The Forbidden Kingdom Movie Review

The Forbidden Kingdom *** (3 out of 4 stars)

A discovery made by a kung fu obsessed American teen named Jason (Michael Angarano) sends him on an adventure to China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors, The Silent Monk (Jet Li), Sparrow (Yifei Liu), and Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King (also played by Jet Li).

We watched this movie on DVD at home with the family and were pleasantly surprised.  In many ways, it was just the perfect movie.  It takes this young boy who gets the snot beaten out of him by bullies, and transports him to China where he begins training in martial arts from Jet Li and Jackie Chan.  They travel a great distance and face many perils, to face the Jade Warrior (played by Collin Chou) who has imprisoned the Monkey King.  The movie is simple, but filled with good humor, and incredible martial arts kung fu action sequences.  It really was a joy to watch, from beginning to end.  Not overly complex, yet built on archetypal hero quest plot, it pulls it off.  I liked the feel of the movie, I liked the quest, the action, and the humor.  I highly recommend this movie.  It's no movie that will move your heart, but it will make you smile long after it is over.

-Jason F. Smith

Ame Dance Recital

December 18th, Ame had her big Dance Recital! Below is the video of it!

She's the tall one who comes out in the front first, and is in the center. She's the girl who goes through the tunnel first and leaves the stage first!

Cinder Chases Her Tail

Without doubt, we got the 'special' puppy when we picked Cinder from the back of the crate she was being given away in at the Smith's parking lot. Here is the darling baby chasing her tail!

First Snow!

Below is a small video of the first now of the fall season of 2008. It is an early Saturday morning as we witness this delightful scene!

Remember... It is October 11th... remember.... October 11th...

Philo The Cat

Here is a picture of Philo the Cat!

First Posting

Welcome to the Jason F. Smith blog! My Vision is for this to be a place where friends and family can be updated with pictures and happenings of our lives.

Today is October 10th, 2008, and currently the DOW is in a freefall, we are in the middle of a tough Election between Barak Obama and John McCain.

Two of my children have just finished playing Soccer. Riley found that he both enjoyed it and was good at it. I believe it helped him quite a bit with confidence and improved attitude. He averaged 1.34 goals over the 8 games, and scored 4 in the last game, an 8-1 blowout, which was the only game that wasn't close. They went 6-2.

Amethyst also played soccer and she enjoyed it as well. She scored 2 goals over the season, and her team went 5-2-1.

Asher didn't play soccer, though he has practiced with us, and is very good at it. He is looking forward to snowboarding soon.