We are a family that loves movies and TV shows. Each week I’ll share what we watched and what we thought about them. I hope it will give you good insight and even some ideas if you’re stuck finding something new.
1. Terminator Genysis: The boys have been begging to see the Terminator movies for a while and in reading the parent guide, this one seemed ok. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s an origin story, but with a twist. John Conner (Sarah’s future son) sends Kyle Reese back in time to rescue Sarah Connor, but this time the future is different. She is not in need of rescuing and even has her own Terminator buddy (Arnold Schwarzeneggar) who has been assigned to protect her and prepare her for what’s coming. So, instead, Kyle and Sarah set off to keep the original company that created the mess of the machines taking over–from ever launching. It got a bit heady at times with timelines and who was who and how did they get there and when. I would try to describe it, but I would end up taking up two pages and you probably still wouldn’t understand. Let’s just say it’s a great addition to the story. It’s rated PG-13 (you can read the parent guide here).
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Harry, Ron and Hermione are racing to search for the Horcruxes so that they can destroy them–and therefore destroy Voldemort. They also learn about three powerful objects in the wizarding world that are known as the ‘Deathly Hallows’. Voldemort has taken over Hogwarts and is searching for these objects so that he can achieve power over death. It’s rated PG-13 and is one of the darkest movies yet– with some scary characters, intense action and a lot of cruelty (you can read the parent guide here).
3. Elvis. Super Rockstar is a big Elvis fan–and even got his start singing at 8 years old by entertaining family doing impressions of the singer. We thought the movie was pretty good overall. It portrays Elvis’s story from its beginnings and mostly focuses on his complicated relationship with manager, Colonel Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks). He was instrumental in launching Elvis’s career, but also was very controlling and greedy–making deals that kept him mostly performing in Las Vegas and preventing him from doing a world tour. It’s rated PG-13 (you can read the parent guide here).
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. In this final chapter of the story–Harry, Hermione, and Ron find all the Horcruxes, Voldemort finds the elder wand, and the big show down between he and Harry occurs. Every time we’ve watched these movies, I am thoroughly impressed with the creative imagination of JK Rowling for coming up with such a unique story. I am definitely going to read the books. It’s rated PG-13 (you can read the parent guide here).
5. Outer Range. This is a show we found on Amazon Prime. It’s an interesting tale of a Wyoming rancher who finds a large hole on his land that seems to contain some sort of alien type matter. It’s a very strange series with only one season so far. We watched all the episodes, but to be honest–I don’t know if we’ll continue. We were left with more questions than answers and not feeling compelled to know any more. It’s a creative idea, but the story moves excruciatingly slow–almost as if the writers have no idea where it’s going and just making it up as they go along (kind of like that TV series ‘Lost’). It’s rated TV-MA.
6. The Batman. I’ll be honest–I held off on seeing this movie because I wasn’t excited about Robert Pattinson playing Batman. It turns out–my instincts were correct. I thought the movie was “ok”, but ’emo’ Batman just isn’t what I like–plus it’s almost 3 hours long. I think a lot of the slow moving scenes could have been left on the cutting room floor. I had heard it was the darkest of all the Batman movies. That’s true….from a lighting stand point. Almost every scene is at night. In a dark room. And it’s raining. As far as dark content–meh. It is, but not any more so than previous ones. It’s rated PG-13 (you can read the parent guide here).
7. Black Adam. We, of course, had to see this in the theater. I was kind of skeptical about Dwayne Johnson playing a superhero character, but he did a pretty good job. The DC universe just seems to be floundering trying to find the right actors to pair with the iconic characters. I’m not familiar with any of the other characters in the story, but I enjoyed it overall–good action and CGI. It’s rated PG-13 (you can read the parent guide here).
I would love to hear our opinions and any suggestions you may have of what to watch.