Movies: Month(s) in Review
A very happy New Year, dear blogging buddies all! <3 IT IS THE FIRST DAY OF 2017. WHAAAAATTT. Here's to an awesome new year discovering even more of the wonders of our God!
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I thought I'd go ahead and share with you all my thoughts on some of the movies that I have watched since my last hiatus during the semester. (The movies that I watched for the first time and liked, that is -- I have watched a few that I didn't like as much.)
Dear Eleanor (2016)
The trailer for this movie caught my eye several months ago, and I was excited to finally get to watch it recently. It did not disappoint :) The screwball humor is successful because it's not too outrageously pointless, and the friendship between Max and Ellie is adorable. MAX THOUGH <3 Is it possible to dislike Max? She's so cute, irrepressibly optimistic and naïve, and over-the-top. I loved her. (And she and Billy were cute too.) Plus, Josh Lucas <3 Be warned, though, if you do look into it (which I recommend), that this movie certainly earned its PG-13 rating. There are some pretty racy "dance" sequences. And some language. (In other words, not one for the younger sibs.)
Evelyn (2002)
I found this by chance at the library and I'm soooo glad I did -- it was awesome! Better than I expected it to be. It sort of looks like it was made in the 80s, oddly, but no matter. It's based on a true story of a father who's been abandoned by his wife, fighting to regain custody of his children. Pierce Brosnan stars in it, and he and his coterie of supporting characters are great. The film has surprisingly bold Christian undertones, with the faith of the characters being brought even into testimony in court. I really, really liked it. One caution I have is that Jesus' name is used in vain a lot, which is very irritating. Unfortunately, it seems to have been sort of like the Irish equivalent for OMG at that time, but still . . . watch with care, what. I still wholeheartedly recommend it!
Finding Dory (2016)
Hurrah for Pixar! Finally, the sequel we've all been waiting for! This was a darling little aquamarine film with the right mix of old and new characters. (ALSO. THE SHELLS. CAN WE HAVE AN "AWWWW" MOMENT.)
Ice Age 5: Collision Course (2016)
Hehe. You see, Ice Age is kind of a tradition in my family, so it's sort of been inevitable that we'll watch every successive one they come out with. This fifth one was a little better than I thought it would be, actually (albeit it did get worse as it progressed) . . . there were some funny Sid moments and some funny Manny moments. And, of course, Buck! Buck is awesome! It was great to have him back :) And Crash & Eddie were as silly and amusing as usual. However, *SPOILERS* I'm not sure how I feel about Sid having actually found a permanent love interest. Something just feels off about that. *END SPOILERS*
John Adams (2008)
WELL. Despite my extremely mixed feelings on the majority of the characters themselves, I can't deny that this miniseries is excellently made. (My parents had watched it and loved it and decided to show it to me.) The main musical theme is also drool-worthy.
Miracles from Heaven (2016)
I wish this had a less cheesy title, but OH, gosh, this movie kind of blew me away. I thought it'd be good after seeing the trailer (rarely can one go wrong when one includes "Fight Song" in a trailer about this kind of story), but . . . man. I've watched it twice already and still want to watch it again. The faith element is strong, but it's not corny like one could fear from a faith-based film. It's wonderful, in my opinion. Have any of you seen it? I want to rave about it with someone. And the scene pictured below . . . wowza. Let's just say the trailer does NOT prepare you for it! Seeing Christie's months of hardening towards God give way as she starts sobbing the Lord's Prayer out of sheer helplessness, and then the prayer chain forming . . . GO WATCH IT.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016)
MBFGW is sort of nostalgic for my family (similar to but in a very different way from Ice Age), so we watched this one. There's far too much unnecessary innuendo, but there's also some sweet and accurate depiction of the crazy, sometimes bittersweet awesomeness of family.
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| Everybody's face in this is perfect. |
Zootopia (2016)
This one was really cute and funny the first time around, and slightly less so the second time around. Still, however, I think it's good. The sociopolitical agenda is *aherm* not exactly a paradigm of subtlety, but it's not a bad sociopolitical agenda to have, so . . . yeah :)
Plus, it's got one of the most accurate summaries of The Iliad that I can imagine:
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Here's to 2017!!!
Do you have any fun New Year traditions?
We keep intending to watch Zootopia, but haven't quite done it yet.
ReplyDeleteBoth Dear Eleanor and Evelyn look good, I'll have to look them up.
Haha, I have the same problem all the time! (Like right now I realize that I need to watch the Batman trilogy at some point, especially because one of my brothers just bought two of them, completing their collection.)
DeleteDo! I think you'd enjoy them :)
I'VE SEEN MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN!! RAVE WITH ME!! :D
ReplyDeleteI LUUUVE that scene!! It so amazing!! The movie itself is fantastic. That doctor was the sweetest!! You're right about the trailer. My sister convinced me to watch this on a whim because yes, being a 'faith film' I wasn't racing to the theatre for it, and I thought I knew the whole story but not even close. The miracle of this situation is just--I'm speechless. I also love how the ending kind of 'detailed' the other smaller miracles involved. Personally, I like noticing small miracles. :) Anyway, your turn to rave! Hahaha.
AAAAAHHHH!!!!! Yes, yes, and yes! Oh, Doctor Nurko . . . WHEN HE GIVES HER THE ELMO TIE AT THE END. JUST #FEELINGS.
Delete"Personally, I like noticing small miracles. :)" Saaaaaaame.
I loved how the relationships were portrayed in this movie -- the husband/wife, daddy/daughter, MOMMY/DAUGHTER, pastor/member, friend/friend, doctor/patient, stranger/stranger (Angela, hehe), etc. And oh! I just remembered! The little boy who's friends with Annabel?? How am I supposed to handle that much adorable, innocent sweetness?!?!
I liked how the movie highlighted the mother/daughter dynamic -- sometimes it feels like stories tend to focus too much of father/daughter and mother/son relationships, without realizing that father/son and mother/daughter bonds are just as strong. What think you?
Dear Eleanor looks like a cute flick! I'll probably have to check that out sometime.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I haven't seen any of these other movies, except for Zootopia. I had the same feeling you did - the message is so not subtle, but then it's not a bad message.
I need to check out John Adams sometime. My sister raved over that awhile ago.
Oh, I think you'd really like DE, Faith!
DeleteHaha, yeeaaaahh . . . pretty overt political message, but good nonetheless :P
It's good! I mean, I kind of hated most of the characters at one point or another, but I'm glad I watched it. It's well-done.
Oh man, I've seen absoulutly 0 of these. I did see The BFG last year. Wow, I still haven't gotten used to 2017. I wrote this year, then I erased it. My family always eats cheese ball with almonds. Can't wait to see what this year brings!
ReplyDeleteWell, I've read nearly none of the books on your recent post, so I guess we're even ;) Oh, how was The BFG? I saw the trailer several times and wondered about it. Haha, I know! I just know I'm going to write 2016 in my dates on school assignments, etc, for a while. Ooh, that sounds like a fun tradition! Amen!
DeleteI guess so. ;)
DeleteIt was pretty good, they changed a few things from the book, and took out my favorite part, but they did a good job on the rest of it!
It is! And delicious too!
Yes indeed!
Oh, my, that sounds a little disappointing! I'm glad the rest of it was good, though :)
DeleteHaha, quite!
I can see why they did it though. My sister doesn't know why that is my favorite part, it is a minor little thing.
DeleteNow that we have all answered, do you have any New Year's traditions?
LOVED Finding Dory!! It was sooo cute!! But that is the only one I've seen on your list. ;) Happy New Year, Olivia!! :D
ReplyDeleteWasn't it, though?! Did you have a favorite new character? Happy New Year to you, too, Morgan!! :D
DeleteHooray!!! Movie time!! :-)
ReplyDeleteI've not actually seen any of these . . . ah, well. I DID see some purty awesome films this year, though! "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was AH-MAZ-ING--seriously, I NEED someone to fangirl over that movie with, right away quick :D "Rogue One" was all that I hoped it would be and more; and I LOVED "Hunchback of Notre Dame." I also really enjoyed "October Sky"--ever seen that movie? It's pretty cool.
Fun New Year's traditions . . . well, we eat black-eyed peas, because it's supposed to be good luck :-) And we always go to Mass, because it's a special feast day (Mother of God/Octave of the Nativity). And I wasn't sick this year!! #winning
I also watched a movie yesterday--"To Catch a Thief" with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly--but I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy it at all :-( In fact, I LOATHED it. Fortunately, I had just watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" the week before; so the disappointment wasn't quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite enough to turn me off of Classic Hollywood altogether; but it was close. Just . . . NOPE.
(Seriously though. Cary Grant. UGH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU CARY GRANT. I don't understand why you have to be like that.)
Movie time is always fun :D
DeleteOoh, yes, I need to give Breakfast at Tiffany's another try, needn't I? Rogue One . . . well, we've discussed ;-P THOND!!! YES AMEN!!! I haven't seen October Sky, but I've heard about it several times -- I'll have to keep my eyes open for it! Is there any really bad content?
Awww, those are great traditions! And hurrah for not being sick! We always open our stockings on New Year's Eve, and we used to always watch Sound of Music. In recent years, we've been branching out with other movies (like, this year we watched Amazing Grace instead), which I suppose is okay :D
Oh . . . oh my. It does sound like it was bad! What was wrong with it? I haven't seen it, but I've heard of it, and I do love Cary Grant in most things, so . . . do tell :P Because if it's that bad I don't want to watch it!
"October Sky"--nope, there's basically no problematic content, except some swearing (nothing awful) and some Rather Immature Remarks on the part of high-school boys. No kissing that I remember, and definitely no bedroom scenes. I really loved the story, because it has some amazing messages about family and work and following your dreams; and the four kids (the Rocket Boys) are ADORABLE :-)
DeleteI . . . I don't know if it was just me? I'd never seen a Cary Grant film before; nor an Alfred Hitchcock film . . . Okay, so, basically, Cary Grant is playing a "reformed thief" who's under suspicion for some new robberies and trying to clear his name. But I really hated him. He just seemed awfully . . . full of himself? Like, super stuck-up and arrogant and self-righteous? And I didn't like the way he interacted with the female characters at all; nor did I like the way the leading lady (Grace Kelly) was presented. She was played as super shallow and vain, while all the time Cary Grant's character is EQUALLY vain and shallow and nobody calls *him* out on it.
Also, I have to say the story itself really bored me, personally. I didn't have any interest in the robberies or in seeing them solved . . . I don't know; it just seemed to me like an extremely low-stakes story that was trying to play itself off as extremely HIGH-stakes, and that irritated me. I suppose I'm slightly spoiled by a steady diet of Agatha Christie novels . . . If you want real suspense, you gotta throw in murder. Don't expect me to lose any sleep over JEWEL ROBBERIES. :-P
Awesome, thanks! It sounds like a keeper. :)
DeleteOh, okay, "Now I understand." CG does, regrettably, have a tendency to have a bit of a self-satisfied persona in movies -- occasionally as though his attitude were a smirk. But typically he's a nice guy, for all that. :) "If you want real suspense, you gotta throw in murder." HA! Oh, I don't know why, but I found that amusing. No one would suspect that from us. :D
I've only seen Finding Dori and Zootopia out of all these, both of which I really enjoyed. ;D (And haha, yeah I 100% agree with you on Zootopia!! Although I still liked it the second time round. :D)
ReplyDeleteNope. I don't have any fun New Years tradition. I'm a very boring person, clearly. :P
~Miss Meg
I quite like Evelyn too! I saw it when it first came to VHS -- I've been a Brosnan fan for a long time now :-)
ReplyDeleteI've seen Finding Dory and Zootopia too! I think Finding Dory is great and little Dory is so cute and Dory and the shelves, yes!
ReplyDeleteIce Age is also sort of a tradition for us, but not only on New Year's Eve. Now and then we watch 2 and go from 2 to 3 and to 4. Then, a few months later, one of my youngest siblings choose Ice Age 4(they get to choose a movie once in the week)and then 3 and 2. We don't like 1 that much, but still like it. We haven't seen Ice Age 5 yet and it happens to be that we watched Ice Age somewhere around New Year's Eve.
The other movies all sound great, but I haven't watched them. The Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 though! I haven't seen it, but the gif is very funny!