Aww, that is so cute, SL!

My younger sisters are working their way through Lord of the Kings for the first time. At our house you have to read the books before you are allowed to watch the movies, the girls have read through the books more than once in the last year and one of them read everything each time (even the stuff in the back!). They are loving the movies and can't wait to watch The Return of the King. They are really hoping big brother will let them watch it this weekend (it's his theatrical edition Blu-ray that they have been watching) and if they do, they will have watched the whole trilogy in just over two weeks.

SnowAngel

I saw The Monuments Men last weekend with friends. It's based on the real-life Monuments Men, a small group of soldiers whose job was to protect and recover works of art stolen by the Nazis in World War II.

It has an all-star cast, including George Clooney (who also directed), Bill Murray, John Goodman, Matt Damon, and Cate Blanchett.

I see online that it's taken some criticism for its musical score and that it's entertaining but just not quite as good as it could be given the cast. I'm inclined to agree, but I did enjoy it. What was almost more interesting were some of the extras, which included the stories of and comments from the original Monuments Men. One touch I liked is that the movie focused on recovering a couple works of art ("Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" by Jan van Eyck and the Madonna of Bruges by Michelangelo) which were among those the real people worked on.

This article discusses the real people, touching on the movie adaptation.

I really want to see this movie because I love history and World War II. Is it on DVD yet? My local public library needs to order a copy!

I watched Godzilla a few weeks ago. I must give kudos to the filmmakers for throwing in a plotline that I did not know existed and was completely unexpected.

Spoiler

Mothra and she-Mothra

On the flipside, I thought it had more unrealistic moments in it than Pacific Rim, and that's saying something.

But for the mindless, action, popcorn flick that it was, I enjoyed it.

I saw Elf last night. I'm very behind, but this is my first time watching it. I got a kick out of it, it was pretty funny. I actually belly laughed at the part where he goes to put the star on the top of the tree.
This was a bit of a switch for Jon Favreau from Iron Man and Cowboys and Aliens. Or I guess those two movies were the switch since he directed Elf first.

220, Monuments Men is out on disc now.

I haven't seen Elf lately, fantasia, but recall that I enjoyed it when I did see it.

Thanks, stargazer. But the public library can take as much as 3-6 months to purchase new DVDs.

A few nights ago, I watched "Mary Queen of Scots" (1971) with a young Vanessa Redgrave on DVD and I really liked it. The script explored the political relationship between Mary and Elizabeth I. Some historical parts were made up, like their meetings in the forest and the day before Mary's death. Still...

Last night after the younger people left the family room my older brother and I were decided what to do, both he and I had already played video games. He told me to pick something off his shelf, so I did and we watched Black Hawk Down. I am still a little shocked he watched it with me. Anyway, after BHD was over he asked me what I thought and my reply was "WOW". A great movie, but a very hard movie to watch. I am glad I watch it with my brother.

I am off to watch an episode of Get Smart with my siblings.
SnowAngel

SnowAngel: I haven't seen that film yet, but I'd like to.

Stargazer: I finally watched Monuments Men, sometime since the New Year, and I really liked it. Some details weren't quite accurate though.

Blackhawk Down is a hard film for me to watch. I like to think I keep myself together emotionally but when it gets to the Shughart and Gordon sequence I never fail to start bawling. I actually own it and have been thinking about slipping it into the DVD player but I haven't worked up the nerve yet. I don't know how I'm thinking I'll handle Lone Survivor. I'm kind of hankering to watch a good WWII movie, although most of what I own I've already watched multiple times. I see The Longest Day is on Netflix though...one I love and highly recommend! 220, if you haven't seen that one it's a great classic, accurate, and while there is violence it's of the typical 50's and 60's bloodless variety, but it still packs an emotional wallop, especially at the Omaha Beach sequence. There's also the great Tora, Tora, Tora, equally excellent film and, to date, the best and most accurate Pearl Harbor flick out there. Now, if I can just find A Bridge Too Far....

Shadowlander: thanks for the recommendations! Literary classics and World War II films are my FAVORITE genres. I've seen The Longest Day a few times, first on TV (anniversary) and later on DVD. I love John Wayne. I've also seen A Bridge Too Far on DVD. It's a sad story but people need to know. Have you seen The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck? I highly recommend it!

I have indeed seen The Guns of Navarone, quite a few times, though admittedly it's been a while . If you enjoyed The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far, I'll also recommend giving both the books a look. The author is Cornelius Ryan, and he did a bang up job writing about each of these battles, with lots of characters, interesting tidbits during individual skirmishes and actions, and a few humorous anecdotes from the soldiers who fought in them. He also wrote The Last Battle, about the Soviets finally pushing into Berlin. That was a great read too, and I wish they'd make an ensemble film of it like they did with his other two books.

Here's a few others to check out if you haven't seen them yet. I'll mark the ones that may be a bit...brutal with 3 asterisks.

Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
The Battle of Britain (1969)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Midway (1976)
The Enemy Below (1957)
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Go for Broke! (1951)
The Dam Busters (1955)
The Great Escape (1963)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Memphis Belle (1990)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Great Raid (2005)
Defiance (2008)
My Way (2011)

I'll go ahead and also recommend Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Both were miniseries on HBO and are faithful retellings of the Army Airborne (BoB) and the US Marines on Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and Iwo Jima (TP). They're both incredible series and beloved by almost any fan of WW2 films. There's still a number of films I have yet to see, some old, some new, like To Hell and Back, Enemy at the Gates, and Fury, among others. Not an exhaustive list, but certainly worth looking at.

Oh, and a few to avoid, at least to my tastes. Pearl Harbor (2001) had such potential but they stuck an unneeded romance/love triangle in it, which unfortunately bogged the film down. Lots of it was made up on the go and even if the dogfights were nice to look at they were still noticeably CGI. I enjoyed Red Tails (2012) for the most part but the editing is very distracting and it comes across like a made for TV film. The dogfight sequences are CGI but still lovely to look at, and the story is a good one. Kelly's Heroes (1970) just annoys the stuffing out of me, as does 1941 (1979), despite the latter being produced by Spielberg.

A quick note on My Way, listed above. I saw this one on Netflix and wasn't really expecting any great shakes but was totally immersed in it within the first 20 minutes. It's about two Korean men who are rivals at foot racing. When the Japanese take over Korea one becomes an officer and the other is conscripted, and it tells of their rather ugly relationship from the start and how the pair ultimately makes their way all the way to Germany where they fought at the beaches of Normandy on D-Day as best friends. It's a Korean film so unless you speak it you'll probably need subtitles like I did . Crazy story and apparently based on a true account, but rather amazing at the same time.

Shadowlander, did you seriously say you don't like Kelly's Heroes??? That's a family favorite at my house!!! Don't listen to him, 220, it's a terrific movie.

My younger sister and I love the Captain America movies, I own both of them and little sis keeps asking to watch them. So I let her watch CA:TFA while big brother and I watched Black Hawk Down the other night, now big brother doesn't think we will wait until mid May to watch The Avengers and Cap 2. A couple weeks I told little sis and big brother we would re-watch them then. I totally and very immaturely intent to prove him wrong.

Big brother was the entertainment supplier last week, with The Outlaw Josey Wales and Black Hawk Down during the week (as well the book Unbroken and the video game Medal of Honor for me). And then Unbroken (2014) last night.

Big brother saw Unbroken in the theater in December and bought/read the book in January. He had pre-ordered the Blu-ray of it, that's why he let me read the book this week. (Every time big brother mentioned it, I kept thinking that's the movie Johobbit talked about. ) Last night he talked Mom into staying up to watch it and then surprisingly my Dad stayed in the family room and watched it too. Dad was going to leave and then maybe come back, he never left until the movie was over. I said all of that to say this if my Dad isn't completely interested in something he doesn't stay. He was very interested in Unbroken even though he didn't know anything about it before.

Unbroken was very good and highly interesting (obviously).

My little brother is sitting on my lap while I am trying to write this even though he should be in bed asleep and he keeps doing this - copycatting the little smilie.

SnowAngel

Thanks for these various WWII recommendations, SL and SA! I am fascinated by that intense time of history.

SnowAngel, I have read (and loved) Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, but have not seen the film. My hubby saw it, though, and said that while on its own it was a good movie, it really didn't do the book justice.

I saw Still Alice in the theatre a couple of weeks ago and thought it very good. The ending took us aback somewhat, as it seemed too abrupt. Still, how does one bring to a conclusion such a poignant movie?! My mom has Alzheimer's, so, needless to say, watching this was a tear-jerker. But, as always, the book exceeds any big screen adaptation, 'though, overall, it was very faithful.

Shadowlander: Thanks for the book recommendations. Of the films you listed, these are the ones I’ve seen.

Band of Brothers (too much foul language for me)
The Battle of Britain
Battle of the Bulge (liked)
The Dirty Dozen
The Great Escape
Kelly’s Heroes (liked)
Memphis Belle (best part is the music)
Midway (liked)
Pearl Harbor (incredibly bad)
Red Tails
Run Silent, Run Deep
Von Ryan's Express (liked)

I liked Kelly’s Heroes because they were gung-ho to win battles. The sad irony is that they fought so well because they were chasing money instead of rescuing victims. [Have you seen Gung-Ho (1942)? I had no idea it was a Japanese term!] Here are some more recommendations; my favorites are in bold. I love epic scores!

The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
Empire of the Sun
The Hiding Place
La Vita e Bella
Paradise Road
The Pianist

SnowAngel: I liked Josey Wales, since I'm a big fan of Clint Eastwood westerns (Two Mules for Sister Sarah!). I'll watch Unbroken when my public library gets a copy. I haven't seen the Captain America series, since I try to pick movies that I know my mom will watch. She avoids certain genres and actors, as do I, but our interests don't always match.

Johobbit: I plan to see Still Alice when it's on DVD, since my grandfather died of the disease in the mid-90s. But he was over 70.