"Safe Haven"

"Safe Haven" is another movie that was originally a Nicholas Sparks novel.  Since the movie is somewhat of a mystery, I can't say a lot about the plot.  Basically, the movie is about a mysterious young woman, Katie, who ends up in the small beach town of Southport, North Carolina.  She's reluctant to make friends and really get to know anyone and she hides dark secrets about her past.  Katie gradually lets her guard down and becomes attached to Alex, the owner of a small local market, and his two children.  Life seems to be looking up, but eventually Katie must face the horrors of her past that brought her to Southport in the first place.

 

 

I knew that this was a Nicholas Sparks movie when we decided to watch it, so I expected it to be all romance and relationships.  Boy, was I wrong!  At least half of the movie is really suspenseful because it deals with her scary back story.  I'm not accustomed to more intense movies, so it really kept me on the edge of my seat.  Even with Clearplay on, I closed my eyes several times!  There were a couple of scenes that Clearplay didn't edit because they were important to the plot, even though they were a little gory.  But then it cut out the kissing scenes!  It was a little frustrating for someone who watched it thinking it was a romance movie.  On the plus side, I thought the acting was good - the scary character was really believable and Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough both did well with their roles.  And it had a happy (although really bizarre and unexpected) ending. :)

The Last Word:  Suspenseful romance, much more intense than other Sparks movies

"The Amazing Spider-Man" (and update)

The layout/design of my blog has been messed up for quite a while now, but I've kind of fixed it....it's fixed enough that I'm going to start posting reviews again! :)

Recently I had the opportunity to watch "The Amazing Spider-Man" on Clearplay.  "The Amazing Spider-Man" tells the story of Peter Parker's childhood, how he becomes Spider-Man, and the challenges he faces along the way.

I've never seen any of the other Spider-Man movies to compare it to, but I enjoyed it!  It was pretty intense compared to the movies I usually watch, but I liked how it kept me on the edge of my seat.  I thought the acting was great, especially from the leads - Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.  As an added bonus, Andrew Garfield is fairly attractive in my opinion. ;) Though some parts were pretty predictable, there were also several unexpected twists that kept the storyline intriguing.  I recommend this movie if you enjoy action films.  If you get motion sickness easily, then be careful watching this!  (We watch our movies projected onto the wall in our basement, so it's not for the faint of stomach.)

Clearplay did a pretty good job of editing in this movie.  I was rather frustrated because it cut out the kissing scenes. :/ But it did do a good job with the swearing, as usual.  As we watch more PG-13 rated movies on Clearplay, I'm starting to realize that you can't really avoid everything that makes a movie PG-13, like dark themes.  I probably still wouldn't want kids watching some of these movies - even if they're filtered through Clearplay - for that reason.

The Last Word:  An intriguing action film

"Dear John"

"Dear John" is about a US soldier, John, and a college student, Savannah.  The story begins in spring of 2001.  They meet in Charleston, South Carolina when John is on leave and within two weeks, they have fallen in love.  When John has to go back, they decide to write each other as much as they possibly can and tell each other everything.  But like Savannah says in the movie, "a lot can happen in 12 months," and things change.  I can't say anymore without giving it away, so you'll have to watch it yourself to find out the rest of the plot!

In some ways, "Dear John" wasn't what I expected.  The first half matched my expectations and I enjoyed the first half a lot.  But in the second half, things get somewhat complicated and confusing.   The ending also wasn't very satisfying - it was similar to the way "The Vow" ended.  You could infer that it's a happy ending, but I prefer for it to come to a better conclusion.  On the bright side, the acting was really good - I love both Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried.  They're really good at portraying real, genuine characters.  "Dear John" is a pretty sad movie, so don't watch it if you want something really uplifting.  But it is very thought-provoking...so basically, you just have to be in the right mood to watch it.

One of my favorite things about this movie was that watching it renewed my gratitude for those who serve our country.  It follows John on several of his missions and it shows the emotions that those brave people go through.  At times, it was heart-wrenching.  I'm so thankful for people who are willing to give their time and sometimes their lives for this country. 

We watched "Dear John" on Clearplay, since it's PG-13.  Clearplay did a pretty good job of editing the bad stuff out.  There weren't any problems with language.  There was a little blood because John fights in the war, but it wasn't too bad.  Clearplay did a good job of cutting out the inappropriate scene, as well.  I always get a little nervous when I can tell it's about to happen, but Clearplay always pulls through. :)

The Last Word:  Sad & thought-provoking romance with some unexpected turns

Clearplay DVD Player / "The Vow"

Before I write about the movie, it's important to know  that we recently purchased a Clearplay DVD Player.  Clearplay creates filters for basically every known movie out there that are able to edit out language, violence, sex, etc, so you can watch good movies without all of the bad stuff. :) It's a great idea, and so far it's working pretty well.  My only complaint with our DVD player is that the second time we used it, it started to have little glitches.  It would briefly stop the sound like it was going to edit out a word, when we knew it wasn't supposed to.  I've read some reviews on Clearplay DVD Players now that say that they break quickly and are cheaply made.  I wish I would've known that before we bought it!  Hopefully it will work for years to come....we'll see!

The first movie we tried on Clearplay was "The Vow," starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum as Paige and Leo.  In "The Vow," Paige and Leo are newly married and are deeply in love.  When they get in a car accident, Paige suffers from severe brain trauma and loses the past five years of her memory, including all memories of Leo.  Leo must then find a way to make Paige fall in love with him again.

 

With Clearplay taking out all of the bad language and sexual material in this movie, I loved it - so much that I watched it twice before we had to return it!  Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams do a GREAT job acting, as well as the rest of the cast.  Their love is so real and I admire the way they treat each other.  Leo is kind and always gentlemanly.  They're so cute together!  At first, I wasn't pleased with the ending.  I wanted it to keep going and complete the story better.  But as I thought about it, the rest of the story is implied and the ending is fine.  "The Vow" is an emotional movie - it made me cry more than once.  (Although, it's generally not hard for a book or movie to make me cry...)  It was heart-wrenching when Leo asked, "How do you look at the woman you love, and tell yourself that its time to walk away?"  As a viewer, I found myself attached to these characters and longing for their mutual love to return.  If you like romance and drama, then you'll enjoy watching "The Vow."  

**Note: From what I've read, there was a significant amount of language and a couple of other bad scenes that were edited out, so if you're watching without Clearplay, be cautious!

The Last Word:  Heartwarming & emotional romance full of amazing acting