On Toy Story 3

Andy is growing up. He's leaving for college in a few short days and his mom makes him decide what to do with his old toys. Woody (Tom Hanks) will go with him to college and the other toys will go in the attic. However, a mixup happens and Woody and the gang end up at a daycare called Sunnyside, where happy little children come to play. That is, happy little children play in the Butterfly Room. The kids who populate the Caterpiller Room are another story. The toys must somehow find their way out of the daycare and back to Andy in one night - a task that requires all their courage and resourcefulness.

Pros: Somehow Pixar has been able to make each Toy Story movie better than the last when most studios can't even make a single decent sequel. This movie is both hilarious and touching, even for adults. The animation is stunning (notice the kids' hair and the cardboard boxes).

Cons: The only con was the short film Night & Day. It was boring and politically correct.

My Rating: AGC

Concerning Montana

Morgan Lane (Errol Flynn), an Australian sheepman, is determined to establish his herd near Fort Humbolt, Montana. Maria Singleton (Alexis Smith) and Rodney Ackroyd (Douglas Kennedy), the two biggest cattle ranchers in the area, are convinced that sheep and cattle can't share the same range. They're willing to fight - even kill - to keep sheep from the grazing pastures of Fort Humbolt.

Pros: Errol Flynn was about the only thing that lifted this movie above a D- grade. But then, I would watch Errol Flynn read the phone book.

Cons: It's much like many other westerns. I found Maria Singleton's eyes disturbing. There were few funny parts and even fewer exciting ones.

My Rating: OK (violence, flirting woman)

On No Reservations

Kate's (Catherine Zeta-Jones) entire life revolves around food. No, she doesn't eat it all day every day. She's the top chef at a high-end restaurant. Then her sister is killed in a car accident and Kate suddenly becomes the guardian of her little niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin). Suddenly her life becomes two-dimensional. Then she returns to the restaurant after a few days off and discovers the owner has hired a new sous chef in her absence. Handsome, easy-going Nick (Aaron Eckhart) is a breath of fresh air for the other chefs in the kitchen. Kate doesn't know it yet, but her life is about to become three-dimensional.

Pros: Nick is a funny, sweet guy. I'm a fan of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Abigail Breslin. It's a really laid-back movie - the main characters don't even have last names!

Cons: This story has been told a hundred times. As is usual with a romantic comedy, the main characters are perfectly willing to move in together without getting married first. In fact, there's a scene with Kate and her therapist where he asks her point-blank "What's wrong with moving in together?" Her answer is not what the first response of a good Christian would be.

My Rating: T (cohabitation (for a short time), brief mild sexual references)

Regarding The Lord of the Rings

Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky

     Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone

Nine for mortal men doomed to die.

     One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them

One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

In The Lord of the Rings, the epic trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, a hobbit named Frodo Baggins inherits a simple gold ring that has the power to turn its wearer invisible. Gandalf the Grey, an old wizard, is disturbed by this magic ring and sets off to investigate its history. He discovers that this tiny object has the power to send Middle Earth into darkness.

Pros: Where to start? The characters are all enjoyable - particularly Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, Faramir, Eowyn... I could go on for years. The story, world, and creatures are unmatched in the fantasy genre. J.R.R. Tolkien was Catholic and there are many Catholic analogies to be found in the books if one looks for them.

Cons: My only complaint about these books is that it's sometimes difficult to imagine the places Tolkien describes. This, however, isn't a problem in most cases if one has seen the movies.

My Rating: OK (spooky creatures, violence)

Picture from tolkien-online.com

Pertaining To Leatherheads

In the beginning, the rules were simple. There weren't any. A story that tries harder to be a romantic comedy than a sports movie, Leatherheads is about professional football before there were rules - or money. Brash, charming Dodge Connelly (George Clooney) finds it hard to adjust to life without football after his team goes bankrupt. So he jumps at the chance to revitalize his team by signing college football star and war hero Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski). Dodge soon finds himself at odds with Carter over who exactly is the big dog on the team - and over Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger), a saucy reporter who has an agenda of her own.

Pros: The football action scenes are funny. I also like the fistfight by the railroad tracks. Renee Zellweger plays an awesome fashionable 1920s gal.

Cons: Lexie's mouth can be pretty dirty. In fact, I skipped parts of two scenes with her and Dodge because I got tired of the sexual references.

My Rating: MT (sexual references)

Regarding The Musician's Daughter

In Susanne Dunlap's The Musician's Daughter, Theresa Schurman's father, a violinist in the Prince of Hungary's orchestra, is murdered on Christmas Eve. His valuable violin is nowhere to be found. Theresa is unsatisfied with the explanation that her father fell victim to common robbers. She sets out to find the truth - and soon finds herself meddling in matters far above her head.

Pros: Although she chooses to do some things that I would never do, Theresa is a pretty good person. I'm extremely fond of Zoltan.

Cons: The good guys sometimes resort to methods that, in my opinion, should only be used by bad guys. There is a steady stream of mild-to-moderate innuendo and slightly-more-than-innuendo through almost the entire book.

My rating: MT (moderate sexual content)

Picture from susannedunlap.com

On Marple: The Secret of Chimneys

Marple: The Secret of Chimneys, based on one of Agatha Christie's books, begins with a flashback. A young maid is murdered on the night of a party - and a priceless jewel disappears that same night. Twenty-three years later another murder is commited in the same house. How do the pieces fit together? Only Miss Jane Marple (Julia McKenzie) has the wit to complete the puzzle.

Pros: As always, there were twists and turns before the story finally reached its conclusion. I thought Inspector Finch (Stephen Dillane) was a great character. I rather liked one of the other men and really liked one of the women (I won't say which - it may give the story away).

Cons: This story had its usual measure of the scandalous (though not too bad - at one point in the movie I thought it was going to get much worse than it actually did). The morals are, as is usual with a Christie story, rather muddled. I guessed the murderer, though the motive was a complete surprise.

My Rating: T (violent murders, various scandalous behavior - nothing explicit)

The Premier Trailer For The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The very first trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is now out!



I must admit that I haven't read the book in ages. But, for what they're worth, here are my reactions:

Annoyance:
At Edmund's going through the same thing Peter went through in Prince Caspian: "I'm a king!"
At Peter and Susan's reappearance. They're not supposed to come back to Narnia! Ever!
At Reepicheep's new voice. He sounds a lot like the other guy, but it isn't the same.

Happiness:
At the awesome special effects! This movie is going to be a real treat to watch!
At King Caspian - way to make him look older.

Trepidation:
How much will the White Witch be in the movie? Will she be the main bad person? I hope not.
Will they take the special effects overboard? Will the story become just a prop for all the cool stuff they can do?

In my opinion, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is an easy one to adapt into a movie (I've heard it's just an "epic story" that isn't really "about" something like Prince Caspian is about faith). The interesting one will be The Silver Chair. Can Hollywood really make a movie aimed at teenagers that is about chastity? I doubt it.

Concerning Robin Hood's "Thievery" - Part II: The Catholic Viewpoint

An interesting and thoughtful comment on this blog post linking Robin Hood's activity to a parable of Jesus encouraged me to write another post on the touchy subject of Robin's motto: "Rob the rich to feed the poor." I still stand by my earlier opinion, but I thought I would add the Catholic Church's teaching on theft to my own conclusion.

"The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another's property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing...) is to put at  one's disposal the property of others." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2408, emphasis added.)

Robin's "robbin' from the rich to feed the poor" falls under this category. It was unreasonable for the rich people to refuse poor people the food, clothing, and money that they desperately needed. Robin had the moral right to relieve them of some of their money and distribute it among people who needed it badly.

In Relation to Wives and Daughters

Based on the book by Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters is about young Molly Gibson (Justine Waddell). Molly is sent by her widowed father Dr. Gibson (Bill Paterson) to spend a few weeks at Hamley Hall. Dr. Gibson promptly gets engaged to an elegant but self-absorbed governess named Hyacinth (Francesca Annis), who has a daughter about Molly's age. The new additions to the Gibson household alternately wreak havoc and blessings on everyone around them.

Pros: I love Molly Gibson! She's very sweet, but has a bit of a temper. Dr. Gibson is one of my favorite characters of all time. It's nice to watch a movie with a strong father character! Roger Hamley (Anthony Howell), though clueless like most men in nineteenth century novels, is very kind. Lady Harriet Cumnor (Rosamund Pike) is a great character - but she isn't in the movie nearly enough!

Cons: The music can be distracting at times. Osborne Hamley (Tom Hollander) could have been taller and handsomer. Hyacinth gets almost painfully superficial.

My Rating: AGC

Picture from coverbrowser.com

Concerning Cranford

Cranford, based on the stories by Elizabeth Gaskell, is about a small town in 1840s England. Largely untouched by new-fangled inventions such as railroads, Cranford has been quietly managed by a small group of older women headed by Miss Deborah Jenkyns (Eileen Atkins). Everyone who joins the town, from Capt. Brown (Jim Carter) to Miss Mary Smith (Lisa Dillon) to young (and unmarried!) Dr. Harrison (Simon Woods), must conform to the town's ideas of proper conduct or face severe disapproval.

Pros: This movie is not only extremely well acted, it's also hilarious! The little old ladies who run the town, particularly Mrs. Forester (Julia McKenzie), are so funny. They continually make mountains out of molehills and molehills out of mountains. There's also many a tear-jerking moment involving various deaths and other tragedies. Miss Matty (Judi Dench) is a wonderful character and very, very well acted.

Cons: There's no great heroine and hero who make a great couple. The closest thing is Sophy Hutton (Kimberely Nixon) and Dr. Harrison - but they're not the sort of people one overly admires.

My Rating: OK if certain scenes are skipped, T if not (surgery scenes)

Picture from coverbrowser.com

Concerning Robin Hood's "Thievery"

The ends never justifies the means. People can't take something that doesn't belong to them and give it to another person. Or can they?

The classic tale of Robin Hood is often rather demonized. Robin Hood and his merry men would hang out in Sherwood Forest until a rich clergyman or nobleman would come by, relieve him of his wealth, and send him on his way. They would then distribute the money they stole among the peasants who lived in and around Nottingham. On the surface, this looks like stealing. However, there might be more to this issue than its surface.

As is explained in Roger Lancelyn Green's The Adventures of Robin Hood, the men whose money was taken by Robin or his merry men were evil noblemen or clergymen. These men's money would be aptly termed their "ill-gotten gains," as it largely came from unjustly high taxes on (or, occasionally, outright theft of) their tenants. Unreasonably high taxes could be considered a form of thievery, so the men that Robin relieved of their money didn't really own that money in the first place. Robin merely retrieved stolen money and returned it to its rightful owners - the peasants.

No one has the right to take something from someone without that person's permission. However, one can steal a stolen object or money from a thief to return it to its rightful owner. This, in essence, was Robin Hood's intention.

I wrote about the Catholic Church's teaching on theft in a later blog post. It can be found here: Concerning Robin Hood's "Thievery" - Part II: The Catholic Viewpoint

Regarding The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Roger Lancelyn Green, follows the adventures of one of the most famous outlaws of all time. King Richard the Lionheart of England is off at the Crusades and his evil brother John has all but proclaimed himself king. Robin, Maid Marian, and the Merry Men of Sherwood (including Little John, Friar Tuck, and Will Scarlet) continually outwit Sir Guy of Gisbourne, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Prince John himself as they steal from the rich to give to the poor.

Pros: I love the story of Robin Hood! In my opinion, Robin is the quintessential hero. He saves damsels in distress, helps the poor, and outduels villains without breaking a sweat. Maid Marian is awesome in this book - tough without being too tomboyish. Friar Tuck and Little John are both great.

Cons: There are very, very few clergy or religious who are portrayed as good people. Marian actually dresses as a man once or twice. I highly doubt a woman in the Middle Ages would have done that.

My Rating: OK (violence, a creepy witch)

Picture from randomhouse.com

On Emma

Based on Jane Austen's novel of the same name, Emma is about Miss Emma Woodhouse (Kate Beckinsale), the queen bee of Highbury. Emma, triumphant over matching up her governess with a neighbor, sets out to find a match for the parson, Mr. Elton (Dominic Rowan). She promptly succeeds in embroiling herself and her closest friend, Harriet Smith (Samantha Morton), in a tangled series of events.

Pros: Jane Austen's books (and their adaptations) prove that romantic comedies are much funnier if they aren't crude. Frank Churchill (Raymond Coulthard), Harriet, Mr. Elton, and the ever-annoying Miss Bates (Prunella Scales) are very well acted.

Cons: I must admit that this isn't my favorite adaptation of Emma. I have read the book twice and seen three movie versions, so I have a very set idea of what the characters should be like. This version's Emma has little of the grace, elegance, and sense of superiority that she should have and comes across as merely silly and immature. Mr. Knightley (Mark Strong) is rather too harsh - as if they chose one aspect of his character and blew it up to become his entire character. Emma's imaginary wedding scenes are a bit too much.

My Rating: OK (some speculation about an affair)

Concerning Lantern Hill

Lantern Hill, a Canadian adaptation of L.M. Montgomery's book Jane of Lantern Hill, is the story of a young girl whose parents are separated. Twelve year old Victoria Jane Stuart (Mairon Bennett) has lived with her mother Robin (Patricia Phillips) for as long as she can remember. Then one day they receive a letter from Jane's father Andrew (Sam Waterston), requesting a visit from his daughter. Jane, who has heard nothing but bad things about her father from her mother's family, reluctantly agrees to go.

Pros: To be perfectly honest, there are very few pros in this movie. The two best parts were Jane's friend Jody (Sarah Polley) and Violet and Justina Titus (Joyce Campion and Florence Patterson, respectively), who could be very funny.

Cons: The acting was bad. Particularly in Andrew's case, which is too bad because the whole emotional pull of the movie is centered on him. There are also some weird sort of dream/vision scenes with a ghost that are entirely out of place. I've never read the book, but the whole movie came across like a badly done abridgement. Many scenes and characters seemed to be included simply because they were necessary for later parts of the story - there was very little character development and almost no flow in the story development.

My Rating: T (broken marriage, "spooky" ghost scenes)

Picture from movieberry.com

Pertaining To The Lioness & Her Knight

The Lioness & Her Knight, written by Gerald Morris, is part of The Squire's Tales, a series of books about knights and ladies of England during the reign of King Arthur. Luneta feels stifled at home. Her parents are altogether unexciting, while their home on the family farm is decidedly dull. So when her parents suggest she goes to visit her mother's old friend, Luneta leaps at her chance for adventure.

Pros: The wry humor is quite amusing, especially the lines of Rhience the fool. Luneta is "the lioness" and I was afraid she would be another example of what Steven Greydanus from Decent Films calls "aggrieved feminism" - women being forced into "womanly" lives who suddenly discover they can lead their lives like men. Bleah. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when I found this wasn't the case in this particular book.

Cons: Characters occasionally use expressions that are glaringly modern. I daresay some people will be put off by the magic (though I have no problem with it). Enchantresses whisper magic words, some of which are written in the book. Whether these words are gibberish or have a deeper meaning, I cannot say.

My Rating: OK (violence, "guy humor," and a nude insane person)

Picture from wla.lib.wi.us.com