by: Wendy Jane Henson IN THEATERS, ON DVD, AND FROM TV ON DEMAND: Wendy Jane Henson has lived in Tualatin since 1992. A former college instructor in creative writing and theater arts (PCC, Marylhurst, and PSU), she is a published author with articles and two books in print, a screenwriter and playwright, and a former producer and director in educational and non-profit theater.

KIDS AND FAMILY HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA n 2012, PG, 91 minutes, Common Sense rating: 7+ Usually when I see a film has Adam Sandler, even doing a voice over, I steer clear. But this film features Adam doing Dracula as a entrepreneur who runs a classy hotel for monsters and is the overprotective father of a teenage girl. That did get my attention. On her eighteenth birthday, going through a restless “who am I” phase, Drac’s daughter is trying to decide what life holds for her. She longs to find acceptance, and, of course, romance. You can imagine Drac’s horror when she finds a non-monster boyfriend. Despite a few speed bumps, the story is largely entertaining, and it is kind of fun to watch even Dracula facing the same dilemmas that fathers do everywhere. Sophisticated it’s not. But the film is humorous enough to be a pleasant diversion. ACTION/THRILLER RED 2 n 2013, PG-13, 1hr 56min, Common Sense rating: 14+ For those who don’t know it, RED stands for “retired extremely dangerous.” This film, the second in a likely series, again gets retired secret agents off the bench and into action. Once more, Bruce Willis brings along Helen Mirren and John Malkovich for an interlude of daring-do and strong arm silliness. While there are complaints that this version does not have the jazz and pizzazz of the original, it adds the charms of Catherine Zeta Jones and the best menacing style of Anthony Hopkins. Their quest for a missing nuclear device is pretty much cut and dried Hollywood fare. But the fun they have fighting corruption and mowing down bad guys provides some tense moments and solid laughs. Although kids over 14 may get it, the “mature” among us are the ones most likely to get a kick out of it. COMEDY A THOUSAND WORDS n 2012, PG-13, 91 minutes If you follow comedian Eddy Murphy at all, including his stint as Donkey in the SHREK franchise, what is one thing you can’t imagine him ever doing? Shutting up? Yes. Me, too. In this formulaic and predictable film, Eddie Murphy plays Jack McCall, literary agent, whose livelihood depends on how fast he can talk and thereby close a deal. Fortune, however, has its cookies to give out, and the cookie it hands Jack is a death sentence. He finds himself in a situation where he can speak only 1000 words before he dies. The premise is interesting. The idea that silence is golden and people should think before they speak is well intended. Unfortunately, the execution of this comedy is exactly that...an execution. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 0% rating, and only 48% of the people who viewed it liked it. But sometimes it’s so bad, it is actually funny. Just not for the right reasons.