Finally, I settled on a movie. it was rated R for violent and disturbing images, but I knew it didn't have nudity or sex in it, so I went ahead and rented it.
Have any of you seen "The Happening"? You know, that movie by M. Night Shyamalan (or M. Night SHAMA-LAMA-DING-DONG as Ande calls him).
Well, I was disappointed to say it was a shama-lama-ding-DUD. Fortunately, our local video store was running a special on the rental of new releases, and it only cost $.99 to rent, or I would have really been annoyed.
Now, I wasn't expecting some great work of art or anything, but this was just not a good movie. ***SPOILER ALERT***
The basic idea of the movie is that something begins causing people to inexplicably kill themselves. (Had I known that was the premise, I would have been MUCH less likely to rent it) There was quite a few scenes with violence, although it was fairly blood-less, and many incidents were more implied than shown on screen. Most of the time, after the first few scenes anyway, you see it coming before it happens.
In one scene, a kid says the "P" word, but I believe that is the only swearing. I could be wrong, though, so don't quote me on it. The whole premise of people killing themselves for no apparent reason does get (sort of) explained, but it's so far-fetched and ridiculous that it makes the remainder of the movie even more lame. I won't go into detail, just in case someone actually wants to see it.
This is definitely not a movie to watch with kids, should you decide to rent it. Overall, I would give this movie "two thumbs down".
Any suggestions for movies that men AND women would enjoy, that don't have a bunch of "junk" in them?
8 comments:
Hi Julie,
I certainly sympathize with your frustration! My wife and I often watch documentaries (such as My Kid Could Paint That, Favela Rising, or the New York series) because it's so hard to find something at the video store.
That said, there are some pretty good resources out there. Here's one; a reviewer who I really appreciate and trust. www.decentfilms.com
Personally I prefer independent movies like "In America" or "Spitfire Grill"... but those can be tough for guys to swallow. You may have to settle for things like Cinderella Man at times!
that sounds like a horrible movie! ack! my husband always just pretends to enjoy whatever i'm watching so i don't have any suggestions =)
I make my wonderful Hubby put up w/ all my chick flicks even making him watch a Disney movie or 2. Ha. So I don't have much help there if I think of something I'll let you know. Oh did you see Pursuit Of Happiness with Will Smith? loved it and thought it was cute and had a positive message. Anyway.....
The Happening was horrible when that girl put that thing in her neck I about threw up. I had no idea about the self killing either or I would not have seen it. Argh so hard to find a good movie! I really really really want to see the new Kirk Cameron movie "Fireproof" let me know if you've seen it!
Thanks for your comments so far -
Ben-
We do watch documentaries sometimes. Unfortunately, our local video stores don't have a huge selection of those, and we don't have a TV, so we can't watch them on PBS or cable or whatever. The good thing about it is that we can't just turn on the TV and watch whatever is on...
Shelly - you're a lucky woman...although generally speaking, most of the kinds of movies I like, Ande likes, too. (Just not chick flicks, which I don't watch too often anyway)
Beck - I know, that first scene with the hair pin thing was pretty gross. We HAVE seen The Pursuit of Happyness. I LOVED that movie, it was really touching. We haven't seen Fireproof yet, but have heard it's really good. I hope to be able to see it sometime soon.
To those who haven't left comments yet, please do so! It would be nice to have a list of movies we can watch now and then at the end of a long day when the kids are in bed and we're ready to sit back and relax!!
go to plugged in via focus on the family and they review all movies. Its a great sight if you aren't quite sure about a movie or want to know the content.
I'm not sure exactly what kind of movies you guys are into, but one that I would recommend checking out if you haven't seen it is Bella. It's by far the best movie that I've seen recently- and it's not too terribly chick-flicky either, although I would guess that you would probably enjoy it more than Ande. Wish we lived closer by so that we could get together for movie nights!! Anyway, if you see it/have seen it, let me know what you think. :)
Regarding documentaries...
Lots of times you can get them (free!) at local libraries.
Julie,
Great discussion. I was also going to suggest plugged in online through FOTF. It has, so far, been pretty accurate on reviews.
Some good ones I've seen recently that were pretty nil on most of the things you mentioned:
Enchanted--seemed silly to me at first, but I ended up LOVIN' it
Dan in Real Life--a must see. I actually own it now
And I would also echo the desire to see Fireproof. Those I know who have seen it have said it was very good.
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