Hancock

Phollower, Kaaarrrl, and I watched this when he was visiting. I thought it was an AWESOME movie, as good as Iron Man. Phollower thought it was ok. And I think Kaaarrrl feel in the middle.

Me [after the movie ended]: That was a great movie. We should buy it so we can watch it again and again. It is up there with my favorite movies.

Kaaarrrl: Yes, Lord of the Rings, Casablanca, Hancock.

The Happening....not really happening

Zoe, BP, Phollower, and I watch a scary movie each Halloween. In the past, we have watched some great ones, including Hitchcock's Rear Window and Psycho. This year we chose to watch The Happening. Notice I don't even link to it. You don't want to check it out. This is the movie with Mark Walberg about tons of people killing themselves in response to a mysterious natural event. Not only is the movie not scary (and that is saying something coming from me since I am a wimp), but it is absurd. Believe me, I am not giving anything important out here when I say that the "toxin" is supposed to be made by plants and carried on the wind. But whenever the plants are sending it out, the wind picks up suddenly. When did plants start controlling the wind? I am willing to suspend a fair bit of disbelief when watching movies, but this one pushed me too far. I could go on and on about all of the idiotic plot twists, none of which made sense, but why torture you too. Lucky for you, you can learn from the 4 of us and not have to watch this crappy movie.

Another Funny Movie Story

In my earlier post, I referred to another funny movie story. I know all two of you readers have been waiting on pins and needles, so here it is.

Back in 1995, I went to see Apollo 13 with some friends. Toward the end of the movie, someone around us said something about the astronauts getting back. My friend says, under his breath, "Oh great! Now they ruined the ending!"

We all cracked up. I probably have only laughed that hard at a handful of movies, and not usually at stuff that was supposed to be funny, like the blimp scene in The Mummy Returns. That movie made me laugh until I cried!

Because Scarecrow requested it....

The other day my Dad and I were talking on the phone. He was planning to rent a movie, but he said all the movies he had seen recently were crap. So he was torn about what movie to get - maybe one about Queen Elizabeth (I think Elizabeth: The Golden Age) or one about the rule of Cromwell in England (which I can not recall the name of).

Here is how the conversation went from there.

Dad:...continuing on the topic of the Cromwell movie..."I wonder if they will deal with what he and [some guy I never heard of] did to [can't recall who]. They really screwed them."

(Edit: He said "I wonder if they would deal with Cromwell's invasion of Ireland. He really screwed them.")

Me: "Phollower and I are thinking of watching Iron Man on our new TV."

Dad: "An iron man competition?"

Me: "No the movie Iron Man"

Dad: "Oh I thought you meant that iron man competition or the world's strongest man competition."

Me: "No it is a movie about the comic book character, Iron Man."

Dad: "You are watching movies about comic books? Good thing you're 12 years of college education isn't going to waste."

(Edit: He said that he said, "I am glad I worked and sweated to pay for 12 years of college so you could sit around and watch cartoons." But he's old, so who's memory are you going to trust?)

Yup....good thing - that new TV rules! And by the way, we have not been able to rent Iron Man, so don't ruin it for me. And those of you who watched that Cromwell movie better not say anything either, just in case he hasn't seen it yet. Wouldn't want you to blow the ending or anything!

....which reminds me of another funny movie story.....

Acts of Random Kindness

Phollower and I watched Evan Almighty last night - the Steve Carell movie where he turns into Noah and builds and an ark. I had been kind of avoiding it, and I am sorry I did. It was amazing. I am not a religious person really. In fact, sometimes I am not sure I believe in God. But this movie reminded me of the God that I knew as a little kid, the God who loves all of us and wants the best for us, the God who doesn't judge us for who we are but by our actions toward others, the God my Dad taught me to know. Somewhere along the way, I lost track of that God and sometimes I can only see the judging, vengeful God used to explain why gay people cannot have equal right that is so prevalent in media and politics. But the message of this movie was really powerful and quite simple, that God wants us to make the world better by doing small acts of random kindness for each other, such being closer to our families and giving a stray dog a good home. I really do believe the world would be a better place if we treated each other better, accepted each other, and as my Dad always liked to tell his congregations, "let God judge other people's actions, worry about doing right yourself". If, like me, you have been avoiding this movie due to the religious theme, don't. It was wonderful.