Tintin: Superb!

We took over 90% of the movie theater, our family plus twelve other families from the homeschool group, and were all delighted by a wonderful show! We discussed the movie over breakfast this morning, and our combined overall review--and being Tintin lovers we are very picky reviewers--was very, very favorable:

• the film kept the atmosphere, feel of the Tintin stories
• no politically-correct distortions
• incredible attention to detail in every scene, we felt as if inside one of the books
• the 3-D effect awesome!
• the initial scene of Tintin being drawn by Herge' at the art fair won all of our hearts
• the Catholic reference of St. John the Evangelist in the final scene was left intact (see original page of book here)
• and many more...  

Of Gods and Men

I just listened to the interview, and actor Lambert Wilson speaks beautifully of learning Gregorian Chant for the film, and how he went back to the Cistercian monastery after the film to sing and chant more Gregorian Chant.

The film is about Cistercian monks in Algeria who face some tough decisions...

Only the first part of the interview is about the film. It makes me want to see the film even more, but it is still not availabe. I am hoping the fact that it was in the Oscars will make it available soon.

The King's Speech

I got a note from a dear Canadian blog reader today:

I know you are a movie aficionado, Ana. Last night, my family watched The King's Speech at our local theatre. It was such a lovely movie, that I just had to write. The King's Speech is a truly great movie that is made even better by the fact that it is a true story. It is set in England, with WWII on the doorstep, and a young and morally confused new king (Edward VIII) has resigned after only a few months on the throne. The new king, George VII, is a good choice for the throne, but has a very debilitating stammer. The age of radio is dawning, and the new king is expected to give all sorts of radio broadcasts....Go and watch it, Ana. Lots of history. Good cinematography. Well edited. Great acting. You will LOVE it.
Guaranteed!
K.

PS the only disclaimer is that there are two instances of swearing the movie. The king's speech therapist uses the "swear words" technique in the king's therapy.

Where the Wild Things Are

My family went to see the film adaptation of the classic book a few weekends ago. I was pleasantly surprised by Where the Wild Things Are, it was true to the book, as much as a 1.5 hour film can be to a short picture book. The additions to the story did not take away from the charm of the classic book, but added a new dimension. I cannot say it was great, but there are many redeeming things about the film.

Visually, the film has great beauty, the settings are filled with simple, natural beauty. The beauty of the film off-sets the sadness of the story. I read a quote in which the movie was compared to a Flannery O'Connor story, and there couldn't be a better comparison.

Unlike many children's films, Where the Wild Things Are is not uplifting, but it is comforting. Really, I do not think this is a children's movie, teens and young adults, would better enjoy the complexities of relationships. The film does a good job of expressing the despair that children (and adults) feel as they are thrust into relationship changes, particularly divorce. My own children liked it, but not loved it. They have no desire to see it again, though.

Watch this trailer!

The Human Experience looks promising!

Henry Poole is Here

Three parents and nine teens from our Catholic homeschool group went to see "Henry Poole is Here." All of us really, really liked this movie. It is definitely hard to write about it without giving away the whole plot. It's also hard to find the right adjectives to describe it. Henry Poole knows he is going to die soon, and takes a sad/angry/depressed approach to meeting his death. He uses the Lord's name in vain twice, but he says it in the context of moaning in exasperation (and for deliverance). It was very appropriate to the script, no matter how offensive to my 40-something ears.

Henry's conscience is being pricked by the "religious" neighbors. Esperanza is a beautiful Catholic woman, who cares for his feelings and his eternal soul. She brings her priest over (George Lopez?!) and he says all the right things about the apparition on Henry's house. It is not an anti-Catholic movie at all! That's all the spoilers I will give away.

Prepare yourself for a slow-moving plot. Stretches of silence give you the depths of Henry's despair and his solitude actually brings him to reflect on his childhood and make sense of his life. The background music is very "techno" (Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, U2) - I don't know how to describe it. The music and the main character are very odd! I probably would not take my 10-year-olds because they might think it moves too slow. However, there is nothing to prevent that age group from going! I can heartily endorse this movie for showing the honest struggle of man's deepest questions about life and death. It is both funny (we laughed out loud) and sorrowful (we passed out tissues). Enjoy!

Kit Kittredge - An American Girl movie

For 5 years I was known locally as "The American Girl Club lady" so I simply had to take my daughter to see the newest American Girl movie. My boys thought they were too old for a G rating - especially one about a girl. To their surprise, there was not one doll in the whole movie. It was a funny yet poignant hit with all of us (ages 10 to 42).

Based on the Depression-era series of books by Valerie Tripp, this short film offers a sneak peak into Cincinnati during 1934, and kids today would do well to learn from it. Soup kitchens, hobo secret symbols, and feed-sack dresses are just some of the lessons Kit experiences firsthand. American Girl afficianados will be pleased with the attention to details, like Kit's necklace, pet dog, desk lamp, typewriter, ball mitt, and friend Ruthie. Why not take the kids out for a little unit study before school begins? And we can all be thankful for our blessings from God.

The Dark Knight

For a very interesting, thoughtful take on the hot movie showing right now, see the First Things blog.

Disclaimer: I am not recommending it. I have not/will not watch it. Not my genre at all. My 13 yr old did not wish to go. I heard praises from Husband and two 14 and up sons.

More thoughts on WALL•E

My friend Susan P. and I took a bunch of kids to see it--as a matter of fact, there were... eleven kids in all! At $3 a kid in a small town theater, we were even able to purchase a large refillable popcorn!

We liked it and talked later about some of the pluses of the film:

• the delightful absence of the usual and vulgar bodily noises
• the courtship between WALL•E and Eva is pure and innocent
• the imaginative portrayal of what humans are doing 700 years from now
• creative "hieroglyphics-like" animation during final credits

A Catholic Take on WALL-E

Catholic Exchange has a very nice review of Pixar's WALL-E. I haven't seen the movie yet, but now I certainly will.

One movie, two titles

We have watched both the new Indiana Jones film and the latest sequel of National Treasure within a few days of each other, and we realized it's the same movie! Both deal with finding the pre-Columbian lost City of Gold, both deal with older males re-encountering their old true love. Neither is excellent, and the Indiana Jones', albeit all of Harrison's Ford's continuing charm, is pretty violent. But depending on your kids/ages, both may provide fun family time. Never mind that one version of the City of Gold ends up being in Black Hills and the other in Iguassu Falls, which they want us to believe is a series of waterfalls in the Amazon somewhere. They cannot fool this Brazilian. This has been tried before--in James Bond's Moonraker--which I watched as a teen in Brazil. I joined in the general laughter in the theater as James Bond entered the Sugar Loaf cable car, ran behind that mountain (in Rio) to find himself in the Amazon River (5000km or so away, mind you) and then falls off the Iguassu Falls, 7000 km away? I don't think so.


Educational aspects? The Resolute story--and the two desks made from it, one in the White House, one in Buckingham Palace. The nuclear mushroom cloud/testing done is NV is pretty well done. Any others anyone can think of?

Review of Prince Caspian

MacBeth's opinion has a very good review of the new Narnia film here...

I was impressed by her balanced enumerating of the well done Vs. badly done points.

Enjoy!

Expelled review

Read the review here, as posted in the LifeSite news website.

Update April 27: I went to watch it last night. It was funny! The whole theater laughed together many times. And then we also balked together at some of the incredible assertions made by some of the atheists interviewed. One thing both my friend Mary and I were astounded to find in the film was the crystal clear connection he makes between Nazism, Eugenics and ... Planned Parenthood. Loud and clear. Amazing. The film may truly open so many people's eyes! And then there is the creative camera angle on the statue of Charles Darwin... and the reading aloud of some of his lines, verbatim. Very cleverly inserted: how many of us have always known of Darwin but never actually did read what he wrote?

The five minutes in the final segment/interview with Richard Dawkins is worth the price of the ticket, I told Mary and her husband Mike as we discussed it over a cup of coffee afterwards. His admitting that there may have been an alien, more advanced civilization who implanted the signature found in early life form... let's say it raises questions to say the least. The first would be the obvious question: if another civilization started life on earth, then there is still the question of who created that other one. Good grief. And the second question would naturally follow: isn't believing in God more sensible than this nonsense?

Horton Hears a Who

I haven't seen this movie yet, but thought I'd mention one aspect which you may want to know before going to see this movie. I've heard from several reliable sources that this movie goes out of its way to portray homeschooling in a negative fashion.

My suggestion: don't make a big fuss or a boycott; that often draws more attention to a movie (and movie-makers LOVE attention!). The best remedy, I think, is watching something else instead.

A Pirate Movie Kids Can See

This weekend we finally were able to see The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything Movie. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday together, but certainly not the best Veggie Tales to date. Honestly, it was only okay, not bad, not great, but okay. Sure, it had all the usual Veggie Tale characters, and the wholesomeness of Veggie Tales, but something lacked. It lacked God.

We live very near to where the Big Idea Studios used to be, we knew people who worked there, and we witnessed the legal battles that caused them to lose everything, so we understand how hard it’s been. We know that changing Veggie Tales for TV, omitting God, was not their idea. This movie was a big production from a major film studio, I’m sure there were many negotiations involving how to make the message more mainstream. It was the old message that made us love Bob and Larry, even before we had kids.

The movie starts out in modern times, and through the magic of a “help ball” Larry, Pa Grape and Mr. Lunt are thrown back into the 1700’s. They are given a quest, that at the beginning they do not feel they are up to. As the film progresses, they realize they do have the courage and strength to be heroes, despite what their lives in modern times might indicate. That is pretty much it, not too complex, but sweet.

There were so many times I wished for them to say “God is the source of our Strength” or even the cliché “God made you and he loves you very much” as they say at the end of all the DVD’s, but it never happened. There was nothing wrong with the message, but it lacked clarity for the kiddies.

In our family, the under 7 population loved it, the over 7 population was bored. I think it is still worth seeing, but wait till the DVD comes out or see it at a second run theatre. It is still nice to see films that the whole family can go to, they get rarer and rarer. It was a nice escape for us from the ever falling snow.

The Human Experience

Check out this trailer !

Archbishop Charles Chaput on The Golden Compass

When the first Harry Potter movie arrived in theaters several years ago, many Catholic families had divided views about the film. Some enjoyed it as an innocent and intriguing fantasy. Others avoided it because of its emphasis on magic. But the screen adaptation of Philip Pullman's book, "The Golden Compass," which opened in Denver on Dec. 7, will likely produce far more agreement. No matter how one looks at it, "The Golden Compass" is a bad film. There's just no nicer way to say it.

Read the rest here.

on Bella

Cottage Blessings has a post today about the new pro-life film Bella. Check it out!

Ignatius Insight Blog has more on the film.


Update 10/31: First Things has an article on Bella.