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.Johnny English. I watched this one with the boys. If you love to laugh out loud (and even snort laugh)–this is the movie for you. Rowan Atkinson is brilliant as a comedic 007 type character. This also has John Malkovich as the “bad” guy. I laughed out loud so many times at the stupid, inane, sometimes inappropriate and occasionally gross humor. The boys thought it was hysterical too. It’s rated PG, but I would not recommend for younger kids–it’s more of a PG-13 and is age appropriate for tween/teenage (you can read the parent guide here).
2. The Maze Runner. This is one Super Rockstar and I watched several years ago and now felt our boys were old enough to enjoy it. It’s based on a book series and it begins with a teenage boy being transported in an elevator that takes him to an enormous outdoor area. There are several other teenage boys that have ended up there–one arriving every month. None of them remember anything of their pasts and have had to learn to survive on their own. There is an enormous maze that surrounds the glade (as they call it) that they have been exploring each day for the past three years–but only during daylight because at night there are creatures called Grievers that attack and kill.
It’s a pretty intense movie–especially the scenes in the maze. I was worried that the boys would be too scared of the Grievers–they look like gigantic robot spiders with scary monster faces, but they didn’t seem too bothered. It’s very good and at the end sets up for the next one in the series. It’s rated PG-13 and I do not recommend for younger kids at all. Whereas my boys were ok with the Grievers–most littles would be terrified (you can read the parent info here).
3. Wuthering Heights. Super Rockstar has had a lot of gigs lately, so I’ve been alone to watch some things on my own. The other night I was trying to find something new in the “romance” category and came across this one. I’ve heard many say the book is wonderful, so I decided to give it a try. This movie version is from 1992, so I’m going to just put that out there as maybe why I didn’t care for it–at all. It’s about a boy who is adopted into a wealthy family and now has a sister and brother. He and the sister get along, but the brother can’t stand him and when their father dies–he ends up being a servant rather than a sibling.
Fast forward to them all being adults and he and the sister are now in love, but “societal rules” keep him from being an accepted suiter (never mind the fact that he is by all accounts considered her brother–although not biological, still frowned upon). But, she falls in love with someone of her class and he is full of jealous rage, fitful bouts and that’s when I stopped watching. Maybe the book is better. Or maybe I needed to watch more. Or maybe it’s just not the story for me.
4. Sense and Sensibility. Since, I still had some time to kill after turning off Wuthering Heights, I decided to go back to one I haven’t seen in years. I love this movie so much. This one and Pride and Prejudice are two of my absolute favorite romance movies. I especially love ones that take place in the late 1700’s early 1800’s–so this fits the bill perfectly. Jane Austin’s accounts of culture, courting, class tension and the trials of being a woman during that time are just so well written. This one has Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet playing the main characters with Hugh Grant as well. I loved it.
I would love to hear your opinions and any suggestions you may have of what to watch.