The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   The Desolations picks up pretty quickly where we left off in the first film.  Now on the run with a pack of fierce orcs close behind we follow Bilbo as he journeys with Ganldalf and his 13 Dwarf companions to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.  If you missed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I highly suggest you pick it up on iTunes or Amazon or at least read our review and synopsis.

Frozen (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   Fearless optimist Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff) and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey to find Anna's sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom.

   During the 2nd Golden Age of Disney that was ushered in with The Little Mermaid we were treated to movies that had beautiful visuals, compelling stories, and moving music. I'm convinced this age died with Tarzan for one reason, music! Disney movies were basically animated musicals, but without that piece we were given films like Bolt, Meet the Robinsons, and Atlantis. They aren't bad movies, but they can't hold a candle to Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King, which have both been turned into Stage Musicals.

   When Tangled came out in 2010 we saw a reemergence of this era. Frozen continues this pattern of beautiful visuals, compelling stories, and moving music.

Thor: The Dark World (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   Marvel has done a great job of establishing a cross franchise universe in Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, and the other Avengers.  Because of this success Thor got an extra 20 million in its budget and it really shows with some great actors.  There were some real missed opportunities though.

Ender’s Game (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   My November 1st daily gratitude Facebook update was, “I'm grateful for books. For without them, we would not have awesome movies."

  In the near future, a hostile alien race has attacked Earth. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff and the International Military seek to find a future leader who can save the human race. Ender Wiggin, a shy but strategically brilliant young mind, is recruited to join the elite, where he's trained to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth

The Great Gatsby (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   A few months back we talked about The Great Gatsby on our Podcast that we do with the Mormon Movie Guy.  I hadn’t seen it yet, so I got to pick his brain a bit.  Most of what I feared was true, but my mom recently purchased the Blu-Ray (even though we advised not to in our most recent episode) so I went over to watch it as a double date with my wife and parents.  I always have an open mind when seeing a movie, contrary to a comment we will read in the next podcast episode.

Turbo (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   Turbo is the story of a snail who loves speed, but as a snail doesn’t have much of it.  Then a freak accident involving a street racer and Turbo is born!  Turbo has big dreams of becoming a race car driver like his hero, Guy Gagné, but his brother Chet doesn’t understand his need for speed. Turbo believes that no dreams are too big and no dreamer too small.I took my boys to see it and they loved it!

The Church Releases a New Version of the Temple Film

Author’s Note: I have a pronounced respect and love for the Temple.  It is a place where I have received inspiration and made promises that draw me closer to my Family, my Savior, and my Heavenly Father.  All the information shared is available through official church public sources. I have taken great care to be respectful to the sacred nature of the Temple and I hope that you would show the same respect in comments.

 
   Today I went to the Newport Beach Temple; being inspired to see the new Temple Film after talking with Mormon Movie Guy, Jono Decker, during the recording of our last Podcast.  I had first heard about it while listening to the This Week in Mormons Podcast.

 
   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a section on their public news site giving an explanation of the Temple.  It gives the history of Temples stating: 

The Wolverine (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   I chose the Spanish movie poster to represent this review of “The Wolverine” because Wolverine: Immortal is such a more fitting title.  Summoned to Japan by an old acquaintance, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) becomes embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons.  Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.
    We were treated to a Wolverine film in 2009’s X-men Origins: Wolverine.  While that film is a prequel of sorts this film follows the events of X-men (3): The Land Stand.  Logan (Wolverine) has lost all purpose after the events of The Last Stand and lives a secluded live in the mountains of Alaska.  He is constantly haunted by nightmares of his lost love Jean Grey (Famke Janssen).  And I mean constantly! She has so much screen time she is featured in some of the movie posters.  Because I am fundamentally against the movie trope where a girl leave the good guy for the bad boy this relationship is continually problematic for me and I loathe seeing it on screen.  (See my pending article asking why is James Marsden the perpetual cuckold?)  

Man on Steel (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   Man of Steel is a reboot of the Franchise made famous in cinema by the late Christopher Reeve.  The Warner Bros. synopsis makes the story sound a little odd when taken at face value.  “A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.” 
   I was very conflicted on my opinion of this movie.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved it.  There were also some glaring flaws.  So in true D&C 121:43 fashion, let me give you a short list of my gripes before we give credit to the things praiseworthy.  There is some beautiful cinematography in this film, but there is one fatal flaw, shaky cam.  I was feeling a bit noxious at times a Superman flies around making the “cameraman” rumble.  As a result the view is blurred and the fine details obstructed. (See title photo) We also never really get to see the mind mannered adult Clark.  He seems to look more like a stand in for The Wolverine.  Lastly of my major issues, cookie cutter casting, more on that later.

They've Made a Huge Mistake: Arrested Development- Season 4 (2013): Mormon TV Review

We are lucky to feature today a Guest Post from Geoff Openshaw.  Some of you might recognize Geoff from his attempt to woo the Mormon Bachelorette, but you can how find him as the co-host of the popular LDS themed Podcast This Week in Mormons!  It is a weekly show discussing news and cultural items relevant to the Mormon community during any given week.
(You can also find Geoff if you Google image search "Virginity, I Choose You!")

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**Warning - light spoilers below**

Experimentation is the vehicle by which society moves forward. Without experiments, there is no progress. Seen through that lens, the resurrection of Arrested Development  after being sent to pasture in 2006 should be a template for the future of television. Netflix seems like an ideal medium to demonstrate our streaming, commercial- and restriction-free, future. However, not all experiments yield good results, and while the new approach to Arrested Development is certainly bold, it is an exercise in the experiment disproving the hypothesis.

I wanted to love this season. I am a huge AD fan and have been since its Fox days. The hype surrounding its return has grown to near-mythic proportions, which certainly couldn't have done the revival any favors. But what has been regularly regarded as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time falls on its face in its new format.

Epic (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   My wife is an awesome hair stylist and so she usually works on Saturdays.  That means me and the boys usually have Saturdays to have fun (barring a ward movie or service project).  This Saturday we went to see Epic!  I was a bit nervous after my experience with Wreck-It Ralph, but it was a real great time!

   In Epic a teenager named Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfriend) finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group characters in order to save their world, and ours.

Iron Man 3 (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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   This review will be a little image light. I'm out at Fathers and Sons Campout, but had time to frame it up before I left. Now I'm watching my boy play as I write my review on my iPhone. Ain't technology grand?


   Iron Man 3 takes place shortly after The Avengers. Tony Stark (Iron Man) is haunted by the events that took place in New York City. Now a new threat appears and makes things personal for Tony. 

42 (2013): Mormon Movie Review

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  My first thought when I left the theatre today was, I just saw the first Best Picture Nominee of 2013.  On Jackie Robinson Day I went to see 42.  42 tells the story of Jackie Robinson as the first black player in professional baseball. 
   I wasn’t alive for the days of segregation, but seeing it portrayed so well was inspiring and heartbreaking.  It makes it real for a generation that was lucky enough to never experienced racism of this degree. 

Safe Haven (2013): Mormon Movie Reivew

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 We got an invite to see a test screening of a movie called Safe Haven.  I decided to go see it on my own and saw one of my friends in line.  So I line hopped in next to her and she asks me, "So, are you a big Nicholas Sparks fan?"  I had no idea who he was and she laughed as she told me he writes he writes books that get made into chick flicks.  I was about ready to just turn around and go home, but I love Free Movies, so I stayed.

   I have only seen one Nicholas Sparks movie and it was The Notebook. (If you are a fan, Amazon has 4 of his best movies on DVD for a little under 10 bucks!) I hated the flashback story line, but I loved watching the James Garner read it.  If they would have taken any other romantic film and re-cut it to be the story he was reading, it would have been awesome.