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Movie Deja Vu (Good-ish and Bad-ish)

Valentine's Day-If I had seen Love Actually, I probably would have really enjoyed this film. The acting was more than fine except maybe for both the Taylors. (Who's idea was it to make Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift a couple anyway? Surreally lame.) There were several "surprises" in the movie. I figured out all but maybe two ahead of time. I feel stupid for not figuring out those two... I think director Gary Marshall's sister Penny could have done a better job on this movie...

Finally, a comparison of the soundtracks between Love Actually and this movie. Notice Maroon 5 being on both soundtracks. (Not a fan.) Also, fewer covers on the Love Actually soundtrack. (Eva Cassidy sounds just like Christine McVie on "Songbird.") Bottomline: Richard Curtis put so much thought into the soundtrack that process is a bonus feature on the DVD. I don't feel that from Marshall. Bottomline on the movie itself: If this was an SAT analogy, this movie compared with Love Actually is like comparing American Cheese to Sharp Cheddar. Edible but which would you rather have in your grilled cheese sandwich?

Secondly, I also saw this first installment of Percy Jackson and Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Chris Columbus brings you another Harry Potter-esque book-to-film. You have a teenager with powers who doesn't know his background or parentage. He has a male and female sidekick. That's really where the comparisons end. Percy starts off as smart-alecky right off the bat while Harry doesn't get to this level until like book four. Grover isn't Ron. He inexplicably understands the mortal world and doesn't whine. Annabeth is more like Hermione but comes from a less sheltered environment maybe? I've never read the books so I can't compare them on that level but I prefer this movie series already. I do have a question though: how does Pierce Brosnan fit his self-described "horse's ass" in a wheelchair? And why do persons of authority (Like Greek Gods) always have a British Isles accent?
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