Amazing Grace Review

This movie came out in 2006 and is a historic drama about the man William Wilberforce.   I had heard a little about this man growing up and was interested to see what Hollywood did with his story.  Overall,  I think they made a good period piece that didn't exclude things like William's faith which made him the man he was throughout history.   The acting in this movie is well done,  and although it isn't incredibly fast-paced as far as a story (few historic dramas can be),  it did deliver what it was intended to do which is give the biography of an astounding man who worked in England to abolish slavery.  I don't know if it is true or not but it shows several scenes of William interacting with John Newton.  If that is historically accurate it is news to me.   John Newton wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" and used to be slave ship sailor before he became a Christian and changed his life.     I wasn't aware that he knew William Wilberforce,  but that is an informative fact if the movie wasn't taking historic liberties.    I thought this movie was well-done and showed the dedication of Mr. Wilberforce to overthrow slavery in England.   I would give this movie 3 out of 5 stars.  Worth a watch.

Iron Man 2 Review

I recently watched this movie after hearing much about it this summer but judging by the reviews from friends and relatives I decided not to pay a movie ticket price to view it.    After watching the DVD,  I feel I made the right decision.    First of all,  Iron Man 2 is not as good as the first Iron Man movie (but few sequels are).   Unfortunately movies like Spiderman 2 and The Dark Knight set the bar really, really high for superhero sequels.  In this case I believe the Iron Man series follows the more traditional sequel expectation which is that it doesn't surpass the original.    After watching this,  I feel the movie was kind of a let down for the following reasons:
1.  Tony Stark's character is just plain annoying and arrogant.  Robert Downey Jr. may just be playing the role really, really well if that is the character of the comic book hero - but to me it doesn't excuse the fact that he is a little too big for his britches.
2.  The ending of this movie is anti-climatic.   I don't want to give it away for those who may still watch this movie,  but I thought the enemy was built up to such a degree,  that the fast way he is destroyed didn't seem to be worth the watch in my opinion.    That's all I'll say on that matter.
Overall if you want a lot of special effects,  and you love the comic book character you may really enjoy this movie,  otherwise I advise you to save yourself 2 hours of your life.

Love Happens Review

I watched this with my wife tonight and boy, was I surprised (in a good way).  Love Happens as a movie is a well put-together movie about the need people have for one another,  and the ways people try to escape their hurt.   The acting in it was top-notch and the script was really well-written in my humble opinion.   Don't rent this movie thinking you will be getting a romantic comedy.  While it did have romance points,  it wasn't purely about the love between the two main characters.   This movie dared to tackle much deeper issues in life and for that - I have to applaud it.    I was expecting a fluffy, formulaic movie where everything turns up wonderful,  but this movie went in directions I didn't expect and tackled issues that many movies don't even touch (in a good way)!!  One thing I really liked about the movie was,  that even though the main character wasn't dealing with his own emotions and issues that occurred in his own life - he still was driven with a heart to touch other people and minister to their needs.   Rather than become self-obsessed he was still focusing on others which was a wonderful example of "loving his neighbor as himself" as the Bible teaches.    Since I don't want to give anymore away - I'll leave it at that and heartily recommend you go out and rent/buy the movie "Love Happens".   Movies like this aren't released that often.

Killers Review

I wasn't sure what this movie would be like, but I do like both Ashton and Katherine and the preview looked funny. Now that I rejoined Netflix again, I figured it is time to start up on the reviews. Why? Well watching movies is all fun and everything, but unless I analyze the movie and compare it to others as well as evaluate it from a Biblical worldview, I find movie watching can be a big useless time sink. This movie is about Ashton Kutcher who is an assassin in the movie. He falls in love with Katherine Heigl's character and the rest you will have to watch. My opinion? Did not like it. Something about this movie just didn't deliver what I wanted. The movie walks the fine line between action and comedy and didn't do it well. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or be concerned during intense action scenes and the overall delivery of the lines left much to be desired. I'm going to have to say this movie was definitely worth skipping. One character in the movie does nothing but drink throughout the entire movie. Is this supposed to be funny? Are we to laugh at murder and alcoholism? I suggest this movie be skipped based on poor delivery and objectionable material to laugh about.

Coach Carter review

This basketball movie was surprisingly much better than I expected. This movie is probably one of the more recent ones that I watched. It stars Samuel L. Jackson as the Coach Carter of the Richmond, VA high school basketball team. I went into this movie kind of skeptical because movies like this can tend to be fairly formulaic. This movie really impressed me, because it wasn't exactly what I expected and it really delivered. Coach Carter went against the grain and really believed that the values he stood up for had the potential to change lives. I was really impressed at the vision of Coach Carter and just how far he would go to make his point. Very well-acted by Samuel Jackson. Also having seen another basketball movie entitled "Glory Road", I felt this movie was volumes better. I don't know if it was the writing or the acting - but I just felt that Coach Carter was one of the best movies regarding basketball I have seen since the movie "Hoosiers". Although I can't agree with everything that goes on in the movie, I did find it fairly realistic and very motivational. Standing up for the truth isn't always popular and this movie does a good job showing that. Two thumbs up in my opinion. Like I said before, potententially the best basketball movie I have seen since "Hoosiers".

The Blind Side review

I went to see this movie when it came out around Thanksgiving in 2009 and really, really enjoyed it. It is an interesting story about a young man and the family who welcomes him into their home and helps him to become an NFL player. This is a powerful story and very well acted by Sandra Bullock. I think this is one of the best roles she has played and I'm glad she was nominated for best actress for it. I almost wouldn't call this movie a sports movie - just because the storyline really revolves more about Michael Orr coming into the home of this southern family in the movie and how they both learned from each other. Another true story that Hollywood did a really good job with. I felt this movie was well cast, well-directed and inspiring to watch. Very well-done and very moving. A definite recommendation in my book.

The Express review

OK, I've decided with my posts, that I'm going to cover quite a few sports movies and what I liked the most of each. The first one I'll be covering is The Express which is based on a true story (most sports stories tend to say this) about a star (Ernie Davis) running back and the coach that worked with him (played by Dennis Quaid). While Dennis Quaid isn't my favorite movie actor, I thought he did a really remarkable job in this movie as a gruff, no-nonsense coach who really helped to bring out the best in his player - Ernie Davis. Although this movie tends to be on the long side - I thought it did a good job moving along and drawing you into good character development. Another thing I really liked about this movie was that it didn't really have a fairy tale ending. The ending seemed true life and while it wasn't the "happily ever after", I think it did do the story of Ernie Davis justice. I say that - not really knowing much about Ernie Davis before watching this movie - so take that last statement with as much salt as you deem necessary. All in all, I liked this movie, and don't want to reveal the complete storyline in case anyone wants to watch it after reading this post. Many football movies have been produced, but "The Express" stands alone fairly well. Definitely worth a watch.

The Color of Money

To many, this movie may be considered a classic about pool that came out in the 80s. It has big names like Paul Newman and Tom Cruise so if you are a fan of either of those gentlemen, you've probably heard of it. If I understand it correctly, this movie is basically a sequel to the movie The Hustler with Paul Newman about a pool hall hustler (really?). Tom Cruise looks like he is a little younger than before he played in Top Gun, but it may have been after - I haven't checked the dates the movies were both made. Anyway the story revolves around Paul Newman finding out that Tom Cruise is a talented pool player and convincing him to go on the road with him in an attempt to win a lot of money by betting Newman's money on Cruise's skills at the pool table. Ultimately though, this movie seemed to be much more than about pool. Sure, pool is a great game but it explored complex qualities in each of the story's characters. Tom Cruise plays Vincent - a pool player who is very good and who knows that he is very good. He would rather beat everyone than lose a couple games so he could take more money home in the long run. Paul Newman, on the other hand, has been around pool halls longer and knows what you need to do in order to take home the most cash. He tries to teach his apprentice (Vincent) this, but finds it hard to get through to him at times. Martin Scorsese directs this movie, so there are definitely some big names associated with it. I thought it was well-done, but I found the ending a little disappointing, and was also disturbed that inappropriate scenes and bad language had to mess up the telling of this story. Due to these factors, my rating of this movie went down. I would give it 3 stars out of 5 .

Spitfire Grill review

I saw this movie many, many years ago, and decided to re-watch it due to me remembering how good it was, yet forgetting many of the details that made it as good as it was. Basically Spitfire Grill is about a woman who is released from prison and comes to live in a small town which (we come to find out) has some major issues going on among the townsfolk. As I watched this movie a second time, I realized it really resembles something you may watch on the Lifetime movie channel due to the story mainly involving women, yet the character development in it is very good and the acting very well done if you can make it through the slow parts. The woman's name in the story is Percy, and as she gets to know the town she realizes that they all have pains and fears of their own that make them critical and prone to gossip about any new person who decides to come live there. There is much more to the story than that, but I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who may decide to watch it. Overall I think the story this movie tells is very well done, and although it may not be the happiest of stories - it does a fairly good job showing how past experiences and past pain can really cause people to struggle with life situations. Like I mentioned before, there are some parts that are kind of slow, but if you are willing to sit down and give it some time, I think you'll find that it was a worthwhile movie to watch. I liked it, so I will give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Chaos Theory Review

Since I've been watching several Ryan Reynolds movies, I decided to put this movie in our queue which is about a type A personality who does everything at a set time in a daily routine. Suddenly his wife decides to change the clock, and it completely changes his day and helps him to learn some valuable lessons from being unpredictable. Overall this didn't seem to be a real big-budget movie, nor did it really fit the catagory of laugh-out-loud comedy. I would describe it as a dramedy - mostly drama with some funny parts thrown in. I thought the acting was definitely done well, but what I really liked about this movie was the depth of the script and the overall message it conveyed. One of the main points of this movie, is - we are not masters of our own destiny. Things and circumstances happen to us that we can't always explain (imagine that!). I personally don't believe it is merely coincidence, I believe God allows things (note I didn't say causes) things in our life for an ulitmate purpose. God also may cause things in our life, but I don't believe He causes everything in our life to happen the way it does. Some things may be the result of my own stupidity, or evil forces (specifically the devil). Although He doesn't cause those things to happen, I believe God does allow them for his ultimate purposes to be accomplished in our life. Anyway - I digress. This movie explores what love is, and the main character learns some really interesting things about life as he knows it - all because his routine was upset. I recommend this movie, because it isn't your average. It actually explores a message that isn't always communicated in mainstream movies. Check it out - I give it a good 4 stars out of 5.

The Time Traveler's Wife Review

Chrystal and I decided to watch this one since it seemed to smack of romance and interest. However, it proved to be more disappointing than we were hoping for. The story is basically revolving around Eric Bana's character who happens to time travel (really?). He falls in love with a young girl and they eventually get married. Although this movie tries to come off as deeply romantic, I thought it only halfway delivers. It explores some interesting science fiction ideas, but nothing that mind-blowing to make it a must-see movie. Overall the previews led us to believe that it would deliver a much better movie than it did. I thought Rachel McAdams was very good in her role, but the rest of the movie was definitely worth skipping. I can't recommend this movie very highly.

Just Friends Review

I caught this one on cable, and wasn't sure what to expect. This movie actually caught me by surprise at how FUNNY IT WAS! Basically Ryan Reynolds plays a guy who was fat at one point in his life and was friends with Amy Smart, but has now moved on, lost the weight and become successful. He is interested in possibly becoming "more than friends" with Amy Smart's character - but doesn't know what that will look like, or if she feels the same way. Ryan Reynolds also plays in the newer movie The Proposal with Sandra Bullock, but I actually thought this movie was a lot funnier. It deals with the whole ladder philosophy of dating. For those who don't know it - the ladder philosophy says that girls will always have the guys in their life on one of two ladders - the "nice guy" friend ladder, or the "cute boyfriend" potential ladder (I'm sorry I don't know who originated this idea or I would give them credit). The problem is that many guys think they are on the potential boyfriend ladder, and sadly find out that they are only considered to be a "nice guy" by the girl they like and want to date/court/get to know/whatever else you term it. I won't give too much more away about this movie, but I was laughing so hard over scenes in this movie I was in tears - IT WAS THAT FUNNY. Very funny situations, and I originally thought this movie would be fair or just so-so. The fact that it was very funny was a welcome surprise. Check this out if you are up for a funny comedy about boy-girl relationships.

Knights of the South Bronx

I put this on my Netflix queue for obvious reasons for all who know me. 1. I love playing chess and have fun with playing a good game. 2. I like movies based on true stories that are inspirational. This movie was originally made for TV from what I understand and stars Ted Danson who becomes a substitute teacher in a NYC school and then ends up teaching his class the game of chess and helping them go to the multi-state championships. It was a good story, but I think it could have been made a little better. I thought Ted Danson did a decent job playing his part. Also all the kids acted pretty convincingly. However, compared to a movie like Searching for Bobby Fischer I think this movie lacked something. I'm not sure exactly what - it could have been character development or plot depth, but whatever it was - I didn't think it delivered as well as Searching for Bobby Fischer did. I recommend you see that movie before watching this one. This movie wasn't bad, it just was the lesser of the two chess movies.

Selecting the Perfect Box of Chocolate

Paul and I had a fun excursion to Georgetown this weekend. We decided to compare the chocolates from the Godiva shop with chocolates from Dean & Deluca. Both companies have their chocolates made by different chocolatier's in NY and then ship them to the stores. Surprisingly, the D&D chocolates created by Christopher Norman turned out to be more expensive and although the chocolates looked more artsy, the taste did not compare to the taste of Godiva. Also, the representative at Godiva was very enthusiastic, eager to let you taste samples, and informative. Godiva has improved their preferred customer club (of which I was already a member) to give more rewards. We hope this might help you pick out some delicious sweet treats for Valentine's Day. I would encourage you to try personalizing your gift by selecting what will go into your own box of chocolates. While we're not professional taste testers, we tried our best. Paul cleansed his palette in between tastings with a glass of red wine. I drank and swirled H20.

Here are our descriptions of the high caloric adventure:

1. The heart-shaped Sparkling Mimosa: Champagne and orange juice flavored chocolate cream in dark chocolate.

• Paul: Tasty orange creme; surprisingly strong flavor, but not overpowering.
• Chrystal: Buttery rich orange flavor with a champagne aftertaste. Love the heart shape. Only wishing the size was bigger! *Must have for V-day*

2. Double Chocolate Raspberry Truffle: Red and black raspberry puree in dark chocolate.

• Paul: Superb. One of the best blends of rasberry and dark chocolate.
• Chrystal: Very bold, rich, and intense flavor as if I'm biting into a raspberry. A small bite goes a long way.
  

3. Key Lime Truffle: Key lime ganache in dark chocolate.

• Paul: Not quite as the key lime flavor I was expecting.
• Chrystal: Too sweet for me.
  

4. Hazelnut Praline Truffle: Finely crushed hazelnuts in milk chocolate with toffee coated hazelnut pieces.

• Paul: Ties the raspberry truffle or exceeds it. Very rich.
• Chrystal: Milky creamy bite, delightfully smooth and light flavor. It's a good thing we only had 1 to share because these are so light and creamy that it would be easy to eat more.

Dean & Deluca:

1. Lemon Truffle: Lemon thyme flavor is enrobed in milk or dark chocolate.

• Paul: Very good lemon taste.
• Chrystal: Light zesty lemon flavor. Refreshing.

2. Passion Fruit Truffle:

• Paul: Not as good as I expected. Fruit was weak.
• Chrystal: Gross bubble gum flavor.

3. Caramel Apple:

• Paul: Tastes too artificial.
• Chrystal: I love the artistic design. It's surprisingly big enough to share. The candy coating is too sweet for me.
  

4. Champagne Truffle:

• Paul: Forgot to write down notes.
• Chrystal: Rich flavor, but lacks the champagne effervescence that Godiva's heart shaped chocolate has.

To wrap up our review and get you on your way to shop for your loved one. It's best when looking for a fine chocolate to stick with a shop dedicated to that. If you're putting together a box of chocolates we highly recommend Godiva's Raspberry & Hazelnut Praline Truffles with a few heart shaped Sparkling Mimosa's.

Publish Post