Nacho Libre and Peaceful Warrior

These last few days have been busy, as weekends tend to be. Last week I watched Nacho Libre, and then last night went to see A Peaceful Warrior (thanks to some free passes!)

NACHO LIBRE

To be honest, I wasn't impressed. The premise I liked okay, although it was nothing great. The filming was very reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite (written by the same man, so not surprising), as is the general feel of the humor. However, where as Jon Heder's understated acting style made Napoleon Dynamite, Jack Blacks' over-the-top approach to comedy didn't seem to suite the film in my opinion. Every other actor played the same understated "this is just a slice of real world" method, Jack Black just stuck out as a non-sequiter to the rest. Not much more to say.

Parental notes: Jack Black shirtless and the occassional "plumber's crack" from wearing the pants too small is the only type of nudity involved. The language is clean enough, and the violence is pretty limited to the wrestling matches. There are some sexual references that bother me only in that they are delivered as often as not by priests! I'm not catholic, but still.... that bothers me.

THE PEACEFUL WARRIOR

This film is under the radar, not having spent much on marketing and advertising. A promotion through Blockbuster Total Access and Best Buy Online afforded me 10 free passes to opening weekend. I've read some scathing reviews and some nice ones. Personally, I think the scathing reviews were just reaching for reasons to dislike it. Over all, yes it could have been shorter. There were many long-lasting scenes of him training that could have been reduced, as well as similarly long "contemplation" type scenes. But in the end, they didn't detract from the whole experience that much. It's a "based on a true story" film, focusing on spirituality and internal struggle for enlightenment. It's not a Christian film, but rather spiritual in a broad way. So, that said, MANY if not ALL of the principles can be found in the Bible, in Eastern philosophies, etc. For example - and I warn there is a slight spoiler here - a good bit into the film, Dan and Socrates are walking in town at night when they are set upon by thieves demanding their wallets. Dan's respones is "oh, you've messed up now. This guys can kick your butt in numerous painful ways". Imagine his surprise when Socrates gives his wallet over easily and requests Dan do the same. As the thieves walk away, Socrates calls them back with "Hey - need a watch?" Then "what size jacket you wear?" By the end of the exchange both Dan and Socrates are in their undies walking home (thankfully they both wore boxers and undershirts ;D). Dan is not happy to say the least. This so directly corresponds to Jesus' teachings that if someone asks for our jacket, give them our tunic also. It also corresponds with other religious teachings on loving the unloveable, on not placing priorities on worldy possessions, etc. So, I think this is a great film for the purpose of teaching many spiritual truths.

Parental Notes: There are 2 make-out scenes where Dan is in his bed beginning to have sex with a partner. The first ends abruptly before anything beyond some heated kissing happens with the girl sitting astride him. The second is kissing and such, but ends as they head to the bed and fades to the next morning. The language is rough. No use of the F-word as I can recall, but quite a lot of using the Lord's name in vain. Throw in the "What the hell" and "piece of shit" type comments sprinkled liberally bout. There are a couple off-color jokes as the college boys eat dinner out once, and references to sleeping with girls, certain girls being "hot", etc. No violence outside of the motorcyvle accident that occurs halfway through the film.

A twofer!

I've got two movies today. I'm gonna keep it short and sweet as much as possible, too.

Happy Feet

Well, aside from the not at all subtle message of religious intolerance, a great movie. A great lesson on being yourself, not letting others decide for you who/what you should be. This is difficult, though. Because moral and societal limitations do exist. For instance, if being yourself means being a criminal, then you're not going to be accepted as such by most people, and that's not a bad thing. But, no need to get preachy here. With young children, the lesson is clear that we should all walk our own paths, and use the gifts we have, not bemoaning the gifts we don't have. The gifts we have are for a reason, and they serve us, and our families and loved ones, well if we use them correctly. A happy movie.

Parental notes. The songs used are old 70's 80's 90's songs rewritten just a smidge to fit the themes, so while the general wording of the new songs is fairly clean (no cussing or direct sexual references), you will notice that some of the originals weren't so clean. But remember - your kids don't necessarily know the originals!

Pursuit of Happiness

Will Smith is wonderful, as is his son, in this film. It will touch the heart of anyone who has suffered through really hard times, and/or sacrificed a lot in the present for the hope of a greater future. A great testimony to the power of hope and determination.

Parental Notes. No sex, only some partial nudity not at all displayed in a sexual manner (mom getting ready for work while talking situations). The language isn't horrible, but the F-word is displayed on a graffiti wall, and later repeated by the son. Less harsh curse words sprinkled throughout.

Actually Took the Kids to the Theatre for a Change...

this weekend. We went to see TMNT at the twilight show, which thanks to Regal Cinemas restoration of the twilight pricing is again somewhat affordable at $4/person. What can I say about the Turtles? I ADORE the Turtles. A little piece of my childhood that even 2 hideous sequels to the live action film years ago couldn't diminish. This new film - back in animation, well CGI - held true to all the attributes about the Turtles that I hold dear. The underlying theme remained as always about the importance of family. The personalities of the Turtles remained intact, although there really was way too little seen of both Mikey and Donatello. The focus stayed on the relationship between Leonardo and Raphael - the reluctant leader and the cranky, critical "loner" who appears to want to neither follow nor lead. The only thing that bothered me was that April O'Neal is all of a sudden some sort of treasure-hunter specialist instead of a reporter. Huh? When did I miss that? But still, it didn't really diminish my enjoyment.

Now about the CGI. In a day and age where everyone is looking for something bigger, better and more spectacular around the corner, this was nothing to write home about. I, however, don't really care about bigger or better. i care about the overall essence of the movie. This was a movie about the much loved for generations Turtles. Not about cool and cutting-edge CGI. So IMO, it's wonderful that they didn't sidetrack from the storyline with over-the-top effects. The animation was clean, precise, and served to allow the focus to stay simply and easily on the story unfolding on the screen. A superb job in my book.

I think it maybe goes without saying that this movie is indeed family-friendly. But, each parent has to choose for themselves, so in that spirit I will render a few slight spoilers (I don't really they are spoilers but someone else might.) There is OF COURSE going to be fighting. No CGI blood splatters, though. There are monsters, and there is one short kiss at the end between April and Casey - who are still girlfriend/boyfriend. Oh, and they do appear to live together, although it doesn't really play that up.

Now, are there any lessons to be learned/discussed with your children afterward? I think that a very good illustration is made on the point of what makes a good leader? Is it a good fighter? Not always. A big part of the enmity between Leo and Raph is Raph's feeling that he must be somehow lacking since he isn't the leader. That if just given a chance maybe he could be a better leader than Leo. It could be a good lesson in how leaders are chosen/made, and why not being the leader doesn't always mean that we aren't "as good" as those who are chosen. Biblically, those chosen to lead were rarely those that the average person would have chosen, or thought could possibly be a good leader. Gideon comes to mind right off the bat. So, yeah, a leadership lesson. If, after watching, you think of any other good lessons PLEASE feel free to share them here!

Been a LONG while

I admit it. I'm lazy. Extremely so. Therefore, while I have been watching many movies, and playing many games, I haven't felt the least inclined to post. Bad me. Only slightly in my defense is that I have recently moved up from 2 part-time jobs to about4 part-time jobs PLUS I am now taking a Korean Martial Arts called Hap Ki Do. Which are all good things, just leaves me much less "me" time on the computer, and the call of Guild Wars is strong!



So, what I've watched most recently is Eragon. Now, while my husband and daughter have both read the book, I have not. And I decided not to read until after I saw the mivoe. Why? you may ask? Because of experience with Jurassic Park. I knew people who had read the book and were so disappointed with the movie. I hadn't read the book and loved the movie. After that I read the book, and saw of course all the major differences. But, since I saw the movie first, I enjoyed bith the movie and the book as separate entities instead of comparing them to each other. I'm hoping the same will stand with Eragon. That said, I suppose I enjoyed the movie. It really did feel as if things were missing, though. It's like, even without having read the book I could just tell that I wasn't being told everything. I'm very familiar with the time limitations that make adapting a book to film difficult, leading to alterations in character, timing, plot twists, etc. Things like that generally do not bother me as long as the changes aren't contrary to the gist of the whole work. I get the idea from my family that big changes like that weren't the problem, but that somehow, as Durza says of Eragon himself, they just expected something ....well ..... more.......

Now, as far as appropriateness goes. In the general categories of sexuality, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Nary even a kiss to be had between any characters. Violence, well we are talking about dragons and battles and good versus evil. Yeah, there's violence, although the battle sequences were few, short and rather bloodless as it goes. The only consideration would be for those kids who trouble with "disturbing images." The sight of Durza's minions is a bit, shall we say, creepy. And Durza himself, especially once he is presented in full light as opposed to shadowy caves, is also a little beyond creepy. Now, a little more for those who harbor opposition to the use of magic. Yes, this is a fantasy movie, and dragon lore itself tends to always lean towards the magical. In this case, the dragons are pure magic, and the dragon-riders become magicians through their connection with their dragons. So, yes, magic figures somewhat prominently into the equation in this movie. So, unless you have issues with the last two items mentioned - I can safely reccomend this as a family-friendly movie!

It's Been QUITE a While.....

But life got REALLY busy there! Work just kinda came out of nowhere and took over my life. But, it's slowed down again, and I'm still watching movies. Most recently, Tristan and Isolde and Bloodrayne.

Tristan + Isolde was wonderful! A great retelling of an ancient love trinagle predating the more popular Arthurian legends, the filming was beautiful, the acting passionate and poignant. There were very few inappropriate scenes, although the handful of love scenes are a bit more than I would let my 10 year old view. Not because they're explicit, just a little.....much. The battles are intense with lots of action, but the blood and gore that could have been used were not. very tastefully done, so that the focus is on the importance of the battle rather than the violence itself. Over all - I loved it!





Bloodrayne, on the other hand, was just horrible! Understand, I am an avid computer/video gamer. I have no problem with excesses of violence in certain genres, and I completely understand the world in which this film operates. So, my problem is not a stereotypical "you just don't understand these fantasy worlds" problem. It's a "what happened to this awesome story, and what 1980's sepcial effects reject did this film?" problem. The acting, coming from some pretty well-known people, was shoddy. The blood and gore was over the top for even video game effects - not to mention sub-par in quality. And, while the nude scene with Meatloaf *might* be passed off by some as a necessary way to show the debauchery prevalent in that particular setting, it was still a bit much. And finally, the sex scene between Rayne and Sebastion came out of practically nowhere without building much in terms of a relationship between the two, and then lasted way longer than necessary. It came across as just a random gratuitous pr0n scene thrown in for the prepubescent boys (and the prepubescent boys in men's bodies). There could have been a real good movie there, but in the end, it barely rates as a modern B-movie. And it is most certainly NOT kidsafe in any way!

Stealth and Bees that Spell.......

My oldest child, precious daughter, is 10 years old. She recently won her school-wide spelling bee and moved on to the area bee. That was held this very morning, and I'm sorry to say that she did not advance. However, I must point out that she was the ONLY 5th grader having made it that far, and she made it 2/3 of the way through the bee before being knocked out - competing against 6th and 7th graders. So I am VERY proud of her. She'll get 'em next year no doubt.

Now that I'm done bragging, I promised I'd share my views on Stealth. Well, first of all I thought it was a great movie. Not necessarily realistic, but I don't really understand how anyone goes into such a film expecting a lot of realism. It was fun, I cared about the characters, and they managed to make me detest EDI at first, and then love him in the end. I thought that the actors did a great job. Josh Lucas is just really wonderful in every role I've seen him in. He is such a sincere actor - even when he's a sincere scumball (see The Hulk).....lol. Jessica Biel never impressed me much until Blade Trinity. She has found her niche as the beautiful, yet feminine tough chick. She really pulls it off well. jamie Foxx is....well....Jamie Foxx ;) About the only thing that really bothered me as far as realism goes, is Kara's behavior in Korea. Nobody is going to be included in a top secret program like that without going through serious survival training. She would have known better than to do many of the things she does.

Overall, it's a great great coming-of-age story. The surprise is who comes of age ;) Also a little bit of romance, but not enough to really derail the plot. it also serves as reminder of the current state of technology and the problems inherent in current AI capability. That's all I really ahve to say!

Exciting times here at Hupe's home

Our church has been having this rally thing with a group of guys called team Impact. They are BIG guys who do amazing feats of strength. Really cool stuff. In between the feats of strength, they share their testimonies and the gospel. At the end there is always an altar call for any wiching to accept Christ, and last night my son DID! So we ar every happy and proud right now. He's got a long and difficult road ahead - not terribly sure he completey understands his decision, but we'll be here to help him out with it.

That said, not much else going on around me. Had to work a little bit today, and other than that been doind not much. Haven't even played any games yet (although I plan to play some Guild Wars, and maybe even some Neverwinter Nights - been thinking about pulling that one off the shelf again here lately. I'd play some Morrowind, but the fun is gone without all the plugins I got used to before. maybe if I could convince my precious husband to find and install some of them for a Valentines gift..........

So, watching The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl. Hmmmmm. Well, first of all, it's for kids. nad my kids are seemingly REALLY enjoying it, since they are glued to it. For adults, though....... Well, there is lots of humor and cute stuff. So, I mean, my husband and I have had quite a few laughs. But, in the same vein as in Spy Kids 3D, the effects are a little bit cheesy. Not BAD - CHEESY. But if you can handle that, then it's a cute movie. And, of course, kid-safe.

Just brought home (along with SharkBoy and LavaGirl) Stealth. Tell you all about it later ;)