Family Movie Night
by Karyn Bowman
This past weekend I was hoping to sneak in the newest Snow White movie with Kristen Stewart so that I could compare and contrast with Mirror, Mirror which came out earlier this year.
Poster Image from IMDb.com
But time and opportunity got away from me. Disappointment reigns sometimes in life.
One thing that was not disappointing involved our movie choice for Friday Night. We finally got to see We Bought a Zoo.
The story is about a man who has lost his wife to cancer. He still has two children to raise but finds reminders of her all over their neighborhood. So he decides to move, which leads to the zoo. And that leads to many changes for the kids. Along the way feelings develop, mature, and expand as the family learns how to care for the animals in the zoo.
I knew it was going to be cute at points, you don’t have a little girl who cute without a bit of cheesiness. But there were times the movie was incredibly honest in the emotions that were shared or not shared. I felt like I was re-visiting old family fights as the teen boy goes after his dad for being inattentive to him.
Poster Image from IMDb.com
Let me say that there are moments of swearing that may not make some people happy. I feel they are used as release points. One moment in the movie has the daughter say a word that she states she does not understand but does not believe it describes this particular character accurately.
I began to really like it as the Matt Damon character had to own up to his faults and make amends.
So be aware that this is a good movie, that it is emotionally raw in spots but for the most part its heart is in the right place. Plus, I loved it that the Thomas Hayden Church character was playing the straight guy for once.
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Now, last week I mentioned enjoying watching a bad movie every now and again. While I was waiting up for my husband to return the other night from the city, I found myself watching Wolverine. The movie was so predictable it was almost sad.
How anyone could waste the talented Hugh Jackman is beyond me but it happened here.
This is supposed to be the origin story of our favorite X-Man. We see a few other mutants along with one particularly gruesome death. But time and time again I could predict exactly what was going to happen, what was going to be said and what would be the final outcome.
I am willing to watch Jackman in a bad movie. Heck, I sat through Real Steel which is basically a remake of a Sylvester Stallone movie. But this comic book movie was below my expectations and not in a fun way.
There are times playing it serious in a bad movie works and times when it does not. Let me just say that Wolverine is not an enjoyable bad movie.
Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.
You can take that movie Wolverine and flush it – ha! I enjoyed We Bought a Zoo and so want to see Snow White. Have a Great Weekend:)
Saw Mirror Mirror with my daughter, and loved it so much we saw it again with one of her friends. What a great girl power movie! Loved the way it was visualized, loved the humor and the characters, loved the action and the contagious dance video at the end — we all got up to sing along and dance in the aisle! Hoping to see Snow White for same reason as you — after all, how often is it that two movie adaptations of the same story are released in the same year?
I remember liking Wolverine when I saw it, but my judgment may have been clouded by so much Hugh Jackman — I haven’t stooped to seeing Real Steel yet, but I will probably succumb. He’s just too delicious for me to resist!
Hugh Jackman deluded me into watching “Kate and Leopold.”
Oh, dear — I remember liking that movie, too! Do you think I have a problem? Is there a 12-step program for that?
For liking Hugh Jackman? I hope not. At least this guy has talent.
I also enjoyed We Bought a Zoo.
I will be interested in your review of “Snow White and the Huntsman”. Don’t want to get into spoilers here so I will just say that maybe my expectations were too high. On an another note, I really enjoyed “Prometheus”.
Can I ask why you liked Prometheus? Some reviewers have been very negative about the movie.
Well first off I am a sucker for anything Ridley Scott does. But this movie was talked about as being the prequel to “Alien” which I always loved ( not the sequels) and indeed it had serious connections to that movie. So saying that, Prometheus was just visually stunning from the landscapes to the alien environment done by H.R. Giger. I also liked the theme of searching for our origins and our creator(s). Suffice to say, no definite conclusions were drawn and a sequel to the prequel seems to be indicated.
Can’t wait to see Snow White and Mirror Mirror…things have been too busy here for movies…(sad face. sad face!)
Me too.
Me too.