Kid Sister Movie Review: The Karate Kid

I would like to introduce a new feature on my blog, in which my kid sister reviews movies.

This project is still in the early stages. Last month I emailed kid sister a request for a review of the movie, "The Karate Kid." Here is our email exchange:

from: [kid sister]
to: [sophisticate]
date Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 12:33 PM
subject Re: reminder: Karate Kid Movie Review

"The Karate Kid" is about a 12 year old boy Dre Parker new kid moved to China with his mom at Breverly Hills apartment and was a new student at Chinese school where he made two friends.

He immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying - and the feeling is mutual - but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is about maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

What I like about it is when we get to know the Chinese culture and martial arts including kung fu. Mostly for the first time, we get to see Kung Fu tournment not to be seen on TV unlike anywhere. What I dislike about it is when two lovable kids on their secret date in the storytelling theatre at the festival. Mom told me to never do that without permission when I had boyfriend over. I'll say the grade is A-. I hope that's enough infromation for your blog! Good luck with that! Love and miss you! Chat with you later! Email me back soon as you got this message!
Love,
[kid sister]


from: [sophisticate]
to: [kid sister]
date Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 12:49 PM
subject Re: reminder: Karate Kid Movie Review

Thank you so much!!

I really love the parts that you wrote. It looks like some parts are copied and pasted from Internet websites. Can you write the plot summary in your own words?

Love,
[sophisticate]

from: [kid sister]
to: [sophisticate]
date Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at 10:25 AM
subject Re: reminder: Karate Kid Movie Review

[sophisticate],
I guess I could I try summary better in my own words. It's not that easy to do it though. We talked about this before online. Never mind.
Bye!
Love,
[kid sister]

We're taking baby steps. Stay tuned for reviews of "The Last Airbender" and "Ramona and Bezus."

True Life: My Kid Sister Explains Romance

My Kid Sister has discovered g-chat.

She calls it "chattering."

She also emotes on g-chat through artful parentheticals, like you would expect to read in a play. Or, more accurately, like she reads every day as she watches tv with closed captioning on.

She uses g-chat to harass me and the Boyfriend. The Boyfriend's patience never runs out. He politely asks her questions about her favorite topics (movies, the weather). Witness this exchange. Only the names have been edited:

The Boyfriend: So what's new with you? The movie "Up" comes out tomorrow, I think.
My Kid Sister: Actually, it's coming to Disney DVD, not in theaters. (laughs) I saw it before the first time with Dad six months ago when it opened on May 8.
The Boyfriend: Did you like it? Would you recommend that I get it from Netflix to watch with [the Sophisticate]?
My Kid Sister: I liked it a little. I think I mght let you two watch it, but it will be sad in the beginning and a little bit sad at the end, but there's also happy ending though. If you two promise not to do anything boyfriend-girlfriend thing! First getting to know each other, became friends, something in common, hang out as friends, then realationships ilegally towards romance of boyfriend-girlfriend! Uggh! Why can't you two being friends?! I'm all about friends, not realationhip toward romance!

Haiku Review: "My Fake Fiance" on ABC Family

"My Fake Fiance"
Melissa Joan Hart, Joe Lawrence
Where have you guys been?

Real review: I know this movie has been out for awhile, but I just caught it the other day. I was pleasantly surprised.* Some scenes made me laugh out loud. However, the bumbling mob boss and cronies brought in for comic relief were just too much. Maybe it's law school. Maybe it's my intense fear of real life bad guys. But cronies riding around on segues don't make me laugh. Further, a mob boss hiding in plain sight by dressing and acting like a stereotypical mob boss just makes me incredulous.

Overall, the Boyfriend and the Sophisticate give it two thumbs up.

*Does "surprised" permit any descriptors other than "pleasantly?" Likewise, can you be any kind of "optimistic" other than "cautiously?"

True Life: My Kid Sister and Her Movies

My Kid Sister sees any movie she likes in the theatre. Then she sees it again. The day the DVD comes out, she will cajole you into buying it for her. Then she will begin watching it over and over again. She watches with the closed captioning on, memorizing every line. If the movie is shown on television, she will play the DVD at the same time as the broadcast version, switching back and forth between the two, pausing the DVD during the commercials so that the two “don’t get messed up.” Just when you think you will go mad if you hear, “Look, it’s Miley!” one more time, she begins to watch the movie in French.

At Christmas time several years ago, my Brother took my Kid Sister to see the new, live-action Peter Pan. Kid Sister, just on the cusp of adolescence, liked the frothy, Mary Martin musical version. This darker film, starring Jeremy Sumpter, didn’t seem impress her. Kid Sister was silent on the car ride back to the house. Finally, in the driveway, my sister spoke. She was reverent. “His name is Jeremy.”

Ever since then, that little phrase has been a sort of shorthand for me. It means adoration. It means “isn’t he dreamy?” It means “this is someone I would move to Never-land to be with.”

I have a nice Boyfriend. He’s also a little magical. Over the summer, he enchanted my French press; every time I used it to make coffee, it seemed to wash itself. More importantly, he listens to me, he helps me, he cares about my friends and family.

And he takes my Kid Sister to any movie she likes.

“His name is Jeremy.”




(Photo reproduced without permission from moviesmedia.ing.com).