Movies

Tonight we finished Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, an HBO Films adaptation of the classic book recounting (from Wikipedia):

...the history of Native Americans in the American West in the late nineteenth century, and their displacement and slaughter by the United States federal government.

The film stars Aidan Quinn. I give it 3 out of 5.

On Tuesday I finished watching The Blues Brothers (1980,R). It's one of those films that I don't enjoy so much as appreciate as a classic. It also gives me an idea for Halloween costumes for the boys. From the Wikipedia entry:

The story is a tale of redemption for paroled convict Jake and his brother Elwood, who take on "a mission from God" to save the Roman Catholic orphanage in which they grew up from closure. To do so they must re-form their rhythm and blues band, the Blues Brothers, and organize a performance to earn $5,000 to pay the tax assessor. Along the way they are targeted by a destructive "mystery woman," Neo-Nazis, and a country and western band - all while being relentlessly pursued by the police, and eventually the military and a SWAT team.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Sunday afternoon we continued the Star Wars film series with The Phantom Menace. The kids were especially eager to see Darth Maul.

The Star Wars film festivals continued this week with Return of the Jedi. The Ewoks were a hit with the kids. Unlike episodes 4 and 5, there were moments in 6 where one kid or the other got off the couch and started playing with toys. Not sure if that means they found 6 to be less exciting or if watching a Star Wars movie isn't quite as thrilling by the time you get to the third one. Probably a little of both.

Last Saturday the Star Wars film series continued for our family with a viewing The Empire Strikes Back. The boys were eager to see Yoda, to see Han get frozen, to hear Darth tell Luke that he's his father, and for Luke to get a mechanical hand.