Flipped

I took this week off from work, and school is out for a couple weeks. So I had some free time, and I had my Blockbuster DVD of the week that I can trade in at any location as many times I want a month, on hand.

 I went in and sadly they didn't have the movie I first wanted so I wondered around, it gets tough to choose when you have already seen most of the new releases. I chose Flipped, the girl at the desk said it was a cute movie, and I felt like I could trust her since she worked at Blockbuster.

Flipped ended up being a cute movie, feel weird calling it cute, but I guess that it what it was. It is a love story between two kids. There really aren't any big name actors in the movie, but the lead actors Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe did a great job. Both are young, but did really well.

Callan's grandpa in the movie is John Mahoney, the dad in Frasier. Mahoney plays a similar roll that he did in Dan in Real Life. The quiet guy off to the side that just sees everything, and then he has his big moment where he knocks some sense into everyone.

Besides being reminded of childhood crushes, and the elementry relationships that we all laugh about now. And it is protrayed really well in this movie. But the way the story is told is what intruged me the most.

It starts out with the boys perspective, and how he moved into this new house and the first day this neighboor girl comes over and starts bugging him right off the bat and it never stops until the eighth grade.

Then it goes back to the begining and the girl tells her story about how it all started, and the story telling goes back and forth and you are able to see both sides of the story, and it makes you laugh seeing how one person takes something compared to the other.

This movie also reminded me of a movie called Little Manhattan. A cute little movie about young kids in love. It is funny to watch young kids think that they are in love and that they have found the one. I recommend both of these movies, if you are wanting to be reminded of those childhood love stories that we can laugh about, and even bring to light what really matters in a relationship, the simple things. A side note, to that last comment. I heard someone tell me on the golf course this week, while telling me why someone he knows got a divorce, it was because they couldn't say sorry. Something so simple.

Poll Results-Tom Hanks Best Movie

I first would like to thank all those who cast their votes for their favorite Tom Hanks movie. I thought I put a variety of his movies, he does a few different styles, which is probably why he is so successful, he has not fallen into a trap where he plays the same part time and time again. The most popular by a long shot was Forrest Gump. With Saving Private Ryan coming in second and the Other category rounding out the top three. I am curious as to which those were referring to.

I would have gone with Forrest Gump as well, he played the part so well. You seem to just fall in love with the character. I think we all want to be like Forrest, in the way that he sees the world as a place for opportunity. He doesn't see any limitations, and just goes.

We seem to put restrictions on ourselves, and regret not taking advantage of a what is placed in front of us. We almost make fun of people that are so naive, and innocent, but they are the ones not caught up in all the stuff that we cannot control.

They are actually able to enjoy life, while we are sitting here watching the news wondering what is going to happen with the national debt problem, who is the next president, will there be and NBA season, who is going to win American Idol, and all those issues that keep us up at night. Forrest though doesn't see that as he goes through some of the most shaping decades of our countries history.

I know that I look at him, and wish I could just be that carefree and happy. That is why I like it, it is a creative way to portray American history, and it does it through the eyes of a character we all want to be like deep down.

Saving Private Ryan is also an excellent movie, very well done, and makes you grateful for the brave soldiers that fight for our freedom. And also brings us a young Matt Damon that does a great job.

I think that some of Tom Hanks best work is his early stuff. The Burbs, and the Money Pitt are what come to mind though. Simple humor, which is what I love. If you haven't seen them, I would recommend them to anyone.

Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart is about a washed up country musician that is an alcoholic, and is traveling around the southwest doing small gigs.

Jeff Bridges, who before seeing him in True Grit earlier this year I didn't know who he was. But have come to really enjoy his acting. He plays a very good drunk western style character. I thought he did a good job. While staying in Santa Fe he meets a young reporter girl, who seems to change everything for him. The girl is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who we know from the Dark Knight.

She does a good job, I just did not like the way the relationship between Gyllenhaal and Bridges was developed. He met her one day half drunk and next scene they are in love, and she comes across a little desperate, and maybe the type of person that keeps making bad decisions when it comes to relationships, which turns out to be somewhat true. Plus Jeff Bridges is playing a 57 year old guy, and she is noticably younger, kind of weird.But I just felt like the story was not developed very well, and you just had to assume there was more that wasn't shown, which I don't really like that.

 Now I am not really one for country music, or so I thought. The music in the movie is more of a country western style, and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't this catchy pop country that kind of turns me off. Now when I saw that Colin Farrell was in it, I am a little excited, but not because I think he is a great actor. We all have a movie that comes to mind when you think of an actor, and for Colin Farrell I think of American Outlaws, and I really like that movie, but he sure comes across as a cheesy actor. I put him in the same category as Nicholas Cage, bad actor entertaining movies.

The actor that really made the movie for me was Robert Duvall. I think he is one of those old school actors that knows how to really get into character. He did a great job, although it was a small part. I feel like everyone in the movie comes out a winner, but it was a little slow and anticlimactic. So I was a bit disappointed, by the story telling aspect of the movie. The aspect of a man changing his life for a girl, and trying do become better is good, just could have been told a little more detailed.