Since I don't own a television and there are a few movies my mother has been dying to watch with me, I spent a lot of time catching up on movies we rented from the library. New rentals are a dollar and older movies are free. I love public libraries!!!
The first film my mother made me watch was a saga based on Colleen McCullough's 1977 best selling novel, The Thorn Birds. It was horrible. I would not recommend it to anyone. After the first dvd I wanted to move on to another movie, but NO. My mother and brother are similar in many ways. For instance, they both get this sick satisfaction from forcing people to watch crappy movies. They won't take no for an answer and no matter how much you moan and groan, they insist you sit and not only watch the movie but enjoy it.
After I finished the fourth, you heard correctly, dvd, my mom asked, "did you like it?" I am not sure how long I sat there with my mouth gaping open and my brow furrowed in confusion, but I finally managed a "hell no," followed by, "what's wrong with you? How could you ever think I would enjoy a story like that?" We each accused the other of having no class, which is something we often do when we disagree about movies and then moved on to The Painted Veil; which also showed the leading male's bare backside. No complaints here.

The Painted Veil, although extremely depressing, is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I have never cared for Edward Norton, but in this movie he is so F-INE. Oh my goodness, he totally delivers and I LOVED him for it. Perhaps its the hair or the vintage clothing he wears or maybe it's both but one thing is for sure, he can paint my veil anyday. Naomi Watts was fine but Edward Norton, like Campbell's soup, was Hmmm... Hmmm... GOOD.

The third film we watched was Sweet Land and the story was exactly that; sweet. Not only was the acting great but Olaf is HOT! I would recommend this movie to anyone. Unlike the previously mentioned films it's a totally innocent, feel-good movie about midwestern farmers. I don't care much for the midwest but for some reason I can't get enough of the men. A definite must-see.

Another must-see movie, is Joyeux Noel or Merry Christmas. For weeks before the wedding my mother raved about this film. She enjoys watching it so much she got her own copy. I usually steer clear of war movies because I HATE violence. I don't like seeing it and I don't like hearing it, when I close my eyes. Although ten minutes of the movie was devoted to depicting the horrors of World War I, the remainder of the film was terrific. Not only were some of the soldiers nice to look at, but their stories were endearing. There's also a nice love scene between a soldier and his wife that I enjoyed. The acting is impressive and the story phenomenal. A must-see, must-own movie.