Pan's Labyrinth

This is an Oscar Winning Spanish film about Ofelia, a young girl who along with her pregnant mother moves in with her new step-father and begins to use her imagination to escape the real world nightmare she is living. In her Labyrinth she meets up with a magical faun who gives her 3 tasks to complete in order to save her mother. This is a really good movie and the effects are fantastic.

Half Nelson

This is the story of an inner-city 8th grade history teacher who has a horrible drug problem. One day one of his young students catches him smoking crack and they begin a journey of trying to help each other, while both of them are dealing with their own problems. Even though this is another harsh drug film it is really good. You feel for both characters and desperately want them to survive the tough life they are living.

One Night With The King

This is the story of Esther (Queen of Persia) from the bible that saves the Jewish nation with her bravery. Of course this is one of those movies where the theme of the movie is good, but unfortunately the acting is really bad.

Super Size Me

This is an amazing documentary about the harm of eating too much fast food. Morgan Spurlock decides he is going to eat nothing but McDonalds for 30 days to see what kind of impact it has on his body. Of course he gains weight, but what is really interesting is the other impacts it has. I highly recommend watching this film.

Inconvenient Truth

This is the Oscar winning documentary about Global Warming told by Al Gore. In this movie Gore uses concise examples, charts, and photos to plea for the public to take immediate action to impact Global Warming for future generations. As a believer in Global Warming I enjoyed this movie and thought the examples and statistics were very eye opening.

Sherrybaby

This is the story of Sherry, a newly paroled drug addict determined to get her life back on track. Her main goal is to re-connect with her 6-year old daughter who has been living with her brother and sister-in-law. She goes through some major emotional ups and downs when she realizes reintegrating back into society and staying clean is not as easy as she hoped. This is a very sad look at what life for an abused drug addict is like. There is a lot of nudity in this movie, but it was a sad but good movie.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Dito Montiel tells the story of his and his friends time growing up in a low income rough area of New York. They are living a sad life with drugs, physical abuse, poverty, and violence that gives you a feeling of hopelessness for their future. Dito finally has enough and takes off for California against everyone's wishes, but returns when his father gets sick. This is a good movie, but does have a lot of language and sensitive material.

Stomp The Yard

The story of DJ Williams who is a good kid and a gifted dancer, but is running with a dangerous crowd. After his brother gets shot and killed and he ends up in jail, his mother sends him to Atlanta to live with his Aunt and Uncle while he attends Truth University. While he is there he joins a fraternity and learns a new type of dance (stepping) and that he wants out of life what this close brotherhood teaches him he can have.

The Last King of Scotland

Forest Whitaker won the 2007 Best Actor Oscar for his role as Uganda President Idi Amin in this story told from his personal physician's perspective. When the physician first meets the President he is taken in by Amin's determination to fix the country, but soon realizes the President is quickly becoming paranoid, vicious, and insane. Whitaker was more than deserving of the Oscar with his amazing performance in this movie.

Freedom Writers

Freshman English teach Erin Gruwell tries everything to get her troubled students to learn, but then finally realizes she is going to have to think outside the box to make an impact. She decides to have them journal about their real life in Long Beach, CA and in doing so realizes that these kids are lucky to be alive let alone still in school. She becomes passionate about teaching these kids that they can still succeed in life no matter what obstacles they have to face. This is an amazing movie that everyone should watch. Based on a true story it is unbelievable the obstacles that kids face today, and the people that do extraodinary things to make a difference.

Alpha Dog

Young drug dealer Johnny Truelove gets tired of junkie Jake Muzursky owing him money and decides to get even by kidnapping his younger brother Zack. Based on actual events this movie is about small crime turning to serious crime with one bad decision. Filled with a lot of language, drugs, and sex, this horrible story is well made and I am sure very real to today's life in the city.

Music and Lyrics

A washed-up 80's musician (Grant) is trying to redeem his career by pairing up with a rookie lyricist (Barrymore) and writing the next great song, and along the way they find romance. This movie was surprisingly funny. I really thought this was going to be cheesy, but ended up really enjoying it. Barrymore & Grant had great chemistry that made the movie work.

Facing the Giants

This is a movie about a down and out football team who looks to God to help inspire them to victory. The acting in this movie is really bad, but the moral of the story is really a good one. If you are looking for a clean movie with a strong focus on religion, then I think you will like this.

Catch & Release

In this movie Jennifer Garner plays Grey Wheeler, a woman whose fiance dies unexpectedly right before the wedding. With the help of her fiance's friends and the mother of his child she didn't know about, she tries to figure out how to move on with her life. This movie did not do well at the box office, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the cast was great and it was worth watching.

Because I Said So

This is a movie about the mother daughter relationship of Daphne (Diane Keaton) and Milly (Mandy Moore) and the trauma that ensues when she tries to help Milly find a husband. I was really disappointed in this movie. It was a great cast, and the story line was cute, but it was over the top and not very well acted. If you like chick flicks and you are not picky about acting skills you will make it through it, but if not I would not recommend watching it.

Night at the Museum

Larry Daley has a lot of dreams and big ideas, but unfortunately has trouble holding down a regular job to pay the bills. He finally decides he needs a normal paycheck and becomes the night guard at the local museum. He quickly learns that this is no ordinary job, when everything comes to life. This is a very cute movie that the whole family can enjoy. Funny without being dumb like some of Stillers' movies tend to be.

Dreamgirls

Is being famous really all it is cracked up to be? That is the question that this musical focus' on. The "Dreamettes" finally get the opportunity to make their dreams come true, and in doing so tear the group apart. This was such an outstanding musical that will be tough to beat. Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy were sensational! I highly recommend watching this!

Smokin' Aces

In this action packed movie several professional and unprofessional "hit" people are trying to be the first to kill the crooked snitch, while 2 FBI agents are trying to keep him alive. If I would not have known better I would have thought this was a Quentin Tarantino film, because it is full of that type language and violence. This is definitely a movie you will either love or hate. Of course being an action lover myself, I enjoyed it.

Notes on a Scandal

This is a movie about a teacher that decides to have an affair with a young student and unfortunately is discovered by another teacher who uses the information for her own goals. This is a great performance by Judi Dench, even though the movie as a whole is rather disturbing.