The King of Kong

This is a good one. It's a documentary about a competition between two guys trying to get the world record top score in Donkey Kong. One guy is the king of the dorks, the reigning champion of DK (he's pretty much like Dwight from the Office) who thinks he's all that, and the other is a humble, hard-working family man that has learned to play DK as well as the other guy.

There is an abundance of laugh-out-loud incredibly nerdy nerds in this film. It's like this secret world that you get a peek of. And you will get caught up in the rivalry for sure.

The one and only bad thing I can remember in this is actually one super gross thing. They show a photo of a guy (self)named "Mr. Awesome" posing in the buff with a lady covering his you-know-what with her own pose. So when they start elaborating on Mr. Awesome's background, just skip it.

Because the rest is sooo good!

Life is Beautiful

I know this came out years ago, but I got it again from Netflix because I remembered liking it. Well, it's still good! Many of you have probably seen this, but if you haven't, you've gotta.

Although this is about the Holocaust, I don't remember there being any disturbing images because it's about a father who keeps his son alive by telling him the whole thing is a game. It's super sweet, and every time they showed the mother I just started tearing up.

FYI, it's got subtitles.

The Princess and the Frog

When Wikipedia says that this movie is based loosely on ED Baker's book, they weren't kidding. The New Orleans setting was totally different from the book, although it was interesting. But, I HATED the voodoo. I didn't realize that was in there, and I don't think I would have taken the kids if I'd known.

Zoie liked it. Jonas didn't like it. Zoie asked me what my favorite part was, and I said "When it was over." That's due to the voodoo, which she didn't quite get. The book had a witch. She was a friendly witch, and the magic wasn't portrayed as Satanic. The Shadow Man in this movie was working with evil spirits. That was just a bit much for me in a kids' show.

The Maiden Heist

Matt picked this out recently. It's about three security guards that work in a museum. They've all worked there for years, and have become attached to certain pieces of art. They learn that the pieces they love are being sent to another museum, so they come up with a plan to "save" their pieces from being sent to Denmark.

It was sort of funny, but I didn't love it. William H. Macy is in the buff (toosh shots-ew) a few times.

Sons of Provo

A friend lent this to me recently. It is a mockumentary about a boy band in Provo, Utah. The songs were pretty funny (and well done-the three actors apparently have good voices).

I didn't love the show, but it did have some funny parts. Here's a YouTube video of one of the songs in the show.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

One of my friends gave this movie to me for my birthday. It was fun to watch it again. If you were born in or around the 80's and haven't seen it, it's worth watching again for a laugh.

The New World

A friend lent this to me recently, and wondered if I'd like it. Her husband was a fan, but she wasn't.

Anyway, it's about Pocahontas and her life (although I don't recall the movie actually saying the name Pocahontas at all). I'll come right out and say that I prefer the Disney portrayal (although the Disney version obviously has it's inaccuracies). It was interesting, and I had forgotten that Pocahontas didn't end up with John Smith, but it was much too long and slow. Quite a bit of sadness too (I won't spell it all out and spoil the whole thing).

The Ultimate Gift

Matt brought this home for a family movie night a few weekends ago.

A very wealthy man dies, and his family gathers to hear what they all get. Most are disappointed. One grandson is left with tasks he must complete in order to get his gift. He's a grown man (young), but hasn't worked a day in his life. He fights the tasks, but his lifestyle is taken away so it's live on the streets or do the tasks. He learns many great life lessons as he completes the tasks.

It didn't hold Matt's interest, and it was a bit long and deep for the kids, but it was a good story with a good moral lesson.

Ice Princess

Zoie picked this out the other day. It's about a senior in high school that is a physics genius. She does a physics project to help with a scholarship for college, and it is on the physics behind ice skating. She decides to try her theories, and she is a natural.

The acting wasn't great, but Zoie (6) seemed to enjoy the show. Matt spent most of the movie time playing a game on his iPod.

Yes Man

I find movies with Jim Carrey to be risky, so I wasn't very excited when Matt brought this one home for us.

Jim Carrey's character is stuck in a dead end job, and his life is going no where. He learns about motivational seminar about saying Yes to everything. He follows the idea, and finds that his life improves, until it doesn't.

Interesting idea-I mean, if we always say no to things we won't move forward. Obviously we have to say no to some things, but we should take time to consider our options before shutting everything down.

But, I wouldn't recommend this show. A few things were . . . disturbing. Overall it was a Jim Carrey show to miss.