Movie Night; To the Movies: ***^Just Like Heaven; ****John Carter; ***12 O'Clock High

Just Like Heaven is a 2005 Reese Witherspoon movie.  It also features Mark Ruffalo as David Abbott.  Jon Heder portrays someone with skills in talking to spirits, and adds some freshness to the movie.  Witherspoon portrays Elizabeth Martinson who is separated from her body as the result of a car accident.  Her body is in a coma, while her spirit haunts Abbott who is living in her apartment.  This leads to David finally grieving his wife's death.  A romance ensues, and they have to save  Elizabeth's body who is going to be taken off life support.  This movie has a nice theme, making us decide what is really important in life.  Miranda got this movie through DVD Netflix.
John Carter is the big budget Disney scifi based on a book by Edgar Rice Burroughs written 100 years ago.  The movie tells the story of the uncle of Burroughs, Civil War veteran John Carter, who is transported by accident to Mars.  There he becomes involved in a war between four civilizations, two humanoid, one four armed and green and remind me of Avatar, and a sinister people who are behind the scenes.  They manipulate the war, giving information when it suits them.  They have superior technology, such as transporting between worlds, having ray guns etc. They remind me of something from Dr Who. This movie took a pounding from the critics, and the box office.  It probably looks too much like other movies, Avatar, Star Wars.  It has the fight between monster and prisoner in the arena.  The monster looks like the snowman from Hoth. There are also traces of Stargate.  However there are somethings new.  The critter that is like a dog is cute.  I also like to interaction between Burroughs and Carter and how this plays into the plot.  Maybe the characters in these other movies are based on Burroughs.  I give this movie four stars as I love most anything scifi.  This is good, but not as good as some others.  I saw this movie at Marketplace, $3 theater.
Twelve O'Clock High is from Netflix DVD.  This is an old Gregory Peck classic about the stress of war.  It gets to the best of them.  Dean Jagger (who also played Brigham Young and later converted to Mormonism) portrays the commander who has to get all he can from his men.  He won the best supporting actor.

Book of Mormon King Benjamin; my thoughts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIfSq2f5VuI

There were a couple of things about King Benjamin's discourse that caught my attention today.  Particularly in Mosiah two:

36 And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go ^acontrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do ^bwithdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved—

I thought it interesting how he says we remove ourselves from the Spirit, rather than the Spirit leaving us. 

And then from chapter three we read:

 19 For the ^anatural ^bman is an ^cenemy to God, and has been from the ^dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he ^eyields to the enticings of the Holy ^fSpirit, and ^gputteth off the ^hnatural man and becometh a ⁱsaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a ^jchild, ^ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

This gives further insight, telling us we have to let go of our carnal nature, become submissive as a child, and yield to the enticings of the Spirit.  Oh that we can make the atone effective in our lives.  Please watch the movie through to the end, which is the best part.

Life in Manteca # 38

The weather has dominated couple of weeks in Manteca.   First we had strange weather with a tornado in French Camp,  The sky was really pretty for a few days.  It filled up our over drain lake in the park and inspired Caleb to borrow a kayak and invite from friends over.  Then today, in the same spot they are playing a soccer tournament in 90 degree heat.  I took Tony over to the park and pushed him on the swing, and watched a bit of soccer.  I miss it, but may soon get back into depending on Tony's interests.  Tony also showed me his climbing a tree skills and hanging on the monkey bar skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veH4tr8fNPY
 FUN AT THE LAKE LAST WEEK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOINzXgu4bM&context=C4239bcaADvjVQa1PpcFOJqn7mLHjPf7NyXLoRYw8OOL_Yv1y_TyM=
TONY AND THE DOG LAST WEEK

Movie Summary: Christmas movies

***** It's a Wonderful Life (Jimmy Stewart)
***** Krueger's Christmas  (Jimmy Stewart) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tMuSVVljg8
**** A Christmas Memory (Truman Capote)
**** The Coat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp3IH8ZNviQ
**** A Carlie Brown Christmas
***^ Christmas Angel
***^ Santa Claus I (Tim Allen)
***^ Christmas Story (Finnish movie)
*** Santa Clause III (Tim Allen)
*** Elf (Will Carrol)
*** It's Christmastime Again Charlie Brown
*** The Christmas Story (bb gun)
*** Rudolf The Red-nosed Reindeer
**^ Santa Clause II (Tim Allen)
**^ Dream Works Holiday Classics
** The Family Stone (Diane Keaton)
** Santa's Surprise
*8 The Night Before Christmas
**Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special
*^ Christmas Comes But Once a Year
*^ The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas
(no stars) A Christmas Too Many


**** A Chritmas Carol (1999) Patrick Stewart
**** A Christmas Carol: Scrooge (1951)  Alistair Sim
***^ A Christmas Carol (1984) George C Scott
***Christmas Carol (2009 animated) Disney Jim Carrey
** A Christmas Carol The Movie (2001 animated) Kate Winslett
** Scrooge (1970 musical) Albert Finney
*^ A Christmas Carol  (2008 animated)
*  Scrooged (1988) Bill Murray

Ay the Movies and Movie Night ***^"We Bought a Zoo," "****The Journey of Natty Gann" ***The Brothers Grimm" ***^The 300 Spartans

A couple of comments on movies I have seen lately

***^"We Bought a Zoo" Sheri and I went with Tony to the Marketplace $3 theater. This movie is about a Quixotic attempt by a father to restore his family as they are dealing with the grief of losing his wife, and mother of his two children. To do this he buys a property, which happens to include a zoo.  The zoo is previously condemned, and so it includes the efforts to overcome inspection, so they can reopen.
An enjoyable subplot is the relationship between the father (Matt Damon) and his son. The find a way to heal wounds in the son's art.  The father uses one of his drawings of a lion to advertise the reopening of the zoo.  Scarlett Johansen plays the game keeper.  This movie was pretty fun--but the Tony scale wasn't that great.  He had to go out at least three times during the movie, for a drink, for candy and for the potty.
****"The Journey of Natty Gann"  I watched this movie through Netflix DVD.  This is one of our family's favorite movies, but I couldn't interest everyone else in watching it with me; so watched it alone.  It is an enjoyable movie, with the struggle of the depression era, the railroad tramps and camps.  The grief of the father thinking he had lost his daughter, and then the classic restoration at the end.  This movie launched the career of John Cusack as he portrayed a drifter that befriends Natty.
***"The Brothers Grimm"  This movie has a nice premise, but then seems to loss itself by going overboard. heir It starts with the premise of the Brothers Grimm being con men, who sell their services of eliminating ghosts and witches, and first creating them, and then overcoming coconspirators who portray the evil beings using pulley and subterfuge. Then the become enmeshed in a real fantasy.  A queen is kept alive in a tower while a plague kills the entire kingdom.  However turns out, she extends her life inside a mirror.  The evil queen has been kidnapping children, which she is going to use to make herself came back to life.  It just goes a bit overboard with this.  This movie stars Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.
***^"The 300 Spartans"  This is the movie I enjoyed as a boy.  The drama of the Spartans standing against incredible odds, and then only being defeated when they are overwhelmed.  The underdog, beating back the Persian hordes is a classic.  My only complaint was the narration.  Too pompous for me, but in those days was what made movies.