To tell you the truth, I was in a scathing mood. One of those moods that makes you feel like ripping things and small children to pieces. You know what I'm talking about ... THAT mood.

So, I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I found Fox's latest Emma Roberts tween flick, AQUAMARINE ... entertaining *bite knuckles*. Not only did I laugh at the punny one-liners, I was surprise with the 'girl power' feminist-like message usually reserved for that one Spice Girl movie back in the late 90's and films written by Tina Fey.

BFFs Claire (Emma Roberts) and Hailey (Joanna "Jojo" Levesque) don't want to be separated after the summer is over. But that's just what is going to happen thanks to Hailey's mom getting a grant to continue her research as a marine biologist in Australia. After a storm hits, the beach club picks through the wreckage where the girls find a mermaid, Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) in the swimming pool. Aquamarine will grant them a wish, if they help her prove to her dad that love exists so she doesn't have to marry that 'squid-of-a-fiance'. They set their sights on Raymond (Jake McDorman), a hunky lifeguard who's the object of every girl under 18's affection, including their nemesis Celia (Arielle Kebbel) who suspects there is something fishy about the new girl.

Hijinks and cheesy wackiness ensue and you know ... eventually I had to find it within myself to respect its execution. No one was more surprised than me. I supposed being a popular book by Alice Hoffman, is already a definite plus.

I must've been one of the few people who hadn't seen the trailer, because apparently, it certainly wasn't a very good marketing tool. By most accounts, people were not apt to see go see the movie unless their 12 year old niece dragged them to it. And while I would seriously wonder about the sanity of some who would go alone to see it *cough-film critics not withstanding-cough* I wouldn't mind watching the film again ... on television.

And now for a game I played while watching the film.

Tween movies are ripe with the 'next generation' of starlets our eyes have to get used to. This one was FULL of doppelgangers of already established actors - when they still had their innocence.

Let's start with the lead ... Emma Roberts - who wades in the same genetic cocktail of Eric and Julia ... but looks like neither one of them and looks more like Amanda Peet.

Joanna "Jojo" Levesque - best known (or not) from her music career looks an awful lot like Lindsay Lohan ... only difference is, Jojo can actually carry a tune.

Sara Paxton took me a while to place the older sister's face, but I finally found it in a cross between Heather Graham and Reese Witherspoon.

Arielle Kebbel - only registers on my radar because I'm a fan of Grey's Anatomy where Katherine Heigl currently stars. The similarities are frightening.

Is it just me, or is it too early to start replacing actors already?

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox