I am in school. Balancing a graduate program and a family leaves little time for anything else including movies. So I have not seen most of the Oscar nominees this year, much to my chagrin. I am not even going to bother trying to predict the winners on this blog. However, I will share my thoughts on the movies that I have seen and the ones that I really want to see.
PAN’S LABYRINTH
I was lucky enough to catch this little gem at The Moxie a couple of weeks ago. It is captivating and disturbing, beautiful and treacherous too.
JESUS CAMP
My wife and I both really regret the fact that we didn’t get to see this and I forgot to add it to my Netflix queue before the Oscars. We love documentaries and this is right up our alley. We are Christians, my little family, yet we are not a part of the evangelical movement that is ripping through our country. We would probably fall into the category of liberal Christian. That is we believe in love as the driving force behind Christianity, as opposed to the emotional rape and pillaging of many so-called Christian groups and movements of the day.
So this interesting and provocative film really peaked our interest. It is important to understand how many Christians are being led astray – brainwashed – by the corruption of the church. We are anxious to see this one. If my mind serves me correctly, the church camp featured in this film shut down not long after this film came out. I don’t remember where I heard that, so don’t take it for truth.
OUR TWO FAVORITES THIS YEAR
Little Miss Sunshine and An Inconvenient Truth are two of our favorites that we saw this year. Little Miss Sunshine was a breath of fresh air amidst a sea of same old same old films that Hollywood puts out. An Inconvenient Truth was very interesting and opened our eyes. Up until this point neither of us had really followed all the global warming pandering that had been going on: It’s real; it’s not real. This documentary clears that up pretty well.
APOCALYPTO
This is a film, despite it’s nefarious director, that I want to see. I enjoy films of different cultures and I think the Mayans are very interesting. Their technological advances and warmongering make for an interesting history lesson. I love the fact that it is in original language. We are not ones to shy away from subtitles.
THE GREAT WAR
Both Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima appear to be films that shouldn’t be missed. I am a bit skeptical based on the ridiculously over-hyped praise of Clint Eastwood’s last winner, Million Dollar Baby. Anyone that knows much about disability could drive trucks through the holes in that films storyline, but Hollywood didn’t care about that.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
This was not as good as its predecessor, but it was fun in its own right. It’s a movie based on a Disney ride for goodness sakes. How seriously can it be taken? It made for a great Saturday afternoon movie rental.
I seriously doubt I will be able to watch many of the films this year. Many of them can’t be watched with a 6-year-old running around and by the time she goes to sleep it is either time to clean the house, study or sleep.