Arms Wide Open

As I said in my previous post, “the boys” birthday party this year was capped off with a viewing of “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” with 3 of his friends. Let me get right to the point, I LOVED this movie. Who knew it would be the perfect film for a father and son (and friends) outing? The message, the 3D graphics and the story were all great. I can’t say it enough. I was entertained from beginning to end. It was also very “family friendly”.

With all of the computer generated movies now flooding the theaters, some of them have been pretty weak (“Monsters vs. Aliens” for example). My experience with the whole 3D thing hasn’t been all it was cracked up to be either. While the movie “Up” was a great movie too, I wondered if it really mattered that we saw it in 3D. That cannot be said for this film. The 3D effect made the movie so deep in texture and awesome to see. It was just great.

So if you’re looking for a film to see this weekend with the family, I give “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” a big thumbs up! Also, the casting of Mr. T as the policeman was brilliant. Great to see hear an 80’s icon again.

Five out of Five!

It is no secret that I have this sickness for instantly remembering two things….lyrics and quotes from movies. I have no idea where or how that happened, but it did. To be honest, when it comes to math, history, science and english, I am useless. I got nothin’. However, I have more than one friend that will call my cell phone while they are driving down the road and say “who sang that song” or “here’s the lyrics, who sings this”. It’s sad really.

The other thing that has happened is my kids have the same problem ability. Not only that, they typically fill our travels in the car with this little game called “Dad, remember (insert movie quote here)”. They remember movie quotes far beyond what even I can remember. Here’s an example…

Tonight we’re driving home from my sons game and I realized that we needed gas. I filled the tank and was driving away from the station and (under my breath) said “there all out, only had diesel, better go to the next station”. Not thinking anyone had a clue what I was talking about, pulled into traffic. From the rocket seat in the back comes the small voice of my 4 year old (yes…I said 4 YEAR OLD). She is the one in the middle of the picture above. She simply said…

“What’d you do?????”

There was a moment of silence and then 4 of us completely cracked up! I cannot even remember the last time we watched “Tommy Boy” so that little quote somehow has been stored in her memory bank. My wife just looked at the 4 other family members in the car and rolled her eyes. The next 5 to 10 minutes of drive time was filled with 4 of the 5 of us ripping off one liners from “Tommy Boy”. My son said “We just killed Bambi!” and my 6 year old recited a portion of the famous model car scene (luckily we watched the edited version). It was great fun…really. But I think I’ve created a monster. 4 of them actually.

Tonight we watched “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (thanks Redbox). Every now and then I sit down with a pen and pad because I just know that a movie is going to provide great quotes. This one didn’t disappoint. It was a film of reflection on both life and death. Below are just a few that I wrote down.

“Life can only be understood backward, it must be lived forward”

“We’re meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us”

“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.”

“Everyone feels different about themselves one way or another, but we all goin’ the same way.”

“You can be as mad as a wet dog at the way things went. You can swear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.”

“It’s a funny thing about comin’ home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you.”

“You know what…God keeps reminding me that I’m lucky to be alive”.

I cannot WAIT to see this movie.

Several months ago my good friend Troy tipped me off to the greatness that is Redbox DVD rentals. Beyond the incredible price of $1 for a DVD rental, the ability to reserve and check stock of boxes around you online make this one of my favorite things. Just a great idea and service. I hit up Redbox for 5 movies for the holiday weekend. Here’s a brief review of what we watched.

Yes Man – When I saw the preview I thought this would be another “Liar, Liar” type movie from Jim Carrey. Surprisingly, this was not just another silly Jim Carrey movie. There were some great elements to it. It also had it’s fair share of signature Carrey laughs. 3 1/2 out of 5.

Seven Pounds – Very interesting and thought provoking movie. I won’t spoil it for anyone that has not seen it yet. It is, at times, slow and leaves you wishing it would get to the end so you can tie it all together. Will Smith can take any movie and make something out of it. 3 1/2 out of 5.

Bolt – My kids loved this movie. The script was very similar to Toy Story just with animals, but it was entertaining and a very good family movie. 4 out of 5.

Slumdog Millionaire – There was not a single person I know that saw this film and didn’t like it. You can add my wife and I to that list. Again, I won’t give anything away, but it is another movie that keeps you wondering, guessing and thinking. It was worth all of the awards it received. 4 out of 5.

Marley and Me – The whole time I was watching this film I literally felt like I was watching a replay of the last 12 years of my life. It’s no secret how this film ends so you knew what was coming, yet it was still raw with emotion when it happened. Again, I won’t spoil anything, but Marley and Me is a very good movie. 5 out of 5.