Tag: movie

13 Things · Chick Flick

13 Feel Good Movies

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I really enjoy watching movies and although I watch the high marketed blockbusters, I also watch a lot of little-known indie films that don’t get a lot of good reviews. I don’t always agree with the critics either. There are some movies that I can watch over and over, and I love those side-splitting movies that keep me laughing for hours. Well, I also have those movies that touch my heart and just make me feel good. Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes it good, so you’ll have to just take my word for it, or watch it and find out for yourself. Here’s a list of 13 of those feel-good movies, in no particular order:

  1. Pay it Forward – this movie starts with a young boy’s school project, but it turns into so much more. The concept of “paying it forward” is so easy I hope that everyone watching it becomes motivated to put it into action.
  2. The Blind Side – based on a true story; a well-to do family finds it in their heart to take in a poor & lonely young man with athletic talent and a big heart. If only the rest of us were half as giving…
  3. Once – a love story about two musicians in Dublin. A charming story with a wonderful soundtrack…
  4. Tortilla Soup – a story of a father who has a love for both food and his three daughters. This is a great family drama with a good cast of characters meeting around the dinner table.
  5. Garden State – a quirky love story of an odd pair that decide life is too short.
  6. Dan in Real Life – for you Office lovers, you might be disappointed. I’m not an Office fan, but I really liked Steve Carrell in this film. There’s lots of family drama and his character just can’t catch a break!
  7. The Pursuit of Happyness – this movie is just plain honest. Everyone wants to be happy, but you have to be willing to work hard and overcome several obstacles to get there.
  8. Flipped – set in a time when life was much simpler. A good coming of age movie about the love/hate relationship between a young girl & boy.
  9. The Five People You Meet in Heaven – this movie teaches you that no matter who you are, your life is important so make something of it!
  10. Stolen Summer – a young Catholic boy befriends a rabbi and spends his summer trying to help the rabbi’s son get into heaven. The innocence of the boys is endearing; their friendship helps to bring two families of different religious beliefs together.
  11. Return to Me -a heart-warming story with a second chance at life leading to a second chance at love.
  12. Little Miss Sunshine – dysfunctional and funny, this movie has a great cast and teaches you the importance of family and being yourself, no matter what others think.
  13. The Groomsmen – Five best friends wrestle with several life-changing issues and finally open up to each other, learning that growing up isn’t always fun.
Chick Flick

Flipped

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This was an adorable movie.  It’s set back in a time when life was simpler.  Bryce and Julie meet when Bryce and his family move in across the street.  Rob Reiner tells the story of the love/hate relationship between the two as they grow up.  With a wonderful cast (John Mahoney, Rebecca De Mornay, Anthony Edwards, Penelope Ann Miller, Aidan Quinn), this was the perfect family film.  It was a funny, touching story that just makes you want to smile.

Chick Flick

The Cake Eaters

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The tagline for this movie is “Life can be as sweet as you make it”, which is fitting.  The story is about two families in a small town.  The main character, Georgia, is 15 and terminally disabled (played by Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame.  She meets Beagle, the 20 year old son of the butcher.  Beagle’s mother has just passed away and his older brother, Guy, has  returned home after three years.Needless to say, the  relationship between the brothers and their father is awkward.  And for an added twist, their father has been having an affair with Georgia’s grandmother.  This quirky, indie film explores imperfect people & relationships and it was simple & sweet.

Chick Flick

The Ultimate Gift

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This movie, with a terrific cast (Drew Fuller, James Garner, Abigail Breslin), had a wonderful message based on the book The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall.   A rich grandfather dies and the whole family is only concerned with how much money they get in the will.  Unfortunately,  there are greedy people out there like that.  There was absolutely no concern or even a thought about his passing.  Almost as though they were happy about it.  The grandfather set up a series of tasks for his  grandson, Jason,  to complete before receiving “the ultimate gift”.  At first, Jason is stubborn but he befriends a sick girl, Emily, and finally learns several lessons that end up making him a better person who chooses to give to others.  There is a part of the movie when he is imprisoned in Ecuador that doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the story, but overall I think it was a good, inspiring movie.  Rather than just one ultimate gift, there are several – work, friends, family, problems, learning, laughter, love, giving, dreams, gratitude and the gift of a day.

So, how will you share the gifts, change your life and the world?  Check out the website for more information on the book, movie & the movement.

Plinky · Question of the Day

QotD: If you were guaranteed an honest response, what would you ask?

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This question reminds me of a movie I recently watched, The Invention of Lying.  The movie is about world that’s exactly like it is today – with only one exception – everyone always tells the truth. And, on top of that, they speak their feelings without keeping anything to themselves. You’d think a world where every tells the truth all the time would be a wonderful place…

As the movie goes on, you realize that this world could really become annoying. Do you really want to hear what everyone is feeling at every moment? Well, if you want to, there are several people on Facebook that feel the need to give you a play by play every few minutes :)

Anyway, one citizen of this world discovers that he can actually tell a lie and he begins to test it out. Of course his first lie involves money, lying to get rich… In my opinion, there is way too much of that going on these days!

So, this guy also starts using his ability to lie to actually make people feel better and have hope. It’s interesting how the invention of lying correlates to religion. It’s really not subtle at all… “the man in the sky” is responsible for good & bad things that happen; he also has rules that will determine if you get a mansion when you die or not.

This movie goes where no movie has gone before. I am Catholic and I found the movie to be amusing and thought provoking, but I could also see where some Christians may find it to be offensive. I think it all depends on how comfortable you are in your own beliefs…

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Chick Flick

Dear John

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Wow… what a great day!  Three of my best girlfriends and I had Mexican for lunch then went to see a wonderful, tear-jerker Nicholas Sparks chick flick – Dear John.  Now, I had recently read the book, so I knew what to expect, but this movie was awesome.  I adore Nicholas Sparks and good emotional cry movies.  The last few books that I read that were turned into movies were a little disappointing – Nights in Rodanthe, My Sister’s Keeper.  Of course the book is always going to be better, but at least they usually try to keep the script in line with the book.  Anyone who saw My Sister’s Keeper, would think it was great, but the ending wasn’t even close to that of the book!  Anyway, I thought that Dear John was pretty darn close.  And Channing Tatum is just adorable.  I wouldn’t have picked Amanda Seyfried, but it worked.

I am so glad that I got to spend some good quality girl-time with some of my closest friends.  I would love to start doing this at least once a month!  Although we may need to change it up and do some romantic comedies in place of the tear-jerkers…