Two years newer than The Addams Family, this movie is a worthy sequel, full of the same goodness as its predecessor. Christina as Wednesday – now an early teenager – is still most phenomenal, and the chaos she predictably causes at the summer camp where she's sent is most entertaining.

Fragments follows the lives of seven people who share a traumatic experience. The film is an interesting treatment of various psychological coping strategies, and is an exposition on self-deception, emotional repression, denial, isolation, and the general frailty of memory itself.

Dakota plays Anne Hagen, who witnesses the senseless and random murder of her father in an otherwise typical greasy-spoon diner. Anne quickly turns to God (the Christian one) as a crutch and uses "his will" to rationalize her rewritten version of the actual events. Her fundamentalist bible thumping was awkward to watch, but that was, I think, the point.

In this film, Dakota lies just beyond the precipice of early teen, while very occasionally revealing some of her fading childish mannerisms. Anne is a fairly good role for Dakota, and while the character is otherwise fairly emotionally detached throughout most of the film, Dakota is able to communicate much of Anne's inner turmoil through subtle cues.

Fragments reminded me a lot of the film Crash, in terms of how the characters' stories are woven together, and also in the overall mood, captured by both the cinematography and soundtrack. Unlike many other films mentioned on this site endured solely for the shining starlet, Fragments was pleasantly enjoyable and thought-provoking.

An upper class Jewish family escapes from the German Nazis into Africa just prior to World War II. Adapting to the new life in Kenya is a challenge to all involved, but as the time to return comes, the choice is no longer so obvious. Lea is very likable and charming in her subtle portrayal of a child making Africa her new home. Unfortunately, at about middle of the movie Lea is replaced by an older actress who, while also doing a fine role, is no match for Lea.

Regardless of any child actress in it, this is a good drama well worth its IMDB score of 7.9. On the Special Edition version the second DVD contains only extras. Many of them show some Lea, but in particular the two that show her auditioning are excellent, even though only a few minutes in length. She's slightly younger, very expressive, and shows sides of her now seen in the movie.

A tale of a little genius girl, and her triumph over her crappy parents and the most horrible teachers ever. Mara's good acting makes Matilda very likable, and Danny DeVito does good job as her sleazy loser father. Unlike you'd expect from a children's movie with such a plot, the story has merit and its execution shows rare charm. I was however bothered by occasional out-of-place and overt violence.

Harry Potters are great books. We've read them all. We love brilliant Hermione, and we really love how Emma plays her in the movies. And what's not to like. Not only is Emma beautiful, but she also handles perfectly her bossy, brilliant character. In the first movie of the series Emma is 10 years old, and, obviously, increasingly older in later ones, but let it be said we both like her in all of them.

Michelle as Harriet creates one of the greatest child characters for pre-teen audiences. What this movie lacks in visual polish, it more than makes up in showing the world through eyes of an inquisitive, a tad hyperactive sixth grader. Adults in Harriet's world are just what they should be from the point of view of a self-confident, headstrong tomboy: a mixture of quirky, silly, dense, and boring. Her parents fall into the last category, and it's more her nanny (Rosie O'Donnell) who provides the parental safety and caring discipline. Though primarily adventure-packed (in a low-key way), the movie touches also on some more serious topics such as poverty and, especially, the challenge of being your own individual, all in very age-appropriate manner.

While not a loner, Harriet has something she does a lot, and by herself: she spies. After school, she puts on her spy uniform, grabs her essential spy gadgets, and goes spy on her neighbors and classmates. She jots down into her notebook everything she sees. She wants to be a writer when grown up, and for that, she must find out and remember everything. When, however, her friends one day discover her sometimes cruelly honest remarks about themselves, Harriet finds herself alone against everybody else.

Few movies show children being as genuinely children as Harriet the Spy does, and it's easy to imagine the target audience identifying with adventurous spy. While the movie's IMDB score is poor at the first glance, it's in fact fairly good for females under 18 (the youngest category reported).

Michelle plays Harriet wonderfully effortlessly. The many witty lines seem completely natural, and Harriet's level of energy can't possibly be pretended unless the actress has it genuinely in herself.

The movie is fairly faithful to Louise Fitzhugh's book, although simpler and lacking many of Harriet's deliciously insightful observations. Even then, Harriet the Spy is among the very best in kids' movies.

A fair scifi movie about first Contact. Jodie Foster plays the main character, a young headstrong scientist Ellie Arroway. Jena has a 10 minute role as eleven-year-old Ellie, already excited of her future profession in form of amateur radio. Jena is good as always within the limits of her role.

This big budget rendition of the story Peter Pan and Wendy has used the money where it shows, resulting in a visually splendid adventure. Together with a deservedly classic story, it's sure to entertain especially younger audiences. Perhaps in an attempt to offer something to everyone, the movie has some fairly lengthy, emotional scenes as well, drawing from the deeper aspects of the story. I was disturbed by some gratuitous violence. One might argue that's part of the original package as well, but I wouldn't fully buy that argument.

Rachel makes a good Wendy, both suitably entertaining and wild, as well as capable of making an impression in the more serious scenes. British accent helps a lot as always. Both she and Peter Pan's actor are just at the cusp of puberty; this adaptation makes good use of the related themes of the story, giving plenty more food for thought than do many adventure movies.

A slow but warm and enjoyable drama that keeps your attention surprisingly well. Main role by Ian McKellen, who does good job as usual. The young talent Theo doesn't say or do much, but we both found ourselves liking her increasingly.

Year 1953, Ireland. Evelyn Doyle's mother deserts her family, leaving Evelyn's father Desmond to take care of her and her two little brothers. As Desmond has no job, he's deemed unable to take care of his children, who are therefore taken into an orphanage. Although Desmond some time later gets a job, his children won't be returned to him without consent from his wife. Desmond embarks on a futile-seeming legal battle against the state, a based-on-a-true-story case of David against Goliath.

Movies with a parent fighting for his children are not rare, nor very often good, but this movie avoids all the worst traps. The story is neither overly depressing nor sappy. The character of Evelyn, played by Sophie, is far more than the all too common victim, a fact that greatly enhances the emotional appeal of the movie. Desmond is poor, but again unlike the cliche, he's not a bad or overly flawed man, and is full of love for his children. The colors are unsaturated and the visuals often gloomy, yet throughout everything there is a rare sense of warmth.

Sophie is touching as Evelyn, a character you grow to like, and at least in my case, won't forget for many years.