The Fighter

Directed by David O. Russell

2010

Date Viewed: Friday December 17, 2010

The Fighter is based on the true story of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward and his journey to the World Welterweight Title. He was trained by his brother Dicky who was also a boxer until crack started to take over his life. This movie was pretty good, but I felt like Mark Wahlberg wasn't that great. I'm not sure if it's just that he didn't really have anything to do, or that that's just the way Micky really was. Just sort of deadpan... My guess is that it's just Mark Wahlberg since that's sort of how he always is (say hi to your mother for me)... The supporting cast was fantastic however. I always love Amy Adams in everything she's in, so that's sort of a given. Melissa Leo was horribly good as Micky's overbearing mother but the one who stole the show was Christian Bale. He completely transformed into Dicky Eklund. In the end of the movie they have footage of the actual people the movie is based on and Christian Bale was totally and completely Dicky. The Fighter has totally been set up as an Oscar contender, do I hear a nomination for Christian Bale??? A-

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Lucy: "Aslan, will we ever meet you in our world?"

Aslan: "You shall."

Lucy: "How?"

Aslan: "Because there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name.This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, That knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."

Directed by Michael Apted

2010

Date Viewed: Saturday, December 11 2010

This is by far my favorite of the Narnia movies. It's probably my favorite of the books too, even though I always say that The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is because it holds a special place in my heart. Edmund and Lucy end up in Narnia with their obnoxious cousin Eustace. They are transported there via a painting. While there they have many adventures with Prince Caspian aboard the Dawn Treader. The children help Prince Caspian in his search for seven lost lords of Narnia. They have many adventures including dragons, Deathwater Island (that has a pool that turns anything it touches to gold... including people), the Island Where Dreams Come True (including nightmares) and the Edge of the World. There are so many great characters and adventures in this story. I love it. A

Christmas Movies

So I've watched a lot of Christmas movies in the last couple of weekends. I LOVE Christmas movies! They're so festive and special since I only watch them at this time of year. Here's what I've been watching:

Elf: This has definitely been on the top of my list since it came out. It's goofy and I love the innocent way that Buddy the Elf sees the world. This year however, I got bored with it. The whole ManChild thing is getting so over done and I'm sort of burnt out on Will Ferrell doing the same role over and over again. So now I'm torn as to how I feel about this movie... C

Christmas Story: Now this is a classic. There are so many iconic moments in this movie. The tongue stuck to the metal pole in the middle of winter, the little brother bundled up so much that he can't put his arms down, "You'll shoot your eye out", The bunny suit, the lamp ("It's a major award!"), The Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant... I love it. A

Home Alone: I had never seen this movie until the Saturday after Thanksgiving when Bobby made me sit down and watch it. It's cute. Nothing super special. I'm not super into the whole laughing at people when they get hurt thing. It's not really that funny for me and I hated that the kids whole family (adults included) called him a jerk all the time. Pretty ridiculous. B-

The Santa Clause: I hadn't seen this movie since it was in the theaters when I was in elementary school. It's actually a pretty good movie. It's definitely got a lot of heartwarming moments and it's pretty funny. A-

Christmas Vacation: Talk about your ManChild. Clark Griswald is a prime example of one... This is definitely Bobby's favorite Christmas movie, and I guess I can stand watching it every year. It does have quite a few funny lines. B+

Jingle All The Way: I was actually surprised by how good this movie was! Plus it was filmed in the Twin Cities so it made me think of home. B+

Fred Claus: Another movie that surprised me. This movie made me realize that I really really disagree with Santa. Fred is Santa's older and sort of disgruntled brother, but he pointed out that there is no such thing as a bad child, much less a child that's so bad that they don't deserve presents. He pointed out that Santa only saw a snippet in the lives of these kids (only the "bad" behaviors) and he didn't see what happened before or after the situation and he knew nothing of the kids' home life or where they came from etc. and therefore Santa should not be judging based on these split seconds glimpses. This silly movie definitely made me think more deeply about Santa and his crazy B.S. rules...A

So those are the Christmas movies I've been watching... What are your favorites?

Due Date

"I'm sorry I spat on your dog. I have no recollection of that."

Directed by Todd Phillips

2010

Date Viewed: Saturday November 14, 2010

This movie is HILARIOUS. Bobby and I laughed through the entire thing. There are many many many hilarious moments. I loved it. This is about Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) who is about to fly from Atlanta to L.A. (his wife is super pregnant and is scheduled to have a C-Section in 5 days). He runs into a guy named Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) who accidentally gets them both put on the no fly list. Peter and Ethan end up having to drive across the country together to make it in time for the baby. Ethan drives Peter CRAZY, but Ethan is also just really lonely and grieving his recently deceased father. There are many hilarious mishaps along the way. I was asked if this movie is funnier than The Hangover, and I'm not sure because I haven't seen it in a long time... It is super hilarious though and a must see for Zach Galifiankis fans... A

Another mass reviewing...

Smallville Seasons 4 and 5: Yeah, I'm really on a Smallville kick. I have to review these two together since I'm at the point where I can't differentiate them, they're all running together now... These are my favorite seasons so far. It's getting much darker and more serious. Clark is definitely the worst character by far. He's so self righteous and nosy. He demands answers from people, but then when they ask him questions he clams up. He's just obnoxious. But I LOVE all the minor characters. Especially Lex Luthor and his father, Lionel. They are really great characters, and you never really know what they're up to or who's side they are on. B+

Friday Night Lights: Bobby's probably going to kill me for this, but I didn't really like this movie. I just felt like it didn't go into the characters enough, I didn't feel very attatched to any of them. Maybe I'm just footballed out. Everyone here in Alabama is OBSESSED with college football. So much so that they assume that everyone that they come in contact with is as obsessed with it as they are and they assume that your mututal love for football can be your common ground. Every conversation starts with "Are you Alabama or Auburn?" Cars are covered in team paraphernalia. Everywhere you go you're bombarded with Crimson and white, houndstooth or orange and blue. If Bobby's wearing a hat that has a college team that is not an Alabama team random people will stop and make comments about it. Saturdays are devoted to sitting together and watching game after game after game of college football. Its ridiculous. So I probably should've waited to watch this movie until after football season is a distant memory. Anyways, this movie is about a high school football team that plays some football. Yay. C

Toy Story 3: So I saw this movie in Nicaragua... Well some of it. It was in Spanish so I fell asleep. But I woke up and saw the ending... Seeing it in English was a lot more fun! I loved watching what toys go through at a daycare center since I've seen it first hand. :) I can't believe that here we are on the second sequel and it's still good! Such a rarity. A

Waiting For "Superman"

Directed by Davis Guggenheim

2010

Date Viewed: November 3, 2010

I can not say enough good things about this documentary. I don't even know where to start. Basically the education system in the U. S. is in the dumps and this documentary explains why. If you are a parent, if you are an educator, if you care about the future of our country and the education of its kids, then you NEED to see this movie. The schools described in this movie are just like the school that I'm at. It also follows 4 kids as they try to get into charter schools by a lottery. It has been criticized for being too anti-teacher unions and pro-charter schools, but the abuse that I've seen at the hands of teachers, and the fact that nothing is done about it because they're tenured and protected under the union is enough for me to be anti-union as well. Charter schools are not a fix all for the problems in our education system, but there are some really good ones out there that are headed in the right direction. I definitely want to do more research about the issues brought up in this film, but it is definitely a good starting point. Go see it. A



Hereafter

Directed by Clint Eastwood

2010

Date Viewed: October 30, 2010

This movie follows three people as they face death in different ways. The first is Marie, a French reporter who has a near death experience. She is almost swept away by a tsunami, basically dies and sees the afterlife and then comes back to life and struggles to understand what it all means. The second is a quiet London school boy whose twin brother is killed in a car accident and he goes to psychics and different specialists to try and understand where his brother is now. The third is a blue collar guy from San Fran who, as a result of a botched brain surgery, can speak to the dead. He used to make his living doing readings for people, but couldn't live with the dead anymore and quit. This is an EXTREMELY slow paced movie, but it's also really interesting and brings up a lot of questions about the afterlife/heaven/the hereafter. I already know what I believe about Heaven and what happens when we die, but I can see how this movie could be a great conversation starter for a deep discussion on the subject. This is also a long movie, so be warned. B+