Khun Kru Mark So what's an old man doing, reviewing a so-called 'DCOM'? Well, I'm an English language teacher in Asia, so I skim all these movies to see if there are any that are good enough for me to use in a classroom... that won't make me throw up!Finally, Disney TV made a movie for teachers like me!(I'll edit this down to an hour, add hardcoded subtitles and rename it 'My Robot Boyfriend!' and my young students will be gurgling all over this!)So, here I am reviewing a Disney TV movie!This movie is great fun. It's silly, of course and the idea of it is preposterous, but it's great fun for the audience it's aimed at. No hidden morality propoganda - other than it's good to have a best friend who's got your back!It gets the 8 stars, NOT for being an 8-star movie out of all the movies ever made, but for being an 8-star movie in its class.Kelli and all the young players are great and did their jobs well, but the real star of the show (for me) was Ieva Lucs who plays the seemingly uptight- but inwardly emotional, Major Jenks.She delivers the best line of the movie. When asked to read off a witness statement about the handsome missing robot she says..."Yes... she said he was 'super cute candy sugar in my eye holes and the honorary mayor of Hunky Town,' Sir!"Brilliant!I would love to have seen the honorary mayor of Hunky Town have more fun with his super powers, but that's the little boy in me and this one is for the little girls!Anyway, my point is that even grown ups won't have to have a bucket on stand-by when they sit down to watch this. It's fast moving, great fun and a super little modern fairytale.

Michael Ledo This is a very entertaining film for the young boy crazy teen girl who still giggle about kissing a boy. Mae (Kelli Berglund) and Gabby (China Anne McClain) are two geeky BFFs. Mae tutors the high school QB (Noah Centineo) and they make eyes at each other. The QB of course must date the stereotypical shallow head cheerleader (Ashley Argota) who gives Mae a beat down. Mae lies and claims she has date for home coming. Gabby hacks into Mae's dad military computer and manages to create the perfect boy (Marshall Williams) in a Disney version of "Weird Science" for young teen girls. Mae and Albert become close as "Boys are a distraction" Gabby becomes the third wheel.The formula plays itself through with the stereotypical ham characters whose over acting will have a child appeal. The film has cute lines, but not overly clever. For instance at one point Gabby says, "I hacked into the Pentagon. Whoopsie."The film is supposed to take place in the US, but was filmed in Canada....note the extra wide Canadian football field... "Whoopsie."

marymarcusfiction "How To Build A Better Boy" is a charming, beautifully written farce that is unlike most of these anodyne TV movies with teenage girls. First, the girls are the scientists, not the boys, and they are convincing scientists at that. I was laughing from the first five minutes in and I was touched at the end. Characters exceedingly well drawn, plot taut as a tightrope and within the confines of this genre, it shined with wit and humor. Girls will love this movie, and guess what boys will too. Everyone will. The robot they build was smooth, convincing and reminded me of a lighthearted "Terminator." This romp is a winner in every way!

bkoganbing A couple of veterans from the Disney Channel, Chyna Anne McLain and Kelli Berglund are best friends and science geeks. That does not guarantee popularity in those frustrating high school years and after being put down by the high school trend setting teen queen Ashley Argota these two decide to create a boyfriend in Berglund's father's laboratory.What they don't know is that the father Roger Bart is considerably more than a video game designer. He works for Uncle Sam and is developing a new weapon. Instead of a virtual boyfriend to holograph every now and then, the girls trigger a prototype of a new robot whom they program to be the dream boyfriend that anyone would want. When the program is complete, tall, blond, athletic and sensitive Marshall Williams comes into their lives. The perfect boyfriend for every girl and gay man around. Definitely these girls have learned How To Build A Better Boy.But it's not just Argota who's upset. The government has discovered someone has hacked into Bart's laboratory and has put the program in motion. National Security is imperiled.Watching this film a whole lot of possibilities occurred to me. For instance if one got an army of these one could take over the world unless someone put a worm in the program. And the race to make bigger and better robot soldiers, an interesting possibility for this country and other budding economic giants.Still this is a Disney teen film and the first order is to get Berglund a love life. Williams does this for her, but not the way Berglund and McClain thought it would happen.Not a great film, but a pleasant enough comedy with teen angst in it from the Magic Kingdom.