Movie Monday 3/14

Hallelujah!  Both boys went to school this morning, for the first time in weeks.  What a glorious feeling to see them go off like normal kids...not to mention having the house to myself for a few hours!  Our "normal" isn't much, but I missed it!

Ken and I even went out for dinner on our own Saturday night, a rare treat!  We also enjoyed some wonderful movies this weekend:

• Friday night, we watched an extraordinary movie, Conviction, based on a true story about a man sentenced to life in prison for murder.  Actually, the movie is more about his sister, Betty Anne (played by Hillary Swank), who - without even a high school degree to start with - put herself through law school so that she could take her brother's case and prove him innocent.  I first heard about this movie when I heard an interview on NPR's Tell Me More with Betty Anne Waters and Hillary Swank.  Ken and I both loved it.  The movie brought me to tears over and over again, and I kept thinking about it all weekend.  Highly recommended.
• For a change of pace Saturday night, we watched a lighter movie, Valentine's Day, directed by Garry Marshall, which features an all-star ensemble cast (including Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, George Lopez, and many more).  It's one of those movies that starts out with a half dozen different plot lines but then the character's lives intersect in unexpected ways.  It's a fun romantic comedy, warm and funny and enjoyable.
• Craig was home sick from school all five days last week - and too sick to do anything most of that time - so I got him a big stack of DVDs from the library.  He watched A Wrinkle in Time (one of our favorite books); The Water Horse which he didn't want to see but admitted was pretty good; The Thief Lord, another favorite book of ours and one of Craig's favorite movies; Open Season 2; and the entire Lord of the Rings series (Craig's version of cinematic comfort food).
• Last night, I bribed the boys with Rita's water ice to watch the pilot episode of an old favorite TV show with me, the original The Incredible Hulk series from the late 70's.  They loved it, as I knew they would, and begged me not to turn it off at bedtime.  We have the entire first season on DVD from the library but probably won't have time to watch it all.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

(If you are also interested in what we've been reading, check out the Monday post on my book blog.)