No thanks, I think I'll pass. I much prefer to watch a quality movie with a good message and a bit of bad content, than a mediocre movie with a good message and no bad content. I derive more enjoyment and see more natural parallels to our faith from movies like Lord of the Rings, WALL-E, Ink, Se7en, Daywatch, Bruce Almighty and Children of Men than so called 'Christian' movies.

Last night I watched Disney's The Sword in the Stone after reading the original book by T.H. White. I wasn't that impressed. As an adaptation, it was lacking. It was very short. Only an hour and 19 minutes. That doesn't leave a lot of time for the book's most delightful moments. They added some useless things (like teaching The Wart, age 11, about love. What?! and Madame Mim). As a movie, it wasn't even that interesting. I was confused about how they would adapt the book, which basically consists of "Arthur and Merlin do random stuff and turn into animals until Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone randomly." There's not really a lot of plot. There were some lovely moments that maintained the spirit of the book, but I got the feeling from the strange animation and the brevity that it wasn't a huge budget film. Definitely not one of Disney's best.

One thing I thought was interesting was that a few of the score's themes I recognized from Disney's Robin Hood. I thought they fit better in Robin Hood, but SitS was made 10 years earlier.

W4J: great review of M! I've been meaning to watch that for some time. If you're interested in watching more Lang, you might enjoy The Big Heat. Be warned, though: it may put you off hot coffee forever.

Extraordinary Measures looked a little silly to me - more like like an "inspirational story" you'd see on 20 Minutes than an actual, plot-filled, character-driven movie. Even Harrison Ford acted phlegmatic in the previews. Definitely not one I'm interested in seeing.

Kate, the Disney Sword in the Stone was based on the original version of the story, the one White released as a stand-alone ... before he revamped it to be part of The Once and Future King. That version had Madam Mim &c. in it (most people I know also say it's the better of the two versions ), so the Disney film is not really that poor an adaptation.

Recently I've been catching quite a few movies on TCM. First was ...

The Road to Morocco, a 1942 comedy starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour. We actually watched this as a family, and it was just delightful to find something everyone from my parents to my teenage brother to my six-year-old sister could enjoy. "It's just a bit of silliness, really," but what inspired silliness it is! They just should have left the talking camels out. Seriously, that was a bit much.

On the other hand ...

Idiot's Delight, the 1939 Norma Shearer/Clark Gable showcase, is a wonderful mess of a film. They really threw everything but the kitchen sink into this one, with the result that the movie can't really decide what it's about. Is it a comedy? A drama? A musical? You have Shearer doing the worst Russian accent ever (snow ... snow ... snow!), Gable doing "Puttin' on the Ritz" (poor singing, very good dancing/hoofing), and a corny "inspirational" message tacked on the end. No wonder it bombed at the box office.

Somewhere in the middle was ...

1946's Dragonwyck, which was doubtless intended to be a showcase for the beautiful Gene Tierney, but is most remarkable for a performance by the young Vincent Price that foreshadows his later roles in horror movies without being quite so over-the-top. There's good acting all around (Walter Huston, Ann Revere, Spring Byington, a VERY young Jessica Tandy) with the exception of Glenn Langan as the secondary male lead. Some nice cinematography too, but unfortunately the plot is INCREDIBLY weak. I was left with a lot of questions left unanswered - which can be fine if it's meant to be all artistic and open-ended, but that's not the impression I got here. It was more like they forgot about everything they had tossed into the picture, and ended it abruptly. Given all the other Gothic romance type movies we have from the 1940s (Rebecca, Jane Eyre, Gaslight) this one really isn't worth your time.

No thanks, I think I'll pass. I much prefer to watch a quality movie with a good message and a bit of bad content, than a mediocre movie with a good message and no bad content. I derive more enjoyment and see more natural parallels to our faith from movies like Lord of the Rings, WALL-E, Ink, Se7en, Daywatch, Bruce Almighty and Children of Men than so called 'Christian' movies.

um, "Extraordinary Measures" isn't by any means a Christian movie. the characters swear a lot and there's some drinking and one scene that we skipped because of some bad content. but as a whole, the movie and the plot (which is based on a true story) was worth it all the same!

This was kinda far back, but I'm in agreement that the first PotC movie is the best. I liked the second one (I had to watch it a few times to really understand the plot though) but it was pretty dark. There are a few scenes in At World's End I really like (mostly Jack moments ) but the rest of the movie is just ok IMHO. Haha, I'm the exact opposite of you GtG, I didn't like Will at all in the third movie I felt bad for him, but he just got on my nerves... I liked him in the other two though.

I've really only seen two movies recently, The Count of Monte Cristo and Avatar. I really enjoyed the Count of Monte Cristo (I heard they left out a lot of the book though, so I'm hoping to read that soon) and Avatar was okay...the special effects were amazing, but the story (as a lot of other people have said) was pretty cliche and predictable.

I really enjoyed the Count of Monte Cristo. Maybe a little slow at times, but the characters were great, and there were some really beautiful lines (The Priest especially had some great quotes). There was some really great action

. But most of the movie kept me interested just because of the characters, and wanting to see the end. Now I just have to read the book

I've really only seen two movies recently, The Count of Monte Cristo and Avatar. I really enjoyed the Count of Monte Cristo (I heard they left out a lot of the book though, so I'm hoping to read that soon)

Oh I Love that movie! I really like Jim Caviezel in it, I think he did a great job!
I also want to read the book, it’s on my long list of to read books.

I just saw a movie called "Letter's To God" (which just came on DVD) and it's awesome! Bailee Madison (who played the little sister in Bridge To Terabithia) plays in it and it's a good movie! based on a true story!

I thought Letters to God was boring, I get that it tries to give a good story, a christian movie, but it is far from being a good movie IMO. W4J, just skip it

Sorry Liberty Hoffman. I tend to disagree with your comments, several times lately. I figure it's good to have both sides- good and bad.

The Count of Monte Cristo is an excellent movie, one of my favorites. It's true that it's not a particularly good adaptation, but while there were things I liked about the book (

) I think I like the movie more. Glad you enjoyed it, greenleaf.

*GASP* Ly, you like the movie better? I have to disagree with you heartily on this one. I think the movie packs a bigger punch, certainly condensing a monster book into a cohesive and sensible movie, but the book is so much darker, so much more mysterious and develops the themes of love much better. The book is not just about Edmond. It's also about Maximilien, who gets left out of the movie entirely. That said, the movie is a pretty good film, but I just felt cheated. They left out so much good stuff!

Narnian1, you're a funny man!

Lysander, actually I've seen The Big Heat. It was quite good too. Yes, the coffee scene was very painful. That reminds me, I still need to see The Big Sleep (yes, a different movie, but it has a similar title).

Kate: I probably would agree with you ... IF I hadn't seen the movie first. As it is, I was slightly disappointed with the book when I read it. Again, there are things I really love about it, but to me the characters are somewhat cardboard, especially the villains. Anyway, this is one story I don't feel so purist-y about. Even the things I dislike about the adaptation I'm willing to overlook.

Warrior, you haven't seen The Big Sleep? REALLY? I thought we'd talked about that one together. If you haven't, do. It's one of my favorites.

Yes, "Big" seems to be a common adjective when it comes to noir. The Big Sleep, The Big Combo, The Big Heat, The Big Clock, The Big Carnival ... you get the picture.

Yes, I haven't seen it yet. I borrowed it from the local library several years ago but was busy and didn't get around to watching it. My parents saw it though and really enjoyed it. I'll see it soon. What was the name of that creepy ghost story you saw? The Innocents or something?
Thanks, I'll get to it!

Yes, that's it. Another good one.

It must have been someone else on here who said they liked The Big Sleep better than The Maltese Falcon....

Just watched Race to Witch Mountain and all I can say is, I just really like Anna Sophia Robb and the other guy who plays her brother. Well the story isn't much satisfy my taste, but for a family movie with little kids? I think this would do. To tell you the truth, I don't even recognize Dwayne as a former-wrestler, I just got used to him acting and just being a cool guy in television shows.