Country Strong Love

Last weekend KC and I decided on a whim to go to the movies.  We scrambled to try and see the matinee of Country Strong, which I'm glad, because, the movies are getting expensive!

image

I have to say that I absolutely loved this movie!  I had seen plenty of the trailers and I really really wanted to go check it out.  I'm a huge country music lover, I love movies that have a lot of good music in them and I (big-pink-puffy-paint) heart Tim McGraw!

I'm not good at writing movie reviews, so a few highlights/comments.

 image

• I was a little disappointed that Tim McGraw didn't actually sing in the movie.

image

• Gwyneth Paltrow did a great job acting.  She pulled off her character smoothly, making me want to have sympathy for her sometimes and then annoyed with her other times.

image

• Beau (Garrett Hedlund) has a great voice and I really enjoyed his character in the movie.  (though he can get rid of the mustache/beard any time)  I was really hoping to hear more of him on the soundtrack.

image

• Chiles (Leighton Meester) was kind of annoying to me at first, but I grew to like her throughout the movie and was definitely rooting for her in the end.

image 1, image 2

• The movie isn't all about country music, it's a love story, a story of depression, addiction and I thought it was really touching.

 I went home and immediately bought the soundtrack!

 

I'll admit that I was slightly disappointed with the soundtrack.  Leighton and Garrett did a fabulous job in the movie with 'Give In To Me' so it was a little disappointing the hear Faith Hill's recording on the soundtrack, not nearly as good in my opinion.   Other than that particular song (which is one of the reasons I bought the soundtrack), I have enjoyed listening to it so far.  (Oh and is it weird that as soon as Leighton started singing 'Words I Couldn't Say', I turned to my husband and said, that was on the last Rascal Flatt's Album?!!?)

This is one of those movies that is definitely on my 'To Buy' list.  I will definitely watch it several times, I can already tell.  I liked that it wasn't all butterflies and rainbows.

Have you seen any other good movies out that you'd recommend?

Finally watched Avatar

Source

I forgot about these pictures until I was taking our Savannah pictures off the camera.  A few weeks ago, Avatar came back to the IMAX so we finally went.  We had wanted to go before but just didn't have the time.  I feel like I might be one of the last people to watch it, but I'm glad we went.


First off, the 3D glasses were a great accessory to every one's wardrobe!

The summary from Yahoo!:

AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of "Titanic," first conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not exist yet. Now, after four years of production, AVATAR, a live action film with a new generation of special effects, delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

We enter the alien world through the eyes of Jake Sully, a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. But despite his broken body, Jake is still a warrior at heart. He is recruited to travel light years to the human outpost on Pandora, where corporations are mining a rare mineral that is the key to solving Earth's energy crisis. Because the atmosphere of Pandora is toxic, they have created the Avatar Program, in which human "drivers" have their consciousness linked to an avatar, a remotely-controlled biological body that can survive in the lethal air. These avatars are genetically engineered hybrids of human DNA mixed with DNA from the natives of Pandora... the Na'vi.

Reborn in his avatar form, Jake can walk again. He is given a mission to infiltrate the Na'vi, who have become a major obstacle to mining the precious ore. But a beautiful Na'vi female, Neytiri, saves Jake's life, and this changes everything. Jake is taken in by her clan, and learns to become one of them, which involves many tests and adventures. As Jake's relationship with his reluctant teacher Neytiri deepens, he learns to respect the Na'vi way and finally takes his place among them. Soon he will face the ultimate test as he leads them in an epic battle that will decide nothing less than the fate of an entire world. 

Secondly, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the actually story of the movie.  I know that most of the hype was about it being in 3D and all the new technology and everything, but that was probably the least enjoyable part for me.  I didn't really like the 3D aspect and had to take my glasses off sometimes.  It is definitely something that I would watch again, but I would not make an effort to see it in 3D.  Anyone else like the movie but more for the storyline than the 3D aspect of it?  

Date Night

Sunday night after a long weekend of house-work and painting, KC and I went out to see Date Night at the theater.  We both absolutely loved it.  Most of the people in the theater were couples, young and old and everyone in there seemed to enjoy it, most people stayed through the credits!  If you're looking for a funny movie to see or just a good date-night movie, I would definitely recommend giving this one a see.  Now if only I could decide which movie to see next.

Here's the description from Yahoo!:

Phil and Claire Foster are a sensible, loving couple with two kids and a house in suburban New Jersey. The Fosters have their weekly "date night" -- an attempt at re-experiencing the spice of the dates of yesteryear, involving the same weekly night out at the local Teaneck Tavern. Their conversations quickly drift from barely-date talk to the same chore-chat they have at the dinner table at home. Exhausted from their jobs and kids, their dates rarely end in fore- or any other kind of play, let alone romance. After seeing two of their best friends -- another married couple with kids in suburban New Jersey -- split apart from living the same life they themselves lead, Phil and Claire begin to fear what may lie ahead: a state of bland indifference and eventual separation. In an attempt to take date night off auto-pilot, and hopefully inject a little spice into their lives, Phil decides a change of plans is in order: take Claire into Manhattan to the city's hottest new restaurant. The Fosters, however, don't have reservations. Hoping to be seated sometime before the clock strikes twelve, they steal a no-show couple's reservations. What could it hurt? Phil and Claire are now the Tripplehorns. The real Tripplehorns, however, it turns out, are a thieving couple who are being hunted down by a pair of corrupt cops for having stolen property from some very dangerous people. Forced on the run before they've even finished their risotto, Phil and Claire soon realize that their play-date-for-parents has gone awry, as they embark on a wild and dangerous series of crazy adventures to save their lives -- and their marriage.