Homeschool Fiction

This is a guest post from my husband, Greg:

As with 2007’s list, these are movies I watched (or re-watched) over the previous year.  They didn’t necessarily come out in 2008.  Since we usually wait for movies to come out on DVD rather than go to the theater, I tend to see things a bit late.  I have a pile of made-in-2008 movies that I got for Christmas that look like they have a good chance of making my 2009 list.

At any rate, here’s the list (in no particular order):

1. The Last Castle; This was a better movie than I expected - after all, prison movies have been done to death.  But Robert Redford and James Gandolfini were both great.  And of course, any movie that manages to work in a trebuchet earns bonus points.
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; Don’t listen to the naysayers.  Indy is back, and this one is every bit as good as the others.  I went in to the theater with low expectations after being sorely disappointed at how George Lucas did with revisiting his other famous trilogy.  I was very pleased to see that Indiana was still as exciting and funny as in the original movies.
3. Quantum of Solace; Daniel Craig is the best James Bond since Connery.  His portrayal of 007 makes the character seem gritty and real.  This movie was very much a part two of Casino Royale and I’m anxious to see part three.
4. Live Free or Die Hard; It was fun watching Bruce Willis play John Maclaine again.  I also enjoyed Justin Long in this.  (He’s an actor who I think doesn’t get enough attention.  Also watch for him in Galaxy Quest and Accepted.)  Watch for Kevin Smith’s cameo.
5. Red Green’s Duct Tape Forever; If you haven’t seen Red Green yet, you need to.  While the show is made up of a series of sketches, this movie is one continuous story.  In either, you’ll see that anything can benefit from some duct tape.  Remember - if it ain’t broke, you’re not trying hard enough!
6. Spider-Man 3; More great super hero adventure.  In this one, Spidey gets an unlikely ally and breaks up with MJ.  Maybe it’s just me, but I was annoyed with Mary Jane (or perhaps just the actress) and found myself rooting for him to dump her!  In the end though, the webhead puts everything right.
7. Air Force One; Harrison Ford plays the kind of President we all wish we had.
8. Big Trouble in Little China; What if the side kick didn’t realize he was just a side kick (and a comic relief one at that!)?  That’s Kurt Russell in this quirky martial arts action movie.
9. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; I wouldn’t have thought that film noir and comedy could go together but this movie proved me wrong.  It manages to be funny without ridiculing classic noir.
10. The Terminator; The first in the series didn’t have a ton of flashy special effects, just huge unstoppable Arnold!  It’s an exciting chase, and an interesting science fiction story.  Is the future written, or can we change it?

I hope you (or the guy in your life) finds something enjoyable here.  We highly recommend viewing the above movies at home in your own private theater.  Please support Do Life Right and buy your movies with the links above.  If you click through a link from here, all of your purchases will help support this site without any additional cost to you.  Thanks!

Related Articles:

• Top 8: Favorite Guy Movies Viewed in 2009
• Top 10: Family Favorite Movies We’ve Seen in 2008
• Top 10: Favorite Movies and Television Shows We’ve Seen in 2007
• Top 10: Favorite Christmas Movies 2007
• Top 10: Television Shows We’ve Seen in 2008

By: Lisa