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.