The Nativity Story

So we watched the movie "The Nativity Story".

Good:
• the costumes
• the animals
• the sets
• some of the music with hints of well known hymns and Christmas songs
• the pace
• the overall story

Bad:
• some of the acting
• no strong consistant theme in the score... sorta all over

Ugly:
• Carol of the Bells playing when they arrive at Bethlehem (I think they wanted somewhat of a frantic piece, but it stuck out a bit much)
• they tried to use the wise men as comic relief at parts... some of the wisemens' dialogue was really bad

Overall verdict:
Especially toward the beginning there is a lot of weak acting. Most of the characters show too much emotion or none at all. I felt like a lot of the music was only there to help with the setting... it was just all over with no mood... also got better toward the end. Even though the movie has a lot of shortcomings overall I highly recommend seeing it. It's much better than One Night with the King was. I also feel like the makers want to give one message and do it strongly... in particular the idea that Christ's humble beginning was not only ironic, but necessary to keep Herod from noticing his arrival and putting an end to him immediately. I didn't know how they were going to pull this all together to make a worthwhile film but I think they did at least a decent job. Go watch it for yourself.

*****

We watched the movie Thumbsucker last night. It is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. It's definitely not one that everyone can/will appreciate, but I really enjoyed it. Vincent D'Oreo or whatever his name is (From Law & Order:CI) fits his role in this movie so much better than his role on TV. Vince Vaughan and Keaunu Reeves also make appearances. One movie review is enough for one post though so I won't go off about this movie.

After reading E&L's post I thought Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album would be a good one to have to play during the holidays to fill our apartment with Christmas cheer. Unfortunately there was not one copy of the CD availible in the entire city of Sioux Falls. I couldn't believe it. It must be pretty good. I ordered it online instead... hopefully it gets here before Christmas is over. If not the Vince Guaraldi Trio will have to suffice.

Thanks for checking in on us! Stay warm! Stay safe to those who are traveling.