Mud

Mud: I don't traffic in the truth too often, but... I did love her. I do... love her.
Ellis: She loves you, too. She said it.
Mud: Yeah, I just made mistakes. Heck, we both did. You know this, it's a hard life to keep up with, you can't blame her for getting tired of trying.
Ellis: My dad says you can't count on women loving you. He said you can't trust them.
Mud: [Slowly shaking his head] That's not true. You're a good man, Ellis. You meet a girl half as good as you, you're going to be all right.
Ellis: [Chuckles] You're a good man, too, Mud.
Mud: No. No I ain't Ellis. 

True love: Is it just a myth? The childish fantasy of a naive dreamer? Or can it really happen? This movie took an unexpected turn for me when the central theme turned out to be the "power of love," if you will. Ellis believes in love so much that he goes to great lengths to defend it by helping Mud get back together with Juniper. But as he witnesses one failed relationship after another, has every reason to be bitter, disillusioned, and untrusting.  There is always hope for true, unconditional love, no matter how many times it fails miserably.

Star Trek Into Darkness

This was a very satisfying movie in a lot of ways. I found myself thinking that it was too different from classic Star Trek, then I thought it was way too similar. In the end, I thought it was really good. When you've got characters as cool as Khan, Kirk, and Spock, you just love seeing the old material recycled because it's just so awesome. So Khan died in Star Trek II? No big deal, let's reboot and do a new adventure with the same characters. I can't believe how long it took me to recognize Dr. Marcus as the Dr. Marcus from Star Trek II, silly me. And it had a perfect ending: Khan, back on ice with all of his followers, waiting so be awoken at some future time...

Wide Awake

Joshua A. Beal: Before this year, bullies were just bullies for no reason, weirdos were just weird, and daredevils weren't afraid of anything. Before this year, people I loved lived forever. I spent this year looking for something and wound up seeing everything around me. It's like I was asleep before and finally woke up. Know what? I'm wide-awake now.

This movie honestly wasn't all that good, and that's coming from a mega Shyamalan fan. But, it still had some really good parts, and it's pretty cute at times, too, like when the cute kids climb into bed with their cute parents. There are some familiar religious themes in this movie like we find in The Sixth Sense, Signs, and Unbreakable (namely the brilliant deleted scene with the Catholic priest), but the spiritual overtones in this film are even more overt. 

If we take the time to truly notice the people around us, try to see things from their perspective, and seek to understand them, we may come closer to God than to anyone else.

Maybe it's time that we all wake up and smell the roses a little bit more. 

Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust (2 Nephi 1:23). 

Ephraim's Rescue

This is a movie made by Mormons for Mormons. I loved it!
There are so many good messages in this movie. One of my favorites is it that no matter how many mistakes we make, no matter how many times we fall down, the important thing is that we keep trying. Just don't give up! God knows we're not perfect, but he wants us to try to do our best.
This movie made me feel like I have no excuse for not helping people. There are always people who need help. It made me really want to be a better person.

The Princess and the Frog

[Tiana looks out her bedroom window]
Young Tiana: Charlotte's fairy tale book said, if you make a wish on evening star it's sure to come true.
Eudora: Hmm, won't you wish on that star, sweetheart?
James: Yes, you wish and you dream with all your little heart. But you remember, Tiana, that old star can only take you part of the way. You got to help him with some hard work of your own. And then... Yeah, you can do anything you set you mind to. Just promise your Daddy one thing? That you'll never, ever lose sign what is really important. Okay?
[Tiana nods yes]

I just watched this movie again for the first time in about three years. It's a good one! It teaches the value of hard work. But, working hard and getting what you want isn't everything. We all need nourishment, too: love, good relationships, and some time to rest once in a while.

The Great Gatsby

All in all, I'd have to say that I liked this movie a lot, especially after talking about the story with my dad for just a couple minutes. It makes me think: How do I want to live my life?

Jurassic Park

I love this movie! It holds a special place in my heart because I remember watching it for the first time with my dad back in 1993 (and, of course, I still have my 20-year-old movie ticket). It's scary, but it also has lots of cute moments, especially as Alan Grant learns to not only tolerate children, but to also love and cherish them. It also makes you think a lot: What matters most in life? What is true success? What is the role of God, and what happens when we forget him and try to do everything on our own? Do we take more responsibility for something when we work for it? Do we stop to consider all of the possible consequences of our actions?
The 3D worked well; it was just as good as what I saw in the trailers for new movies, so props to all of those people who worked so long on the conversion. The effect was especially good on the first scene with the T-rex.

El laberinto del fauno

If this movie doesn't freak you out, I doubt that many things will.
It's a gorgeous film with lots of little touches that make it cool. I find anything in the Iberian Peninsula fascinating, including the language spoken by the Faun: quite archaic indeed, but still very much Castilian.
The character of Captain Vidal was so despicable and reprehensible that the movie made me want to do only good things for the rest of my life. How could anyone act like that monster?
The use of magic in the movie was also very well done. It could all be in her mind, right? But then how did she get out of the locked and guarded room? It was kind of like Midnight in Paris in that the private investigator gets stuck in the 18th century, if you know what I mean.

Lincoln and Schindler's List

I find it striking how similar Steven Spielberg's portrayals of Abraham Lincoln and Oskar Schindler are. Lincoln is very heroic in this movie, even though he sometimes resorts to less than honorable means to achieve his goals. I also thought it was interesting how we see him on the ground, bending over and stoking the fire like a servant, even though he was the president.  I was glad that I had enough prior knowledge to understand almost everything that happened in Lincoln. I enjoyed the band of misfits that the secretary of state unofficially hired to basically buy votes from the democrats.
I'll tell you what! In the film, Thaddeus Stevens (brilliantly and humorously played by Tommy Lee Jones) is portrayed as a hero of epic proportions. After seeing this movie, I had to look Stevens up on Wikipedia. I really hadn't heard much about him before, and I really enjoyed the first part of the Wikipedia article that explained how historians' perceptions of Stevens have changed over time. And I had no idea that Tommy Lee Jones was even going to be in this movie.
In a lot of ways, Schindler's List is much more intense than Lincoln. It also seems to have a more powerful effect on me. What if those had been my parents that he had saved from certain death? It just makes me want to do only good things. It's so funny and so terrible that the only thing that
Amon Göth cared about was money. Good grief. He never got the chance to enjoy any of that money since he was imprisoned immediately after the war and then hanged in 1946. Why did he even bother charging Schindler so much money to let those people go? He should have let them go free. Yeah, he probably still would have been hanged, but there was really no point in trying to amass wealth. Just let it go. This is a lesson for all of us. No matter what happens, we won't be able to take any of our wealth with us when we die, so we should follow the counsel of the Savior and lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. These are two different movies, but both Lincoln and Schindler used the influence and resources that they had to do the most good that they knew how to do.

The Sixth Sense

Malcolm Crowe: [after realizing the time has come for him to move on] I think I can go now. Just needed to do a couple of things. I needed to help someone; I think I did. And I needed to tell you something: You were never second, ever. I love you. You sleep now. Everything will be different in the morning. 

Anna Crowe: [in her sleep] Good night, Malcolm... 

Malcolm Crowe: Good night, sweetheart.

I love this movie. It has such a big heart, and I think it can teach us a lot about life. Doing the right thing can be scary sometimes! People can be scary, but we have to look past that and see them for who they are: children of God, all of whom need help every once in a while. And I love the relationship between Cole and his mother.

Emma

Oh my gosh! I can't remember the last time that I yelled at a movie so much! I didn't really know what to expect when I started watching this, but I did not expect Emma to be such a manipulating little brat! Yeah, she's definitely not a one-dimensional character (like the caricature known as Mrs. Elton, for example).
Ah yes, I should have known that the famous image of her with the bow and arrow was a not-so-subtle reference to cupid's arrow.
I just love a lot of the characters in this movie, like Mr. and Mrs. Weston, who are so kind and caring. And especially Mr. Knightley.  There are others, though less numerous, that are insufferable, like the Eltons. So for the most part, it's pretty easy to divide the characters into two camps: cool/awesome/likable and annoying/insufferable. (Even though Miss Bates can be kind of annoying, she still falls squarely into the first category because she's such a good, humble person.) Emma defies that classification as she straddles the line throughout much of the movie. She definitely married up.
I guess Mr. Knightly does kind of have a point. She did accept his chastisement graciously and sincerely. Fine. Ahh! I guess that's what makes the movie good: the unlikely pair gets married, right?
I was also pretty happy when a saw a familiar face playing the part of Miss Smith: it's Cole's mom from The Sixth Sense (Toni Collete)!

Beauty and the Beast 3D

Have I mentioned how utterly fantastic Beauty and the Beast looks in 3D? I mean, good freaking gravy, it was amazing. It was like a totally new movie. The opening scene was drastically different looking, it was like I could see a mile away. I didn't have very high expectations for this 3D conversion, especially since the only other movie that I had seen that had been converted to digital 3D was The Nightmare Before Christmas back in 2007 (one of the first theatrical rereleases to use the technology). That movie was like a stinkin' pop up book: 2D images (for the most part) that were positioned at varying depths. But Beauty and the Beast was way different. Every object, every detail had depth. There were no 2D paper cutout characters in this one, oh no. The Beast's face was 3D; his horns had depth. I mean, even Maurice's hand had depth as he held the fully three-dimensional Chip.

In short, the 3D conversion was brilliant. I think Pixar may have even helped with it. Not to mention it's one of my favorite movies ever.

Oz the Great and Powerful and Wreck-It Ralph

I can't remember the last time I felt such a strong, instinctual urge to protect a character in a movie. I would do anything to protect that adorable, fragile little girl. I just love her so much, and as I watched Oz the Great and Powerful today, I wished from the depths of my heart that I could do something to keep her safe.

It's much the same way in Wreck-It Ralph. I was charmed by the relationship between Ralph and Vanellope. It's hard not to feel compassion for her because, even though she can be a little annoying (just like little girls in real life), she desperately needs someone to be her friend. It's very hard to watch her suffer, and I just want to help make her dreams come true.

The African Queen

What an amazing team! Both of them are very good people, but they both have strengths and weaknesses, and they complement each other perfectly. They both learn so much and overcome so many things in their journey. I couldn't stand Katherine Hepburn's character at first, but she gradually became more and more believable and understandable. After the death of her brother, I was surprised at how much she wanted to kill Germans, considering how pious she was.
This movie went from boring to crazy exciting very quickly. But I will say this: Make sure to bring your suspension of disbelief to this movie, or it won't work.