The Nativity Story (2006)

Synopsis

Title: The Nativity Story (2006)

Genre: Religious/Historical/Drama

Rating: PG

Running Time: 101 Minutes

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Main Actors: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Ciaran Hinds, Shohreh Aghdashloo

The Plot: The story about the birth of Christ. One of the greatest if not the greatest stories ever told! Finally we get to see the Nativity Story on the big screen!

My Take

The Nativity Story is the first movie that I am aware of that tells the story of the birth of Christ! This is amazing to me considering the importance of this event. It is safe to say that this is the best movie about the birth of Christ ever made. It is not flawless, but it was very accurately told according to biblical writings. I was paying very close attention to details to see how the director interpreted the nativity story. I found it to be very accurate, which is the most important thing in my mind when telling the story of Christ's birth. I was paying particularly close attention to how Mary and Joseph were portrayed. It is very hard to make a movie like this accurately without taking artistic liberties that would ruin the film. The only fault I find with The Nativity Story is that it does not live up to the actual event, although it is not possible to show how truly amazing and important this event was on the history of the world. I already know the story and many already do, so I guess maybe that is why I felt it lacked some of the excitement we should all feel at the birth of Christ.

Should You Watch???

You should buy this movie and watch it as a Christmas tradition. Jesus is the reason for the season, and what better way to remind you than to watch The Nativity Story? The movie itself is not perfect although it was very well done, but the story is perfect. This is the first movie to make my Hall of Fame list because it is a must watch for Christians and people of all faiths. It is the best movie depicting the birth of Christ that was ever made. What other reason do you need to watch? Buy and watch over and over again!

Popcorn Rating

Bag of Half-Popped Kernals

Legends of the Fall (1994)

Synopsis

Title: Legends of the Fall (1994)

Genre: Period Drama/Romance

Rating: R

Running Time: 133 Minutes

Director: Edward Zwick

Main Actors: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Henry Thomas, Julia Ormond

The Plot: A early 1900’s story about three brothers, their powerful father, and a woman loved by all three brothers.

My Take

Legends of the Fall is a movie that I’ve been wanting to watch for a long time, and just now had the opportunity to watch. While I can’t agree with Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who said that Legends of the Fall was his favorite movie of all time, but it was a very good film. The acting was very good. I thought Anthony Hopkins was the best. I am also a fan of Brad Pitt and he does a great job as usual. It’s just my luck that I happened to watch two extremely sad movies in a row. I will not go into detail, but you will not be cheering and laughing in this movie. It is over twenty years old and it is noticeable especially in the war scenes, but it doesn’t really detract from the over all movie. Entertaining story, albeit sad, and good directing with great acting equals a very solid movie.

Should You Watch???

Most definitely. There are some sexual situations, but they don’t show much. If you’re a youngster, you might need to close your eyes a couple times, but this is a must watch for everybody else.

Popcorn Rating

Buttered Popcorn

Thumbsucker (2005)

Synopsis

Title: Thumbsucker (2005)

Genre: Drama

Rating: R

Running Time: 96 minutes

Director: Mike Mills

Main Actors: Lou Taylor Pucci, Tilda Swinton, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio, Keanu Reeves,

The Plot: Justin Conn is a teenager who has a difficult time with his peers. In response to all the anxiety in his life, Justin resorts to sucking his thumb. The boy struggles to find an identity for himself.

My Take

Thumbsucker is a unique film in many ways. The direction of the film was unusual, but not all bad. There were times when the screen went all pink and random images floated across the screen. This would have made since perhaps in certain situations, but it seemed out of place. I also thought that some of the scenes were too choppy and repetitive; it gave me the feeling of low budget. However, the acting in this movie was excellent! Vince Vaughn is one of my favorite actors and although he was not the main actor, I enjoyed his part. He plays as the teacher Mr. Geary and provides some humor in a story that is at times almost overwhelmingly sad. Lou Taylor Pucci does a good job as the troubled teenager, and the whole cast did a good job with their parts. Like I said earlier, the story is sad but it is also engaging. I think they used too much dialogue to explain the story instead of letting it come naturally, and the directing was a little too weird at times for my taste, but over all I enjoyed the film.

Should You Watch???

You should watch for the acting and for an engaging story. It is not uplifting and I did not like the teenage drug use or the profanity from young children. If these things in particular turn you off, then you might not want to watch the film but I will say that it is not like that throughout most of the movie. If you can look past some of these things and take the movie for what it’s worth, I think it’s worthy of a couple hours of your time. You will see how poor parenting can affect a child, and how anxieties in a child’s life can become overwhelming without faith, help and understanding from those who are closest to them.

Popcorn Rating

Kettle Corn

License to Wed (2007)

Synopsis

Title: License to Wed

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Comedy

Running Time: 91 minutes

Director: Ken Kwapis

Main Actors: Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, John Krasinski, Christine Taylor, Josh Flitter

The Plot: A young engaged couple who thought they were happily in love start to wonder as they struggle through Reverend Frank’s marriage preparation class.

My Take

The plot was promising, but License to Wed has got to be considered a disappointment. When I saw previews for this movie I thought it had potential to be good, but I wasn’t sold. I was particularly interested in the plot because I am engaged to be married and have started marriage preparation. I realize this is a comedy, but it was overly cheesy and not very funny. Robin Williams is a much better when he isn’t trying to be funny if you ask me. I found him to be extremely annoying, which was the idea for the character but not to that extent. Mandy Moore is not a good actress. I was interested to see John Krasinski in a movie since I know him as Jim in The Office. He was good but not great. Many of the characters in The Office had small parts in this movie, which was probably the lone bright spot. The guy who plays Kevin in The Office (Brian Baumgartner) was hilarious in his limited screen time and probably should have had a bigger role if the goal of this movie was to make people laugh.

Should You Watch???

Watch it if you want to see some characters from The Office in a movie. Don’t expect a good comedy. You could pass on this movie and not really miss anything except for a couple funny scenes provided by Brian Baumgartner.

Popcorn Rating

Plain Popcorn

August Rush (2007)

Synopsis

Title: August Rush
Genre: Inspirational, Romantic Drama
Rating: PG
Running Time: 133 Minutes
Director: Kirsten Sheridan
Main Actors: Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard
Composer: Mark Mancina
Plot: A boy who was abandoned at birth uses his musical talent as he searches for his parents.


My Take

One of the main arguments against this movie that I've read about are geared towards the unlikelihood of many of the events. I have seen movies where coincidences abound and agree that this is not good for a movie, but I never had that feeling when watching this movie. It was a feel good story, and like any feel good story your natural reaction is going to be a happy one. Some people don't like this, but I found August Rush not only uplifting but very well made.

The idea of a boy using music to find his separated parent may seem a little far fetched, but it actually works really well. The way the story comes together is a thing of beauty and great story telling if you ask me. In addition to a solid script, August Rush had some excellent directing and acting. I thought that all of the actors did a solid job. I think the kid (Freddie Highmore) is going to be a big time movie star. I'll take him in a movie before Dakota Fanning. I don't know how old he is, but he acts like he's been in the business for longer than he's been alive. He's a whole lot better than most actors I've seen. Robin Williams does a great job playing the creepy guy who uses kids for his own profit. Those two performances stick out for me, but they all did a wonderful job. As for the directing, I loved how she used the music to tell the story. When the actors do such a great job, you know there is a director who deserves some of the credit.

The music was the movie. I am a strong believer in the power of music and the effect it can have on people. You may have noticed that I included the composer in the synopsis. This was not by mistake. Mark Mancina deserves a lot of credit in this movie and I felt it would not be right to not include him. Taking a quote from the movie, "I love music more than food". I believe that good sound effects and especially music in a movie are two of the most important elements. Music sets the mood of a movie and can change the dynamic of the movie. In August Rush, music was the movie and both were great.

Should You Watch???

Watch it if you have a brain. This movie is a slam dunk, a home run, a touchdown. I had never heard of the movie before I went to see it in theaters so I had no expectations going in to the movie. I left the movie feeling lucky that I had the opportunity and the privilege to watch such a great movie. This movie is a very clean movie that I can recommend to anyone and everyone. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this movie. Go out and watch it!

Popcorn Rating

Movie Theater Popcorn

Amazing Grace (2006)

Synopsis

Title: Amazing Grace
Genre: Inspirational Drama
Rating: PG
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Director: Michael Apted
Main Actors: Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciaran Hinds, Rufus Sewell
Plot: The story about one man's long time battle against slavery in 18th century United Kingdom.

My Take

As a general rule of thumb, I am a big fan of inspirational dramas. Amazing Grace did not disappoint. You will not see big name actors or a big name director, but that might be part of what makes this movie so good. It leaves the impression of something different and something better. Hey, that sounds a lot like an Arby's slogan. The movie sends a message of faith and I would recommend it to anyone of all ages.

Should You Watch???

Watch it if you have a dvd player, because it will be well worth your time. This movie is very comparable to Amistad, which is another movie about the abolition of slave trade. As much as I liked Amistad, I would put Amazing Grace one notch above. Put this movie near the top of your watch list and enjoy.

Popcorn Rating

Movie Theater Popcorn

Transformers (2007)

Synopsis

Title: Transformers
Genre: Sci-Fi Action
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 140 minutes
Director: Michael Bay
Main Actors: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Jon Voight, Anthony Anderson
Plot: War between good transformers (Autobots) and bad transformers (Decepticons) leads to major destruction on earth. The only way to end the war is to destroy the cube that would grant infinite power before the Decepticons find it and destroy the human race.

My Take

Transformers were huge when I was a little kid, but I don't remember much about them. I do remember having toy transformers and I always thought they were pretty cool. Well now they made a movie and I have mixed feelings. Sci-Fi is not my genre, but there were some positives I took away from this movie.

Story: The story was pretty lame. When I talk about the story I am taking into account what the story is about, how the story is told, and how much the story grabs me and pulls me in emotionally. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters or the Autobots. The story like most sci-fi stories was a little out there, but that doesn't bother me if it can be told in a way that can make me believe in the characters. From start to finish I didn't really care about what happened in the movie and that to me is a major flaw.

The Rest: Generally when I don't care for the story, I don't care at all for the movie but Transformers had some positives. The music and sound effects were solid. The focus of the movie was clearly special effects and computer animation and this was pretty solid albeit over the top at times. Michael Bay is known for his big explosions. There was plenty of action, mostly computer generated, but there was also some comedic moments. I think every movie needs some comedic moments and Transformers definitely had them although I never found myself laughing. I found myself waiting for the transformers to fight each other. No matter how average the story and acting, I found it a bit of a rush to see the transformers transform from cars to massive robots. I probably would have liked it better if the whole movie consisted of Autobots and Decepticons fighting and just throw out the story and other characters. No actor really stood out to me as having a great performance. This movie was all about the Transformers.

Should You Watch???

Watch Transformers if you don't care about a plot or storyline. If you like action and big explosions and watching cars drive themselves and turn into robots, this is definitely the movie for you. I would recommend this movie if you want to sit back, relax, give your brain a break, and enjoy some special effects. It won't wow you, but it will be somewhat entertaining.

Popcorn Rating

Kettle Corn

What Is The Popcorn Guide?

The Popcorn Guide is an entertainment review blog. Reviews will mainly consist of movies, but may also include tv shows, video games, music or other entertainment. This should be a unique review guide because it includes such a wide range of reviews, but I will also have a unique style. The purpose of reviews is to help you all decide if the movie or show is worth watching. I hope my site helps you with this decision. Enough talk, let's watch some movies and eat popcorn!