2012 Movies

1/2/2012 Moneyball (Brad Pitt)
The first movie I've seen in a theater in forever.  My mom came over and watched the boys so Frank and I could go to breakfast and a movie.  I actually have enjoyed most of the baseball movies that I've seen in my life, and this was no exception.  I think this was based on a true story but since I don't really follow baseball in general I had no idea how it was going to end.  Most of these movies are pretty predictable where the underdog team overcomes it's challenges and wins in the end, but this one was different.  I would definitely see it again.

3/18/2012 The Lorax
Anna and I took Christopher to his first movie in the theater.  It was a good movie for kids and adults as well.  I'm sure the kids enjoyed the cute forest creatures and the adults could appreciate the environmental theme.  I even got a little teary eyed at the end:  "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not."

4/5/2012 The Fighter (2010 Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale)  (movie night - chosen by Frank)
I really had no expectations with this movie because I had never even heard of it.  I thought Christian Bale's acting was incredible.  It took me a while to even realize that it was him.  I'm not sure if the constant use of the "F" word was necessary, but overall I enjoyed the movie.  Although I must admit that I did some cringing during some of the fight scenes.

4/28/2012 Limitless  (Bradley Cooper)
Disappointing.  I'm really not sure why this was on my list of movies to see, but I remember that it looked interesting when I saw the previews.  I'm fascinated by the idea that we only use 20% of our brains and what the world could be like if we were able to open our mind and use our brain to its full potential.  However, I just don't think they did as much as they could with the concept.  There were too many different characters that had a tie to the drug but I don't think their development went deep enough.

5/3/2012  Mulholland Drive (Naomi Watts)  (movie night - chosen by Jeff)
While I really didn't like most of the movie while I was watching it, the last 3rd of the movie piqued my interest and I had a hard time falling asleep that night because I kept thinking about it.  The end of the movie was kind of an "ah ha" moment and things start to make sense.  I think that's what intrigued me.  And I wanted to see the movie again in the hopes that it would all come together and make sense the second time around.  While I was able to put more pieces of the puzzle together the second time it seems that it really isn't a puzzle and some of the pieces might be completely random and unrelated.  I'm not sure I'm willing to put the time in to watch it a third time.

5/28/2012  The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Nicholas Cage, Jay Baruchel)
A movie that Char borrowed from the library and we watched in Clear Creek.  Actually a cute movie.  Felt a lot like The Mummy, or Jumanji.  Easy to watch.  However, Jay Baruchel has such a strange voice.  I'm pretty sure that he does the voice of Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon.  The voice is great for a cartoon character, but a little difficult to listen to coming from a real person.

June 2012  The Graduate (Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft)
My pick for movie night.  I thought it was supposed to be a comedy and I was looking for something lighter since the past couple of movies have been dark and disturbing.  Now, having seen this, I would not classify it as a comedy, although there were definitely parts that made me laugh.  But that could just be because the movie is old.  I am happy to say that I've seen it and I think that I will finally get some "Mrs. Robinson" references that I never got before.

June 2012  Reality Bites (Winona Rider, Ethan Hawke, Jeanine Garaffolo
I'm not really sure what to say about this movie.  It's an old movie that Frank and I finally watched.  I liked it, but I am a sucker for movies with friends falling in love.  I think it was also somewhat realistic that smart people (college validictorians) can still struggle getting on their feet after college.

July 2012  The Descendants (George Cluny)
I was disappointed with this movie, although I really had no idea what it was going to be about.  I just didn't or couldn't get emotionally involved with any of the characters.  But I did think that the younger daughter, as well as the older daughter's boy-friend were both pretty comical.

July 2012  The Limey (at Ben and Heather's)
The way this movie was filmed was very interesting, but that was the only thing about it that was interesting to me.  I really didn't care about any of the characters.  There was no suspense, and no real excitement, no twists.  And even after the movie I didn't re-think it my mind.  It just wasn't interesting to me at all.

August 2012  Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Hilary Swank)
Frank's pick for movie night.  I guess I had no idea what this movie was going to be about.  I thought it was just a boxing movie.  I absolutely loved the banter between Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman.  I wanted to punch Maggie's mom as well as the rest of her family.  I'm not sure how I felt about the decision to help her die.  This movie evoked many different emotions.  I really enjoyed it...much better than the past few movie night picks.

October 2012 Capote (Phillip Seymour Hoffman)
My pick for movie night.  Kind of slow, so it was hard to watch at 9pm at night on a week night.  I liked it and it did make me interested in reading the book "In Cold Blood".

November 2012 Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio)
It was very interesting and kept me on my toes, but I feel like I need to see it again to maybe understand it a bit more.  Dreams within dreams...it was hard to tell what was real and what was a dream, which I realize was the intention of the movie.  However, I'm fine if it's hard to tell the difference between dream and reality, but if it's impossible, then I'm not sure I liked it.