Movie Nifgr; To the Movies: ***^Just Like Heaven; ****John Carter; ***12 O'Clock High

Just Like Heaven is a 2005 Reese Witherspoon movie.  It also features Mark Ruffalo as David Abbott.  Jon Heder portrays someone with skills in talking to spirits, and adds some freshness to the movie.  Witherspoon portrays Elizabeth Martinson who is separated from her body as the result of a car accident.  Her body is in a coma, while her spirit haunts Abbott who is living in her apartment.  This leads to David finally grieving his wife's death.  A romance ensues, and they have to save  Elizabeth's body who is going to be taken off life support.  This movie has a nice theme, making us decide what is really important in life.  Miranda got this movie through DVD Netflix.
John Carter is the big budget Disney scifi based on a book by Edgar Rice Burroughs written 100 years ago.  The movie tells the story of the uncle of Burroughs, Civil War veteran John Carter, who is transported by accident to Mars.  There he becomes involved in a war between four civilizations, two humanoid, one four armed and green and remind me of Avatar, and a sinister people who are behind the scenes.  They manipulate the war, giving information when it suits them.  They have superior technology, such as transporting between worlds, having ray guns etc. They remind me of something from Dr Who. This movie took a pounding from the critics, and the box office.  It probably looks too much like other movies, Avatar, Star Wars.  It has the fight between monster and prisoner in the arena.  The monster looks like the snowman from Hoth. There are also traces of Stargate.  However there are somethings new.  The critter that is like a dog is cute.  I also like to interaction between Burroughs and Carter and how this plays into the plot.  Maybe the characters in these other movies are based on Burroughs.  I give this movie four stars as I love most anything scifi.  This is good, but not as good as some others.  I saw this movie at Marketplace, $3 theater.
Twelve O'Clock High is from Netflix DVD.  This is an old Gregory Peck classic about the stress of war.  It gets to the best of them.  Dean Jagger (who also played Brigham Young and later converted to Mormonism) portrays the commander who has to get all he can from his men.  He won the best supporting actor.