Brave, 17 Miracles, The Amazing Spiderman

For date night we went to see The Amazing Spiderman. It is a parallel movie to the earlier series, and comic book people have told me it’s because this story is from a parallel comic book series. Instead of Mary Jane, there’s a different love interest, Gwen Stacey, a high school science girl. I really enjoyed it. Even though some elements were identical (and therefore not the surprising and satisfying plot elements they would’ve been had I not seen the earlier movies) the acting was great, I loved the casting, and the romance was fab. Best of all (to me) was Rhys Ifans, the “bad guy.” How do they always pick my favorite character actors as bad guys for the Spiderman movies? I don’t know. Good times.

My son went on a pioneer re-enactment trek last month, so this Sunday after church the kids and I watched 17 Miracles, which DVD my mom had given us the week before. Wow! It’s the story of the Mormon handcart companies, the final two, and their ill-fated journey across the plains from Iowa to Utah when they left late in the season and an early winter hit. It was both emotional and inspiring, and by the time it was over, my mascara was pretty much shot. There were 65 deaths, all told, and that is one of the greatest miracles. I loved seeing a live reenactment of this oft-told story of my forebears history, and I think anyone with an interest in the westward migration would find it engrossing.

Brave. We watched it a few weeks ago, and it was one of those stories where I found myself thinking, “You could’ve gone any direction with this story and you chose what?”

I don’t know. It was cute, and the heroine was plucky and the overall story was a good feel-good show, which is great. The animation was gorgeous. I could have followed the will o’ the wisps all day long. And I think my kids would love it. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for that many bears.