Lots of Movies

I haven’t posted for a while, so I’m going to break it up into 2 posts, one for movies, one for books. Also, I want to post more so as to enter some more to win the give-away!

Watched:

Assassin in Love - Funny British movie about an assassin who has to go into hiding and pretends to be a baker in a small village; the villagers somehow find out that he’s an assassin and think that when they ask him to “bake a cake” for someone (wink, wink) that he’ll bump them off. It was on Netflix instant play for a while, but it’s gone now. I think I missed a little at the beginning, but what I did see was pretty hilarious.

Maverick - Nothing to say here.

The Man with One Red Shoe - kind of silly, kind of obnoxious Tom Hanks movie from the 80’s involving a bumbling CIA mix-up. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The Avengers - pretty fun action flick. Less about Iron Man than I thought it would be from the previews, which was fine by me. I liked seeing all the other superhero characters also.

Dark Shadows - What a weird movie. I knew it would be weird, but it was a little more than I expected. Also, I don’t understand what’s up with the vampire obsession. Oh well.

Brave - This was a fun movie, not my favorite, I thought I would like it more, and I was surprised at the story they ended up telling here. My resident expert on horses was impressed with the animation of the horse in it.

The Trouble with Angels - I watched this a while ago, and for some reason never got it up here. Not much to say, it’s an older movie with Haley Mills, I didn’t love it.

The Damned United - This is about Leeds United, the British football team, during the 70’s and mostly about the coach. It’s pretty fun and interesting the way it’s presented, but it’s very British, as in, it’s okay that they say the “f” word a bajillion times, so if that bothers you, don’t watch it. 

4 movies and 1 book

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, was a bit complicated but still enjoyable. I like both Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. I liked when Holmes would imagine how a fight would go, which was demonstrated for the viewers in slow motion, then we would see the fight not quite work out that way when it actually happened.

I went to see The Avengers with Leslea and her family. Even though we spent the first five minutes of the ride home commenting on all the things that were wrong with it -- apparently Hawkeye had about a hundred arrows in that quiver before it finally ran out and a bunch of beautiful people would fight for 10 minutes and end up with token scratches on their faces. That being said, we all agreed that it was a fun movie.

I can understand what Leslea said about the resemblance of The Artist to Singin' in the Rain. I felt The Artist used the earlier movie as an inspiration and jumping off point. I really loved it. It was beautiful and well done. Well worth watching.

I watched Disney's John Carter last night. I was expecting it to be really terrible, so I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't the best movie in the world, but it was pretty good. The dialogue could have been written better. But it was filmed beautifully and the special effects were great.

I read Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars by Daniel M. Pinkwater. I found it on the shelf when I was storing some old kids books. I must have considered reading it in high school, because I found a ninth-grade class schedule in it. It was an interesting book and a clever idea. Leonard Neeble moves to a new school and everybody hates him until he meets Alan Mendelsohn. Together the boys go on crazy adventures in which they learn mind control, visit other planes of existence and save the Waka Waka people from their oppressors. I like weird books where weird things happen and normal people have solve difficult problems. But I didn't love this book. It was very creative and the characters likable, but it wasn't great. I did like that by the end Leonard had grown as a person and learned how to confront all the problems he was having in school. And maybe, he'll get to visit his friend at home on Mars.

A Wrinkle in Time, C.S. Lewis, The Avengers, Jimmy Stewart

I read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle as recommended by Heather.  I really liked it.  I liked the symbolism of good vs. evil.  Sometimes evil will win, but ultimately good will win. At times we have to do hard things but we have been prepared to do these things and can do it with courage, faith and help from the Lord. And love conquers all! 

I cannot believe that I haven't read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis until now.  But I picked it up while I was visiting my parents in Utah and read it on the plane back. I've seen the movie before and really liked it and it seems to be pretty similar to the book.  I like the symbolism in the book as well as the movie.  I plan on reading the rest of the series now. 

I watched Bend of the River which is a 1952 western with Jimmy Stewart, Rock Hudson and Arthur Kennedy.  It's a little cheesy, but I liked it anyway.  It probably helped that Jimmy Stewart is in it who I really like :) 

I saw The Avengers last week.   It's a really good movie and I really liked it. The superheroes are awesome!

I also watched The Girl Who Leapt Through Time which is another Japanese anime movie. I must admit it was a little odd, but I liked it anyway.  I think I've come to expect that from Japanese anime, but I think that's what makes me like them so much :)

Romancing Miss Bronte, The Avengers, Abduction

One new book and two new movies. Book first:

Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael came to me by way of a writing friend. Since Jane Eyre is in my top five favorite novels, it was interesting to read this novelized version of the life of Charlotte Bronte from the time she returns from her schooling in Brussels, through her writing career, and through her marriage up until her untimely death. The author combed through all the Bronte novels, through stacks of biographical sources and letters to create this fictionalized account which is quite engaging. I don't read romance novels, really, so when there was some frank talk about sex in the final 50 pages, it caught me off guard. I guess I didn't expect it in a Victorian setting as much. Silly me. Anyway, not a fast-moving, throat clutcher but an interesting story of an interesting person.

The Avengers--we went to see it opening night in a full theater. That's fun energy. And it was a fun comic book movie, one of the best, I'd say. It combines Captain America, the Hulk, Ironman, Black Widow, Hawk, Thor, and some other Marvel characters I don't really know but was thoroughly entertained by. There was humor, great dialogue, fun action, good surprises, cool monsters. Mark Ruffalo made the best Hulk ever. My favorite character might always be Captain America. He's chosen to become a super hero because of his personal integrity. That's just cool. There's a reason this show has made over $700 million worldwide already.

Abduction was something we got on DVD via Netflix this week. It stars Taylor Lautner from Twilight, and he has his shirt off a lot less in this movie. This may be a pro or a con, depending on the viewer. The story is of a kid who feels displaced in his family, who is assigned to do a school report on missing children and finds his own face in the national database. The rest of the movie is a chase scene with a LOT of shooting, some making out and an f-bomb. It's not a classic, but it's what I watched while I folded a ridiculously tall mountain of laundry.

Some movies are popcorn flicks. Some are laundry flicks.