Review: Knocked Up

Judd Apatow wrote and directed the movie, “Knocked Up”. Alison Scott, an entertainment journalist is played by Kathryn Heigl. Ben Stone, played by Seth Rogen is an immature and lazy party animal. The two were worlds apart. Upon meeting at a club and having a one-night stand, Alison finds herself pregnant and having to make a decision whether to tell Ben. Her plans for a promising career and her future become confusing to say the least.

Ben himself is childlike and not ready to settle down. He and his friends are establishing a website called “Flesh of the Stars”, which shows nude scenes from films. If they weren’t working on the site, they were partying. The last thing Ben is ready for is to grow up and have a baby.

Ben’s lifestyle is disgusting to Alison and Ben feels Alison is too controlling. Ben eventually realizes he needs to grow up and take responsibility. He gets a real job and fixes up an apartment, complete with a baby nursery. Ben tells Allison he will be there to support her with the pregnancy. As to what else happens, I’ll leave that a mystery.

“Knocked Up” is definitely funny and entertaining, but I felt the profanity was overdone and took away from the overall impact of the movie. Still, it’s worth checking out.

Review: “Love Comes Softly”

Janette Oke is an author of inspirational fiction and “Love Comes Softly” is based on one of her books. Michael Landon, Jr. directs the movie, set in pioneer days.

Kathryn Heigl plays Marty Claridge and Dale Midkiff plays Clark Davis. A young Skye McCole Bartusiak gives an amazing performance as Missie Davis, Clark’s daughter.

Marty is a young bride on her way to a new life with her husband. Tragedy strikes when she finds herself widowed and far from home.

In the midst of the deepest pain and adversity, a hand reaches out to help. Clark needs a mother figure for Missie since her mother passed away and Marty needs shelter for winter until she can get back home in the spring. Clark offers to marry Marty and pay for her to get back home in the spring in exchange for her help with Missie. The marriage is platonic and born out of need. Marty is put in an awkward position as her choices are few and her heart is still broken over the loss of her beloved husband.

Clark’s belief in God is unwavering. His “church” isn’t in a fancy building, but on a hill top in surrounds of beautiful nature. It’s clearly seen how God’s hands reach out at every turn and miracles unfold.

This movie offers many valuable lessons. It’s full of heart and hope. It’s refreshing in it’s clean and moral approach. I watched this movie twice, back to back. That’s how much I love it. It may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy a clean movie set in pioneer days with a twist of romance, give it a try.

Review: “To End All Wars”

“To End All Wars” is a war film based on a true story. Kiefer Sutherland, Ciaran McMenamim and Robert Carlyle are the leading actors.

A group of soldiers, captured by the Japanese, are forced to build the “Railway of Death” between Burma and Thailand during the peak of WWII. Each prisoner faces his own struggle as the internal battle is intense to fight for mere survival and freedom.

Ernest Gordon, played by Ciaran McMenamim, is a young soldier with the desire to teach philosophy. Some were skeptical, but soon the prisoners agreed to be Gordon’s pupils, as they craved to find what gives their lives meaning in the midst of such brutality.

This movie offers strong messages, a battle between forgiveness and vengeance. The performances are strong and the moral conflict distinct. The movie is rated R with war violence and brutality and some language.

“To End All Wars” isn’t my typical type of movie or so I thought. While I thought the movie would be boring after a little ways into it, I found myself very engaged. This is a gripping film. It tugs at most every emotion. Two thumbs up!

Training Day Movie Review

Training Day is one really intense movie. At first, it appears like any other movie about police officers forming a bond and training with one another. Then as the day progresses for the new rookie, you can really see that it has its twists and turns.

One aspect of Training Day is that even though it takes place in one day it doesn’t drag with a bunch of time consuming fillers. The movie does not drag and drag on. You can really get into it because it’s thrilling to wait and see what is going to happen next.

There are a lot of places in the movie, Training Day that leave you on the edge of your seat. The suspense builds and builds as you wait to see if what you think is going to happen really does or not. You’ll thoroughly enjoy Training Day.

Rocky Balboa Review

Rocky Balboa is a must see for anyone that has watched the Rocky series. In fact, it’s one of those movies that even if you haven’t watched the other movies that you can truly appreciate and enjoy watching. You will not even realize how long the movie is because it is so fast paced and keeps you so in tune with all the characters.

Did you know that Sylvester Stallone has his facial expressions because of an accident at birth? There was a problem when he was born and the forceps caused damage to the facial nerves. It is one of his striking features that many people think of when they see him in his movies. Yet, it is something that happened when he was born and not because of his acting.

Rocky Balboa is out on DVD and worth every penny. In fact, I would say that it will be a collector’s item since it is the last in the Rocky series. It would be great to give to someone as a gift or to keep for yourself.

The movie Rocky Balboa is very well written. You can feel empathy and compassion for Rocky during his later years of life. I thought that the movie was going to end differently than it did. I was pleasantly surprised at the ending and would not have it end any other way than it did.

Residential Evil Review on DVD – Thumbs Down

Well, I just had to see what all the hype was about Residential Evil and got the DVD. Wow what a surprise. I knew that this would be a zombie based movie but had no idea how zombie based it would be. Hmmmm.

I found the first part of the movie to be quite good. The opening scenes really catch your attention. There was a lot of graphic gore in the movie that I think would’ve had the same effect without the quite as much gore. Unfortunately as the movie drug on, I began to lose interest.

There was little character development to make you feel much emotion at all for any of the characters. The focus was on the zombies and their feeding frenzies. I learned very little about the secret company and really could care less who escaped and who didn’t. Unfortunately, I would have to give this movie all the thumbs down.

Rescue Dawn Review

Rescue Dawn is based on a true story about a group of prisoners that try to escape Vietnam captivity. This is a very suspenseful because there were times that you really didn’t know what to expect next. I felt extreme compassion for the men that were just trying to get home.

Rescue Dawn doesn’t make an outright political statement about the war. Instead, it takes you through the personal journey of the men that tried to escape this area and return home. I won’t spoil it for you and tell you what happens. But it is amazing some of the things that the men did such as save rice portions that they dried at the bottom of their bathroom canteen.

American Gangster Review

American Gangster is based on a true story. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe both did an exceptional job in portraying the events of the time for this action packed story. You wouldn’t think that you were watching an almost documentary the way that the script was written.

Initially, I was frustrated and didn’t like the main character that was the leader of the gang. But after watching the movie and getting into the plot, I found myself finding compassion and almost sympathy for this man. The family came from a small town of Greensboro, North Carolina. This is not where I would normally conceive the birth of a gang and found it fascinating.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Review

Adam Sandler will leave you in stitches in this humorous but very profound movie. He must find a partner in order to secure his insurance policy. Yet, he and the partner are living a secret life so that no-one will find out. While the movie makes some very profound statements on the biases and natural prejudices that society tends to have toward the gay community, it does have a great deal of humor and entertainment.

I especially liked this movie because it was not one of those movies that are in your face. Instead, it is one that you sit back and think about hours and even days later about the different points that the movie makes about people in general and our tendency to stereotype all different types of groups of people. You could have fun laughing and also learn to be a little bit different when you walk away from this movie.

Jackass Number Two Review

I have to admit that I haven’t laughed as hard as I did through this movie. It is very graphic and not for the faint of heart. There are times that some of the scenes are so gross that you really have to look away from the screen. But then at the same time if you are like me, you can’t look away from the screen. Why? Because it’s hard to believe that these guys are really pulling the different stunts that they pull!

I was in horror and shock when one of the guys got branded with a body part but moved several times. Another time I was completely grossed out but couldn’t look away when a leech was attached to one of the guy’s eyeball. You will see things that you would never dream of. You will see things that you wish you’d never seen. And you will see things that are so crazy that you have to see it again to believe that it really happened.

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