My Dear Husband has an agreement with the video stores....

Some goddesses are puzzled by this...like me...

I swear. He knows when I'm at my weakest and will hit me with the idea of picking up a movie or two.

A movie or two? How about 6 or so? He knows the way my Scots soul works and the internal dialogue I go through....hmmm...it would cost us $40 if we were all to go to the movies and we'd see ONE movie. Maybe even one we wouldn't enjoy. It would be too loud and I'd have to wear my earplugs (so the noise didn't send my head soaring) someone in front of me would have been marinating in their aftershave or some woman would have bathed in her perfume...I don't do well with the fake butter smell on the popcorn and the cigarette smell...you get the idea. And of course there's the, it's only a few movies. We live way out in the stick (too far for them to be multiple sticks) and we'd save the gas and time if we didn't go to the theatre. Just to RENT it would cost more than it would to BUY it and use the gas to have it there and back on time.

My dh, a great tactician, lets this all play through my head for awhile during our time in town while we're running our various bi-weekly or monthly errands. He knows that I always feel the bite of the bugdet during these times, but I also feel guilty for how little enjoyment he and the kids get the rest of the time as they cater to what we can afford, or what I am in shape to do.

So, we normally stop by the movie store. Not for new movies mind you, that would be too expensive, but a few of those pre-watched ones.... (this from a woman who barely watches TV and at that only really the History Channel and Discovery Channel when someone else has them on!)

So our last trip, knowing we couldn't really afford any away trips to SCA events this summer, I gave in to a trip to Blockbuster...we normally go to Hollywood Video, it's closer to our shopping routes.

Here's what we picked up:
One that I really wanted to see, because Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson are such talented actors. And the 2nd National Treasure because the first was a fun action adventure that, while totally imaginary, brought points of our history into use in the script.


Then Jumper and In the Name of the King for my DH. Jumper, because the plot sounded intriguing. In the Name of the King, because we all have enjoyed playing Dungeon Siege together...but only when I can keep my ds and dh from powering through the game. I like time to explore!

My ds wanted Dragon Wars and my dd wanted The Golden Compass.

Out of the six that we bought last week, we've watched 3. Sitting cuddled up on my small queensized bed that barely holds the ancient cat, the doofus lapdog, my dh and I at the best of times. To this, in our infinite wisdom (yeah, that's sarcasm) we add two 'kids' that are both over 5'4" and look like real people. And their snacks! Gods we're dumb. [this is part of the reason my neck's been out for the last week...and getting worse, I just don't want to give up the family time!]

So, we have watched, "The Bucket List," "In the Name of the King," and "Jumper."
The Bucket List lived up to all expectations. We laughed, we cried, we talked about our personal 'bucket lists.' It let us draw closer as a family. Jack Nicholson's character disappointed me a bit, because I felt like it was a character he has played many, many times in movies, but the quirkiness and intelligence of Morgan Freeman's character made up for it. I'm not sure I'll watch it again, because I don't like crying, but it was definitely an 'A' flick.

"In the Name of the King," we watched the next night. And it was about exactly what we expected. The cheese factor was a bit high, the fantasy epic plot was so transparent, the fight scenes were kinda fun...his wife was dressed like a true fantasy heroine throughout the whole movie, but most surprising of all were the number of big names who signed on for bit parts in this. Ron Perlman, John Rhys-Davies, Burt Reynolds? While I'd only rate the film at an A- or B, we had a ball making smart @ssed jokes and allusions to other fantasy movies that I'm sure you all could name. We'll probably watch it again, just to see what new jokes it brings up!

The last of the three we have watched in the past week is, "Jumper." I am so disappointed that I can't get that hour and a half of my time back. They started with a really cool premise, and had some neat history that they barely touched on throughout the film. Add to that some major plot weaknesses, some weak characterization and a lame @ss ending and you have a film that I would have re-written before it EVER hit the shelves. I'll give it a C- (it only gets above an F because the premise was so good, and I could see potential in it that was never realized.) Maybe if it had been 30 minutes to 45 minutes longer they would have actually developed the plot.

That's it from me today...I got books to read and SCA classes to plan for our meeting tonight. And I'm behind because of all my dumb @ss indulging in more than 5 minutes of whining a day and too much sleep!

Blessing and many happy movie hours to you all from
a puzzled goddess