Whip It

I am enjoying being a part of Netflix this summer. I joined to watch the tv show, Bones, but I decided the one DVD I get out at a time would be movies I had missed in theatres. So, Whip It was the first one I got in the mail. By the way, netflix is an awesome deal. It is only $8.99 a month and you can stream unlimited movies/tv shows online and then you get one DVD through the mail at a time. I am loving it and am positive you will as well. So there is my plug for netflix.

The movie was fantastic. This was Drew Barrymore's directing debut and I think she did an amazing job. The ambience of the film was typical of independent films in that it wasn't a perfect feel like much of mainstream Hollywood films portray. It also was pretty funny and full of roller derby action. I think that sport actually is more brutal than rugby! The movie had Ellen Page in it which made me skeptical about me enjoying it because I hated Juno, which she stared in. Basically, I like Ellen and her misfortune of being in that movie is just that, unfortunate, because she does a great job in Whip It. In fact, I think she is a great actress(sorry for doubting you abilities based on the movie last time, Ellen.) She does a great job of playing a normal, average, everyday kind of girl!

Not only is this a sports film about coming of age but it also shows the love of parents as their kid does something unexpected. Instead of being beauty pagents like her mother wants her to, Ellen's character chooses the derby. There she finds the self confidence that the pagents were taking away from her. I love movies where people find their passion and, in a sense, their happiness. Watch this movie; you won't be disappointed!

It earns a drive you into the wall award!

Eclipse...the movie for people who don't get enough kissing.

Picture found at imdb.com

I loved this movie. If you have been watching the Twilight saga, you definitely should see this installment. If you haven't been watching, what have you been living under a rock the past couple of years? Seriously, get in with the times and with pop culture and start reading the books and then rent the last two movies to catch up and then see this one. I think this is the best of the series to far, but I may be biased.

I happen to be of a small breed. The type that actually prefers werewolves over vampires. I am of Team Jacob. I like the warmth, I like the rugged, and I like the lack of shirt! Call me a sicko, but that is who I am. I find the coldness and over-Romanticism a bit much when it comes to the bloodsucker. If you are of team Edward, we may still be able to be friends. It may be hard though. (It makes me feel a little bit like a pedophile seeing the actor who plays Jacob Black, Taylor Lautner, is like 18. A little young for me!)

My love of Jacob probably is why I like this movie. You actually get to see Bella be real with herself and actually succumb to her feelings for Jacob. The truth comes out that she does have feeling for Jacob, even though she still has to make a decision and still sticks with the cold one.

The movie was excellent. I really liked the use of different camera angles. The coolest one, I thought, was where they followed Bella out to her truck above her. Pretty cool camera work. I also enjoyed the landscapes and of course how the wolves looked. They were massive.

I also liked the portrayal of Bree Tanner. If you haven't read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: an Eclipse Novella(also by Stephenie Meyer), you should. It was really cool to actually get a glimpse of the life of the newborn coven of vampires in that book. It also was a good mind jogger for the storyline of Eclipse.

I give this movie five "I want to suck your blood" awards. See it, you will like it!

P.S. There is enough kissing in this movie to even fill the canteen of people who do not get kissed nearly enough. I am just sayin'!

Invictus

This movie is proof once again that sports unite the masses. I am always amazed at how I am touched by sport movies. It always amazes me how having a good attitude and sportsmanship can make an amazing impact on people. One such example would be the recent almost perfect baseball game where a pitcher had a perfect game going in the 9th inning and the umpire made a horrible call at first ruining the pitcher's perfect game. Instead of holding a grudge, the pitcher reached out to the
umpire after the game and had a drink with him. Touching, just like Invictus where Nelson Mandela encourages both racial and by his support of the republic of South Africa's rugby team(when most South African Blacks would only support football). This movie was awesome and inspiring. You will watch it(as the Brits would say!)

This movie receives three golden scrums and two brass tries!!

Amelia

Photo from redbox.com
I should have wrote this review right after I watched the movie but I was too busy doing internet stalking.

I think Hilary Swank is amazing. I like her in most rolls. Have you seen a trend in my movie watching? I usually like one of the actors or I really don't watch the movie. Anyway, this is a flick about the life of Ameilia Earhart. It highlights the time from her first go over the Atlantic(not solo) to her try to go around the circumfrance of the earth. I really like how they portrayed Ameilia. She was a very strong woman at a time when it was not popular or easy to be a strong woman. In some ways, they had a little bit of a negative light cast upon her because she didn't feel she was the marrying type but overall the goodness of the rest of the movie overcame that. I love how Ameilia was an adventure type. I am not the adventureous type so it is good to live that way through film. I had a hard time being in a little plane with my brother for about a half an hour, I cannot even imagine going 20 hours across the ocean!

This movie also made me want to read Earhart's memoirs this summer. She was a brilliant and amazing lady.

Check out this flick...but I am not sure how accurate the information within the film is. I will get back to you when I have done my reading!

I give this Five history books out of five!

Sherlock Holmes.......again!

I was so bored last night because plans with a friend totally got dropped. I was going to sit on my couch and lounge and watch Bones and eat Gandolfo's but then I decided to check with the SLC family and see what was going on up there. Within two minutes, I had plans to watch a movie forty minutes from finding out. So I got in the car and drove to Sandy and then decided that it would take too much time to still have the Gandofo's and just had popcorn and Diet Coke for dinner and it was fabulous!

I liked Sherlock Holmes the first time I watched it. I love Robert Downey Jr. I have not always liked him, but thanks to Ironman....I have totally fallen for him! I also like Jude Law and so it was a nice night of eye candy for Alice.

I think I got a whole lot more out of the story line this time around as what often happens while watching a movie the second go round. I loved how this is a very Victorian feel flick. I also love that there was a lot of action. The movie really is like Sherlock Holmes meet Da Vinci Code. I like it. If you haven't seen it, you should! Enjoy!

Did You Hear about the Morgans?

Romantic comedies with Hugh Grant always seem to be delightful. He has a way with the timing of the humor and hello, he has a British accent.

This movie is plain funny and downright fun. It starts with a couple, who is having marital problems, seeing a murder. Basically, they are whisked off to the wilderness of Montana as a part of The Witness Protection Program. They are from New York City, so the adjustment to country life isn't easy and they adjust in their own special New York way! They also are separated and hate each other at that moment in time and so being assigned to Montana together is not their favorite.

I think the best part involves a grizzly bear chasing Hugh's character and an incident with bear spray. I won't give the funniness away but I bet your can imagine it could get awkward real fast.

I love the characters who take care of the Morgan's while they are in Montana. Basically, it is a cowboy and his cowgirl wife. They are an older couple who show much wisdom to the Morgans. As they teach the Morgans how to love again, you will also be reminded of the possibilities that love open up.

Cute, Cute, Cute movie. I would give it 9 our of 10 teddy bears.

A Day on My Couch

I lost my voice yesterday so today when I woke up and was still hoarse and felt so hot, I decided to have a sub and stay home. On the way back from work and dropping off my lesson plans, I stopped at the Redbox and picked up two movies. I put The Invention of Lying in the DVD player first and was completely offended in the first five minutes so that movie won't even get it's own post. I am in the middle of another movie so tune in later for that review!