With the Oscars happening yesterday, I thought I’d share my top 5 movies from last year.
This movie is incredibly hard to explain and most people who have seen it describe it as, “really good, it has Brad Pitt in it.” The story follows the life of Jack (played by Sean Penn) as he reflects on his young life growing up in Texas with an authoritarian father (Pitt). Through his reflections he questions the meaning and purpose of life. This is one of the movies that you can’t really grasp by watching just once, and it has some of the best cinematography I’ve ever seen. Put this one on your must see list. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone younger than 12. It has some language and that father is very harsh with his kids and wife.
2. Super 8
This was a fantastically fun movie which I dubbed “Goonies 2” It brought me right back to my childhood of adventure and exploring everything I could touch, see, taste and feel. It follows a group of kids through the filming of a movie for their school and an alien invasion of their hometown. It has some frightening images, but I’d say this ones a good one to watch with pre-teen and up.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The long awaited climax to the thrilling story of the young Wizard Harry Potter. If you haven’t heard of this movie you probably won’t be reading this blog. All I’ll say about this is it’s a fantastic end to a fantastic adventure. As always, the book is better than the movie, but I still enjoyed this movie. Definitely my favorite of the series. Again, pre-teens should be ok seeing this one.
4. The Muppets
This brought me right back to my days of watching the Muppets with my cousin Anthony. This movie follows the Muppets attempt to save their theater from extinction from an oilman. Walter, a new Muppet pulls out all the stops with an all star cast. The tunes are catchy, and despite my skepticism, Jason Segel did a fantastic, and clean job. This is a movie to take the whole family to, including the young kids. I was surprised by the cameos from Selena Gomez to John Krasinski (of The Office). Fun for all ages!
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Rounding out the top 5 of my favorite movies is the new Planet of the Apes. Honestly, I’m a sucker for anything Andy Serkis does since Lord of the Rings, and this movie didn’t disappoint. It follows scientist Will Rodman (played by James Franco) as he attempts to find a cure for Alzheimers which has been affecting his dad. Testing his formulas on chimps, he finds that it makes them much more intelligent which leads to the revolution. Never having seen any of the other Planet of the Apes movies I was a little nervous about this one, but was very happy with the outcome. This one should be appropriate for those 13 and older.
Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
A fun movie that looks at a “higher power” who controls the events in our everyday life. Matt Damon plays a man running for a New York senate seat who falls in love with a woman after seeing her once. The “higher power” doesn’t want them together so they try their best to make it happen. The movie asks some very good questions but ultimately doesn’t give a satisfying answer. It can spark some good discussion, however. I’d suggest this for those 14 and older. It has some suggestive scenes as well as language.
A wounded vet finds himself in an experimental computer program that lets him live out the last 8 minutes of a deceased person’s life. This one again asks the question about the meaning of life and search for meaning. Again, it doesn’t provide the best answer, but gives a great ride through the search! I’d recommend this for 14 and up it has some violence and language.
This franchise just keeps going! I was disappointed with X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but this one definitely made up for it! This one shows the beginning of the group X-Men as well as the friendship of Charles Xavier and Magneto. Along the way it shows how the Cuban Missile Crisis REALLY happened. This one has some inappropriate content, language, sexuality, drinking and smoking. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone younger than 16.
Another Brad Pitt movie to make the list. Although this isn’t exactly what happened to the Oakland A’s, it was a really well done movie. Both Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill did a great job with their roles and the movie did a really good job of getting you invested into the team. There’s some swearing in this movie, so I’d recommend it for 13 and up.
Pastor Mike's Musings 