So Close.

In all it's simplicity, it communicates SO MUCH.  Best movie poster. Ever.

We won't be able to see it right away, but, you can bet these Potter-Nerds will get there.

Incredible.

A few weeks ago, after a great week of school, I took the kids to see a movie at the "cheap" theatre.  They had wanted to see the "Owl Movie" (Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole) ever since they'd seen the previews this summer, and I didn't give it a second look.  But, on this day, it was at the $3 theatre, and a quick online review check didn't reveal anything that would keep us from going, so, we went for it.  My kids were thrilled.

I admit.  I had very low expectations.  Children's movies almost always disappoint.  They scrape up weak stories with cliche "messages" thrown in at the end, they toss around gross humor and ridiculous catch phrases, and in general, they're just not typically well-done. 

This movie was incredible.  Not only was it visually gorgeous, but the story arc was so strong, I left the dark theatre completely impressed.  Absolutely no corners were cut in the making of this film.  It's an adaptation from the books by Kathryn Lasky, and, no doubt the movie can contain only a fraction of the details of the series- but it does well to maintain the core themes, from what I've read.  It is a bit intense for very young children- Hudson is 3 and did OK, but some kids won't.  It's not an easy movie- it's full-bodied and quite mature.  It's a bit like Narnia meets Lord of the Rings, meets Slumdog Millionaire, meets... Owls.

Like I said, I was amazed by this movie.  My kids loved it.  As we loaded into the van, Grace looked thoughtful.  I asked her what she was thinking, and she just shrugged me off a bit.  Then 30 seconds later, from the back seat she said, "Mom.... I feel kind of ...strong from that movie."  And we had an incredible discussion all the way home. 

Why did it get to her heart?  The oath of the Guardians- and the heart of this film- is so incredible.
Mend the broken.  Make strong the weak.  Vanquish evil.

Jack Johnson for Ray Charles

Our friends Lissa and Jesse throw out of this world backyard movie nights.

They hosted one Saturday night. Basically, it was the sizzle.

Just a bunch of people getting together, eating some snacks, chilling out, and enjoying the general old school backyard ambiance.

Honestly, all night long I was drunk on the ambiance. Picture that sequence in The Sandlot when the boys are running through their neighborhood under the Fourth of July sky. The neighborhood. The nostalgia.

These movie nights are like that. But they traded Jack Johnson for Ray Charles... And frisbee for baseball.

It's also exactly like this movie-themed party featured in Martha Stewart's magazine forever ago that was lodged in my brain somewhere far back. But, this was for real.


Concessions were a steal.

Everyone hung out for a while, talking, playing, having fun.

The homemade screen worked really, really well. If you want tips from Lissa on setting this thang up, click on her link up there and drop her a line.

This is Lissa...

Invites are simple. Just invite every facebook friend you have and let them RSVP for an idea of who's going to make it.

They used our church's equipment. Simple. Worked SO well- the sound was amazing, even outdoors. See? You can do this.

And when the sun got low, it was show time.

This was so much fun. And, we have good word there's more to come this summer.

Thanks Murawskis! You really know how to throw down an awesome cinematic fiesta.

I've Never Met a Ken Burns Documentary I Didn't Love

I mean that. Never have. But I have been so excited for the newest to finally air. I was right there on the couch at five before 7, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

You can learn all about the film The National Parks: America's Best Idea by clicking on the link- you can see images and extras from the film, see when it airs on your local PBS station, and can even watch each of the six 2-hour episodes online through October 9. You can learn more about the parks and their history, see startling images of some of the most incredible places on earth, and peeps, you can even download free wallpaper. See? I knew that would seal the deal for you.

Movie Night

We have a movie night at least once a week.

There's almost always a little snack.

We all sit together, either in the family room, or in our bed, if we're watching something via the Internet from Netflix instant view. The kids of course love the bed more, because it's otherwise a no-fly zone for anyone but Dad and Mom (and the pets).

This night, it was just the nine of us, a huge bag of licorice, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Bebo watched with rapt attention. Bacon slept. Bella did a little of both. I teared up twice. I blame the PMS.

What Cows Do on Weekends*

We totally saw it. It was great, you know, as far as Tween movies go. Way better than I expected. And the songs are still in my head. You can judge for yourself whether that's a good thing...or a bad thing. We had some church in the morning, ate at the Perkins across the street for Easter dinner (we're talking easy here, I'd worked the day before). So, back to what I was saying...we had some church. We go to church in a movie theatre, see?

OK, so again, then we walked over to Perkins, then walked back over to the theatre to see Hannah Montana. Then we went home. And took naps.

Then we hung out, and after bedtime, Jim and I went out on a date, and Uncle Brian stayed home with our sleeping kids.

We ate some Sonic, then saw Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3D. At the same theatre. We like to support that one. And even after the Sonic, in the name of supporting them, we got $6 nachos. They were good. It was the first time I've had nachos since the time Jim and I ate nachos at a sports bar before seeing The Pursuit of Happyness when I was pregnant with Hudson, and I travelled to the bathroom 3 times to vomit. I hate that movie.

The nachos: the girl was all, "Do you want cheese in a cup, or on top of the chips, or in a cup and on top of the chips?" (She was being really serious). I was all, "Um, of COURSE in the cup and on top of the chips." So awesome. Totally worth the $6, as much as any movie snack can be "worth" it's price. Definitely too much chips for one, and just right for two of us. And hello extra fake cheese. Thank you, Carmike.

And after seeing the second 3D movie to leave me dizzy and nauseous, and after Jim seeing his first 3D movie to leave him the same, we firmly agreed to never see one again. Our vision thanked us. So I still ended up getting sick despues de nachos, but no problemo, they weren't to blame. So getting those again.

*do you get it?! Ahem.

Rain On

Wednesday morning we woke to a very cold, very wet day. It was 40 degrees, and raining steadily- a cold, cold rain- and it was windy and just nasty outside. It was so dark, I had to have lights on to see- even at 8:10 in the morning, when we were sitting down for breakfast. It actually rained constantly past when we turned in to bed on Wednesday night.

It seemed like a good day to forget all our ordinary things and just go with it.

We ate breakfast by warm candle light. See Bebo running for Hudson's tray the second I turn to get the camera? Yeah.Then, everyone took a long warm bath and put on fresh pajamas. Hudson took his morning nap and we settled in to our bed, everyone's blankets and pillows wedged in tight.

We got lost in the second of the Anne of Green Gables trilogy, which I had just gotten at the library the day before. Jim reads the girls a chapter from a novel every night, and they recently finished Anne of Green Gables, book 1 and we watched that movie a few weeks ago. They're in the middle of book 2 now, and were eager to watch more "Anne". The Sullivan Entertainment versions of the Anne books, with Megan Follows of course, are so incredible! I grew up watching them every single winter on PBS and they are very well-loved by me, and now by our whole family. We'll purchase them at some point- this Christmas, the next? And I know we'll sit through many a long winter's Saturday with the warm Anne stories over the years.

We all sat lost in the movie through Hudson's nap, and I sat crotcheting (how in the world do you spell crotcheting?! oh, and shh... Christmas gifts for the girls...they're a little suspicious...) and we all snuggled together and it was a spectacular way to spend a cold and rainy day.

I threw together a homemade pizza at lunch time, and after a short break to eat, we finished the movie.

After lunch Lily played puzzles with Hudson, she'd had enough of sitting still...
But Grace and Patie and I snuggled through the whole thing (232 minutes). We giggled at the funny parts, our eyes got red at the bittersweet parts, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when, once again, Gilbert didn't let the fever lick him. Whew.

It was tremendous. Rain on, nasty day!

Show Them Your Money!

Shadowlands

OK, whether it's right or it's wrong, I'm posting two movie suggestions in a row. Last night Jim and I watched another movie from the VHS vault, and there's a good chance you've heard of it. We rented "Shadowlands" (1993). In case you have heard of it, but haven't seen it, we thought it was so good. It's the story of C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) and his American wife, played by Debra Winger. The film concentrates very little on Lewis' great thoughts and writings born out of his faith (although it is present-enough for Hollywood, and close enough to his actual life for a screenplay) and is mainly the love story between the two. It was amazing to think of the life he had led up to that point-- a highly intellectual thinker, surrounded by others just like him but not particularly close to him, a comfortable life, a safe life. He enjoyed success, but lived with a measure of distance between himself and others. Then, we see him finally let someone else in and risk the intimacy. He found it was worth the risk and was also far more costly than he would have ever chosen, but still worth it.

"Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." -C.S. Lewis

The Mission

Jim and I rented this last weekend, in our ongoing quest to go beyond the outer walls of the video store and find something great in the VHS section. We'd never heard of it before, but you can't blame us since it was in theatres when we were 6. But, it was nominated for best picture in 1986, among several other Oscar nominations. If you haven't seen it, we'd wholeheartedly recommend it- but go into it knowing it's not great because it's simply entertaining (although it is very well-done). It's the type of movie that forces you to wrestle with issues we normally push away- atrocities that are made most disturbing because they are taken from actual events. We were left processing the movie for a while afterwards. You can check out a review of it on Plugged In Online.

The Village

So, a couple of years ago M. Night Shyalaman made a little movie called The Village. Judging from the previews, especially the part with the girl creepily whispering, "Don't let them in", we dismissed it and never gave it a second thought. After recently hearing a reputable person say it was good, I decided maybe we should give it a shot, seriously wondering what this person liked so much about it. Well, we did give it a shot, it was awesome, and really nothing like what I thought it would be. You know Shyalaman's movies and all the twists-- so even though we thought this movie was so good and it left us with so much to think about, I can't tell you any of it, in case you haven't seen it yet either.

Amazing Grace

This movie was well worth the month-long wait to finally see it in a Rapid City theatre. They show 20+ different movies here each week in our 4 theatres, and still didn't get this one here until now. But hey, we're glad they did! What an awesome movie! If you haven't gotten a chance to go see it, definitely go soon.

Stranger Than Fiction

Jim and I watched this movie Saturday night. We thought it was really good- we were left wanting to watch it over again, which doesn't happen often. We talked about it for a while afterwards. There was the added bonus of Will Ferrell's comedy (which is hilarious) but was toned down about 1000% from how he is in movies like Anchorman or the like. Meaning, he's funny and endearing without all the totally innappropriate stuff. Think Elf, but...different, of course.