Category: Everything Else

So I’ve seen a few movies recently (yep, I’m talking about you A Wrinkle in Time & Black Panther), but my favorite for a sweet coming of age, love story is Love, Simon. It’s out in theaters today!

Here’s a quick view of the film from the trailer.

This is one of the first times I’ve watched a movie where the main character (Simon, played by Nick Robinson) is in high school & instead of seeing myself as the teenager, I saw myself as the parent.

Yep, I’m getting old.

But I did LOVE how Jennifer Garner & Josh Duhamel played Simon’s parents with hilarity & grace & love.

Love, Simon is directed by Greg Berlanti (Dawson’s Creek, Brothers & Sisters), written  Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger (This is Us), & based on Becky Albertalli’s acclaimed novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda which I’d now really like to read.

The core theme of Love, Simon is that everyone deserves a great love story. & 17 year old Simon Spier is trying to figure that out as a closeted gay guy who’s fallen for an anonymous classmate who he’s connected with online. I laughed & cried through him wrestling with coming out to his family & friends along with trying to identify the mysterious Blue.

Go check out Love, Simon with friends this weekend, or with your middle or high schooler (it’s appropriately rated PG-13)!

While 20th Century Fox did provide me ticket to the screening of Love, Simon, I wasnt otherwise compensated for my review & my thoughts are honestly my own.

A Wrinkle in Time came out in theaters today! Do you have tweens? Kids I’d say 8 & up? Read A Wrinkle in Time together then go see this movie! I always say to read the book first, but I didnt for this film. So you can be like me & watch the film & then request the book at the library too!

A Wrinkle in Time starts telling the story of Meg Murray’s family- her scientist parents & their relationship. Her Dad disappeared 4 years ago & Meg’s having a lot of trouble at school.

Meg’s super smart brother Charles Wallace (played by the adorable & talented Deric McCabe) is trying to help. He brings around Mrs Whatsit, played beautifully by Reece Witherspoon, who shows up surprising Meg & her mom. Then Charles Wallace takes Meg & her friend Calvin to meet Mrs Who, who speaks mostly in quotes, played awesomely by Mindy Kaling.

& then the kids are off. (I’ll let the details come out when you see the film.) But know it’s magically & I didn’t understand the science behind the how.

I LOVED the costumes of the Mrs. Their make up & wardrobes were fanciful & amazing. I mean just look at Mrs. Whatsit below!

then there’s Mrs. Which – oh mama Oprah. Her hair, costumes & her words amazed me! Y’all know I watched her show back in the day religiously. Loved seeing her in this film & knowing that with her role in A Wrinkle in Time, she will help guide a whole other generation of women, young women & girls to believe in themselves.

I loved the Mrs. as the “fairy god mothers” of this Disney film. They helped guide these middle schoolers on their journey to try to find Mr Murray & bring him & them back home.

I loved the self confidence journey we watched Meg go through. The theme of being your own warrior is one I want to instill in my own kids & I’m sure you do in yours.

For adults, does it have cheesy parts? Slightly slow parts? yes. Will the tween crowd love & swoon over Storm & Levi? Absolutely!

I was given pass to see A Wrinkle in Time in exchange for this review, but the free movie pass didn’t sway my opinion or review.

Confession, I’m not a Marvel fanatic. But my husband is, so I’ve seen most of the recent Marvel character movies. Including one 2 days before Zach’s water broke as I was uncomfortable AF in the theater chair (but that’s another story for another post).  But I did see the one where the Black Panther character was introduced & kinda knew the Marvel story line with him.

 

So when I got to invite to attend the pre-screening of the new Black Panther film last week, I immediately replied for husband & I to go. Kid duty ended up meaning that he stayed home while I went. After all the hype going into this film, I was excited, but since I’m not a huge super hero movie lover, I wasn’t sure it would live up to the talk.

Oh but it did! In case you weren’t one of the millions of people who went to see Black Panther when it opened nationwide this weekend, I’ll keep this post spoiler-free.

But y’all! This isn’t just a Marvel character movie. The timing on this one is so perfect for our time. It’s a film about the Black Panther – T’Challa (played by Chadwick Bodeman) returns home to Wakanda after his father T’Chaka (played by Lupita Nyongo) died (in a prior Marvel film) to succeed to the throne & take his place as king.

It’s a film about Africa & it’s hidden gems – debates on pro/con of keeping your countries “gems” for yourself or sharing your wealth. The scenery was breathtaking. The technology was amazing- futuristic & so cool. Wakanda is not an actual country & it’s power source, vibranium doesn’t exist, but the film-makers did an amazing job of working in nods to Africa costumes & customs.

It’s a movie about family. About being a king & what the responsibility of being a leader is. & the support it takes to continue to be a leader. & in Black Panther, that support was so amazingly female!

Oh my goodness, I just loved the STRONG female characters in this film. His ex-girlfiend Nakia (played by Lupita Nyongo), General Okoye (played by Danai Gurira), mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) & super scientist sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) stole the movie for me. Made me laugh out loud & cheer them on!

I think Zach & Lucy have reached (finally) an awesome age to watch movies at the theater. They get it ~ the excitement, the big screen, the popcorn!

So when we were invited (& you were too!) to go check out Paddington 2 recently, I was so excited! We studied up, watching Paddington the Saturday (& Sunday) beforehand. Zach & Lucy (& us too) had the characters fresh in our minds & couldn’t wait to see what kinds of trouble Paddington might get himself into &, we hoped with the help of the Brown’s, out of!

We were overjoyed with Paddington 2!

Paddington was his same sweet, friendly, funny bear self that Lucy & Zach fell for in the original Paddington film.

Paddington 2 begins where the first film ended, the rare bear, Paddington happily lives with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens & in Paddington fashion, has befriended almost everyone in the neighborhood. Paddington, in search of the perfect birthday gift for his Aunt Lucy, ends up being a witness to a crime. Then Paddington, the Brown’s & friends spend the rest of the movie trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of the gift & get Paddington out of trouble.

We laughed out loud, L&Z got a little bit nervous, & we were all happy at the end. I think Lucy & I might’ve even had a sweet little tear in our eyes at one point! Zach & Lucy loved the cooking scenes. They laughed & laughed over the laundry. Our friend Jack “loved how Paddington made friends with all the neighbors & had special friendships with each one”. I loved how Paddington showed everyone how being polite wins every time.

In the weeks after (as y’all know, I’m usually universally late) watching this new film, we’ve picked up 7 Paddington bear books from the library & re-watched the original movie weekly. Zach & Lucy can’t wait for us to watch Paddington 2 at home when it comes out on DVD.

Have y’all seen Paddington 2 yet? What age did you find was the “sweet spot” for taking kids to the movies & them last all the way through?

While we were given advantage movie passes to see Paddington 2, their generosity didn’t change my review of the film.