Normally, if a studio is unhappy or not confident in a movie, they'll bury it by releasing it in either January or August. Warner Bros. released "Joyful Noise" this past January as one of the first new films of 2012, and now it's already out on Blu-ray/DVD. And while it does have some problems, "Joyful Noise" not a complete loss, thanks to the music.

Queen Latifah co-produced and stars as ViRose Hill, the newly appointed director of a Gospel choir for a church in a small town in Georgia. Dolly Parton plays G.G., who's also a choir member. She wanted to be choir director so the two don't get along.

The town is in tough financial shape, and the one thing that brings everyone together and makes them happy is cheering for the choir as they take part each year in the national "Joyful Noise" competition. They've never made it to the finals - but this year could be different - thanks to ViRose's daughter (played by Keke Palmer) and G.G.'s grandson (Jeremy Jordan). They're both great singers who bring some young energy, and some young love, to the choir.

There are also several subplots, including one involving ViRose's son, who has Asperger's syndrome; her husband, who's in the military and a really weird one involving one of the choir members that doesn't even belong in this movie.

"Joyful Noise" needed some serious editing. The 120-minutes could easily have been cut-down to 95, and it would have made for a much better film. And much of what could have gone involves the songs. The film is divided almost equally between the story and musical numbers, some that are great and others that are totally unnecessary. And all of the songs are performed in their entirety, even ones not involving any of the main characters. Parton wrote three of the tunes and she and Latifah have plenty of opportunities to prove they can still sing (though Latifiah's solo midway through the film sadly brings everything to a stand still).

Palmer is the best singer of them all. Her version of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" at the beginning of the movie is tremendous.

From the commercials and the trailers you may think "Joyful Noise" is simply a musical/comedy, but the film does have some dramatic elements. And there are moments when it rises above the cheesy level where it exists most of the time. All of the acting is a little forced but I have to admit I did laugh a few times during the silly fight scene in the restaurant between Parton and Latifah, even though it's ridiculous.

"Joyful Noise" is rated PG-13 for language and brief adult content. Teens will like the young love story while fans of Parton will be thrilled to see her back on the big screen for the first time in 20-years. But the reason to see this movie is for the Gospel music. Again, not all the songs are hits, but there's enough here to make this at least a semi-joyful experience.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "Joyful Noise" gets a C+. Inspirational music overcomes an uninspired story.

- You know a comedy's not funny when the only laughs come from the bloopers during the end credits.

- You know a movie has bad performances when even the one guy playing himself does a terrible job.

- And you know when a movie is going after cheap emotions when it includes a dying man's last wish - and it's to see the Times Square ball drop one more time.

And yes, all of this...and much more...is part of Director Gary Marshall's latest holiday tribute cheese-fest: "New Year's Eve", which is the follow-up to 2010's surprisingly successful "Valentine's Day." Marshall clearly wanted to top himself this time so he has an even larger cast of celebrities who are part of six different storylines all taking place on New Year's Eve 2011 in New York City.

The dying man is played by Robert DeNiro. Yes, that Robert DeNiro. His nurse is played by Halle Berry. There's Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays an over-protective mom to teenager Abigail Breslin, who's looking for her first New Year's Eve kiss. Zac Efron reunites with "Hairspray" co-star Michelle Pfeiffer - he's a messenger boy, she's single and lonely. There's a battle to see who can have the first New Year's baby. Seth Meyers and Jessica Biel are involved in that. And there are plot-lines involving Jon Bon Jovi and old flame Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher and Lea Michele (from "Glee) stuck in an elevator together and Hilary Swank, who's in charge of the ball drop and guess what: the ball gets stuck!

There's also a slew of cameos, which is good because at least they help keep your interest as you wonder who's going to pop-up next.

However, practically all the performances are way over-the-top and the script is both predictable and bland. And did I mention there are no laughs-none-until the bloopers at the end? I wish Marshall put the kind of effort into the movie itself that he did into the out-takes.

But even with all it's problems, "New Year's Eve" isn't a complete mess. None of the storylines are overdone and they do all come to somewhat satisfying conclusions. There are a few twists but the film is so easy to follow that your mind can wander at times and you still won't miss anything. This movie is simple, mindless entertainment, as long as you don't mind not being too entertained.

"New Year's Eve" is rated PG-13 for some (unnecessary) adult language. It's appropriate for kids 13 and up, who might like the Breslin plot-line and seeing Efron and Michelle (who does sing) , but it's mainly for adults who watch/go to movies to see their favorite stars.

On "The Official Kid Critic Report Card", "New Year's Eve" gets a C. Marshall's New Year's resolution should be to get away from these holiday films and try to make a movie  that relies on a good script and believable characters and not just celebrities.

With Earth Day 2012 almost here, this year's batch of nature documentaries is about to hit theaters and last year's "Born to be Wild", from IMAX, is out on Blu-ray/DVD.  3D

"Born to be Wild 3D" tells the true story of two women who have devoted their lives to taking care of baby orphans. One nurtures young elephants in Kenya, the other cares for orangutans in Indonesia. We see them from the time the are rescued, then raised and then finally released back into the wild.

The movie does a nice job of showing the incredible devotion these two women have for their animals. Morgan Freeman narrates the film (he also narrated 2005's Oscar-winning "March of the Penguins"), but he's not the only one we hear from. The two women also share their experiences and stories, as do a few of their assistants.

"Born to be Wild 3D" is filled with cute and funny moments involving the young elephants and ortanutangs, but there are some serious moments, including descriptions of the attacks that caused these animals to become orphans. But there is no footage of the attacks or any violent scenes, allowing the movie to be rated G, and it is good for all ages.

The 3D is excellent and appropriate. The IMAX footage (when it was in theaters) separated this from any nature documentary that you might see on TV. But even without that it's still well worth watching. The messages about the importance of family and helping those in need are obviously very important.

On The Official LCJ Report Card, "Born to be Wild 3D" gets a B+

Brad Bird is best know for directing critically acclaimed animated movies, such as "The Iron Giant" and Disney/Pixar's "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille" (both which won him Oscars). He ventures into live-action for the first time with "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol", the fourth installment of the series that began 15 years ago. And much like the franchise, "Ghost Protocol" is stretched-out way too long.

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt. At the start of the film he escapes from prison, thanks to two of his fellow IMF agents (played by Simon Pegg and Paula Patton). They are on their own for a new mission (which they choose to accept) to prevent a the start of a nuclear war. This involves keeping the codes to fire nuclear missiles out of the hands of the wrong people. Along the way the team picks-up a 4th member (Jeremy Renner), who may or may not be who he says he is.

While the mission is pretty simple, the script complicates things in order to include trips to exotic locations (including Dubai and India), several wild action scenes (some better than others), and ton of characters and a lot of dialogue. In fact everyone in this movie spends more time talking about what they're going to do than actually doing it. This is one of the things that causes "M:I4" to drag and hold-down the fun level. And the movies best sequence - Cruise climbing-up and racing down the outside of the tallest building in the world could have been jaw-dropping if Paramount hadn't used it as it's main marketing tool for the movie.

Another problem is with the dialogue: the characters aren't talking to each other, they're delivering lines. Normally, in entertaining action movies you can ignore the talking and just enjoy the ride, but that's "not possible" here because the talking dominates the film. And I prefer Cruise's character in last year's "Knight and Day" to Ethan Hunt, who is way too serious and therefore has very little personality.

Bird does a nice job directing the action scenes. His experience with "The Incredibles" I'm sure helped him tremendously. "M:I4" looks good, but the weak story (the writers couldn't come-up with something better than preventing a nuclear war between US and Russia? In 2011!) and underwhelming special effects at times really hurt.

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Proctol" is rated PG-13 for loads of action-violence and some adult language. It's appropriate for kids 12 and up. Fans of the series should enjoy it (many are saying it's the best of them all), but otherwise you'll likely find it close to impossible to rank this as one of your favorites of the action/spy genre.

On "The Official Kid Critic Report Card", "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" gets an C.

From the title you might think "The Iron Lady" is the story of the wife of "Iron Man". And while Meryl Streep could probably pull-off that role too, here she stars as Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female Prime Minister.

Right from the first time Streep is on screen it's hard to recognize her because SHE IS Thatcher. And that convincing portrayal continues throughout the entire film. Much of the story of Thatcher's life is shown in flashbacks (Alexandra Roach plays Thatcher as a young girl). We see how she developed the drive to get to into politics, how she had to fight the men who ignored and dismissed her because of her gender and how she made it to the top.

Along with the flashbacks, director Phyllida Lloyd uses another device to provide some insight into Thatcher - her deceased husband Denis (played by Jim Broadbent). He's seen through hallucinations by the elderly Thatcher, and the couple carry on conversations and discuss events of the past. This choice by Lloyd shows Margaret as quite a different person from the one who was one of the most powerful leaders in the world during her time in office. The flashback scenes provide a look of Thatcher fighting hard for England against the odds and, at times, against everyone else. She's inspiring.

And Streep is amazing. Let's be honest - Meryl Streep should be nominated for just about every role she does and win an Oscar every time she's nominated. She is THE best actress working today - and nobody's a close second. But Academy voters, for some reason, like to give the honor most years to someone else - a surprising performance, a comeback performance, a newcomer. Glad it didn't happen this year, though I did pick Viola Davis to win.

As for "The Iron Lady" itself, the flashback scenes are a little distracting during the first part of the film but settle down a bit later. There's a very authentic look to the film, highlighted by the wardrobes and the use of actual news footage of some of the historic events (though we never see the real Thatcher in any of them). All of the other performances are solid, but the story doesn't grab you as much as it should have. Frankly, I would have liked to have seen much more of Thatcher's exciting life when she was The Iron Lady and less of her as a sad, old lady.

"The Iron Lady" is rated PG-13 for some language and violence. It's appropriate for teens and up and, much like "J. Edgar", is a good choice for students who may be studying this time in world history.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "The Iron Lady" gets a B. It's a must-see for Streep's Oscar-winning performance. 

Normally when a studio holds an early, nationwide screening for audiences it's because they think the film is really good and that the buzz will be helpful to spread the word. Last fall Fox decided to show "We Bought a Zoo" to thousands and thousands of people, not a week or two before it's schedule release date but an entire month early. A puzzling move, because the preview screenings didn't help develop any buzz for the film. Neither did the fact that this "based on a true story" dramedy just isn't very good, as first-time watchers will learn now that the film is out on DVD.

Matt Damon plays Benjamin, a single father of two who's still coping with the death of his wife six months earlier. He was a writer, but just like the title character in director Cameron Crowe's "Jerry McGuire", Benjamin quits his job looking to start a new life in a new town.

After checking-out many new houses Benjamin and his young daughter fall in love with an old home with loads of land attached. They soon learn that this isn't just any property - it's a zoo. But Ben doesn't see this as a problem, but an opportunity. He decides to buy the zoo, which has been closed-down for awhile. It comes with all the animals and the workers, including head zookeeper Kelly (played by Scarlett Johansson). Together Ben, Kelly and the staff have to get the zoo back in shape so it can pass inspection and re-open.

The biggest problem with "We Bought a Zoo" is that everything is too forced. The main story-line and all the subplots are just so obvious, including the possible romances between Ben and Kelly and Ben's teen son and Kelly's cousin (Elle Fanning). This may be the most manipulative script of any film I've seen all year. This movie tries to get you to tear-up in scene after scene after scene. But it never happens, because these characters are so dry and one-dimensional that you don't care what happens to them. Good movies draw emotions from an audience. Here Crowe tries to reach into your body and squeeze your heart with both hands, piling-on with what are supposed to be dramatic elements and captivating scenes - that just aren't.

Almost as bad are the efforts at comedy the supporting characters - the goofy realtor (J.B. Smoove), Ben's quirky brother (Thomas Haden Church) and the weird inspector (John Michael Higgins). All completely unrealistic and unfunny. Damon does his best with what he's got to work with while Johansson simply delivers her one-note dialogue.

"We Bought a Zoo" is rated PG for language and thematic material. It's appropriate for kids 9 and up. 

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "We Bought a Zoo" gets a D+.

All the animals are real and therefore don't talk. If you have to see a zoo movie, go with "Zookeeper", Kevin James 2011 comedy in which the animals do speak. It's not "based on a true story", but at least it's mildly entertaining.

The build-up to director Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" was huge when the film was released late last year, because of the popular novel it is based om and the Tony Award-winning play. And while this version does provide a nice story and engaging characters "War Horse" goes down a familiar path and therefore fails be to extraordinary.

The plot centers around Albert (Jeremy Irvine), a teenage boy who lives on a farm in Britain with his father and mother. The family needs a new plow horse. But at the auction Albert's father decides to buy a young, energetic horse that catches his eye instead, and he spends all the family's money on him. Albert immediately becomes attached to the horse, who he names Joey, even though his mother wants to sell him back. Albert promises he will train Joey and teach him to plow so they can make enough money to keep the farm.

But then World War I breaks-out and Joey begins an amazing four year journey in which he in involved in war - on both sides - and has several different owners. His impact, as a horse, brings out the best and the worst of everyone he comes in contact with.

The "War Horse" story is simple and straight forward. Once the set-up is in place there are no surprises. It's rare for a film that's nearly 2 1/2 hours long not to have one single twist. What keeps you interested is Joey. Spielberg has done a nice job of making a horse the star of the film but not making it corny. Joey has human qualities and more personality than all of the other characters in the movie combined.

Irvine does fine work as Albert, especially later in the film when he becomes a soldier and joins the war. The rest of the cast, including Emily Watson and Peter Mullan, who play Albert's mother and father, give effective performances.

The biggest surprise for me is the directing, which is pretty ordinary. Where are the typical Speilberg touches? There are way too many close-ups and a couple of bad edits. This was Spielberg's first film to be digitally edited so maybe that was part of the problem, but since this is an old fashioned film maybe they should have stuck with old fashioned techniques. Could it be that he spent too much time on "The Adventures of Tintin", which opened four days prior, and not enough overseeing this final draft of "War Horse"?

There are a few other minor problems, including an annoying goose who is something out of a bad family comedy and where were the horses names in the closing credits? Without them there couldn't have been a movie!

"War Horse" is rated PG-13 for intense battle scenes which include some violent deaths. It's appropraite for teens and up, especially those who may be studying WWI in school. Of course this story is fiction, but the setting and the conflicts are real.

On "The Official Kid Critic Report Card", "War Horse" gets an B-. 

Of the nine 2011 Best Picture nominees "War Horse" was one of the least deserving.

Actor David Cross, who plays Ian the evil music producer in the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" series, said recently that working on "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" - was the most painful experience of his professional career. All I can say is - David, I feel you - because watching "Chipwrecked" was one of the most painful experiences of my professional career as a critic.

Jason Lee (who starred in the 2007 original but only made a brief appearance in the 2009 sequel) is back as David Seville. As the movie begins he is taking the three chipmunks and the three chipettes on a vacation cruise. Of course it doesn't take long before things get out of control on the ship, thanks mostly to Alvin. The six squeaky furballs end-up stranded on what they think is a deserted island and they have to learn how to take care of themselves while they wait to be rescued. Along the way they deal with a wacky treasure hunter, a spider bite that turns Simon into a French adventurer and a volcano that's set to destroy the island. It's all completely ridiculous.

While sitting through "Chipwrecked" I thought back to the 2007 original "Alvin and the Chipmunks", and how much fun that film was: the clever story and dialogue and the impressive way the chipmunks interacted with the human characters. 2009's "Squeakquel" was not as good, but still passable. But this is a total mess. I smiled two or three times during the (thankfully short) 87 minutes - that's it. Director Mike Mitchell goes from making the final chapter in the Shrek series (last year's very good "Shrek Forever After") to ending the Chipmunks franchise (we can only hope).

"Chipwrecked" is filled with musical numbers - the chipmunks ruining several current pop songs. Studio executives clearly hoping to sell some soundtrack CD's because they know they're not going to sell a lot of movie tickets. The CGI work on the chipmunks is surprisingly poor and at times it's difficult to understand what the chipmunks are saying.

You can only wonder what brought Jason Lee back, besides a paycheck. And it's no surprise that Cross didn't have a good time during production. He spends almost the entire movie in a pelican costume.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" is the first in the series to be rated G (the others were PG). There's nothing offensive in the movie - except that the entire movie is offensive to anyone looking to have a good time. I guess very young kids who liked the other two might enjoy the adventure, but, trust me, even they will be disappointed.

On "The Official Kid Critic Report Card", "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" gets a D.

And in case you're wondering why I didn't mention anything about a shipwreck in this review, it's because there isn't one in the film. The writers apparently thought "Chipwrecked" was a clever name so they went with it even though it doesn't apply to anything in the story. Too bad they didn't spend more time coming-up with a clever script.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" deals with a very difficult subject: the attacks of 9/11. But this film is much more than that. It's also a story about journeys and taking risks, dealing with grief and moving forward.

14 year-old Thomas Horn was chosen to play young Oskar Schell, the main character of the story, by director Stephen Daldry when he saw Horn competing on "Kids Jeopardy". And Horn is excellent in this very challenging role, which required him to deliver a tremendous amount of dialogue and raw emotion in practically every single scene.

Oskar is very smart but he also has issues with anxiety and socialization. His father (played by Tom Hanks) knew how to get the best out of his son. They loved to play word games and he would send Oskar on adventures throughout NYC that would force him to use his mind and talk with people. When his father dies in the World Trade Center attacks, Oskar and his mother (Sandra Bullock) are devastated, unable to make sense out of what happened. 

A year later, while in his father closet, Oskar finds a key that he believes his father left him as part of a final adventure. So he begins a quest to find the lock that goes with the key, hoping what's inside will provide some answers. Along the way Oskar meets many people, some who change his life as he does theirs.

"Extremely Loud and Incredible Close" is based on a novel which went much more into the details of the 9/11 attacks. For his film Daldry has simplified things. This is Oskar's story: a young boy trying, in his own way, to deal with the sudden loss of his father. But the script and the performances make it work. The film is over 2-hours long, but you stay with it the entire time. Solid supporting performances from Max Von Sydow and Viola Davis compliment the work of Horn, Bullock and Hanks, who is only in a handful of scenes.

As has been the trend with many end of the year releases (including "J. Edgar" and "The Iron Lady"), flashbacks are used extensively, as we see (and hear, in heart-breaking phone messages) the events of 9/11 as they are happening, in bits-and-pieces, throughout the movie. By the end we get the full story of that day for this family, and it helps make for a believable conclusion. The flashback clips help build to a suspenseful climax as Oskar's quest with the key is also coming to an end.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is rated PG-13, mostly for the realistic and tragic subject matter. It's appropriate for teens and up, but it's tricky to recommend. Anyone who lost a loved one or was personally effected by 9/11 in other ways may want to avoid this film, as some scenes may be very tough to handle, even 10 years later. This movie is powerful and quite sad.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" gets a B+. It was one of the best films of 2011 and definitely deserved it's Best Picture Oscar nomination.

There have been plenty of movies made about Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Halloween. But "Hop" is one of the few movie ever made about Easter. It came-out in theaters nearly a year ago and made over $100M. Universal Studios has been holding onto it all this time, waiting for a big Easter 2012 DVD/Blu-ray release.

"Hop" stars comic-actor Russell Brand as the voice of E.B. He's the son of the Easter Bunny (who's voice by Hugh Laurie). E.B. is next in line to take-over for his father and become responsible for running the Easter factory (on Easter Island) and delivering Easter baskets, once a year, to everyone around the world.

But E.B. doesn't want the job. He wants to be a great drummer. So he leave home and heads to Hollywood, where he meets-up with a human named Fred O'Hare (get it?), played by James Marsden.

Fred also is disappointing his father. He doesn't have a job, is still living at home, and doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. At first Fred is freaked-out at meeting a talking rabbit, but these two eventually become friends and try to help each other get their career's going - E.B. as a drummer and Fred, well, he decides he wants to become the first human Easter Bunny. And don't think I'm giving anything away by telling you that. Marsden gives that plot point away in the first 30-seconds of the film.

Oh yea, and there's a sub-plot about an evil chick who wants to take over Easter.

It sounds like there's a lot going-on in "Hop", but actually the story is very simple. In fact, way too simple. There are no twists, no dramatic scenes. Everything is very predictable. Even though "Hop" is being advertised as coming from the creators of last year's hilarious and heart-warming "Despicable Me", clearly the same writers that worked on that film didn't have anything to do with "Hop". There's no wit or charm in the script and I laughed only a few times, mostly at the cameos, which include Hugh Hefner, David Hasselhoff and Brand, who makes an appearance as a stage manager. In fact, the funniest part of the film is a brief appearance by two "Despicable Me" minions in the opening credits.

On the plus side, the animation of the E.B. character, in the real world, is fantastic - maybe the best ever. And the voice work is solid. The acting is over-the-top silly all the way around, but that's what a movie like this calls for.

The main problem is that the producers of "Hop" didn't care to put in the effort to make it better. A lot of what happens in the story just doesn't make sense. For example - when Fred first meets E.B., a talking bunny wearing a flannel shirt, he screams. He can't believe what he's seeing. Which would be how you and I would react. But at other times in the movie people see E.B. in the street or in a restaurant and they aren't amazed at all.

And another thing: the vehicle that the Easter Bunny uses to deliver eggs and baskets on Easter Sunday morning is a sleigh, shaped like an egg, that has dozens of little chicks pulling it. Come on - you couldn't come-up with anything more original than a rip-off of the Santa Claus sleigh?

That's what "Hop" needed - some originality - some creativity. Intead, this is a lazy effort that becomes boring rather quickly. Even the little ones at the screening I attended sat quietly throughout much of the film.

"Hop" is rated PG. There's really no reason it shouldn't be G. The 8-and-under crowd might enjoy it, but older kids and adults will find it dull, and everyone will be disappointed.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Hop" gets a C. Which is a shame, because with a little more effort it could have become one of those "must see" films every Easter season.