determination that Bethany Hamilton had in this movie. The only points where I feel that it fell short is that the girls are constantly wearing bikinis (which makes for a more realistic viewing, if slightly uncomfortable), and that when Bethany finally succeeded (which is the climax of the film), I had been anticipating it for the whole entire movie so I didn't feel as though I was succeeding with Bethany. The plot was so obvious that I was expecting the ending the whole movie, and I felt as though Bethany could succeed and should succeed, so I felt as though she was merely doing her job, instead of overcoming great odds. Whether this is the filmmaker's fault or because this is how the real story is, I don't know. A minor detracting point that added to the too-predictable plot was that the soundtrack is not memorable, except for the credits song.

Overall, this movie was really really good, and it adds dramatically to my respect for AnnaSophia Robb as an actor.

Review by Beckyelsie

Happy Birthday

Hello ACOOF Viewers,
Today is a special day for the head administrator, she celebrates her birthday today.
Lets wish Sweetie Pie a Happy Sweet Sixteen!

~ARNACOOF Team

P.S. Let us know your birthday so we can wish you a happy birthday!

17 Again (2009)

Directed by Burr Steers
I really enjoyed this story, but it has a lot of mature adult content. There is physicality and mature themes. However, the way that the film deals with the themes is very encouraging. For instance, in one scene when Mike O'Donnell (played by Zac Efron) is in the classroom, the teacher talks about health. Mike stands up and gives a pretty inspirational moving speech about how abstinence is right and good. Even in the beginning of the movie, the film’s undertones of life are evident. In one of the first scenes, we learn that high schooler Mike can get a basketball scholarship but instead decides to get a not-so-good job in order to stay with his pregnant girlfriend.Throughout the whole film, Mike learns how his family matters more than his career and that his kids matter more than him getting his future right (which means obtaining a basketball scholarship). I loved this movie. It was clever, well-acted and had a good worldview. The only problem is the mature themes, and kissing. In short, I would recommend this movie but not for young children.
Review by Beckyelsie

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Directed by Rupert Wyatt

I may know what you might be thinking 'Why in the world would a christian girl go and see this movie'. True it is about evolution and has pretty much no reference to God. But it is a surprisingly entertaining movie. The reason I saw this movie is because one of my youth leaders, David Oyelowo, starred in this film as Steven Jacobs, the man who owns the company that the testing of apes is being done on. Now again I may know what your thinking 'Why would a youth leader take a job that is about evelutionist', I don't know exactly why he took the role but I am guessing that the project intrigued him, and that he would challenge himself with this role. His Character is nothing like him and David is one of the sweetest, most-dedicated-to-the-Lord people I know.

In the movie you see Will Rodman(James Franco), a lead scientist in a company's project of trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's. Will's father is plagued with the terrible disease, and is failing quickly. At the lab Will is about to present his project to the board of the company, when the ape they had been testing on went viral and had to be killed. Will later finds out that the ape was only protecting its child, who had been born at the lab. Will takes the baby ape home to where he and his father live.
Charles Landon(John Lithgow) immediately bonds with the ape, and Will discovers that the formula they had injected into its Mother had transferred into the baby ape.
Will takes it upon himself to raise this ape. He teaches Caesar(the ape) sign language, and how to interact with other people. But apparently not enough. After Caesar attacks one of Will's neighbors, he is locked up. When Will tells him he isn't going home, Caesar plans an escape.

This movie kept me on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time. You end up wanting Caesar to win but you don't want him to do the things he did in order to win. This film not for those who scare easily. The ending was a little disturbing and might have the cause for more Ape films. There is definetly some intense scene that are not for young children's eyes.
The evolution in this movie didn't bug my all that much, sure it was a little annoying, but I was watching a movie where Apes learn to talk. So obviously there is evolution in it. I would recommend this movie.
Review by Sweetie Pie

P.S. If you are interested in seeing my youth leader in other things (he is an amazing actor) then here is the list of stuff he is in or will be in:
The Help (He plays a preacher and had to write his own sermons that ended up changing the end of the film)
Red Tails

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

By Michael Apted

I enjoyed this movie much more than I enjoyed Prince Caspian, but it did not quite live up to my expectations. I have read this book many times and it is my favorite in the series, so I have a high standard for the moviemakers to perform up to.

The technical parts of the movie (the acting, costumes, effects, design, etc.) were all astounding and beautiful. I loved the Dawn Treader and how it looked as I had imagined it to be. The acting was quite well done; I already knew that Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, and Skandar Keynes would perform well, and was quite impressed with Will Poulter's portrayal of Eustace.

My one problem with the movie is with the plot and the storyline. The writers decided to add an element into the story in an effort to unify the plot. However, I found that it merely cheapened it and made it more of a flimsy usual story. My favorite part of the book had been that the adventures were there just to be just adventures - they had a point (to find the seven lords) but it was not a life-and-death, urgent driving force. I liked that Edmund and Lucy had been called into Narnia merely for fun and not to complete a mission, as in the other books. However, the movie does away with this element. I think that without the green mist (a people-eating evil mist) Fox would have made a good movie.

Besides the mist, there are only little glitches with characters that I have a problem with. First, Edmund seems to be a little jealous that Peter left Caspian in charge, in essence making the same mistake that Peter did in Prince Caspian. But it's not a major part of the movie and Edmund fixes his attitude well enough. My second character trouble (which is really just a matter of preference) is that Eustace becomes nice much too quickly. In the book, he's a positive nuisance without one nice bit at all until the island where he turns into a dragon. But in the movie, they show that he does want to be nice, he just doesn't show it (which is perhaps more realistic and makes him more likeable of a character).

Overall, this is a good movie and though it does not follow the book to all the islands, it gets a good deal of adventures in and you get to see the great lion himself. One of the best lines of the book was included in the movie, too: "In your world I am called by another name. You must learn to call me by that name," talking about how Aslan is Jesus in our world.

This was much better than Prince Caspian and I look forward to see how Michael Apted does his next Narnia adventure: The Magician's Nephew.

Review by Beckyelsie