The Fault in Our Stars
Posted by
Christy
“You don't get to choose if you get hurt
in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you”, a quote from the
popular book by John Green. Another
transition of a book to screen and a great one at that! Hazel Grace, played by
Shailene Woodley is a 16 year old girl with terminal cancer. She attends a support group and meets 18 year
old Augustus Waters, played by Ansel Elgort.
It’s their story of love and death in their crazy world of trying to
live through their cancers. There is a lot of story to be told in this movie as
Hazel and Gus try to live normal lives in spite of their illness even going to
Amsterdam in search of an author that has changed Hazel’s life. This movie is
much more than death or cancer – it’s a story about life. How we deal with people that we love and how
we deal with death. Their journey all
comes to a close when Augustus wants to hear his eulogies before he dies. Hazel and his best friend come together and share
their love for their friend and in that instant – they tell each other how they
are going to be remembered and why. In a
world of people – they will remember each other. For me, this movie must’ve hit the right chord
because I would watch it again, same as Heaven is for Real, because they
both speak volumes about our lives. I
opened this blog with a quote from the book and I may be getting a little
personal here, but I believe the statement to be true. When we lose a loved one, we should feel
honored to have loved them. We chose to love them and even in their
death, we are still the luckiest
person to have been their friend.
Heaven is for Real
Posted by
Christy
“Heaven is for Real”
was a #1 book on the New York Times Bestseller list. It’s the true story of a
family who was given a glimpse into Heaven through their son Colton. Greg Kinnear plays Todd Burpo, Colton’s dad
and a preacher of a small church in Nebraska.
Colton, played by the adorable actor, Connor Corum, gets very sick and
needs emergency surgery. As his parents
call the church for prayers for their son, Colton has an incredible journey as
he is being operated on. It is only
later, that Colton starts telling his family the things he saw and heard in
Heaven. The family has to decide whether
Colton’s visions are real or made up. Did his son really see angels? Did he
talk to Jesus? And did he really see his grandfather? The town’s people are divided over the issue
and the church must decide if they’re going to stand with the Burpo family and
Colton’s incredible stories or release him from his duties. I really liked this movie! I had read the book but found the movie to be
more powerful and inspiring than the book.
To me, I enjoyed the journey that this movie took me on. The sweet face of Colton as he talked about
Heaven just made me feel happy about what I believe in. It’s an inspirational film the whole family
can watch together.
Mom’s Night Out
Posted by
Christy
This was a fun movie for the whole family! Almost any mom can relate to this theme, a night out with the girls and NO KIDS! It was silly fun to watch the comical
misadventures of Allyson as she tried so hard to have a normal night out. But
between her crazy sister-in-law, her husband and his “anti-kids” best friend,
her pastor’s wife issues with her teen daughter, a missing baby and a biker
dude, (played by Trace Adkins) . . . the
night didn’t turn out as she had planned.
No mother is perfect nor do we have a perfect life. This movie reflects the insecurities of moms
and their constant battle for survival among the fittest but it does so in a
light hearted manner and with inspirational insight that gives moms, a
chance to reflect on the values and the importance of being a mom
God’s Not Dead
Posted by
Christy
There are a lot of inspirational films out but for me,
this is one of the better ones I have seen in awhile. I really liked most everything about it - the
story, the actors and the music. The
premise is a freshman college student by the name of Josh, (played by Shane
Harper), takes a philosophy class. The philosophy
teacher, (played by Kevin Sorbo), has only 1 “rule” in his classroom - to talk
strictly about philosophy and rule out any hogwash about a “God”. To do so, he insists that his students write
on a piece of paper that “God is Dead”.
Josh is unable to do so because he is a
Christian and believes that God does exist.
The professor, being an atheist, allows Josh two weeks to present his
side of why there is a God to the students
At the end of two week, the class will decide if Josh is right and
passes or if he failed and flunks the class. I thought the actually story line of the
debate was very interesting to watch. I
think the movie could’ve focused more on the issue between the two main
characters instead of adding side stories in.
The side stories were intended to bring home the main theme of the movie
and at times it took away from the main premise of the movie. But even with that said, if you’re looking
for an inspirational film to lift your spirit, to give you something to think
about, or enjoy some great music by The Newsboys and other artist you might
give this a try.
Draft Day
Posted by
Eric
In this movie, Kevin
Costner plays Sonny Weaver, the Cleveland Browns general manager that has an
opportunity to turn the team around if he can make the right decisions and
choices in the NFL Draft. The story
takes you through the 24 hour period leading up to the draft and how he is
being pulled in every direction - by the players wanting drafted, the head
coach, the team owner, the media, his family, the fans, and just about everyone
else you could imagine. Ultimately, he’s
the one with the final decision, and he has to do what he feels is “right” for
everyone, including himself. I’ve never
given much thought to what’s really going on behind the scenes of the NFL
Draft, but I was completely drawn into this movie! It reminded me a lot of the movie Moneyball
that has the same themes, just with football this time instead of baseball –
and I loved that one. Plus, you can’t go
wrong with Kevin Costner in a sports film!
Blended
Posted by
Eric
I was surprised by this one. You never
know what you’re going to get with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore – especially
when they’re in the same movie. I’ll
admit, I wasn’t expecting much. After watching
the first half, it didn’t seem very good, but if you hang in there for the
whole movie, it gets much, much better! After
a horrible first date and deciding they never wanted to see each other again, Jim
and Lauren’s families end up together at a resort in Africa. It almost felt like a “reverse Brady Bunch” –
Jim was raising girls that needed a mom in their lives and Lauren had boys that
needed a dad in theirs. No matter how
much they all resisted, the kids (and parents) were all benefitting from having
each other around. This movie did have silly,
ridiculous parts to it, but it was also touching and emotional in parts, too –
more than I ever would have imagined.
I’m glad I watched it!
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