Ferris Bueller's Day Off - M3.4/E6

This movie frequently comes up as one of the great movies of the past (IMDB - 7.9 and Rotten Tomatoes - 80%), and I keep thinking that maybe by re-watching it I'd understand where those viewpoints come from.  Maybe not a lot of great movies came out of the 80's or maybe I'm just missing it all together.  I like movies that make me think, and maybe I'm not thinking along the right wavelengths as those who praise it; but if a movie requires too much thought, it's not worth my time.

By all means, the story was fun and entertaining, it made me think back to high school (a fairly positive time period for me), so it definitely served its purpose.  It would have been more enjoyable on VidAngel given the amount of language (particularly religious profanity) throughout the show.  Otherwise, for a high school comedy, it was fairly clean.

Ferris is almost an idol worshiped by everyone in the movie, except for his sister and Principal Rooney.  Eventually the sister gives in and the Principal pays for his lack of devotion.  Ferris' example to his friend Cameron could be seen as a bit controversial.  He gets him to break all sorts of rules in the name of living it up and their soon parting when they graduate from high school.  The majority of the comedy comes from this unrealistic gushing adoration for the carefree Ferris.  His sister decides to take his side only after having a make-out session with a druggie in the police department...maybe being stoned is contagious?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - M6.6/E7

My wife very rarely cares what movies we end up watching, I’m generally the one that picks them out. She surprised me by bringing this one home from the library. I was semi-intrigued about it when I saw it released, but never had any strong urge to see it. While not an amazing movie, the almost 3 hour feature was enjoyable. It really is nothing more than a story about the life of a man. He doesn’t affect the history of the world in any remarkable way, but the fact that he lives his life backwards from an old man until he dies as a baby is a pretty cool experience to be a part of.

Not living a normal life, it’s hard to pin any moral message on anything literal presented in the movie. There is adultery and prostitution, co-habitation, and family desertion - and while not condoned in real life, they add an interesting element to the story.  The reason these elements don't necessarily create a negative moral message is that the story isn't saying this is how happy people live their lives.  Benjamin was never really happy; he was so confused with his situation in life (as were those around him) that he never really fit in anywhere.  His happiest moment was when he met up in the middle with Daisy and was able to experience a  portion of a normal life.

While initially despised by his father as a monster, his father doesn’t completely give up on him and eventually we see their relationship grow stronger (appropriately backwards) and father and son are brought close together. As an old man, though really a child, he works with a bunch of sailors and acquires their habits and vices. As a companion (not married, but living together) he was faithful and loves Daisy. Though when he found out he was to be a father, he couldn’t bear the thought of becoming a child physically as his daughter grew older and needed a real father. Benjamin moved on and was able to do things in his old age that were impossible to do in his arthritic youth. What was really moving was to see him as a boy in his old age, senile and in need of assistance, only to be found by his childhood friend and lover who cared for him until he passed on.

While not a must-see, if you come across this movie and aren't looking for something fast-paced, this is worth watching at least once.

Flipped (2010)

Entertainment Rating: 4 of 5

The trailer really sold me on this show. It had great music and what seemed to be a pretty promising story. The story was a little long, but told in a really cool way. We’re shown half of the movie from the point of view of a young boy and the other half of the movie is the same as the first (it’s broken up into more than just two halves), but told by a young girl who has a crush on the young boy and happens to live across the street from him. It was our Valentine’s day show, not terribly romantic, but a little lower key than what Scott Pilgrim might have been.

Moral Rating: 4 of 5

This was an easy going film, but at the same time presented some very deep issues. Beyond the awkward boy/girl relationships we get a good look at prejudices and heartaches from two different sides. A lot of times we only get the one perspective in a film (or in life), not multiple. We see that we can’t always lie or hide behind a lie; who we are will show through no matter what we try to do to cover things up. Bryce takes the whole movie to realize who he is and to be comfortable with it. He spends too much time trying to make other people happy (except Juli) and as a result he’s never really happy. Juli helps him (inadvertently) become the good guy he is in the end.

Juli was a very good girl, who had a strong character and really knew what she wanted in life and got it (at least as far as her influence reached, Bryce was a little harder to “get”). Bryce on the other hand was a lot weaker and struggled with knowing when to stand up for something that was right. A lot of the differences between the two could be seen in their families’ lives and how they treated each other and how they spent time together at home. While the mothers of Bryce and Juli shared something in common, the two fathers were quite opposite and had a lot of influence on how their families behaved.

The overarching symbol of the Sycamore tree added a nice touch to the overall flow of the show. We can choose to see life and the world from a broad, reaching perspective or be content to live our own lives in our own little world and never try to learn about or love others.

There was a little more language than in most PG movies, probably similar to the Sandlot and some dialog that contributed to the rating, but overall we enjoyed it.