Movie Monday

I love movies. This was determined during Netflix Needs. Since I love them so much, I figure I might as well do something productive with that love. Enter: Movie Mondays. Where I take a movie (or more) that I watched during the week and discuss it. Anything from whether I liked it or not, to what it made me think about. Heck, to what I snacked on while I watched it. The sky's the limit!

This week...

While You Were Sleeping

Netflix has been doing movie switch up. A lot of new movies have entered their Instant category, much to my immense excitement. While You Were Sleeping is one of them. This movie has always been one of my Christmas favorites. Sure, it's a bit cheesy and predictable once you get into it. But the cast and loveable characters are too great to even worry about that. I could watch it on repeat - over, and over, and over again.

A young woman, swept up by her father's tales of how he met and fell in love with her mother, gets entangled in her own love story. Except, hers comes with a bit of a twist. She, a romantic, pretends to be engaged to an unconscious man after saving his life.What she doesn't plan on is falling in love with his family - or any of the unexpected twists and turns that falsehood takes her on.

Sandra Bullock plays the main character, Lucy. I have yet to see a movie in which I dislike Sandra Bullock. I have seen her in Miss Congeniality, The Blind Side, and The Proposal. While I'm on that roll, I should also admit that I have yet to see a movie in which I dislike Bill Pullman, who plays Jack, the unconscious man's brother. I have seen him in The Newsies, Casper, Spaceballs, and Independence Day, all of which I loved. If you enjoy either of them in other roles, there is a high plausibility you'll like this one.

I highly recommend it!

Escape From Planet Earth

I really expected this movie to be a "dud." Not once did I see a trailer for the movie and think: "that's going to be a movie I'll enjoy." Er - I was wrong. Admittedly, I enjoyed this a lot more than Shrek: the Musical. As in, I really liked it. The characters were great and balanced each other. For instance: the careful, safety-oriented, mission control operating, genius, think-before-actions brother and the charismatic, exceedingly-confident, showy, macho-man, mission-going, act-before-I-think  brother. As a sibling, I can appreciate the bickering between them and all jealousy involved. The parenting situation was very realistic between Gary Supernova (one of the main characters) and his son, filled with ups and downs but surrounded and permeated by love.

I also loved the cast involved. (Including William Shatner, Ricky Gervais, Brendan Fraser, Rob Corddry, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Sofia Vergara among others.)

But someone's got to wonder, with all of the armor Scorch wore, how come he didn't have a helmet to go along with his space suit? And what happened to both of the villains? We found out the fate of one, but the other was never revealed! The basic line of the plot was expected. Earth is a Dark Planet, not understood by the alien race featured in the movie. (Basically, humans equal evil and uncivilized.) Multiple life forms have supposedly landed on earth without ever escaping. One alien ventures there, goes missing, a rescue mission is enacted - but even with the basic underlying plot there were unexpected twists that kept it interesting. Nothing goes according to plan or expectation!

I loved and appreciated that the emphasis of the bond between siblings, even when the relationship may not always be flowers and sunshine. Kira Supernova is BA - the fact that a strong woman chose to stay at home with her kids,  loves it and is no-less spectacular for it is a great message: you are just as valuable as a mom to your kids as an other position. The "welcome to Earth" video at Area 51 was humorous. The imprisoned aliens at Area 51 were great characters. The chase scene through the grand canyon reminded me distinctly of the initial chase scene between Will Smith and the aliens in Independence Day (my favorite alien movie ever). I'm not going to lie, that alone gave this movie bonus points in my book. But it was the evolving relationship between Gary and Scorch that sold me. Watching the brother's come to realize how much they need and love each other made my heart swell. It is refreshing to see movies with valuable morals and healthy messages. (I'm such a sucker for things like that!)

Maybe it is the nerd in me or maybe I'm just too darn sentimental, who knows, but I'd watch this movie again - for sure. If you enjoy cartoons or "kids"/family movies, check it out. You might be surprised to find you enjoyed it as much as I did!