One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving Holiday is going to movies. I don’t really remember when it started but, I think it was when we went to the Adams Family back in good old 1991. This Thanksgiving we went to 2 movies and they were both great.

First we went to August Rush. This is a movie about a young man who is raised by the state of New York. He is constantly teased by the other boys in the orphanage because he says he can hear his parents in the world around him. He eventually runs away and ends up in New York City. The rest of the movie focuses on his amazing musical talent and how that brings him back to his parents. Some may argue, and rightly so, that the movie is predictable, and too sweet, but I thought the movie was wonderful. I enjoy going to movies that make you feel good. They invite you to lose yourself in the film and take you on a two hour journey. In my opinion this was exactly what August Rush did. The movie is entertaining and the music is great. This is one of the best movies of the year.

The other movie that we saw this weekend was Dan in Real Life. This was another good film about a widowed father and his struggles to raise his 3 daughters and take care of his own life. After returning to his boyhood home with all of his siblings and their children, Dan finds himself in a series of peculiar situations. The movie is fun and entertaining. One thing that amazed me is Steve Carrell is totally believable in his character and is totally different from his character Michael in The Office. Also all of the casting for the movie was done well. I can see myself in a few of Dan’s situations later in life and that scares me a little, but oh well we will just have to see. The moral of the story is nice and is really applicable to real life.

It was a great weekend and they were both excellent movies. Although the rest of the year has had some major box office disappointments, these were the exceptions to the norm. Go out and see both of these movies. Then leave a comment with your own reviews!

I’m sure Zac will want to add his two cents about this movie, but I’ll start it off. Amistad tells the true story of a group of African slaves that revolt against their captors while on their way to America on board the Spanish ship La Amistad (means friendship in Spanish. Ironic?). When they reach America, the 1830s American government must decide who they are and who they belong to. At this point in time, the importation of slaves has become outlawed, and only American-born Africans could be enslaved in our country. Matthew McCounaghey plays the lawyer assigned to the case, and the story follows his attempts to communicate with the captives and find out their story. Through Cinque, one of the African slaves, we view the cruelties with which they were treated as their own countrymen captured each of them from their tribes in Africa, and the cruelties which befell them on board the ship. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is remotely interested in the history of our country. I am not sure how accurate it is, but it really caused me to think about the freedom we have in this country and how far we have come since the early days of America. The acting was great, and the story was gripping. However, there are a few parts that may be disturbing to some, even in the made-for-TV version (which is the one we watched). Altogether, a great show.

So, I’ve found the upside to being forced to sit down all the time. More MOVIES! Soon this will get boring, but for now I am enjoying the life of being entertained.

We Are Marshall is the story of a university football team that is killed in a plane crash on the way home from a game. The university and town must rebuild their lives and their football team at the same time. First of all, I always love true stories because, well, they are true. And I like seeing the power that people have to pull together and succeed, despite challenges. This movie does a fairly good job of representing this unquenchable human spirit through the remaining 3 football players and the members of the town that support the recovering football program.

However, Matthew McConaughey weirded me out. His disjointed dialogue and inability to have a normal conversation with anyone left me confused. Not to mention the hairdo. The movie runs fairly slow, so don’t watch it on a tired night. Also, it wasn’t quite the tearjerker I was expecting. I would have liked more beginning scenes, where we get to know the players who passed away. Having the crash in the first two minutes didn’t give me enough time to get to know the players and coaches so that I could really feel for them and their families.

In summation, I am glad I know the facts of the event, and I respect those that really lived through this horrible tragedy. I also think the movie could have done more to honor those who died in the crash by telling more of their life stories. I would rent, but not buy this movie.