movies

Ok, yeah, I had to go back and make a list of all my favorite “little things” from the movie. 

• Edward quoting Romeo and Juliet
• Jac0b speaking Quileute to Bella. Oh my! I think that might have been my favorite line and I don’t even know what he said!! Someone tell me! I read somewhere Taylor is not telling anyone and there are only 4 people in the world that still speak Quileute.  I hope we get a translation soon!
• The end! I can’t believe they ended with Marry Me
• Emmett’s comment to Edward about him dating an older woman
• Eric crying during Romeo and Juliet
• Mike telling Jac0b and Bella he needed to go home
• Alice saying I’ll be back when you put the dog out
• Mike telling Bella she needed to put a little protein in there
• Bella telling Edward to shut up
• Edward saying you can’t trust vampires…trust me
• Jac0b crying in the final scene
• Loved that they kept the months just after Edward left in

I’ve tried to give this review a little time.  I really don’t want every other sentence to be Zac Efron is so HOT.  But I’m still thinking it could turn out that way.  Let me try to hold back and get a decent review out.

Heather gushed about the screening last Monday and the ever dependent movie critic, she was right.  I was gushing about it as soon as the credits were rolling.  And no, not just about how hot Zac Efron is.

The movie basically is about a guy named Mike who gets his girlfriend pregnant in high school, gives up a basketball career to raise a family and grows to resent his wife.  Twenty years later they’re divorcing and he wishes he could do it all over again.  He gets his wish and is put back in his 17 year old body.  He thinks he’s been given his chance to be 17 again only to learn he was sent back to save his family.  His older daughter is dating the uber popular but bully basketball star while his younger son is the recipient of his bullying.  He poses as the new guy in school and helps them through their troubles as their new friend.  And not to mention he wins his wife back in the process.

Well, let me tell you.  It sounds a little campy but it was a fantastic movie.  Here are my thoughts:

• Zac (yes, because we’re on a first name basis) said in an interview that this was a transitional movie for him and I couldn’t agree more.  At 17 he is a popular, confident basketball player that apparently can dance too.  And yes, he does even get out on the basketball floor and does a dance with the cheerleaders.   Sound familiar? But then you see him playing a 37 year old the rest of the movie and he honest to goodness was believable.
• His best friend played by Thomas Lennon (I Love You, Man; Hancock; Reno 911!) was absolutely hilarious.  Him and Zac were a great comedic pairing.  The “You look like Clay Aiken” line was one of my favorites. And paired up with Melora Hardin (Jan from The Office) was gold.
• Zac’s character Mike being 17 Again and in his family’s life made for some well, interesting dynamics.  On the one hand, he’s fighting for his daughter telling her how much more she’s worth than her current boyfriend and she ends up falling for Mike.  You were plastered to the back of your chair at times when the two of them were together going “Ewwwww!”  Which was odd because there is Zac, hot guy himself, with a beautiful teenage girl and you’d think they would be the two you’d be rooting for but you can imagine how awkward those scenes were.  And then there is Mike with his wife.  Except now he’s 17 again and he looks JUST LIKE he did when he was 17.  His wife is automatically drawn to him and in one scene they end up dancing and almost kissing.  On one hand you’re rooting for them because he’s winning his wife back but part of you is weirded out because she’s 20 years older than him.  And then ANOTHER part of you is cheering because OMG Zac is with someone 20 years older than him.  RAWR, where’s my cougars at??

All that to say, it’s a funny, heart-warming, clean movie that you should go see!

As part of our free movie tickets, Heather and I took the girls to go watch Bedtime Stories tonight.  We really wanted to see Tale of Despereaux and thought for sure that Bedtime Stories would be a little hokey.  After seeing the raining gumballs, I thought it would be a fantastical tale that only the kids would enjoy.  But let me tell you, we were pleasantly surprised.  We had the entire theater to ourselves and Heather and I found ourselves laughing.  Really Loud.  A lot.

I would skip this part if you don’t want completely spoiled.  Basically Adam Sandler’s character has to watch his niece and nephew for a week.  Each night they come up with a bedtime story and the next day, the stuff that the kids come up with come true the next day.  But not literally.  For example, in the story, it rains gumballs.  The next day, it appears to start raining in his truck through the sunroof but it’s actually a candy truck that has wrecked on the bridge above them spilling the gumballs.  All of it is stuff like that.

Adam Sandler was hilarious as usual.  But it wasn’t TOO much Adam you know?  Big Daddy almost crossed the line for me a few times but in this, he was funny without being inappropriate with the kids.

Keri Russell was a huge surprise.  I have always been a huge fan of Keri’s and I didn’t know she was in it.  I’m not sure I would have thought to cast her but she fit the role perfectly and did really, really well.

The one actor I really enjoyed though was Russell Brand.  I found him funny but slightly annoying in both Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the MTV Movie Awards.  But here, he was a great compliment to Adam and we laughed more over the stuff he said than anything else.

The greatest part is the funniest parts are NOT in the trailer.  Loved that.  Emma and Lexi declared it a winner as well.  Emma says she “loved it”.

Here’s the trailer in case you haven’t seen it.

One reason I was able to stay up and busy myself while I waited on stuff to run at work was I rented I Am Legend off PPV. And people, let me tell you, it was a fantastic movie!! Now, I don’t really want to tell you about any more of it unless you want to be spoiled. If so, click on to Read More.

[Read more…] about I Am Legend

Randomly I decided to take the girls to the movies.  I didn’t even know what was playing but had heard a movie that started with Horton was out.  That’s how much I knew about it.  No clue it was Jim Carrey or Steve Carell, probably my two favorite comedic actors.  Within about an hour, we had picked up Heather and were off.

I was pleasantly surprised.  I loved the story of the movie, the themes woven in, the comedy and even the “bad guy” is a clumsy bird that is funny.  It’s a clean, family-friendly movie that I think is appealing to all ages.  The only little thing I didn’t like is the kid who stood up to his mom at the end.  I get that she was in the wrong but it was almost the glory-moment and it was all about defying a parent.  A little border-line there.  Other than that, there really wasn’t anything to complain about.

One funny thing that happened is at the end when all the people were chanting, the little girl behind us in the theater said, “Everybody chant! We are here!  We are here!”  It was pretty cute.  She was serious.

Lexi clapped at the end and Emma was stuck like glue to the screen the whole time.  I think they both really enjoyed it.  And I did too.