These are not new movies. They are rented blu-ray movies (except Avatar). Since husband and I replaced our old DVD player with a Sony Blu-Ray/DVD player we have been obsessed with watching movies! We’d love to watch a lot more movies but husband’s work schedule is quite unusual and sometimes unexpected and we can’t stay up all night watching movies otherwise we’d be in big trouble the next morning so we do what we can as much as we can. I guess I could watch alone but that wouldn’t be fun. Well, here’s what I’ve watched so far as well as my reviews:
Avatar [A+]
Husband and I saw Avatar at the theater in 3D a few weeks ago. It was a great movie although I didn’t like the war scenes. It was a bit too violent for me. I liked the love story between Jake Sully and Neytiri (the two in the image). I’m not sure if I would watch it again anytime soon. I’d have to close my eyes on the violence if I were. The world of the Na’vi beings (Neytiri is a Na’vi huntress) is so beautiful, tranquil, and peaceful. I almost want to be there. I was also in awe of the floating mountains which were completely majestic and dreamy like. Definitely a worthy theater movie and in 3D.
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs [C]
Even though this was watched in blu ray, it was just an okay movie. It might have been a bit more exciting watching it in 3D at a theater. Neither of my girls liked the movie. It was kind of too loud and scary for Kylie since she didn’t quite understand what was going on. It frightened her to see all the gigantic food falling and people scrambling scared. Kida didn’t find anything she enjoyed about this movie either…well, except for maybe the news girl whom probably was the only person to really get Kida’s attention. She wasn’t a fan of all the falling food either.
Bedtime Stories [C]
I thought this movie would be something like “The Princess Bride”, which is one of my all time favorites but it was no where to close to it. I guess I had high expectations about this movie. Sometimes I think Adam Sandler over does his funny-ness which turns out not so funny. I did like that when the two kids told stories during their bedtime that they actually happened the next day but I didn’t quite understand how that was possible since nowhere in the movie was it ever explained how. This movie was about pay backs but it was obvious how things just turned out right at the end. It was too fairytale like.
Ponyo [A+]
This is one of the sweetest and cutest Japanese animation movie out there. It’s about a little girl fish with a human head who wanted to become human after spending time with a little boy (whom named her Ponyo) whom she became attached to. She had magical powers that gave her feet and hands but since she was so young, her powers weren’t completely strong so her father, who was an underwater human looking guy with red hair, tried to keep her contained under the ocean but with the help of her thousands of little sisters, she made her way back to the little boy. It goes on and on and in the end, it’s love that finally turned her completely human. I didn’t think I would like it but I loved it almost as much as my two girls. Kylie watched it three times and each time, she cried sad raging tears when the waves came and took Ponyo out of the green bucket from the little boy’s grasp. I know that I’ll end up buying this movie for my girls.
Couples Retreat [D]
Back when they were doing the trailer for this movie, it looked funny and interesting but it was a complete failure. I found nothing good in this movie. There were a lot of none sense arguing and trivial things. I don’t even know how I was able to watch it all. Maybe I thought there would be some enlightment at the end but it ended horribly and left me feeling like I wasted time and money. The acting was crappy and the story line made no sense. I can’t understand how these couples could be so angry, rude, and thoughtless on this trip to such a beautiful and breathtaking place away from their kids and problems. I would totally just be at peace and be smiling at my husband like crazy just knowing that it’s just me and him and this gorgeous place. I was quite annoyed.
Race to Witch Mountain [B]
Not quite a failure but not quite what I thought it would be too. I think the acting was stiff and the visual stuff wasn’t quite there. I think I saw a hanging microphone in one of the scenes and husband noticed that the side mirrors on the taxi cab that were originally knocked off were intact in another scene. Things like that really messes up the movie for me (and husband too I’m sure). Kida loved it though. She liked the powers the aliens had and that they were able to get away at the end. Kylie didn’t like it. While we were watching she turned to me and while pointing to the movie said, “I don’t like that movie.” She hid herself behind her dad and I throughout most the movie.
Gran Torino [A+]
I don’t know why I waited so long to see this movie. Maybe it was because I watched one of Clint Eastwood’s movies awhile back and fell asleep and so was not motivated to see anymore of his work. I did like “Million Dollar Baby” though so it might be due to something else. At first I thought it would be some boring movie. I had seen trailers of this movie when it first came out and Clint’s acting really took my breath away but it wasn’t enough to make me watch it then. Well, I really missed out because it was a very touching movie. I did find the Hmong acting stiff and not quite Hmong-ish. They were also kind of quiet and reserved which made me think they were more Chinese than Hmong. But, that didn’t deter me one bit from being immersed in the movie. I actually surprised myself when I got teary-eyed unexpectedly at the end. I’m a sucker for movies about standing up for oneself or for someone else.
The Bucket List [C]
I was definitely let down by this movie. It’s about two old men with cancer and only a few months to live so they made a list of things they wanted to do before they passed on and crossed them out when they completed them. For some reason I thought it was more of a flash back into their past kind of movie. I thought there was too much going on and didn’t quite feel anything for either guys nor did the movie give me the sense that one should make a bucket list or anything. It was sad when Morgan Freeman’s character passed away but he seemed to have lived a full life so I was happy for him. Jack Nicholson’s character just never seemed to hit me even when he made amends with his daughter. It just didn’t seem sincere enough.
♥
March 2010
View of the kitchen, dining, and entry hallway from the living room.
View of the kitchen.
