Movies, Movies, Movies

It was a full weekend for us. Time is running out for Ron and I to see all the Oscar nominated movies before March 7th. We finally got around to seeing two important films and one piece of fluff.


Precious - I'd been told repeatedly that I needed to see this movie. I knew, however, that it would be one of those films that I only saw once. Child abuse is a difficult topic and something painful to watch and acknowledge. It was painful to watch but it was a very well-written and honestly acted story. Now I know why Mo'Nique has won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors' Guild award for Best Supporting actress. She was horrifying and excellent as the abusive mother. Gabourey Sidibe was very good as the abused, illiterate 16 year old girl. This was a hard movie to watch but truly well done and worth seeing. Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz surprised me - they did very well in their small roles and Paula Patton was inspiring as the teacher. Go see this movie if you haven't already. (Dana, I should have listened to you about taking Kleenex!).

Invictus - I love Morgan Freeman. He's exactly the kind of guy I would want as a dad or granddad. He just seems so wise and warm. He was the perfect actor to portray Mandela and he did it beautifully. I don't love Matt Damon - I can't honestly tell you why, I just don't. He's a good actor and kinda cute, but something about him leaves me flat. He was good in this movie, though. I enjoyed Morgan Freeman more than I enjoyed the movie - there was way too much rugby in it for me. Maybe I would have liked the movie more if I understood rugby. I just found myself squirming and wincing every time someone got hit on the field - it's a brutal game like football where the only protective equipment used appeared to be mouth guards. I wanted more about Nelson Mandela and less about rugby. It's definitely worth seeing but not one of my favorites.

Valentine's Day - So many known actors in this - ok, too many knownactors in this movie. This was a cute, funny, mostly feel good movie. My main complaint is that there were far too many threads running through the film - too many little stories to keep track of. If Garry Marshall had just cut half of the little story lines out, he could have spent more time on the really special ones. My favorites included Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Patrick Dempsey, Jessica Alba, Eric Dane, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts and George Lopez. For me, they could have left out Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biehl, Anne Hathaway, Topher Grace, Queen Latifah, Shirley MacClaine and Hector Elizando. The Taylors (Swift and Lautner) were cute and funny. My favorite was the child actor Bryce Robinson who played Edison - just adorable. There were a couple of surprises toward the end that ultimately made the movie satisfying even though the very end was totally predictable. I liked it for the most part, but it was a total chick flick. Go see it at your own risk!