Movie Review: Facing the Giants DVD

We watched this movie for the second time this week. Had to write a review for the 2 people who may not have seen it.

Facing the Giants: DVD Rated PG
Starring: A Cast of Unknowns

The story line is a small, Christian academy with a losing football record adopts a new philosophy to honor God in all aspects of life. Great things follow.

Becky's Grade: A

Here's the deal. The acting is less than steller. You will not see anyone nominated for anything in this film, trust me. The story line is very simple. No big surprises. BUT - And this is a big BUT - this movie has quickly become one of my favorites. It is one of the best "feel good" movies I've ever seen. It does not hide behind covering the truth behind politically correctness. It just puts it out there, like it or not. And the best part for me: It's a true story!

Bottom line: Buy this and watch it over and over!

Sick Baby Blues

I have been so bad about blogging this week - Truthfully we don't have a lot going on noteworthy... Brandon started his fall semester. Was 20 minutes late to his first day of orientation and got the class rolling with the reason he was late to PT school was that he was in PT for his knee. Braylon started his first day of preschool today. He acted like it was no big deal - I mean after all, he's the big man on campus. He's in the 4 year old preschool class, not the 3 year old preschool class. He hardly wanted me to walk in with him today, much less touch him as I said goodbye. Mr. Independent! Blaine has been very sick this week - His usual. Ear infection, cold, with a side of croup. I wanted to ask the doc if he had anything else in his bag of diagnosis that we could exchange that for because I have had plenty of those things already this year. Ahhh.... If we can survive the ear infection years, we'll be A-OK!

Play Nice!

Granny, Blaine and Mommy were sitting at the breakfast table on Saturday. (Daddy and Braylon had gone to assist Papaw in getting the camper from Lubbock.) We were talking about various topics when Granny mentioned that sippy cups seem to migrate from the Davis house to the Hamilton house and don't find their way home. When Mommy disagreed, a friendly banter of where are the missing cups launched. After just a few seconds back and forth in this discussion, Blaine cut in and said, "Play nice!"

Laughter ended the banter and we still don't know where the cups are....

It's School Time

Today Brandon and I attended the parent's orientation for Braylon's preschool. This is his second year in the same program, so the information was not new to us. We sat through it and then afterwards wanted Braylon's new teacher to have our faces with Braylon's, so we went to the classroom to officially meet her. Braylon was standing at her desk - the rest of the kids were all sitting and eating their snacks. It appeared to me that he was entertaining the class to some degree. Braylon's teacher smiled warmly and said, "He's going to be such a helper in class this year."

Certainly a good way to earn bonus points with us!

I Like It!

Last night at the supper table, we were all sitting and chatting, having a good time. Towards the end of the meal, Brandon, Blaine and I lingered while Braylon rode off into the living room to color. Brandon started whistling children's songs while Blaine guessed what they were. It quickly became a game to Blaine, who would intently stare at Brandon's lips while he thought of the song. He was right nearly every time, too! After a dozen songs or so, Blaine stared at his Daddy with a very serious face and announced, "I like it!" That bought a series of laughter around the table.

Who Do You Ask?

Coming from a busy VBS week, our family took a "rest" over the weekend and we did very little of significance. Mostly just hung out and played. During one such moment on Sunday, the kids were watching their favorite show, "Dora the Explorer." I imagine most readers have seen this show, but in case you haven't, it's a cartoon that centers around a girl and her friends who explore the world. She runs through a series of questions during the show to mold kid's memory and thinking skills. Some questions are same in every episode, some are different.

We had a cute moment while watching. Dora asked, "Who do you ask when you don't know which way to go?" Blaine triumphantly said, "MAP!" (Which is the correct answer for the show.) Without missing a beat and in all seriousness, Braylon told Dora, "God!"

Out of the mouths of babes....

Movie Review: Evan Almighty

A bit delayed, but here it is:

Evan Almighty Rated PG; Starring Steve Carel and Morgan Freeman

This is a follow-up movie to the wildly successful Bruce Almighty from a few years ago. Steve Carel reprises his role as Evan Baxter, the one-time news anchor rival in the originial movie. In the beginning of the film, Evan Baxter leaves the field of journalism to pursue politics and quickly is elected as a United States Congressman. Soon after taking office, Evan is visited by God Himself, again cleverly played by Morgan Freeman. God has a big task for Evan and instructs him to build an ark, like Noah did before him, much to the dismay of his family and fellow Congressmen. Evan reluctantly obeys.

Becky's Grade: B

One of my very favorite movies is Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey. This movie paled in comparison to that, so it's best not to compare them. The movie takes few twists and turns and you are left wanting to experience something deeper. However, the positive message of the movie overrode the simplicity of it. I enjoyed a positive, God-focused message in this cynical movie world. I left the movie looking for "opportunities." (If you see the movie, you'll get that.) And finally, I must say that the movie is good family movie - I would let my 4 year old watch this when it comes out on video. I imagine he'll enjoy seeing the animals and some of the slap-stick humor. I do not remember any curse words or overtly inappropriate jokes.

Bottom line: Rent it and watch it with your family with confidence.