This week at the Cinema - August 19: Conan the Barbarian, Fright Night, One Day, and Spy Kids 4

So, this week we have two remakes, a love story, and a kids movie. These are Conan the Barbarian, Fright Night, One Day, and Spy Kids 4.

Conan is receiving mixed reviews so far. Some have said that it holds true to the original ideas of Conan, while others have said that there isn't any substance this time around, even though there wasn't in the early 80's version either. The newest iteration is more bloody and violent and more up to date aesthetically, but from what I've heard, that's all it has going for it. Still though, it's a blood and guts movie, if you're wanting Shakespeare, then why would you even attempt to watch this film. I like some of the actors involved, but it doesn't strike me as being a great addition to the classic Schwarzenegger film...and by classic I mean old film, not a masterpiece, don't read me wrong.

The original Fright Night was a pretty cool vampire movie, but back then there wasn't a vampire in every damned film that comes out. This remake looks OK, but once again I don't know if it's going to add anything new to the table that the original didn't already have going for it. That's one of the biggest problems with remakes. You can either shoot the same film with an almost identical story and just try to update it or you can do your own interpretation of the original. Either way, they usually don't fill your proverbial plate. Usually what we get is a mash of nice, new, shiny graphics and special effects with new actors that everyone is familiar with and Hollywood likes to overuse, but nothing that adds to the story. Most remakes usually suck and makes us long for the original.

One Day is a typical looking rom com and I don't know how I should feel about it. These things come out all the time, they're highly predictable, and they're usually light on both drama and comedy.

What can I say about Spy Kids as a series. I've never seen any of them, but I can't believe the high level clientele that has starred in them. I'm serious, Jessica Alba is in this film and Stallone was in one or more of them as well. To me, they all look pretty stupid, but they are movies for kids. I don't expect any of them to be some life changing film that will get me an epiphany that will change my life's direction or anything like that.