Category Archives: Movie Review

Noah – Starring Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins

You have GOT to look at the NOAH movie trailer! This movie looks awesome! I can’t wait for to be released!

NOAH Synopsis:  After visions of an apocalyptic deluge, Noah, the world’s only righteous man, is chosen to undertake a divine mission to build a massive ark to save his family and all of creation before the impending rains fall and the flood waters rise. Cast: Russell Crowe, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Saturday Matinee! – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Curious case of benjamin button ver3.jpgCan you imagine living your life backwards? What would it be like to be born an old man, and physically get younger and younger as you grow older in age?

That’s the premise of this movie. Benjamin Button is a man whose life is tied to a clock. This strange clock is created by a blind man – the clock hangs in a train station. The clock runs backwards and that’s how Benjamin’s life starts. When Benjamin is born, he’s a baby who looks like an old man. Abandoned by his father on the steps of an old folks’ home, he’s taken in by a couple who raise him as their son.

As Benjamin gets older, he starts to look younger. When he’s seven, he meets a girl named Daisy. Benjamin and Daisy remain connected during most of the movie.

When Benjamin goes out on his own at 17, he becomes the aide to a sailor on a ship. He has a mixed bag of adventures – since he looks like an old man, but he isn’t, it makes his life strange and unusual. The strangest adventure for him was being connected to Daisy – how can you love somebody as you get younger while they get older?

I liked this movie, but, it was so unusual, and weird, that I doubt I’d watch it again.

So, could you imagine living your life backwards? What would it be like to be born an old man, and physically get younger and younger as you get older in age? Can you think of any books or movies with a similar premise?

Saturday Matinee – My Best Friend’s Wedding – A Classic! :-)

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My Best Friend’s Wedding

Starring: Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney

Have you ever been in love with your best friend? If so, did you share you feelings with him/her?

I really enjoy this classic romance movie! I’ve seen it a number of times and decided to watch it again recently. Jules, a food critic, is devastated when her best friend and former beau, Michael, plans to marry the following weekend. He invites her to the wedding and she arrives and meets Michael’s fiance, Kimmy. Kimmy is a fast-driving, college-aged, daughter of a billionaire family.

Jules is determined to break up Michael and Kimmy – after all, she’s in love with Michael, but, has never had the courage to tell him. Michael loved Jules at one time, but, she never let him hug her in public, she always pulled away. Now that Michael has found somebody to love, Jules has decided that she wants him for herself.

A laughable series of events occur as Jule’s plots to steal Michael for herself.

This movie was so entertaining! If you’ve seen it, I’d like to know what you liked about it!
Have you ever been in love with your best friend? If so, did you tell him/her how you felt?

 

 

 

Saturday Matinee – Flipped!

Flipped

Do you remember your childhood sweetheart? How old were you? Who was the first boy or girl that caught your eye, making you believe you were in love?

This was an endearing, sweet young adult movie about first love. Juli is just a child when Bryce moves into her neighborhood. From the moment she sees him, she realizes he’s her one and only love. The story starts when they’re around seven (like a prologue) and then it jumps forward and they’re twelve years old. Juli is still in love with Bryce, and she’s courageous. She’s mesmerized by nature and when the county threatens to chop down her favorite tree, she climbs into the tree, refusing to leave, and is disheartened when Bryce does not help her with her tree-saving cause.

Juli believes that Bryce is her true love, but, is he really the right man for her? Her love for him falters when she discovers things about him, hears him say things about her family, making her doubt her love for him.

I highly recommend this movie for those who love a good romance. Even though the kids are twelve, it’s still a story that adults can enjoy.

So, did you have a childhood crush? Do you remember your first love? How old were you and who was the first boy or girl that caught your eye, making you believe you were in love?

 

Saturday Matinee! The Book Of Eli!

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The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman

How would you survive in a post-apocalyptic-type world?

My sister recommended that I watch this movie a few years ago when it was in the theaters. I’m just now getting around to watching it! I really enjoyed this movie. This story takes place in a dystopian world. Thirty years ago a catastrophic event involving the sun has killed many people – leaving several people blind. Eli, a man who lived in the world before this event occurred, has a special mission. He needs to head West, taking a special book which he carries in his possession.

In this dystopian world, material possessions are scarce and daily needs, like water, are rationed. Most of the books were destroyed after the catastrophe and the majority of society is illiterate, struggling to survive.

I usually enjoy dystopian stories, and that’s why I found this movie so appealing. Also, the movie shows how the absence of God and prayer has affected society as a whole. I thought Denzel Washington did a great job playing Eli and I was surprised to see Jennifer Biels (from the eighties movie Flashdance) as a secondary character.

Eli is a fighter, and is protected by a force, as he survives, trekking on his journey west. In the meantime, there’s a man, a man who is as old as Eli, who’d survived from the world before the catastrophe. This man is anxiously searching for a certain book and he sends out illiterate men – hoping they will find this book during their search.

Over all, a great movie that I highly recommend. To better display the misery of the world, most of the movie was in black and white. So, if a catastrophic event occurred, wiping out a majority of the population, how would you survive?

SPOILER ALERT!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to point out that the book that Eli was taking West was the Holy Bible. However, in this movie, artistic license was used. The Bible in the movie was in Braille and Eli is blind – you don’t find this out until the very end. Since my husband is blind, there’s a little-known fact about Braille Bibles that I know: A Braille Bible cannot be bound into one book! My husband’s Braille Bible takes up a few shelves. Braille letters are much bigger than print letters and when you print something in Braille, you need a lot more paper than a print book. Just a book as simple as a novel can take up to three or four huge, thick Braille books.

I can understand why they changed this fact in the movie, though. It would not have worked so nicely if Eli were carting around huge cartons of books for thirty years!! Since the Bible was only one volume in the movie, the book fit nicely in Eli’s backpack! Also, I had a short story published several years ago and I used the same artistic-license convention. My short story was about a blind woman reconnecting with her faith and I have a emotional and important scene where she takes her Bible to church and reads a scripture.

 

 

Bittersweet Memories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Saturday Matinee! A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe

Have you ever dealt with anybody who suffered from schizophrenia?

John Nash is brilliant math graduate student at Princeton University. He’s pressured into publishing works, however, he can’t think of a great idea for his paper. He finally comes up with a new concept which he publishes and garners him a spot at MIT. While at Princeton, he becomes friends with his roommate, Charles, and later, he meets Charles’ niece, Marcee.

He also dates his student, Alicia, and they fall in love. John also works for the secret service, trying to decipher cryptic codes in magazines and periodicals. He’s obsessed with breaking these codes and the walls of his office are covered with newspapers as he tries to decipher these messages while trying to escape from the Russians.

***SPOILER

 

Then, John has a breakdown and it’s discovered that he has schizophrenia. His wife, Alicia, wrongly believed that Charles and Marcee were real people since John spoke of them so often. John has to suffer through intense therapy and finally decides to stop his medication – although he still sees these “people” (Charles, Marcee, the government workers/agents, etc.) he realizes these people are not real and are figments of his imagination.

This movie really made me think about schizophrenia. I wondered about the human mind and the way it worked…how can you imagine somebody so hard that you actually see them, talk to them, think that they’re real over a number of years – not realizing that you were talking to no one? I wondered if the part of our brain that controls dreams and imaginations – well, if that part of our brain, goes haywire/wrong, then, maybe that would make your mind really “see” things/people who are not real?

John even shook hands with Charles and he hugged Marcee. He could touch these imaginary people, too?

Just knowing that you can see, touch, and feel people whom are not there blows my mind. When people witnessed John talking to his “friends” they just saw him talking to dead air.

Overall the movie was pretty good, but, I probably won’t watch it again anytime soon.

So, have you ever dealt with schizophrenia in your life – either yourself, or known someone with this illness? What happened? Did the treatment work?

Saturday Matinee! – Oz, The Great And Powerful

If you were held in bondage by someone wicked, could you rely on a mortal man to save you?

Well, the people of Oz were waiting for a real wizard to save them from the wicked witch. This movie was entertaining, and it contains some elements from the classic Judy Garland film. Also, there were elements taken from the novel, The Wizard Of Oz.

Oscar (Oz) is a con-man/magician in Kansas. He breaks ladies’ hearts, while doing magic tricks in a carnival. He jumps into a hot air balloon to escape the wrath of the carnival’s Strongman. He’s then swept away into the land of Oz in the midst of a cyclone.

The people in Oz have been waiting for him, they see him as their savior since it’s been prophesied that he would come. Of course there are witches, both good and evil, but, the movie had an strange twist with the witches. If I told you more about them, it would spoil the story.

The Wizard had some special people to accompany him while he searched for the wicked witch. One of his companions was a China doll who had broken legs. The China doll was not in the original Wizard of Oz film, but, I do recall in The Wizard of Oz novel, that Dorothy and her friends traveled through the land of China – where everything was made of China and the people and objects were breakable. The Wizard’s other companion was a winged, talking monkey.

The special effects for this movie were amazing, and it was the perfect prequel to the The Wizard of Oz classic. The film was also laced with a small amount of humor, too.

I kind of felt like the people of Oz: The Quadlings, The Tinkers, The Munchkins, etc. viewed The Wizard as if he were God, Jesus Christ himself, coming to save them from the throes of Satan (the Wicked Witch).

Overall, a good movie. Have you seen this movie? If not, are you planning on seeing it? How do you think this movie compares to the classic?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Saturday Matinee – A Walk To Remember

A Walk to Remember

A Walk To Remember

Have you ever dated somebody who is a total opposite?

This was a sweet movie about two teenagers who are total opposites. Landon is a popular guy in high school. When a prank against a fellow student goes totally wrong, he’s forced into punishment by the principal. The punishment includes tutoring other students, assisting the janitor, and participating in the high school play. He finds himself working with Jaime in the play, by playing the lead role opposite hers.

Jaime is not well-liked at school. A preacher’s daughter and a loner, she finds solace looking at the stars and having goals and dreams about her life. Jaime also has a deep faith in God.

Jaime and Landon’s lives take an interesting turn when he goes to her for help in learning his lines for the high school play. They find themselves attracted to one another, which causes a sticky situation in Landon’s life since it doesn’t help his image to be seen with a girl like Jaime.

However, there’s a startling, unique reason why Jaime should not fall in love.

I enjoyed this movie. I especially liked how this movie showed how two opposites can become attracted to one another. If you’ve seen this movie, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it!

Have you ever dated somebody who is a total opposite of yourself? If so, what happened? Please share with a comment!

***I also wanted to add that this movie reminded me of the young adult books written by Lurlene McDaniel. It also reminded me of a novel I read a LONG TIME ago called P.S. I Love You.

 

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Need a good, emotional romance? Try John’s Quest, on sale now for 99 cents!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

 

 

Saturday Matinee – Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can

Have you ever run away from home (or know someone who has)? If so, how did you manage to make a living?

This movie was great! I think I enjoyed it so much because it dealt with counterfeiting checks and dishonest behavior. Frank Abernathy is an extremely intelligent and troubled teen. When his parents get divorced, he runs away from home, but, he’s able to make a living with his shrewd mind and dishonest behavior. He poses as a Pan Am airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. He was able to con his way through these roles and he was just a teenager!

While conning his way through these occupations, Frank would create checks and cash them. He also charmed the women he met (like the bank tellers), engaging them in flattering conversations so that he could gain their trust.

I really enjoyed this movie because it was exciting and I really wanted to see if Frank would get caught by the end.

This movie was based upon a true story and it starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

So, have you ever run away from home (or know someone who has)? If so, how did you manage to make a living?

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

Saturday Matinee – Wicker Park

Can you imagine being followed around by a former love interest?

Matt is engaged to his fiancée, Rebecca, and is about to embark on a business trip to China. At a restaurant, he believes he hears the voice of Lisa, his former love interest. Lisa disappeared two years ago and Matt’s always wondered what’s happened to her.

During a series of events, he thinks he spots Lisa various places and you find out more about the history of Matt’s and Lisa’s love affair though flashbacks.

I was so bored with this movie that I couldn’t finish watching it. I think the story moved too slow, and I just couldn’t get into the story.

If you’ve seen this movie, did you enjoy it? If you enjoyed it, it’d be interesting to hear why you liked it.

~Cecelia Dowdy~