Movies

It seems fitting to write a post about movies I've watched the day after the Oscars. Of course, none of the movies I've seen recently were nominated for the Oscars. I've only seen two of the movies that were nominated for best picture, The Kids are All Right and Toy Story 3, if you are curious. The King's Speech, winner of best picture, is definitely on my list though.

But I have seen more movies than usual in the last week, and at least one is worth writing about but I'm writing about all four.

 The Grace Card
This is a Christian movie I had not heard anything about until a friend sent me an email about it. I'm not sure how long it will be in theaters, but we saw it opening weekend. The movie is about the name of the movie, grace. It deals with racial tensions in Memphis, Tenn., and the healing of a broken family. If you cry in movies, you will cry during this one. It is along the lines of Facing the Giants and Fireproof, and tells the truth of the Gospel in a powerful and entertaining way. And in a lot of ways it is challenging. It makes you ask yourself if you really love your enemies the way we are called to and give grace to others as Christ did for us.

Morning Glory
I saw this movie back at Thanksgiving with my family, but I saw it again over the weekend. If you didn't know, Katie Couric* is the reason I wanted to be in journalism, and I had dreams of being on the Today Show during my elementary and middle school years. But I discovered anchors don't really write what they say, and I am most definitely not a morning person. But this movie plays out my dream, and I love it. It's funny and has one of those happily-ever-after endings. I dragged my brother and dad to this one, and they both at least pretended to like it.

 Life as We Know It
I briefly remember seeing the previews for this, but I don't think it lasted very long in the theater. But it was available through OnDemand at my sister's last weekend, and we watched it. I would say it was kind of a let down. Of course this is what happens when you read a book and then see the movie it is loosely based on. The book is always better. But this movie is about two single people named as guardians for their friends' baby. It has all the elements of a romantic comedy, but it is very predictable. What I found interesting was that it was set in Atlanta. Maybe because I've lived close to Atlanta and spent a lot of time there, but I didn't see it as a good place for the movie to be set. Plus it took a while for me to even realize that's where they were because there are no major landmarks to distinguish it. Yes, there are places I would recognize, but it's not quite like a movie set in New York, San Francisco, Chicago or Seattle where you instantly realize where it is.

 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
If you haven't noticed, I'm going from best to worst, and this is the last movie. I will admit that this was in my Netflix queue, but I thought it was at number 70 or something. But apparently it was the first movie on the list after several seasons of TV shows, and when the next DVD in my queue wasn't available, they sent it to me in the meantime. i've had it for over a week, and felt bad not watching it since the whole reason it was in my queue is because I know a girl who is in it. I made it all the way through the movie, and it did end up with all the elements of a romantic comedy with some ghosts thrown in. Think "A Christmas Carol" except with a player. And of course, Matthew McConaughey was in it.


*It turns out Katie Couric was actually in my town on Saturday, and I completely missed it. She graduated from the university here and was here to dedicate a cancer center in honor of her sister.