Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail) has been conceived to act as a donor for her sister Kate (Sofia), who has had leukemia since age 2. Now 11, Anna is expected to donate one of her kidneys to Kate, but puts her foot down. Anna sues her family for "medical emancipation," and hires a lawyer to defend her case. While the law suit provides the plot and structure, this is a story about a family which for over a decade has been defined by Kate's sickness. Her mother Sara (Cameron Diaz) used to be a successful lawyer, but now devotes herself to taking care of Kate. The father, a firefighter, loves his children, but is absent most of the time, and the marriage is about to fall apart.

The movie is based on the best-seller book by Jodi Picoult. I enjoyed the book a great deal, and the movie evokes emotion in much the same way. The very premise of having a child to provide spare parts for her sister is fresh and very thought-provoking. The nuanced relationships within the family are treated with care.

Abigail is always a competent actress, and this is one of her better roles. Kate however is the character with the most layers, and Sofia does very well indeed. Because she's a teenager, and therefore strictly taking too old for this site, I'm not giving her the high score she'd otherwise deserve.

Eloise is a 6-year-old little terror, and in this movie wreaks havoc in New York's Plaza hotel, where she lives with her nanny. While Sofia was 9 during filming, she nails Eloise's role perfectly, and according to the DVD's extras, is even more Eloise-like in real life. The plot revolves around Eloise trying to get into next evening's débutante ball, and playing a matchmaker to the young prince who, unbeknownst to Eloise, is the same little boy she's keeping company to.

Soundly based on the Eloise books, the story is solid family movie stuff, but Sofia's outstanding performance sets it apart from the ordinary. Stills do no justice to Sofia; instead check out the video clip, which is representative of the movie.

Eloise at Christmastime was made a year or two later, but Sofia looks essentially unchanged, and the movie very similar in style.

Jackie Harrison (Susan Sarandon) has divorced, and her husband has married a younger woman Isabel, a fashion photographer. Jackie's younger child Ben is fine with the situation, but his early teen sister Anna (Jena) isn't. Anna feels Isabel has stolen her father, a lawyer who has too little time for family. Jackie is the perfect mother, whereas Isabel is the artistic, less responsible type. The setup is ordinary, and when Jackie discovers she has a cancer, things complicate only very slightly.

Although the cast is impressive, the characters have nothing that'd make you care about or get interested in them. On the other hand the movie has no major flaws, except for some non-credible and cheesy girl-book-like scenes, like the mother and daughter going out for an unforgettable horse ride in moonlight. All three females do reliably solid acting. Ben, the lively imp of a little brother, has impressively cute giggles and mannerisms.

Jena is her usual good self in this yet another role of hers as a daughter with a challenging relationships with parents. She's not quite yet a teenager – though personally I have never found myself thinking "Jena is a teen now." She's always been just herself. In any case, her character has her first little dating experiences, which is at least one unique Jena-aspect of the movie. She's given a good amount of screen time, but no truly memorable scenes, and not even she can change this movie into a remarkable one.

For fans of old movies this musical from 1944 should be pretty well known. The light hearted story is based on life of an actual family of Smiths in St. Louis, with a small plot around a love affair of Esther (22-year-old Judy Garland) with a young man next door. While Judy did some acting when younger, the relevant actresses are Joan as Rose, and especially Margaret as her little sister "Tootie."

Margaret's acting is limited by the genre, and the style of the period, but in my opinion she's one of the most interesting young actresses before 1970s. Margaret received an Academy Juvenile Award for the role, which Wikipedia cites as her most memorable one. If you're into old movies, this is a must-see, and for the average visitor of this site, a good choice if you're only going to watch one movie from 1940s.

In 1839 the captured Africans aboard an American slave ship rebel, and kill all but two members of the crew. Nonetheless the Africans end up to American court, where the fundamental question is: are they descendants of slaves, in which case they are guilty of murder, or are they native Africans, and thus allowed to defend themselves against kidnapping. The story is based on real events which formed a turning point in the American history of slavery.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie is visually impressive. Djimon Hounsou of In America fame, among others, is formidable as the leader of the Africans. He however remains one of the very few well fleshed out characters, and the movie overall lacks strong emotional impact. It's nonetheless among Spielberg's serious movies, presenting a thought provoking view on slavery.

Anna's screen time is about two minutes. She plays the child Queen Isabella II of Spain, who wants the Africans handed over to her under the provision of an American/Spanish treaty. The screenshots and the video clip cover all there is to see about Anna in this movie.

Lying about his identity, a rocker Dewey Finn (Jack Black) gets a job of teaching in a prep school. Less than interested in conventional education, he starts turning his class into a rock band. Given the silly concept I expected a rather stupid movie, but was treated with a perfectly entertaining one, mainly thanks to Jack Black, a natural comedian, Miranda is the only professional actress among the pupils, but some of the others are worth your attention too.

Now grown up Selena's (Jennifer Jason Leigh) mother seems to have killed again. Selena goes meet her, and the family's difficult past unwinds: poverty, an abusive father, a desperate choice for the future of the child. The main story is in the flashbacks of the mother and the daughter, leading up to the crisis of the present time. This is an intelligent, grim drama masquerading as a crime story, especially recommended if you like Jennifer. The sad role of 11-year-old Selena is played by Ellen Muth, who later starred in the excellent TV series Dead Like Me.

Addie Loggins' (Tatum) mother has died. A con man named Moses Pray (his father Ryan O'Neal) agrees to take her to another city to her aunt's. Instead, the two end up performing Moses' bible selling fraud together, and the original plan appears to be forgotten. Behind the uneasy relationship is the possibility, and suspicion of Addie, that Moses is in fact her father.

The film won Tatum the Oscar as the youngest person ever. This and many praising reviews indicate her acting was considered excellent at the time, but it hasn't aged well. Made in 1973, the style seems more like it's from the previous decade. Perhaps the biggest merit of the role is its complete lack of then-customary cuteness. Addie is rather the opposite, sullen and serious.

Tatum and Ryan's relationship was never good in real life. He divorced when Tatum was 5 years old. His wife moved to a ranch with their children, and sank deep into an addiction to alcohol and amphetamines. Tatum lived there for three years, neglected and abused, and then moved to live with Ryan. Life didn't improve much for Tatum, since Ryan was also neglectful and led a life not at all suitable for a child to be around. Tatum, deeply scarred for lack of attention and love, didn't get much of either from his father either. When Tatum won the Oscar, Ryan is said to have hit her, apparently out of disappointment of not having gotten the award himself.

Having read Tatum's autobiography "A Paper Life," the relationship between her and Ryan in the movie appears eerily similar to real life at the time. For me, that fact is how the movie creates its biggest impact. When Addie asks Moses "You don't like me, do you?", he answers "No, I don't like you!" It's very easy to imagine Tatum, so hungry for his love, hurting inside when filming the scene.

A sequel to The Secret Garden, this one is more of the same, done a little worse. That is to say, an average movie for young girls, involving a school for orphans in an old English manor, and its secret, magic garden. The dialogue is rather wooden and the visuals fail to impress the way such garden-themed movie, taking place old English manor should. Of the two young actresses, Camilla is the star, and such a shining star she is, although in Secret of the Andes she is even more so.

When the movie Frankenstein is shown in a small Spanish village of the 1930's, it's bound to make an impression on the audience. As that time knew no age limits on movies, 7-year-old Ana and her little older sister Isabel (both characters named the same as their actresses) are in the audience. The frightening creature, and its violent fate linger in the minds of the girls. They go looking for the monster from a abandoned house, and its deep well. Isabelle pretends to die, frightening and hurting Ana; and there are many other scenes related to death. The turning point is when Ana befriends a vagabond who has moved into the abandoned house – quite the touching scene – and later finds out he's been killed, an event with strong parallels with the Frankenstein story.

Ana is much the same serious little girl as in Cría Cuervos, except younger, and even more touching. It would be nice if her role weren't quite so gloomy, but even then her performance is remarkable. I was most impressed by her hurt expression when Isabel has played a thoughtless and mean trick on her, scaring her badly.

Isabel does fine as the big sister, nor is there complaining about acting of any others. My biggest problems with the movie are its slow pace, and occasional excessive obscurity of symbolism. If old, serious, Spanish movies appeal to you, this one is highly recommended, and otherwise only if Ana touches your heart like she does mine.