Lala's Movie Review's.... Take 4

We watched the movie Flicka on the weekend with the girls. Tim McGraw, Alison Lohman and Mario Bello are the stars. I really like Alison Lohman she stared in the movie White Oleander, which I really liked too btw. So what did I think of this movie, well....... I thought it was refreshing to have a movie that I could watch with my kids that they enjoy and not have to worry about F bombs and sex scenes. I thought Tim did a not bad job at such a large part in a movie. Now, while I thought he wasn't bad....I didn't personally think he was great either. I found it hard to believe he was such a hard headed daddy and I am not sure if that was his acting or the writing, or both. I thought the movie was trying to get across the message about Fathers and Daughters understanding each other, BUT I kind of saw a different angle. From a mother of 4 daughters myself and of course being a daughter, I thought that the girl going behind her father's back to train the wild horse proved her immaturity. If you know anything about horses then you would know it takes a long time to train a horse.....not weeks! and not by singing it a lullaby, although they do get used to the sound of your voice. Not that I am an expert and I definitely am not trying to be, we had horses growing up so I do know a few things. When the mother (played by Mario Bello) was trying to get the father (Tim McGraw) to lighten up...... I thought she is undermining his authority! not that giving the horse away was the right thing to do or that he didn't make mistakes, but not letting her train the horse alone was showing wisdom. Hmmmmm I am not sure I am getting what I want to say across. Brain very tired tonight!! I think it was a fine movie with absolutely beautiful scenery and gorgeous horses, I did hope, while watching it, that no strong headed girls get the idea that they know a horse (situation) more than their father and go behind his back and do what they want to do anyways ,( the rodeo scene proving herself and her brother to be complete idiots and taking their lives in their own hands) ,......and in the end ....... get their way. Not really the Father ~ Daughter relationship message I want my girls knowing. Hey, that's just this girls opinion though!

We went on a date night last weekend and went to see Pan's Labryinth in the theaters. After purchasing our tickets I was surprised to see that the movie was rated 14A. We had talked about taking Morgan to see this, we had no idea the rating from the adds. The adds really don't tell you what the movie is really about! I thought since the word Pan was in the title that it would have to do with Peter Pan and be a movie along the lines of that and maybe Lord of the Rings or something. It had nothing to do with Peter Pan, now maybe that is just my blondness thinking it did, but I was surprised. The film was rated 14A because of violence and trust me I had to cover me eyes and ears a couple of times. At one point, J had to cover his eyes too, a guy was stitching a slice in his face that went from his mouth to the center of his cheek! you could hear it so clearly too, that is why I plugged my ears! The movie is set in the postwar repression of Franco's Spain and is subtitled, something else that I did not know. This could be a really good time to admit that I must learn a little bit more about the movie I am about to watch! uh hem anyways, it is about the Spanish War in 1944. The little girl, Ofelia, is subjected to a whole new world and a new cruel and very evil step father. The movie is not just about the war but how this little girl endures it, how she escapes from it in her imagination. So even with the violence, this movie was excellent. Truly a great story told and clearly delivered the message of the power of imagination. The visual effects were amazing and it was hard not to get caught up in the fairy tale. I don't like watching violence at all and was glad that only in 3 scenes I had to hide. It was a War movie as well as a Fairy tale and like Braveheart/Schindler's list etc, sometimes Hollywood doesn't have to make up that such evil minds ever existed. Sergi Lopez, who played the step father should have been nominated for Best Actor, it did get 6 nods from Oscar though including Best Foreign Language Film, and I think it shoud win.