"Bolt" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Film and I think it should have won.

Bolt is a dog, who is the star of a popular crime/action TV show. But he thinks the show is real-life…so when he leaves the set and accidentally gets shipped from Hollywood to New York City…Bolt has to find his way back home…and to his best friend and co-star Penny…who he thinks has been captured by their arch-enemy. John Travolta does a surprisingly good job as the voice of Bolt.

Along the way Bolt becomes friends with a cat named Mittens and a hamster named Rhino…and they have plenty of adventures as they travel across the country.

Miley Cyrus does the voice of Penny. If you're a fan of the pop-star have, for some reason haven't seen “Bolt”, you're in for a great time.

“Bolt” is the perfect family film: The animation is phenomenal; the voices are excellent; the story is very well done; all the characters are likeable; there are a lot of funny scenes and the 3-D effect work extremely well. What more can I say?

“Bolt” is rated PG. There are a few semi-scary scenes, especially one at the end of the movie that may be a little intense for the 5-and-under crowd…so you parents be ready with some hugs and hand-holding. But other than that it’s perfect for all ages…even adults…who will enjoy the clever dialogue.

And the DVD includes several special features, a a new short - "Super Rhino."

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Bolt” gets a B+. It, and the 70th Anniversary edition of "Pinocchio", are the two "must get" DVD's out right now.

"Madagascar" (2005) was one of the best animated movies of that year. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is not as good as the original because, for one thing, it's a little too serious.

Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman, and the rest of the characters from the original, return in this highly anticipated sequel. The story begins with the gang leaving Madagascar by plane in hopes of returning to New York City. But the plane crash lands in Africa, where the characters discover animal like themselves: Alex finds his parents; Marty meets a lot of zebras that look and talk exactly like him; and Gloria and Melman go looking for love and they eventually find it.

All of these storylines are interesting but they take the characters away from each other and so the scenes are not as funny. And there's too much drama in the script: Alex trying to earn the respect of his father, Marty finding out that's he not unique, and Melman and Gloria's relationship issues. The original "Madagascar" was pure fun with big laughs. "2" is not as funny with too many sub-plots and not that many laughs.

On the positive side, the animation is stunning, some of the scenes of Africa are breathtaking. All of the voices are exceptional, including newcomers to the voice cast: Alec Baldwin and the late Bernie Mac.

"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is rated PG. There are a few scenes involving guns, many with the human character, Nana, from the first film. The movie is suitable for everybody. Nana, by the way, is in the movie way too much...and the penguins aren't in it enough.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" gets a B. It's worth watching...but not great.

There's talk that a "Madagascar 3" is in the works. If so, I hope the writers go back to the spirit of the original and leave the serious jungle scripts to "The Lion King."          

Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” first came out in 1993. It’s back in theaters right now…re-released by Disney for the third-straight year…in 3-D. But only for one more week.

The story centers around the skeleton “Jack“…who is the King of Halloweentown. He’s a great king…very scary…but he is bored doing the same things every Halloween.

So he wanders away from town…and discovers a mysterious place where people aren’t scary…they’re happy! This new place is Christmas Town…and soon Jack comes up with a plan to become the King of this town…

...but he has to take-over for Santa Claus to do it.

The story is funny, sweet and scary and there’s a nice message. Plus…the 3-D special effects are amazing.

“The Nightmare Before Christmas” is rated PG. There are a few scenes that may be too scary for real little kids…but they probably wouldn’t appreciate the film anyway. It’s appropriate for kids 8 and up…but it’s adults who have turned “Nightmare” into a cult classic.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card…Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” gets a solid B.

It’s a real Halloween treat…so don’t get tricked and miss it.

But if you don’t get to see it in on the big screen this time…there is a 15^th Anniversary Edition…released on DVD in August…that’s worth adding to your collection.

In just a little over two years, "High School Musical" has become a worldwide sensation. After two Disney Channel movies, H.S.M. hit the big screen in 2008 and "3", which is new on DVD, is clearly the best of the three.

All the popular characters (and actors) are back. In the story, they're all seniors and getting ready to leave East High and head-on to college. Zack Effron's character, Troy, is still a big basketball star. The seniors decide to put on a musical about their dreams of how life is going to be after high school. But Troy's girlfriend, Gabriella (played by Venessa Hudgens), has already begun her life away from school. Will she make it back in time for the show and for graduation?

Overall, "High School Musical 3" is the most dramatic of the three films, and it has a lot of heart as well. And there are some nice messages about the importance of kindness, caring and believing in yourself and your dreams. There are some boring moments, but diehard H.S.M. fans won't notice.

The acting is better than in the first two. I think everyone invloved in the film realized that they need to step-it-up since this version was being shown in theaters. The dancing scenes are pretty good. There's a musical number practically every 5 minutes, but most of them work with the story (unlike in "High School Musical 2", which was a disaster."

"High School Muscial 3" is rated G and, of course, is very Disney family friendly.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" gets a C+.

And that's a lot higher grade than I thought I would give it after seeing the first two. If you're a fan, you're going to want to own the DVD for the movie and the extras. But even if you've not seen the others, it's worth a look. And you'll  get a glimpse of the future and some of the new main characters that will be in "H.S.M. 4."

"The Secret Life of Bees" is based on a popular novel and is set in South Carolina in 1964. It was one of many 2008 films about life in America in the early '60's.

Dakota Fanning stars as Lily, a 14 year old who has had a sad life. First, as a very young child, she was involved in a tragic accident that resulted in the death of her mother. Since then she's been forced to live with her father, who is not very nice to her.

Lily decides to leave home to try to find answers about her mother. She ends up in the home of a family of sister who are bee farmers, led by August, who is played by Queen Latifah. Lily learns a lot about life and love - both the good and the bad - from the three sisters and their friends. 

The acting in "The Secret Life of Bees" is first-rate. Singers Alisha Keys and Jennifer Hudson are also in the cast. And the story is well done.

This is a serious film about serious subjects, such racism and death. It's rated PG-13 and is best suited for teenagers and above, especially girls and their moms. Fans of Dakota Fanning need to know that she's come a long way from her roles in "The Cat in the Hat" and "Charlotte's Web."

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "The Secret Life of Bees" gets a B.

Actors Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith were producers of the film. I think fans of the book and anyone who's in the mood for a drama with good characters and a good message will enjoy this DVD.

In 200 years we humans will be forced to live underground. That's the bad news. The good news is: Bill Murray will be our Mayor.

"City of Ember" is based on the popular novel about a future world in which the remaining people on Earth live in an underground city that is falling apart. The generator that runs the city is dying and so two kids try to use clues from a secret box to find a way out of the city so they can save everyone.

The movie starts out pretty good, as we learn about the city and the main characters, but then the story sort of goes flat. There just isn't enough suspense. Will they get out? Won't they get out? Of course they're gonna get out! The plot is simply too predictable and there isn't enough excitement along the way.

The acting in "City of Ember" is okay. Academy Award nominee Saorice Ronan leads the way as the young girl who finds the box. Murray's Mayor isn't exactly a nice guy. Harry Treadway plays the other teen hero and Tim Robbins plays his dad.

"City of Ember" is rated PG. It's definitely geared toward older kids. The eight-and-under crowd will be bored by the lack of adventure. This is not nearly as much fun for kids as "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "City of Ember" gets a C.

I haven't read the book yet and now that I've seen the movie I probably won't bother reading it now. 

"The Express" didn't get a lot of attention when it was in theaters or a lot of respect from critics. But, it's an outstanding film that made my list of the Top Five Family Films of 2008.

"The Express" is based on the remarkable, true story of Ernie Davis who was the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Davis is played nicely by Rob Brown.

The movie begins with a few scenes of Ernie as a young boy and high school football star. But the story kicks-in when he gets recruited to attend Syracuse University. Dennis Quaid plays the role of Orangeman Coach Ben Schwartzwalder.

"The Express" is a serious film. It explores the issue of racism in the United States in the early 60's as Davis and a few of his teammates are treated badly by the players on other teams and fans because they are black. And it is a sad film, since Davis is never able to reach his goal of playing in the NFL. However, the story is so inspiring that I almost gave the movie a standing ovation.

All of the acting is great, with Quaid's performance the most outstanding. I thought he deserved some considering for an Oscar nomination.

"The Express" is rated PG for some crude language and fighting scenes. But it's an important film so I wouldn't stop anyone, age 10 and above, from seeing it.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "The Express" gets a B+. If you skipped it when it was in theaters now's your chance to see one of the best sports films in recent years.

The trailers for Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" called this "the greatest Chihuahua movie of all-time." Well, it's definitely the FIRST Chihuahua movie of all-time, but that doesn't mean that it's good.

A pampered Chihuahua named Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) is living the good life with her owner in Beverly Hills. But when Chloe gets taken to Mexico and then gets lost, Papi, a neighborhood Chihuahua who adores Chloe, (and who's voiced by George Lopez) decides he must find her. If the story sounds pretty simple that because it is.

All the dogs in the movie are real and the filmmakers do a great job making it look as if they are actually talking. But that is about the best thing about the movie. Many of the scenes involving the animals and the humans are pretty corny and, overall, the film just isn't very funny.

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" is rated PG. Overall there's nothing in it that parents need to worry about except for some early scenes that involve dog fighting. Little kids may ask some questions about the subject.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" gets a C!

I had high hopes for this film because it looked pretty good from the trailers. I wanted it to be "the greatest Chihuahua movie of all-time", but, unfortunately, it's a disappointment.

It's part "Frankenstein", part "The Nightmare Before Christmas" rip-off. But the problem with "Igor" is: none of the parts fit. 

John Cusack stars as the voice of Igor, a hunchback who has spent his life, like all the other Igors...doing the grunt work for an evil scientist. But this Igor wants TO BE an evil scientist, and enter and win the annual Science Fair. So he creates what he hopes will be an evil monster, but instead his creation turns out to be nice.

There are a lot of problems with the film: First of all, it's not very funny. I only laughed twice during the entire movie and there wasn't much laughing coming from the audience at the screening I was at. Also, the animation is not great. This is another animated movie where the voices and the mouths don't work together. How come Disney, Dreamworks and Blue Sky are the only studios that can create animated movies where the mouths and voices work together?

And the story is flat. There's nothing to really care about, including all of the characters. Plus the movie is loud, crude and often mean and violent. When I saw it in the theater when it came out last Fall I was told that several people asked for a refund after one of the showings because their kids were too scared. I say "Igor" is not appropriate for children 7 and under, but kids of any age shouldn't see it because it just isn't very good.

On "The Official Kid Critic Report Card", "Igor" gets a D+.

If you want to see a slightly-scary, funny, charming, animated movie with a lot of heart, watch "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" instead of "Igor".

"The Longshots" is inspired by the true story of Jasmine Plummer, who was the first girl to ever play Pop Warner football. Keke Palmer does a nice job as Plummer, who learns football from her uncle, who's played by Ice Cube.

At first everyone on the team makes fun of Jasmine because she's a girl. But once they realize that she's a good quarterback and she can help them win they accept her as a teammate.

"The Longshots" tells a nice story and there are good messages about family and sportsmanship. All of the acting is very good. There are a few funny moments but the movie also has some dramatic elements involving Jasmine's father. And, on the sports front, you learn a lot about what it takes to become a quarterback.

"The Longshots" is rated PG for some very mild language. It's appropriate for all ages. Most kids, even those who don't play football, will enjoy it.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "The Longshots" gets a solid B.

It's one of the best sports movies of the year for girls, boys and adults.