A pleasant comedy where Helen Harris (Kate Hudson, Almost Famous), a young career woman, suddenly finds herself in the job of being a mother for her deceased sister's three children. Abigail, in the age of eight, is the cute youngest children. Fourteen years old Hayden Panettiere, who was a highlight of some of the latter Ally McBeal episodes, is the oldest of the children.

Elle has a simple, smallish role as Emma, the sweet daughter of the Learner family in this moody drama/thriller. Ethan Learner, his wife and two children are taking a break at a gas station, when a car hits the son and immediately kills him. The driver, Dwight Arno, hesitates, but ends up not stopping.

The police has little in way of clues, and makes no progress with the case. Ethan, unable to accept the events, starts his own obsessive investigations. Meanwhile, Dwight is agonized by guilt and self-doubt, but doesn't turn himself in so as not to lose joint custody of his son.

The story is potent, but is not presented in the most interesting manner. It's hard to care strongly of the characters, while the thriller aspect is quite on the slim side.

Elle has the common role of being a beautiful child who cries when his brother dies and when her parents argue, and is otherwise lovable. Even the bedtime scene is included. Elle does her part in an expert manner, but there just isn't much to the role.

Essentially a horror movie, Orphan's drama aspects are a step above the norm. Kate and John adopt Esther (Isabelle), a nine-year-old orphan of Russian origin. She's intelligent, polite, and charming. With ease, she wraps her new foster-father around her little finger, and when people around her start getting into accidents, nobody will believe it could be the sweet Esther at fault.

Isabelle is competent as the evil Esther, and there's nothing to complain in her performance. However after all we're talking about a horror movie, so although the role is large, the character remains somewhat distant throughout.

Aryana is a complete darling as Max, the youngest child of the family, and by far the most likeable character. It's a delight to see her happy, smiling face. Especially endearing is the fact she's almost deaf, an impairment shared by real-life Aryana, and one of the reasons she was chosen for the role. There are some beautiful scenes that shows the world as its heard by Max. Indeed, Orphan is at times a touching movie, and achieves more than just frights.

Unfortunately the frights don't work as well the drama. The tension builds decently toward the end, but Esther's extreme personality and deeds seem a little out of place given the otherwise realistic style of the movie. On the other hand, for some the lack of supernatural elements may create an effective horror experience.

American Girl is the brand name for a line of dolls, books and other items, including at this time four movies. The American Girl philosophy, according to the fine review at PopMatters, "sets high standards, so wholesome and pious they're almost creepy." This movie, taking place in the colonial times, is everything you'd expect, with notably high production values for a family movie. Shailene, playing believably the 10-year-old Felicity Merriman, is spirited, beautiful and headstrong, a girl that any American Girl fan would likely want to be. She struggles against the expectations of the time for a fine and proper lady, saves a horse from a cruel owner, and has a best friend Elizabeth (Katie). Eulala is cute in the smaller role of the little sister Nan, seen also in the sample video clip.

Dakota has only half a minute of screen time when she appears at the beginning of the film. She kisses a boy – her first kiss, reportedly – and is lovely as she always is. The rest of the movie is a fairly ordinary romantic comedy/drama with a good performance from Reese Witherspoon.

The audience that will enjoy this big fantasy adventure the most is likely aged the same as its heroes and heroines: teens and younger. As in the many ways comparable The Golden Compass, the children take a very active role. Despite being ordinary, very British urban children, they accomplish great deeds fighting the evil army alongside the forces of good. They also meet fantasy creatures of all sorts, including some arguably silly ones, like Santa Claus. Not my cup of tea, but then, it's a while since I was a kid.

The notable young actress Georgie plays the youngest sibling Lucy, and plays her well. With her fresh expressiveness Georgie stands out in any crowd, and all the more compared to mediocre performances of the other children of the movie. She's very natural and her positive energy is catchy. A fine example of her self confidence outside her role is her somewhat famous "Potty Mouth Bucket," where anyone who swore on the set had to drop $2. I recommend checking out the interview where she mentions that; she's a fun girl to listen to.

Brooke strongly connects this movie and Pretty Baby. Both open with a frontal shot of Brooke's face. In this case her character, a 13-year-old orphan named Wanda Nevada, is putting on makeup in front of a mirror, complete with rather grown-up lipstick. Uppity and adventurous, she goes to the off-limits back room where a game of poker is in taking place, hoping to get some attention from one of the players whom she calls her lover. However the love seems short-lived as he bets her against 50 dollars in the game, and loses. The winner, whose intentions for her are obvious from the way he watched Wanda and practically licked his lips while considering the offer, takes her prospecting with her.

The majority film is an odd mixture of a western, drama, and, in opinion of many, comedy. The comedy part could be unintentional, as this movie is truly poor in all respects. Perhaps it's the exceptional failure at credibility that makes the movie somewhat memorable. Brooke's acting is a little better than in Pretty Baby, she has energy and the looks, and her role as an early teen trying to pass as a much more mature woman has some charm.

Carolina (Julia Stiles) is a nice daughter of a warm but eccentric family. Carolina finds a perfect suitor, but meeting her family proves to be a problem. And then there is her good, old male friend... Julia Stiles does a good performance, and while Mika's role is not large, it's worth checking out if you like her.

This 1999 take of the famous story is fair family entertainment but has little new to offer in its treatment of the subject. The style is very mainstream. Computer effects – almost a necessity for this story – are mediocre. There is an overall feel of a slightly low budget movie. Alice is played by Tina, who is now in her early teens, and sweet as ever. This however isn't her best role, and the whole movie is best enjoyed if you first make yourself a fan of Tina's by watching her in her better movies.

Eva (Thora) wants a dog, which her parents won't give her, citing her lack of responsibility. Plus her father is allergic to dogs. In addition, Eva has a baby brother, who her parents seem to devote all too large part of their attention to.

Meanwhile, a shady gypsy named Shorty Kohn does street performances with his very cute and skilled monkey. But the real trick of the show is that the monkey steals any valuables of the audience it can get its quick fingers on, which is a lot. However Shorty isn't a kind master, and the monkey runs away.

Liking children, the monkey goes to Eva, who happens to be walking through the park. Although not a dog, the monkey is very cute, and Eva decides to keep it, and not tell her parents. The rest of the plot is straightforward: Eva keeps the monkey hidden, with many close calls, while Shorty looks for it.

This is strictly a children's movie. Some big-name actors such as Harvey Keitel as Shorty don't make a difference to that. The monkey is admirable however. I wouldn't say it's acting, but it comes closer than any animal I've seen in a movie before.

Thora is as expressive as always, and very easy to like. Acting-wise this isn't her best movie, though I put half the blame on the director: none of the characters are credible. There is plenty of Thora however, and she has a fair amount of dialogue.