Movie Monday

Well, it is obvious that the boys' sports are over and that Tom's been traveling a lot lately...I've logged some serious movie time. A couple of these I watched earlier this summer, but most of them are from the last two weeks or so. Yippee! Movie nights any day of the week, that's what's summer is all about.

ps- I know I need to do a family update...but I've been so busy enjoying movie watching I haven't had time for blogging. I hope to get some pictures up soon! :)

Making Mr. Right - 1 star I know I recorded this off the tv, it was probably a Lifetime movie. It was pretty dumb. It's a My Fair Lady update/switch around. Every once in a while I like to see good ol' Dean Cain and remember the days of Lois and Clark (with Terry Thatcher). This movie took me several days to plow through, it was just so predictable and lame-o. Don't bother with this one. (And, I'll try my best to keep my thumb from hitting the record button on anything on lifetime...until Christmas, that is.)

Saving Sarah Cain - 1 1/2 stars...not as bad as Making Mr. Right, but not quite good enough for a whole two stars. This is about a journalist who ends up raising her Amish nieces and nephews. It was an okay storyline, and the Amish lifestyle is very interesting to me, but I really didn't care for Sarah throughout the movie. It just wasn't that great.

Forever Strong - 3 stars This is a movie Tom and I wanted to see for quite a while. First, let me just say, rugby is such a tough sport. Wow. Tom liked this movie a lot more than I did. I am generally all for these story lines...basically chick flicks wrapped in sport themes. But, this one just didn't get me. I'll stick to Remember the Titans, thank you very much. I did find the impact of the coach, and the awesome success of his team over the years, interesting. It's amazing the influence a coach really does have on a team. It's movie's like this that makes Tom remember his great, and horrible, coaches...and inspire him to want to do some coaching because he knows what a profound effect a good coach can have on a young man. I think my biggest problem with this story was the father/son relationship...the resolution just didn't resonate with me.

Lucky Seven - 3 stars This was a cute chick flick (which I did see on Lifetime...proof that all Lifetime is not bad. Although I will admit anything made specifically for Lifetime is horrible). I liked this one well enough that I would be willing to watch it again some day. It was pretty predictable, but the chemistry was good. :)

Shooter - 2 stars Tom was excited to flip to this at the beginning of the show one night. It's rated R, which we don't normally watch. I guess we assume the tv editting brings it down to a level we are more comfortable with. I'm not sure that's entirely true...but it's enough for us to rationalize the occasional R show here and there. This one was okay, fun little plot twist, but otherwise predictable. Typical guy movie-lots of action and only the necessary mumbled dialog-not to mention one pretty girl who the main character will obviously hook up with... I will say, go Marky Mark, still looking good after all these years. :)

School of Rock - 4 stars Caught this one on tv, it's one of my favorites. I have no problem flipping channels and missing parts here and there. But, I do think it's fun. I am a Jack Black fan...and frankly, I wonder if he actually acts in this movie, though? His character is just how I picture the real Jack Black to be. :)

Adventures in Babysitting - 4 stars One of my old school favorites. I still have most of the lines in this movie memorized, on of my favorites..."Don't f---(tv edit says fool) with the babysitter". Oh, good times. We gave a copy of this movie to our overnight babysitter in a little thank you bag...Tom was concerned that we gave a movie that drops the "f-bomb" to our stake president's (church leader) daughter. Oops. She hadn't seen it before (what!?! wow, I am getting old), and told me she really liked it. :)

Bride and Prejudice - 4 stars This is Bollywood, baby! It is fun, my kids like it, too. (Well, they never watch beyond the first dance, but they really like that one.) Good old Pride and Prejudice spin. If you haven't seen it, give it a go. It has intrigued me to the whole Bollywood scene, but I haven't braved any other movies, let me know if you know of a fun one to try.

A Plumm Summer - 4 stars This was a cute family flick. "The Fonz" was in it - yea, and so was a Baldwin brother - boo, but he played a loser dad, so it wasn't so bad. The little brother in this movie is so stinkin' cute! And, I totally fell in love with Montana...it's one place Tom and I have thrown out there as a possible move option, and the scenes in this movie have sealed the deal for me. It is beautiful. Bozeman here we come...maybe...someday. Anyway, the story was cute, my kids weren't into the father/son relationship issues, they would have like to focus on the mystery, but overall they liked it ok, and I liked it quite a lot.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop - 2 stars Well, it's pretty much just as you would suspect...very silly. So, it lived up to the low expectation. It was fine in a silly way. Kids liked it.

He's Just Not That Into You - 1 star This is one of those depressing "is that what the world is really like?" kind of movies. I did like the ending...happy, in a everyone gets their just desserts kind of a way.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - 3 stars Okay, maybe it should get more than 3 stars, but I'm just tired of HP-let's get on with it already. It was as good as you expect HP movies to be...so very good, very Harry. There were some parts changed/left out of the movie that I would have liked included, but that's how it always is. It was a good movie, but I'm ready to move on...after reading all the books and watching the movies-it's a lot in the past 8 years or so. At least Star Wars was spread out over what, 20 years-plus no books. That's tolerable. I heard the last book is going to be made into 2 movies, which adds to my exhaustion with it all.

Julie and Julia - 5 stars Wow, did I really give this five stars!?! I guess so. I really enjoyed it. I'm not a Meryl Streep fan, nothing personal-I just don't dig her, but I thought she did awesome. Really, this is the first movie I've watched in a very long time (well, I guess you know all the drivel I typically watch), that enchanted me with the actor's portrayals of the characters. I vaguely remember seeing Julia Child on PBS when I a kiddo, and I thought Streep's portrayal of her was great. I loved learning more about her life and her desire to make great food accessible to the regular folk. The modern portion of the movie was also quite good. I really enjoyed this movie, despite the ending not being as I would have liked...such is real life, I suppose. I read a little of the book, but it wasn't so great-I'm glad the movie was much better. Plus, I am a foodie, so this movie had me happy just at the thought of it. :)

Stranger than Fiction - 2 stars I was pretty tired when I watched this one, and started to doze off here and there. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind, when I watched. It was just sort of blah to me. Good, but not great.

Sydney White - 2 stars This is a modern spin on Snow White. Pretty decent teen movie, I guess. I like Amanda Bynes, but all of her characters are pretty much the same...maybe she should try changing something up a bit. Then again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you like teen movies (yo, Brenda) it's pretty good, not too crude. I like the teen and tween movies, but I have to watch them on the down low...sometimes I'm even embarrassed when Tom catches me at them.

Strictly Ballroom - 4 stars Watching this movie was paying homage to my early years in college, at USU, and my roommate, Jen-dance major, who introduced me to the beauty and the art of dance. It was fun to watch it again. It's rather cheesy, in an international film kind of a way, but it's good. It's got an ugly girl makeover and a love story, not too mention ballroom dancing. (Which I now understand so much better...thank you to 'So You Think You Can Dance', and one season of 'Dancing With the Stars'.) What more can you ask for?

Inkheart - 4 stars I thought this was a good family movie. A little bit scary at the end. I am curious to read the book some day. The boys seemed to like it, but not love it. They like sillier stuff, ie. Paul Blart. It's an intriguing idea...people who can bring characters to life. I think we should own this one someday. I'm all about watching movies that encourage reading....ha-ha.

Material Girls - 0 stars Seriously, this is probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It sat on the DVR for months, and after Tom being gone for so long, I was desperate enough to watch. DUMB. DUMB. DUMB.

Deadliest Sea - 2 stars This photo is for the tv show on discovery channel, Deadliest Catch, which I have been thoroughly enjoying of late. There is something about the danger, and the type of person who would fish those perilous, freezing waters that intrigues and fascinates me. Deadliest Sea is the made for tv movie about the fishing boat that inspired the series. No name actors, pretty good action at the end. What a crazy, dangerous life.

Kit Kittredge, An American Girl - 4 stars This movie was a good family flick. (Warning: it is weird to see Chris O'Donnell looking so old, yet the same.) I really appreciated that it opened some dialog for me, with my children, regarding the Great Depression. It was also interesting to me to see so many families divided, and think of my own family history during that period of time. It helped me to better understand some of the trials and decisions my great grandparents had to make. I think American Girl dolls are so awesome, with there little stories and accessories. I've been holding off getting Ellie started, I know she's too young-but, oh I just want them so bad. We got Happy Meals at McD's today, and the girl toy is American Girl paper dolls. Ellie thought it was neat for about 15 seconds, I, however, had a lot of fun putting it together, reading her story, checking out the activities in the book. American Girl dolls came out just after I passed the doll phase of life (I don't know if I ever pass it, so I am referring to the time they were no longer socially acceptable to be getting any more...and trust me, I pushed that to the limit). My sister had one though. Ohhhhh, I hope Ellie likes dolls! She's pretty girly, so we are on track for now...

So, that's a lot of movies! I wonder what I'll watch next? Good luck keeping up with me. :) And, please feel free to make suggestions on movies to watch. :)