Critics Corner

My routine for Cooper currently includes putting him to bed at 8:00 (ish) and then getting him up at 10:30 or 11:00 for one last feeding before I go to bed. Since we're currently suffering through the ridiculous thing that the networks like to call summer programming, most evenings there is nothing worthwhile on TV to watch during that time frame. And let's face it, if I'm not watching something that will hold my attention, then I'll probably fall asleep. (Side note: some friends of ours were telling us that a couple of Sundays ago at their church (we go to different churches) a couple was sitting across the aisle from them and they had a newborn with them. At one point during the service, my friend said that the parents were both sound asleep! Turns out the baby was only a week old. She found this out when they brought the baby to the nursery after the church service and she checked them in. They took their 1 week old baby to the nursery! That's another discussion entirely.)

Back to the point of this, in order to pass this child-free time in the evenings, we've been catching up on our movie rentals. In the past 4 weeks we've seen: "He's Just Not that Into You", "Bride Wars", "Knowing", "Transporter 3", and "Body of Lies". We've also watched "Legally Blonde", "Legally Blonde 2", "Black Hawk Down" and "Bourne Supremecy" on TV.

Of all these movies, my favorite was "He's Just Not that Into You". Ladies, you probably don't want to hear this, but they totally nailed how most single girls are when they're actively pursuing a relationship with someone (anyone!). Yes, I know that there are exceptions to this and there are many women out there who didn't obsess about whether or not the guy is going to call or come up with ways to "accidentally" run into him. But I would say that there's an equal number of girls who did these exact things. I will confess to having done some of them myself. Of course you need to see the movie in order to fully understand what I'm talking about. And I loved Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck's story line in this movie. So sweet! I couldn't help but wonder if some of these scenes were hard for her to film because, in some ways, they seemed to mirror her relationship situation in real life.

"Bride Wars" was ok. I'm not a big Kate Hudson fan, but I loved that "Van" from "Reba" was in this movie. I loved him in that show. Of course this character is different from "Van", but it was still nice to see him again. "Bright" from "Everwood" was also in this movie. If you never watched "Everwood" then shame on you! That was a great show that was cut way too short by the stupid CW network.

"Transporter 3" was simply rented for Keith's sake. I can't remember much from that movie, but I can probably safely say it was a guy movie and if you're a guy that likes car chases and gun fights, then you'd probably like any of the Transporter movies. I do like car chases and gun fights, but this movie didn't hold my attention. "Body of Lies" was hard to follow, so I can't really give a good critique of it. This may be solely due to my sleep deprivation, but I finished that movie feeling very confused and also had a hard time understanding how the FBI/CIA (see, I can't even remember which agency Leo DiCaprio worked for!) thought that Leonardo would be a good choice to blend in with Middle Easterners. He couldn't be more of a white boy. They had him with dark hair, but he still wouldn't have passed as a Middle Easterner in the real world. They would have totally suspected him as a spy.

The initial premise to the movie "Knowing" was really good. I remember seeing the previews for this when it was in the theaters and I knew I wanted to see it when I got the chance. 3/4 of the movie was really good and definitely held my attention, but the last 1/4 of the movie was absolutely absurd. They could have gone in a completely different direction and made it a really great movie. Instead, it was a passable movie. Though I would recommend it if you're a Nicolas Cage fan, or just curious about the movie. But be prepared for a ridiculous (in my opinion) ending.

I'm sure I'll have many more movies to critique between now and the night when Cooper starts sleeping all night and doesn't require a late feeding.