The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

This was an interesting film about a young boy whose family moves to a home right next to a concentration camp during WWII. The young boy's father is a Nazi officer who works at the camp. The boy, through exploring when no one is looking, discovers a young Jewish boy at the edge of the camp near the fence. The two become friends and this movie is about their friendship and the young boy trying to understand why he is told to believe that Jews are evil. This movie is very moving, although I was very disturbed by the fact that these Germans had British accents of sorts, but otherwise it was good storytelling. I did not see the ending coming the way it did and was in shock for a bit after watching it. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is another good rental, but I highly recommend doing something light-hearted or uplifting after watching it is rather depressing.

Milk

This movie was phenomenal. I completely understand why Sean Penn won for best actor. Well deserved. This is the story of Harvey Milk who was the first openly gay person to hold public office. I was so moved by his story and inspired by one line in the movie "I'm 40 and haven't done anything I'm proud of." This just made me think about what I'm doing and where I'm going. I'm only 30 and I have two very important things that I'm proud of, my children, but it inspired me to look at my life and see what I've done or will do for others that will change lives. I feel like I have all of these great ideas and never bring them to fruition because I tell myself it will never happen or I don't have the resources. Harvey Milk was a man who believed in his cause and despite great obstacles and people telling him it would never be done, DID IT. What an amazing message. The real life footage in this movie was so moving and the footage of the candlelight vigil at the end brought me to tears. I highly recommend not only watching this, but during/after watching this really taking a look at your life and thinking about how you're going to change the world, how you will leave your mark. Find something to be passionate about and LIVE it. Don't just DREAM it. Make it real and true.

Into the Wild

"Into the Wild" is the story of Christopher McCandless who is an upper-middle class young man who gives away his savings $24,000+ to charity and then abandons his life for the open road as he makes his way to Alaska. He feels he needs to leave the constraints of society and the violence as he experience in his childhood. This movie was excellent (directed by Sean Penn) and really got me thinking about what I prioritize in my life now and how I would love to get to a place where I don't feel like I need all of the material things that I think I need now. One quote I loved from the movie is "Happiness only real when shared". This man had so many amazing experiences and met so many interesting people. I have the book and wanted to read it before I saw the movie, but I'm glad now that I saw the movie first. I highly recommend watching this one.

Rachel Getting Married

This movie is not so much a movie as it is a kind of case study look at how abandonment and addiction can ravage a family. I don't know if I would say I was necessarily entertained by it, but I was most definitely fascinated by it and Anne Hathaway was phenomenal. This movie is very heavy, so I don't recommend watching it unless you are ready to be thrown into the depths of a totally screwed up family, but I do recommend checking it out, if only to see Anne Hathaway blow away her Princess Diaries persona and throw herself full force into the dark character of Kym.

Wanted

Have you ever said, "Gee, I wish there was a movie that was a mash-up of Office Space, the Matrix, and Kill Bill?" No? Are you sure? Sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? Yeah, I didn't think so either. Unfortunately, whoever made the movie "Wanted" thought it was a good idea. So, that being said, I do not recommend checking out this movie unless A) you are obsessed with Angelina Jolie (I'm talking to you Octo-mom!) B) you have a really sick sense of humor or 3) you have two hours to waste watching really bad storytelling. I will admit it was a little worth it just for the hilarity of watching Morgan Freeman say, "Shoot this mother f***er!", but that's all I have to say that is positive about it.

Anne Frank Remembered

I also watched the documentary "Anne Frank Remembered" this weekend. It was truly phenomenal. The eighth graders I work with right now are studying Anne Frank and it was so awesome to get to hear straight from the mouths of those who were there and knew Anne and experienced some of what she experienced. It is such an incredible way to learn the story of Anne, the Holocaust, and The Secret Annex. It even inspired me to go out and buy "The Diary of Anne Frank" which I have never read before and start reading it. I'll comment on that once I'm done reading it. Check out "Anne Frank Remembered", though. The time spent watching it is definitely well spent.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

We saw "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" over the weekend and it was a fun little movie. Nothing overly profound about it, but it was good for some laughs and I love Michael Cera. It's also a kind of a testament to just getting over yourself and going after what you really want in life. We give it two thumbs up. Totally worth Netflixing.