Movie Buff

I love movies. I don't really care what kind (except Westerns) as long as its a good one (and I'll even watch Westerns if its a REALLY good one). At this point in my life, I don't get to see a lot of movies. Carl can engross himself in one easily... but I have a much harder time. If Keevia's awake she's usually attempting to crawl all over me, or play with me, or she's falling and crying... I just can't concentrate. Then, if it's too late I'm tired (although this is getting better) and can't concentrate. I usually want to watch a movie that I've already seen so I don't have to miss things if I'm not paying attention for whatever reason.

But recently Keevia has been taking 2-3 hour naps. I've been working out pretty consistently during this time... but Saturday I was in DESPERATE need of cleaning out master closet. So I turned on Netflix Streaming and started cleaning. Instead of turning on an episode of "Bones", or even "Lois and Clark", I turned on a movie that had been recommended to me numerous times, "Easy A".

So....this movie had a LOT of potential. And there was a lot of it that I liked.

Olive is a high school student who lies to her best friend and tells her that she had sex with a mystery boy, George, instead of spending the time with her best friends family. Her friend blabs to the whole school. Ironically, they're reading "The Scarlet Letter" in her English class. Olive goes on to pretend to sleep with the rest of the male student body, which ups their reputations, while tarnishing hers. She has hilarious discussions with her parents, who remain supportive but uninformed. She vlogs about her "escapades". She has a running dry commentary that left me chortling in places.

HOWEVER.

I simply could not get past the BLATANT Christian bashing that took place throughout the entire movie. And I was so sad. Amanda Bynes (who I normally LOVE - one of my favorite movies is "She's the Man" and "Sydney White" was pretty cute as well) plays a character called Marianne who is a Bible-thumping...well, you know. She constantly berates Olive's character, informing her she's going to hell, and basically being every.single.stereotype of Christianity. It was so disheartening. And her boyfriend (don't ask me his name) who is in the chastity group with her, is, of course, sleeping with the school Guidance Counselor and receives Chlamydia from her.

By the end of the movie I was shocked that I had had numerous CHRISTIAN friends recommend this movie to me. I would never, ever recommend this movie to anyone, let alone a Christian! Have we gotten so bad as a Church that we not only stand by that type of humor, but LAUGH at it?

I have ALWAYS been someone who believes that we should be of the culture... but above it... if that makes sense. I've always been someone who goes and sees movies that aren't always defined as Christian so I could pull stuff out of them, so that I could have honest discussions with non-Christians. I think, as Chrisitans, we need to know what the world has, otherwise we can't discuss it. I've drawn lines for myself -- I don't watch horror movies. But I'll usually watch just about anything else. And this view has led me into SO many different discussions that I NEVER would have had had I stayed away from the mainstream movies. I don't watch ones that I think will damage me, I just watch what I think is popular.

But this movie just struck a nerve. Worse, it struck a nerve that so many people weren't up in arms around this movie, but recommended it, saying it was hilarious. Yes, there were funny parts, but they were MUCH less than the blatant disrespect of my religion.

So.... what good movies have YOU seen recently?

"The Blind Side"

So, right now there are 2 movies out that Carl and I REALLY want to see. "The Blind Side" and "New Moon". We had planned on going to see "New Moon" on Tuesday (this past Tuesday, the first), but when I was talking to Mom about this, she said "Well, if you don't get to go, maybe we could all three go in Hazard." So, after discussing this with Carl, we decided to see "The Blind Side" in Richmond, and then drive back to Jackson on Friday, and go with Mom to Hazard to see "New Moon."

So, we watched the "Blind Side" on Tuesday.

And it was the best movie ever. Seriously.

It was really, REALLY good. In the beginning of the movie, there is an AWESOME confrontation between the coach of the football team and the council that allows kids into this uppity Christian school. It set the tone for the whole movie.

This movie is based on the life of Michael "Big Mike" Ohr. He's a high school student who was taken away from his drug addict mother at the age of 7, and has been a "runner" ever since. He's fallen through the cracks, and continues to do so until Leigh Anne Tuohy (played by Sandra Bullock) gets involved. And boy, does she ever get involved :)

Sandra Bullock deserves some sort of award. Her acting in this movie was outstanding. She made me want to meet the REAL Leigh Anne.

So, Leigh Anne takes Michael into her home, and into her family, which already includes Collins (her teen-age daughter) and SJ (her elementary age son), as well as her husband, franchise king, Sean.

Everyone she knows talks about how she's changing Michael's life by taking him in, but she merely states he's chanaging hers.

Awesome, AWESOME movie. Pretty family oriented. There's one scene with drug/alcohol use and violence, and one mention of the word "penis" (which is freaking hilarious), but other than that, and a little bit of cussing, it's clean!

Go see it. Don't pass go, don't collect $200... just go see it!!!

Ugh...again

I should be asleep right now...and will be very soon. I just wanted to write a few short movie reviews.

The House Bunny
Don't waste your money. This was a movie that looked kind of cute, and tried really, really reaaaaaaaaaaally hard. It just managed to fail. Miserably.

Sure, there are good lessons to be learned. It's whats on the inside that counts. Looks aren't everything. Hugh Heffner gets tragically depressed when one of his bunnies leaves him. Right...

But the movie stunk. I was ready to murderize the two main female characters. I'm sure the writers meant to make them endearing, and not cringingly annonying, but he didn't do a very good job.

End of story, didn't like it.

The Women

This one was better. But it won't get added to my large movie collection. Meg Ryan's character was a shallow, vapid (haha... if you've seen House Bunny, you should get that...)individual who hasn't made time for her husband, her daughter, or herself for years. She learns (as does her friends) that her husband is having an affair with Evan Mendes character. She kicks him out and manages to find herself with a little help from her friends.

Okay, seriously. Have we not done this plot before? And, I could live with the plot line if the movie had good characters... but it doesn't. They are all cliche. Meg Ryan's character of never putting herself first and always trying to please everyone else. Her best friend's (I didn't recognize the actress, sorry) character of trying to be the successful woman and not needing a man. Debra Messing is the messy looking, over frazzled mom with too many babies and who only thinks about her kids (which makes me wanna shake my fist at Hollywood for making this a bad thing) Jada Pinkett Smith is the lesbian. All of the characters were completely flat and boring.

It kind of ticked me off that both movies were bad. I had a lot of homework to do this weekend, yet I have felt absolutely horrible. I went with my parents to Wal-mart earlier in the day, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. As soon as we got to the house, I went and crawled in bed.

My heart is racing, for whatever reason. It normally runs about 70 and its going 100-120 right now. I have a horrific headache, a lot of sinus pressure, and I can't breath (not like, gasping for breath, I just feel tight chested and short of breath) I used my inhaler and it helped a tiny, tiny bit. I'm going to have Doc listen to my heart tomorrow. I feel like my neck is out really badly, and I'm praying she helps it tomorrow!

I get to see my husband tomorrow! He's been gone since about 6 am on Thursday morning.

Continue to pray for us, and for some upcoming trials and decisions!

I leave you with my chart hell. Seriously. What is going on down there?

Lars and the Real Girl

Wow. This is a weird movie, but an absolutely fabulous one. It's basically about a man who falls in love with a sex toy... but it is so much more than that!

Lars is a young man who has lost both of his parents. His mother died when he was born, and his father passed away a little while back. Lars lives in the garage of his parents house, and his brother Gus and sister in law Karin live in his parents house. Karin is expecting their first child.

Lars is a hermit. He's 27 years old, and he basically goes to work and comes home. Karin is concerned about him and tries to get him over for dinner and such. As a defense mechanism to the world, he buys a sex doll, names her Bianca and treats her like a real person.

He gets her clothes and a wheelchair. He has Bianca live with Gus and Karin, as it wouldn't be proper for her to live with him. After a meeting with the local doctor and psychologist, they discover that it's just something he will have to outgrow. They have a community meeting (basically a church meeting) to see whats going to be done. After some argument, the preacher poses a simple question. What Would Jesus Do?

The rest of the movie is about acceptance and moving on. The entire community embraces Bianca, and in turn Lars. They talk to her through Lars, and eventually begin talking to her without going through Lars.

After several months, Lars decides he doesn't need Bianca anymore... and, well... you'll have to rent it. :)

Seriously, it is a wonderful movie. It has great values. There's no harsh language in it what so ever. The only offensive material is that it is a sex doll. However, no sexual things take place.

I highly recommend this movie! It goes a little slow in places, but overall it's wonderful!

Did you like this movie review? I love writing them, and would love to have an ongoing movie review section! What do y'all think?