I haven't seen Braveheart. My dad and brother have, but I personally haven't. Not sure if I could handle the gore.

One movie I do hope I can make it through is The Patriot. I've seen snippets of it (violent snippets, might I add) but not the whole movie itself. It seems like a great film though and I've had a long-time love of the Revolutionary War time period, so I'd really like to watch the movie and make it through it if at all possible.

On the subject of gore, I haven't seen The Passion of the Christ, either. I'm not sure I could handle it, since watching Jesus die in other, less-intense productions has been really hard for me to do.

I didn't care much for Braveheart. No idea why... just... I don't know. Didn't sit right with me.

One movie I do hope I can make it through is The Patriot.

It's weird... I can't stand gory stuff usually, but I LOVE this movie! History has always fascinated me, the family's story is touching, and it has a few actors that I've always thought talented. It's sad, though. If you watch it, get out the tissues.

On the subject of gore, I haven't seen The Passion of the Christ, either. I'm not sure I could handle it, since watching Jesus die in other, less-intense productions has been really hard for me to do.

Oh, gosh... that was hard to watch. I remember crying and holding both my dad's hand, and my friend Grete's when we saw it. Very gory. That said... I think it needs to be seen. I mean, reading and hearing about it our whole lives is one thing. But, at least for me, I'm not sure if it ever fully hit me exactly just what He went through for me until I SAW IT HAPPEN.

I remember thinking... "Someone go help him. Someone has to help him! Oh, gosh... let ME go HELP HIM!" Then I paused, and told myself, "No. He wants to do this... He needs to do this. He's doing this for you!" And gosh, was that hard to re-realize. I bawled for days afterwards. And I don't think I can ever look at communion the same way again (frankly, i'm surprised I didn't cry the first time I had it after the movie). I think, as tough as it is, as much as I cry... it's a good reminder on how much He loves me... loves the world. And how I should show that love to others too. It helps me remain grateful for the grace I don't deserve, but have anyway.

I'm not saying it's a film I would put in the dvd player all the time. I don't even always watch it every Good Friday (though part of me thinks I should). But it's nice to know if I need it, it's there. Hope that makes sense, and helps you decide somewhat! I know it's not for everyone... I'm surprised I was able to stomach it, frankly. But, that's my opinion on it. (oh, and there are some really sweet moments between Jesus and his mother shown in it) Not saying you should watch it... if you can't handle it, don't watch it. (I respect that) I just thought I'd share my experience with it... thought it needed sayin'. That's all. *shrugs*

Yes, he's completely nuts, but he is from Kansas and that explains a whole lot.

*coughcoughcough*

Sorry, fantasia, but it's completely true. And I didn't say all Kansans are nuts or anything like that. My Mom and older sister would never forgive me if I did.

I'm hoping we will get to watch North by Northwest tonight, since we will be having company tomorrow. We older kids are going to watch it, Mom doesn't like very many movies that are intense.

I love The Patriot. We actually watched it on my 18th birthday. I had to find something to watch that day that I really liked and that my Mom and sisters and older brother would watch. It been end up being the movie they would all watch.

I have never seen The Passion of the Christ, although I know my Dad has seen it and I think he has it. I'm kind of surprised my parents haven't had us watch it, my grandparents highly recommended it after they watched it.

SnowAngel

Watched Snow White & The Huntsman (SW&TH for short) last night. I must say, it was actually a decent fantasy film. Nothing groundbreaking or all that complex, but still a decent film.

The acting was for the most part strong, with Chris Hemsworth as the Hunstman clearly stealing the show. The Hunstman is both the most nuanced character and also the one that's just the most fun to watch... or is that Queen Ravenna?
Charlize Theron as Ravenna gives a mixed performance. When she's playing the cool, calculating villain, she's amazing but when she gets upset and throws a temper tantrum, she's a hoot to watch. Fortunately the former mode of acting is used more often than the latter.
Kristen Stewart is O.K as Snow White, though she doesn't really have much to do (more a problem with the character than her acting). Kristen does have this "Anakin Skywalker pouty face" thing going on a lot during the movie where it looks as though she's about to breakdown into tears. She does do a much better job here than in Twilight, so... props on that!

The supporting cast play their respective parts well and never outshine the principles... which is either a good thing or a bad thing.

The sets, cinematography, locations, music and special effects are all exquisite. The fact that most of the film was made either on real location or massive sets built at Pinewood Studios really pays off as the whole thing has a very real, gritty feel to it.
The CGI is top notch, though like with most films that rely heavily on computer graphics, there are some scenes that look better than others.

The plot/script is on the simple side (Bad Guys take over and lock Hero away. Hero escapes and rallies the other Good Guys to fight the Bad Guys and retake the land), but it's handled well. The movie takes itself seriously, but still injects some much needed humor into the mix. As for plot holes and unexplained elements, there are a few, but nothing to completely ruin the film.

Overall, I really enjoyed SW&TH and wouldn't mind adding it to me collection. If you're in the mood for a dark, gritty fantasy film, check it out. It's not a masterpiece, but it is better than most of the critics said it was.
3/5

WARNING!
This film is truly dark and gritty with some rather freaky scenes mixed in, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 14-15.

Last night I watched Seabiscuit. I'd seen it once before, several years ago. I remember having liked it, and bought it at the time. Yet I had never sat down to it again until last night. I enjoyed it much more this time around. Absolutely amazing.

Tonight I saw The Sixth Sense. This one has always been one of my favorites. Ever since I saw it in theaters when it first released. I was just about 15yrs old at the time. Terrific movie, but there's no doubt what makes this one amazing is seeing it for the first time... Still, I enjoy my re-watches very much.

I've been watching some new movies lately. And by new, I mean, new to me. I normally watch the same movies over and over and over again, and I can't remember the last time I bought a new movie...oh wait, I can: it was Prince Caspian.

But I've gotten to see some movies for the first time lately: The Guns of Navarone, The Hunt for Red October, & The Shunning. (I know, kind of an odd mix. )

The first two were very very good. Red October was probably my favorite of the three. The Shunning was...good, but you could tell certain things weren't accurate for the portrayal of the Plain, such as the main actress wearing make-up and her father wearing wedding bands. But hey, it's Hollywood.

Next on my list: Ben-Hur

Any thoughts?

I really enjoyed Red October. I liked the "Hymn to Red October" that opens the movie.

As it happens, we also watched Snow White and the Huntsman Friday evening. I'd agree with just about everything PrinceCor has mentioned above, though I probably won't add it to my collection.

We did comment that there's kind of a catch-22 with this type of movie: everyone knows the story, so if you stray too far from the popular versions someone's bound to complain - but if you stay too close to it others will decry your lack of originality. This movie did all right in that category, offering some surprises but remaining familiar.

I couldn't help comparing it to Once Upon A Time - not a fair comparison since Once is a TV show rather than a movie. One observation we made was that Bailee Madison did a remarkable job as young Snow White in Once - both in physical resemblence to the adult actress as well as duplicating her mannerisms; the young Snow White in the movie didn't have nearly the resemblence. But this is simply a comment, not a criticism of the movie.

The Shunning is a terrible title for a movie, especially since it looks like a misspelling of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (which is very different but excellent).

We watched North by Northwest on Thursday. Really liked! We all really enjoyed the faces Cary Grant made, remind us all of Arsenic and Old Laces. Definitely going to watch it again.

I love The Hunt for Red October. It's about time to rewatch it, I think.

Got run. Going to play dominos with the kids and Granddad.
SnowAngel

My friend and I watched Captain America: The First Avenger last night. It was awesome!

I really like Steve. He's such a nice guy. And I liked the glimpse of Howard Stark.

. . . that's because we're soldiers and you're a chorus girl.

Hilarious.

Spoiler

But the end was so sad. He looked so lost. There was supposed to be a deleted scene from The Avengers that showed him meeting Peggy as an old lady. That scene with the plane kind of made Tony's joke about being a 'Capsicle' a lot less funny.

I saw that movie recently. It was decent. I really enjoyed the short scene where Captain America is atop a car that is swerving through the streets. The visuals of that scene were phenomenal. The saturated colours and war era vibe reminded me of the early 90's Dick Tracy movie. The movie was better than Iron Man 2 but a little simple.

Of the new batch of Marvel movies, I actually found Captain America to be one of the lesser films. *ducks from rotten fruit and sharp objects hurled his way*

The first half of the film was good, pretty much everything up to the rescue of the POWs. After that, the whole thing just seemed to kind of crumble underneath itself. It felt like the writers were just grabbing at straws for the last half of the film.

The ending with

Overall, it was a decent film but not one of my favorites nor one that I would give a hearty recommendation for.

In general, I'd agree...as a movie, Captain America was not as cohesive a a story as it could have maybe been, maybe a little rushed in some places and mostly a lead-in movie for Avengers...HOWEVER, I repeat, HOWEVER, what makes that movie amazing, and the main reason why I loved it, is because of the character of Steve Rogers, Captain America himself. He's so noble, with a true nobility, that I can't understand people who DON'T like him. And I loved the ending...

True nobility seems so rare in modern stories, that I love when it's there.

~Sheroo

The ending with Cap

Spoiler

crashing the plane in the arctic

was rather silly to me.

I've not read the original Captain America comics (Booky may be able to elaborate more on this if he has) but my understanding is that this was the gist of how Cap 'disappeared' for so long only to be found and revived at a much later date. I think in the comic book it may have been a missile instead of a plane...not sure. When something happens in the movies that seems a bit quirky chances are it's from the comic book.

Yeah, I heard something about "that's how it was in the comics!!" when I complained about it on FB. I figured it was a plot device for him to be around in present day, but it just seemed WAY too contrived for my liking in the film. *shrugs*

Then again, I just watch these comic book movies as movies, so I don't know all the intricacies of these worlds outside what I'm given in film.