"1000 to 1: The Cory Weissman Story" (2014)

At the beginning of this, I thought, "I'll just watch a little bit."  Then it became a little bit more, until I found I'd watched the whole thing.  This movie is based on a real story.  There are some pretty classy people out there.

I thought this movie was well done.  It took what could've been a cliche approach to "another sports movie" or "another recovery story" and made the whole thing both adequately active, but also quite human.

There are some pretty classy people out there.




If you don't want to know how the movie ends, then stop reading here.


Just when I thought the movie had ended, there was another ending.  Then another ending.  And the photo shots of the real people were not done during the end credits, but before the end credits--as another ending.  I loved this three-part way of wrapping things up.  Worked very nicely.

Okay, four endings.  (I liked the ending so much, I had to watch it again.  I forgot about the basketballs.)

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" (2014)

Tricky business to make a long feature length film based around a battle and still make that battle interesting to watch.  I think this film does that well.  I'm also fairly satisfied with the adaptation to this concluding film to the Hobbit trilogy.

Well done.

(My first viewing was of the extended/director's cut version.)

(Pardon my shortness of this review.  It's no reflection of the movie.  I'm just a bit under the weather.)

"Secondhand Lions" (2003)

A friend talked me into giving this movie a try.  I read the back cover--maybe yes, maybe no.  So, I conceedingly watched it.

So glad I did.  This movie I highly recommend.

Turns out, this is a movie where the back cover write-up doesn't do it any justice.  And if you managed to do a write-up that does do it justice, it would sound trite and cliche--which this movie is definitely not.  This movie also doesn't neatly fit into any particular genre.  It has touching parts.  It has amusing parts.  And it has lots of interesting parts.  I liked this movie a lot.  It has a nice blend of things, and it had a good ending.

Well-done!

"Shrek the Third" (2007)

It was enjoyable.  (So hard to find movies with my sense of humor.)  I did find amusing the music humor where Snow White is singing to the trees and then attacks them--maybe because I'm a music person, maybe because music humor is under-done, maybe some of both.

It was worth the watch.  It was fine.  I liked seeing "how are these characters doing now."

"WALL-E" (2008)

I've unfortunately become a pretty hard sell for what makes an enjoyable movie, but I did enjoy watching this movie.  This movie had a nice blend of "I know this story line" and "I dunno.  What's going to happen next?"  And the transition in the end credits was well-done.  It answered my typical "and then what?" questions.  I was surprised that I'd get emotional over a robot, but not when I thought about it further.

The devil likes to say that we're all worthless "junk" infested with sin.  We so desperately want to know that we're worth something, just as we are, that I can see why seeing Wall-E fixed with junk, and it working, would be a touching moment.  It's what we all want inside--to know that "junky" us is worth something to somebody just as we are.  The Good News is that God Does love us for who we are because He created us.  We didn't evolve.  He knit us together and KNEW us before we were even born.  You can't see a "love us for who we are" any better than that.  And THAT'S why Wall-E's "fix" at the end is so satisfying.  We'd like to think that there is hope for all of us.  There is.

Of course, the line in the movie "I don't want to survive, I want to live" must be understood in the context of the movie.  It certainly is a completely different piece of the movie to reflect on.  And I'm not sure that it's a line that's going to get completely unpacked here--at least not today.

It is also intriguing that "art" (in the form of a musical number from Hello, Dolly) is part of the definition of "living"--at least for Wall-E.  He looks to that video/art as his inspiration for "how am I suppose to 'live' my days?"

Two completely incongruent messages that yet fit together within this movie and in further dialogue with each other.  That dialogue is worth spending some time on.  And the movie was an enjoyable one to watch.

"No Time for Sergeants" (1958)

Humor from a time gone by--the "fool" who makes fools of everybody else but himself.  It was interesting enough to watch (as usual, not my type of humor); however, I did laugh at the very, very end, right as the credits rolled.

I remember seeing scene where the toilets pop up from a loooong time ago when I was a kid; so, it must have been on the TV once back then.

Starring Andy Griffith.  One scene had Don Knotts in it.

"Ice Age: The Meltdown" (2006)

I watched it.  Actually I watched the beginning, the ending, then the middle, then the ending again.  So, I watched it--more or less.  Not my style of humor which makes it a hard sell for me to call it a "good movie"--and I could justifiably be told to lighten up--but this movie mostly doesn't hit my humor.  Doesn't mean it's not funny, and I'm sure it was a delight to work on.  And notice, I did watch most of it (some movies I turn off).

I'm still partial to the character Diego.  Not sure why.  I  like him, though.

I'm not gonna say it was a bad movie, because it wasn't.  It was a really decent movie.  And if cartoon slapstick is your style of humor, then it probably is a very funny movie with a really good story line.

So there you go.  Good storyline.  Nice music.  And, for those with that kind of humor, it's even funny.

Next.