The Last Airbender Kicked Ass on the fx, and Harry Potter returned again, and again, until the Paranormal Activity started.

We watched a lot of movies this weekend, thanks to the Harry Potter marathon ABC Family had on. My wife loves it, we have all the movies and will get the next two, but for me, I enjoy it for the special effects. However, once or twice a year is okay. Every other weekend is a little too much. She really wanted to see clips from the new movies so we put up with the commercials until about 7 pm.

I closed my eyes and grabbed an envelope, pulling out a DVD and slipping it into the player. The first movie we saw was Kick Ass. This is the story of the wimpy kid in school that wants to amount to something in life. Unfortunately he picked crime fighting.

His very first attempt is not very successful and he ends up in a hospital. But this doesn’t stop him and he continues fighting crime and eventually meets two more crime fighters, a father and daughter team, one of which is Nicholas Cage. (The only star I recognized in this.)

This movie has an interesting, if over used plot; the humor is almost there, with enough prate falls that you’re dying by the end, only because you had to sit through it. Surprisingly enough, the ending was okay, no goose bumps for me. It’s a great kid’s movie, except for the blood and language which knocks this movie up to the point where the kids won’t be able to see it.

 The next one we saw was The Last Airbender. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my stepdaughter informed me it was based on a cartoon. The cartoon was better, according to them, which according to me made this was a slow waste of good time. The special effects were great; the acting was a little over done. M. Night Shymalan wrote and directed this movie, but by far this is not his best. (Even if I did figure it out before it was revealed The Village is his best work.)

 One thing you must know about me before I throw in the last movie, I do not watch many newer horror movies because I don’t like the blood, gore and senseless screaming. Also, the last movie that actually made me jump out of my seat was a scene from Jaws.

Somehow, we got our hands on a copy of Paranormal Activity 2. The kids already saw it and let us know this was a prequel, which is good because I never saw Paranormal Activity 1. (It always makes sense to have the first part of a story line come after the first movie, just ask George Lucas.)

The story begins when a new family moves into a house and after a few break-ins, they install surveillance cameras throughout. The entire movie is seen through the eyes of these cameras and a video camera.

I liked the way this was told, very original idea with the cameras. I read on the IMDB that there were consistencies in this, but I have a feeling some of them were part of the story. (I had to tell the kids it was only a movie). A few scenes gave me goose bumps, but not one made me jump like I did in 1976, seated in a crowded theater watching Richard Dreyfuss scuba diving around the hull of an abandoned boat.

Of all the junk we watched this weekend this is the only one I would recommend, except for Harry Potter of course.

 I haven’t given myself the time to do any writing recently, (does this count?) or reading. I’m guessing that I am weird because I need absolute quiet when I do either. Not to mention the fact that I play in Azeroth way too much. However, the beginnings for a sequel to Journey of Tara are beginning to form in my head. By the time Nanowrimo kicks off I may have just enough notes to complete it.