Robin Hood

It has been so long since I've updated this but I've been wanting to for a while now and I finally have a soap box to stand on.  Mark and I recently got the new Robin Hood movie.  I didn't really care to get it at first because I think it's a pretty over done story.  But Mark doesn't care for most of the movies I get because they are mostly all chick flicks so I thought I'd get this one as one we might both enjoy.  We did enjoy it but I got a bit irritated at it at times.  I didn't like all the violence.  There wasn't even that much compared to Gladiator or Braveheart which is why this one is only PG13 and not R like the others.
Maybe it's been a long time since I've watch an epic action film and so I've become sensitive.  Either way I did not appreciate a few scenes that made me get choked up for the pain I saw the people go through.  Later I watched the older Robin Hood just to compare, and I love it so much more.  They still had fight scenes and battles but not nearly so graphic.  In the beginning they show Robin Hoods father getting in a bad position, then later they show him dead.  They didn't need to show all the gory details for me to believe he was dead and I still understood why Robin wanted vengeance on those who did what they did.  Like I said, this is a soap box post and I'm not done yet.  I feel like we are putting things in our heads that don't need to be there.  I don't want to go to war, I know I could never kill someone.  I have seen a couple of messed up dead bodies before and I can still see them if I think about it and I can still bring back that same terrible emotion I felt then too.  I feel like, by watching some of the scenes that are in these "put me right in the battle" action movies we are subjecting ourselves to scenes that we normally would not want to see.  If I were to ask you, "I video recorded some guy getting hit in the face with an arrow and it goes all the way through his face and you can see the blood going everywhere and you can see the life leaving him.  It's crazy, you want to see it?"  I think most of you would say, "No, that sounds horrible, why would you record that, and why would you want to show it to me?"  So why do we watch it when Hollywood records it and offers it to us to see?  I love the movie "Last of the Mohicans". It is one of my all time favorite movies.  I saw it first when it was on tv and it was edited.  In college I decided to not worrie about watching rated R movies and bought it on DVD because I loved it so much.  I found out the ONE scene that made it R because it was the only scene cut out of the tv version.  I didn't think it was that big of a deal and thought that it should even be bumped down to a PG13 rating.  Well eventually Mark and I got married and we decided not to watch Rs and to get rid of all the ones we owned.  The hardest part of this was getting rid of Last of the Mohicans and Braveheart and all the other violent war movies we loved.  We didn't feel like the violence was as bad as the sex scenes in other movies and what have you.  Now it has been so long that I see that although I never want to go to war, I have seen them all from the movies I have seen.
Like I said, this one doesn't have as many scenes as many others out there.  It's just been a while since I've seen any of these types of scenes and it kinda slapped me across the face.  I did like the twist in this story line as apposed to the other Robin Hood movies.  It was almost a before the story idea of how he became the Robin Hood we know, so there might be a sequel.  Oh one last thing that I didn't like was the feminism at the end.  I just don't think you should try to add feminism in period movies before feminism began.  I mean they were trying to fit a legend into actual history, trying to make it seem like a true story and then they throw in this idea that even then women are equal.  Well they weren't.  Anyway, I'll stop.  It's an ok movie, if you watch it tell me what you think.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was charming and kinda made you think. I didn't know how it was going to end and I like that in a movie. I really like Eric Bana lately. I like his voice. I also really like seeing Rachel McAdams ever since The Notebook. They both do a great job in this movie. It's almost confusing but it all explains it self after a while. Once you kinda just go along with it and lose yourself in it, you'll start to enjoy it. Then when it's over it kinda looms over you and you keep letting yourself think about it. At least that's how it was for me. Also watching it a second time is a good thing too. I was able to enjoy it even more after I already knew what was to happen.
It's about a man who has a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel at any given moment. He meets a girl that says she's met him before. That's when the story takes off and I wont spoil anything more for you. I seriously don't like time travel movies. I feel like there is always a huge gap in the story of how they make it possible. I didn't really get that thought too much with this. I even caught Mark stopping and watching from time to time. The small amount of science fiction in it is even intriguing to men. I hope you enjoy.

Love Happens

This was a cute movie. I enjoyed it. It wasn't one of my favorites but I enjoyed it. It is about a man who lost his wife and, trying to cope, wrote a self help book for people who have lost loved ones. He is off giving a seminar when he bumps into a women. I have never lost anyone close to me. Well my grandpa died a few years back and I loved him dearly but I didn't have a hard time with his passing. This movie might mean more to someone who has lost someone close. I mainly just enjoyed watching Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart falling for each other. I also enjoyed the music. I think it's a fun movie to pass the time but not a must see.

Netflix

Mark and I are such big fans of Netflix. We first gave it a try when we first got married. The apartment we were in gave us cable included in our rent. Mark was a big fan of comidy central so we watched that a lot, so long as it was clean. Well one of the clean shows was reruns of Scrubs. I became obsessed with it and had to watch every episode. But Mark thought buying movies was such a waist of money, while he only watches movies a few times I watch movies over and over again. So I decided to join Netflix for the two week trial offer and get all the Scrubs I could rent within that time and cancel right before they charged me. He had mixed emotions, afraid I wouldn't cancel in time but enjoyed watching Scrubs and hearing me yell "I'm no superman" at the beginning of each episode. I didn't get all of the seasons in those two weeks so I took the free trial offer of the on line Blockbuster rentals too. Netflix was a lot easier I thought.
Anyway, Mark and I moved and got our house and realized we needed a cable and internet provider. Comcast gave us a great deal on all the movie channels for a year and our internet all for $80 a month. But when the year ran out they tried to charge us $150 for it. Even changing our cable to the least amount of channels wasn't worth it. So we dropped our cable altogether and just paid them for our internet. Instead of cable we got Netflix again. We pay $9 a month to always have one dvd rented out and unlimmited internet movies to watch on our computer. We love it. We watch what we want to watch and don't worry about commercials or anything stupid. They now have devices to watch instantly to your tv. If you have a Wii, PS3, or a Xbox360 you're already set.
All this to get to my point. They have sent me some codes to try Netflix free for a month to give to family and friends. Well I've already got my family into it so I thought I would let who ever reads this have a shot. Here are 2 codes: M205318463835 or M225378463455. Click HERE and you will be directed to the page you will need to enter one of these codes. Like I said the month is FREE so when you sign up there is no reason why you shouldn't sign up for the most expensive offer. Just remember the day you signed up so you can cancel one month from then. If you decide you like it it's still a good idea to remember because you may want to change to one of the cheaper deals. If any of you came apon this post and the codes were already used then leave a comment and I will see if I can get you one. They give me codes every few months.

Pride and Prejudice

I know I haven't written in a very long time but life has taken me away. I have seen a few movies but have forgotten them and the details of my thoughts. So I shall return to you, my two readers, with a story that I always am thinking about. This is by far my favorite story, in the book form or in all the many different movie forms. It is mothers day and this is my gift to myself, sitting in bed with my guilty pleasure, Pride and Prejudice.
Only I of all people would write about all the movies of P&P. Yes, I've seen them all and own all but the old black and white early talky version, but my parents own it on VHS so that's got to count for something.

This early version is fun but doesn't follow the book well at all. It ends with everyone happy and cheerful which isn't the way Jane Austin intended it to be. I shall spoil some of it for you. Lady Catherine DeBourg, Mr Darcey's Aunt, gives her blessing for Darcey to marry Elizabeth Bennet. This didn't happen in the book. This movie is fun for those who need a happy ending.

The next version is the 1985 BBC version of the movie. The telling is pretty accurate but the movie is just out dated. I do still enjoy it from time to time. One thing is always true with all P&P movies, Mr Darcey is always impressive. Although I don't love this version they got that one most important part right.

BBC must have realized that it was outdated because they made a newer one in 1995. Once again, BBC got it right as far as story line and Mr Darcey. One thing that I will complain about is that I don't love the way that the girls look. The woman at that time may have been considered beautiful a little more solid back then but they could have tried to make their faces more beautiful. Lizzy is pretty but Jane who is written to be more beautiful then Lizzy isn't even close. The other sisters are not even close to cute. However I still love the movie because of how well they portray the book. Also Colin Firth is not one that I would have called gorgeous before but after seeing him in this roll I will forever say so. He plays Darcey perfectly.

Some of you may not know this but there is a Baliwood made a musical of the story called Bride and Prejudice. I love this movie. It is a fun international play on the story and proves that Jane Austin didn't just make a timeless classic but one that any nationality can identify with. They changed parts of it and one thing that I noticed was that Lizzy and Darcey never kiss (kids love this movie, even young boys, and the girls who hate cooties and kissing). I think that the acting could be better at times but very entertaining. I don't mind lending it to anyone who wants to see it.

Another adaption of the story is the LDS version. This is also entertaining but again isn't very accurate. Mr Darcey again is very handsome, I just will never get sick of the character of Mr Darcey. It was filmed in Utah and is made to not be super LDS preachy. One thing that is in this version and the Boliwood version is the change in the Lydia character. These versions are both modern day adaptations. This irritates me because it makes it seem as if the ditzy, silly minded girl who only wants to get married is different today then they used to be. I don't think this is true because I know plenty a girl exactly like Lydia who never learned her lesson and married a man for all the wrong reasons and many a time when the man married the girl for all the wrong reasons. Oh well, I'll stop interpreting, I read into silly things with little consequence (I can't help but start to talk like them when watch or reading or talking about it).

Finally the last version is 2005 feature staring Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen. I went to see this movie with my little sister wanting to hate it. I went simply to see it and have the proof and the knowledge that Keira could not be a Lizzy and that Hollywood could not do it justice. I walked away dieing to see it again. There are things I would change, for instance, how poor they make the Bennet family to be. They weren't as wealthy as Bingly or Darcey but they were still well to do and the family of a gentleman and I don't beleive that gentlemen lived that way. I also didn't love how annoying Lydia and Kitty were but then again they aren't really supposed to be lovable. I do thing that Jane was casted just right and Keira did do a good job as Lizzy. Mr Darcey is so perfect in this. I want Matthew to be in more movies, I haven't seen him in anything else. I LOVE the music and the cinematography. There are so many breathtaking shots of the British country side. The best part in all the movie and I will even go as far as saying my favorite love scene ever is when Lizzy sees Darcey walking towards her in the field in the morning. I am often doing something else while watching the movie until that scene. I am stopped right then an I get lost in the movie and for that moment I am Lizzy and he is walking to me. I know that is by far the corniest thing you have ever heard but it's so true. Stops me every time.

Anyway, if you haven't seen any of the movies, take your pick. Or better yet, read the book, timeless!
And yes I know I'm a nut! Thank you!