A Few Small Reviews

So I actually haven't been watching a lot of movies lately, but I wanted to share my opinions on a couple that I HAVE watched. :) Thus, a 'mini review' post. :)

Apollo 13 [1995]

3.5 out of 5 stars

I'm an incurable stargazer (or maybe I'm just called a spacey person? I don't know...) who loves pretty much anything related to outer space, so I enjoyed this movie pretty good. I've always been really intrigued with the history space travel and such, so when I heard of this movie, I made sure to remind my mom to get it when we went to the movie store. 

I can't ignore the fact that the movie was just a leeetle rough around the edges. None of us were really crazy about the amount of cuss words sprinkled throughout, and a couple of cringe-worthy sexual references dampened my experience just a little bit, but cut those few things out and you have a great, timeless movie.*nods decidedly* I liked it.

Moana [2016]

3 out of 5 stars

I think people are making too big of a deal out of this whole movie. But in spite of the fact that it isn't as good (in my opinion) as everyone is saying, I enjoyed it well enough during our family movie night. There was some unwelcome crude humor as well as some ridiculous 'magic spiritual water' moments, which I didn't like very much. However, we all agreed the soundtrack was 5 out of 5 stars (I dare you to tell me that Lin's voice isn't amazing). And Moana herself I liked pretty well.
(Honorable mention: the shiny crab was pretty hilarious.)

Hidden Figures [2017]

5 out of 5 stars

Another space-y movie, this follows the journeys of three African-American women in the 60's as they work for NASA in spite of various discrimination issues, and how they left their mark in the history of NASA. Another one of those "What Happened Behind the Scenes of the Story We All Know" stories, it was very inspiring with funny quips and, not to mention, I actually cried like three times. I saw this almost two months ago, but as far as I remember, there wasn't really any cringe-worthy sexy moments or too much cussing, except for maybe one or two 'd' words.

But anyways, I will definitely buy this one on DVD when it comes out.

I'm Not ashamed [2016]

4 out of 5 stars

I feel like most Christian movies fall into two separate groups: {1} The low-budget, cheesy Christian 'save-the-farm' kind of movie that tries to throw in some weird romance subplot to make it interesting (except it only succeeds in making it more cheesy), and {2} the over-hyped, "Where Have I Seen That Christian Actor Before"  movie with a dramatic story that warms your heart until you get to the climax and it unexpectedly breaks out into either violence or heart-wrenching tragedies.
Honestly, both kinds annoy me a bit. But this one, although heart-wrenching, was not cheesy, nor very violent. In other words, I enjoyed it quite well, and it was rather inspiring.

You walk away from this movie wanting to live for Jesus the best way you can. It's a great takeaway.

I have to mention that at a book fair the other day, I found the actual book about the shooting, Rachel's Tears, written by her parents. I'm halfway through, and so far it's really good. It was only $1. :)

Gifted Hands - The Ben Carson Story [2009]

5 out of 5 stars

I know, I know. The title sounds completely cheesy. And the DVD case looked cheesy when my mom randomly brought it home because 'It looked good'. I had every reason to believe that it was a cheesy movie. Except when we watched it, it was not.
 In fact, it was pretty good. REALLY good, in my opinion. It was inspiring, it kept me guessing, it kept me engaged, and it pointed me to God. It tells the intriguing story of Ben Carson, whom you may remember from the 2016 primaries who almost ran for president, but dropped out soon after the race began. 

Like I mentioned before, low-budget, cheesy Christian movies annoy me. But this was another movie that was not like that. It follows the story of Ben as a child, through his teenage years and how he came to be one of the greatest neurosurgeon in... I think the world? But yeah. I love 'biography' type movies, and this was a huge winner.

Last Days in the Desert [2016]

0 out of 5 stars

Bad, bad, bad. Also confusing. And just bad. I mean the story. It wasn't inappropriate bad, just bad story-wise. In fact, ridiculous. Waste of time and money. We watched all the way to the end in the hopes that the climax will tie something together and make sense. But no. someone died, someone left, and nothing happened. Nothing. No one even had names. I don't even remember why the movie was PG-13. But it doesn't matter. It was just bad.

Bad, bad, bad. 

Me no like. 

p.s. don't watch it.

#youoweme2hoursofmylife
Just bad. 

(Wow, Amaris. Calm down your hateful self.) 

Well, I hate to end this post with a negative note, so I'll just throw something random in here.... hm.
 Oh yes! I cut and styled my hair myself today! It turned out super cute. I am never going to the hair salon again... :)
Also, I've been helping one of my siblings out with WWI history, and I've become kind of obsessed lately. I mean, I've always enjoyed learning about wars (and just history in general), but up until now, WWII has been more my thing. Anyways, I guess it's time to take out War Horse and Testament of Youth from the dusty ol' shelf to watch again, since we're on the subject!
Oh, but they're both such SAD movies... I don't even know if I'm READY to watch them... But I guess I'll do it.
For history.

Bye.

#random