Family Movie Night

We are grilling hamburgers, cooking some school bus cookies, and gearing up for Family Movie Night with Hannah Montana. It's time to say goodbye to the schedule-free summer, and cozy up for an early bedtime. I'll let you know how super-awesome this little movie is. :)

Edit: The movie was actually pretty cute. Miss Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus had a little epiphany us parents only wish for-it was expected, but still cute. And I kinda want to move to Tennessee and own a million acres. Very beautiful.

Another Todd Pick...

Odd. Just really odd. I'm not sure why it wasn't on my List of Fun Things to Watch; you'd think something like this would be right up my alley, but it just didn't sound wonderful. It sounded kind of sad to me, and it really kind of was.

Fireproof

Last night, Todd brought home Fireproof with Kirk Cameron. It's supposed to be life-changing to your marriage, so on that premise alone, we were hooked. We're always interested in life-changing events, marriage or otherwise. The first 5 minutes of the movie had me skeptical, but once we got past the less-than-Oscar-worthy acting, the story itself was intriguing. About half way through, Todd even commented that he thought the acting was better. It wasn't, but still worth watching. It made us reflect on those little things that make everyday just that much more special, and how our Faith weaves in and out of every aspect of life. We even visited the website www.fireproofyourmarriage.com to follow up on some of the concepts in the movie. Great info on retreats, books, devotionals, etc. about marriage. So, add our names to the list of people who think this movie is worth the 2 hours of couple time. :)

Movie Review-Taken

Todd is in charge of the Blockbuster Online Queue, and therefore we seem to get Action Movies night after night. Of course, he disputes this charge, and thought it would be good to document our movie watching here to "settle the score." He's promised to leave the queue as is to see how it all plays out.

Movie #1 was Taken with Liam Neeson. Although it definitely qualifies as an action movie, it was one I actually wanted to see. Without giving away too much, the premise involved a retired CIA officer (Mr. Neeson) and his quest to save his daughter from underground trafficking. I feel so sheltered when I watch something like this-sheltered from the kinds of crimes and kinds of really mean people out there. It was interesting, but also very shoot-em-up. He liked hitting people in the face, and I could have gone without all the bone crunching.

Rating: 2 thumbs up.

On a completely different, yet related note, I really suck at finding pictures on the internet (note the very tiny movie pic above). Is there some trick I'm not aware of?

Saturday Night Movie Review: Death Race

In 2012, amid economic chaos and high unemployment, Americans by the millions watch criminals with life sentences race armored cars on Terminal Island.

I thought there was some irony in the premise for this movie given the state of our times. I rented this movie tonight because I knew Danielle would not be home to watch it with me. This is one of those guilty pleasure type movies that I get to see very seldomly. I honestly cannot think of one other person that would watch it with me. If you like brainless, brawn, death and mayhem entertainment, then this movie is for you. I rented the unrated version and man were there some gruesome scenes. It looked really good on the blue ray player to boot. I can hear the groans now!

Juno

2 Thumbs up for this movie. I loved Juno's character; even in a less-than-perfect situation, she kept her originality and character intact. I loved her parents-I can only hope I would be as calm and level headed...I cried, of course-but still a strong 2 thumbs up.

On a sidenote-Madison watched it with us (not entirely), which led to a few interesting conversations about love, babies, and more love. I'm hoping this was one of those times to just "keep the conversation constant" that everyone talks about. Parenting. Hard stuff.

You can't handle the truth!

My all time favorite Sunday afternoon movie is A Few Good Men. Much of our Scroggins Vernacular is centered around this movie, and we can have entire conversations in quotations...

Brothers and Sisters

I just finished watching a little self-made DVR'd marathon of Brothers and Sisters. I love this show. I love Sally Field-when I was in 5th grade I would watch reruns of Gidget every Saturday. We lived in Mission Viejo, California then, and I thought learning to surf was the key to teenage happiness. I don't think it was-but it was a nice thought. :) Her movies always tear on my heartstrings. I've seen Steel Magnolias 1000 times, but every single time, I cry big, ugly, snotty tears when she talks about Shelby. She has a wonderful talent for making you a part of her emotions-and in this particular show, as a mother of 5 grown children, there are a lot of emotions.

I love this show because it's messy. There are 3 brothers and 2 sisters-some are republicans and some are democrats. One is gay, the rest are straight. One has a drug issue, the rest work on interventions. One joins the Military to serve in Iraq. There is a family business. There is a matriarch who grieves for her deceased husband, only to have an identity crisis every time she turns a corner in her big, beautiful house. I can easily put myself in her shoes as she finds a way to care for her grown children when they need her (ie drug overdosing or divorcing), and also works to find herself when they don't.

Imagine taking the time to find yourself.

There are family dinners that always turn hostile. You could probably predict with that many diverse people, it would be inevitable. Maybe that's the point. They might try to hide their grievance, but it always comes out in the end-it is a one hour tv drama after all. :) When it does come out-it's usually an explosion of insults. They don't hold back-spouting every negative thought that might have entered their mind on any given day. They do all this to prove a point, and then realize that the point is-family. The rest is nonsense. The edges blur and you are left with the warmth, comfort, and familiarity of those that love you despite your many (many) faults.

Tonight I cried those big, ugly, snotty tears again watching those relationships triumph through so many blunders...watching those people tell a story about family, about celebrations, about heartaches, and about love. If you really have never taken time out for this story, it's one worth watching.

You can leave the messy crying to saps like me if you need to. I've had lots of practice. :)

Band of Brothers

I was again reminded of the greatness of the mini series "Band of Brothers" this afternoon into tonight. Definitely a top 3 movies of all time for me. It was on the History Channel, and like always, I was sucked in and spent the rest of my evening watching every remaining episode that came on. It is a 10 hour mini series mind you. I even got Danielle to stop down tonight. I remember when I forced her to watch the DVDs after I got them for Christmas in 2002. I had seen it when it came on HBO in November 2001. I could never give the movie justice with a review, but know that you will be moved beyond words about how the men from Easy Company (101st Airborne Division) bonded in their experiences together during World War II as they marched from Normady to the Crows Nest. It is a "Must See" for all Americans! And just in case you don't know, it is a depiction of true events as told by these great men; albeit they would never say so, who served this great country with valour, honor and distinction.

Lady and the Tramp

I'm very very sad.

During my spastic day, I restorted to the SuperMom technique of TV babysitting. I hate when it happens, but sometimes the shower necessity wins above all else. In any case, I pulled down my trusty VHS version of Lady and the Tramp. I was recently reminded how much I love this movie, and it seemed the perfect filler for today. I slipped the tape into the VCR, and it spat out at me-over and over and over. I'm pretty sure the dang thing was mocking me...I could practically hear the VCR saying "Dude, I'm old-I'm tired. Heard of DVDs?"

It never worked. It's broken. My Lady and the Tramp is broken, and for some reason I don't own the DVD. I'm sure it's not coming out until 2050 or something per Disney rules, so now I will never ever get to watch it.

I'm very very sad.

The Kite Runner

Don't ask me why, but this was possibly one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. The DVD Daniella rented from Blockbuster after hijacking my Queue stayed on top of the TV for about a month. I had a feeling it was going to be one of those boring movies with subtitles that everyone says is really good, but at the "end of the day" really sucks. Yes, I was right..it had many subtitles, but I was wrong as well because it hit me like a ton of bricks and moved me beyond words. Very good (albeit sad) story.