Monday, December 30, 2013

Movie Monday 12/30

We are enjoying the holidays, visiting family out of town (yes, again! third time this month). I seem to finally have the yeast overgrowth under control, though I am still on Diflucan. However, the first day after we arrived here, I got a killer sore throat and congestion - usually the starting signs of a long, difficult crash that often ends with bronchitis. I'm not feeling completely crashed - a bit low in energy - but I do still have some congestion and a cough is starting. I just hope I can make it back home without things getting much worse. A long day spent in an airport when crashed is torture.

Anyway, with everyone home for the holiday break and now visiting my father-in-law, we have had a little time for movies:

Before Christmas, we watched The Holiday with our sons. My husband and I had seen it before, but our sons hadn't. It's a fun, sweet holiday story with a great cast. Kate Winslet plays a British woman from a small town who wants to get away to help herself recover from a toxic relationship. Cameron Diaz plays a young woman in LA who creates movie trailers for Hollywood production companies and just broke up with her long-time boyfriend. Both women want to get away from their lives, and they connect on a house-sharing website and agree to switch homes for two weeks. Their homes and their lives are very different, so lots of fun ensues. Of course, there are love interests to help heal their wounds: Jack Black plays a sweet music composer who works with Diaz's character in LA, and Jude Law plays the adorable brother of Winslet's character. We all enjoyed it - it's a nice modern take on the holiday movie.

Here at my father-in-law's house, we all watched The World Is Not Enough, a James Bond movie starring Pierce Brosnan. It is the typical Bond movie, with a complicated plot, cool gadgets, and lots of fast-paced action and explosions. I'm not a big Bond aficionado myself, but my husband and sons said this wasn't one of the better ones. I agree that Brosnan isn't the best Bond - he didn't seem to have that classic Bond confidence and unflappable calm. But it was an action-packed movie that everyone from my 15-year old son to my 88-year old father-in-law enjoyed, so if you like action, it's good for a little escape from reality.

In between, we have been watching lots of The Mentalist (season 5) and Modern Family (season 4), two DVD sets that we gave our sons for Christmas, both excellent, as always.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

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