Thursday Thoughts- Let’s Go to the Movies

Happy Thursday and welcome back to Thursday Thoughts.

2017 is shaping up to be a good year for movies. I have found some great trailers for some of the upcoming movies and wanted to share the ones I’m most excited about.

First up- The Zookeeper’s Wife. I love a period piece. And Jessica Chastain is such a wonderful actress. I’m looking forward to seeing this movie. It tells the true story of Antonina Zabinska, a Polish zookeeper’s wife, who hides Jewish people from German soldiers in her zoo during WWII.

Next up- The Circle. I think this movie seems intriguing. I stated in an earlier post that I loved movies. All kinds. I know this one in cult-ish, but the cast looks pretty stellar. From the trailer I gather that this is a story of a girl, May, that gets a job at The Circle. Everyone that works there tends to know everything about her and her family, the good and the bad. It seems the people closest to her (family and friends) wonder if her involvement with The Circle is a good thing.

The Shack. I had every intention of reading this book during the month of April and seeing the movie before it left theaters here, but I was lent another book that I really wanted to read too, so I put The Shack on the back burner. I’m excited to pick it up, though, and I intend to before I see the movie. This story is about a man who endures a very difficult and traumatic event in his life and is visited by God. I’m told this book is life-changing and quite beautiful. I’ve talked to people who saw the movie, and I’ve heard nothing but good reviews. I’ll probably grab this one from Redbox, but I’m excited to see it nonetheless.

The Case for Christ. I am a big fan of the movies that the company, Pure Flix, puts out. God’s Not Dead was one of them. I am a Christian and believe in the Bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ, so these movies are always wonderfully thought provoking and inspiring. They are so full of truth, and I always walk away feeling like I have been blessed. God definitely has his hand in these films. I’m feeling like this is true for The Case for Christ as well since I learned that two of the songs on the soundtrack are from the band, The Church Vessel, of The Church in St. Amant. This is the church I attended in Louisiana, and their album, Rekindle, is amazing. It is perfect worship music, and it’s great music to play during your quiet time if you’d really like to take it to another level. The songs are powerful and annointed. I think it is amazing that they will be performed on a platform for so many people to experience. Those people will be blessed, no doubt about it. The movie looks quite interesting.

Wonder Woman. There’s no doubt in my mind that the only reason I want to see this is because it is a woman superhero. I can take or leave all of the other comic book, superhero movies. I haven’t seen any of them, I don’t think. Maybe bits and pieces here and there, but I’m not one that has to go to the theater to see them all. But when I saw the trailer for this one, I thought, I’d like to see this one in the theater. How beautiful does her home land look? And hello, Chris Pine! He’s so dang cute. Paul and I saw the trailer for it when we went to see Beauty and the Beast. When I turned to him and nodded my head and widened my eyes with approval and excitement, he met my expression with a furrowed brow, a shake of the head, and a, “nah, I don’t think so”. (Insert eye roll.) Looks like I’ll be going solo for this one.

The Book of Henry. This movie looks a little dark and scary, but I am very drawn to it. It stars Maddie Ziegler. If there are any other Dance Mom fans out there, you’ll know who I’m talking about. I will say I haven’t watched it in many seasons, but I did watch it for 3 or so seasons. Crazy ladies! No doubt that Maddie is a talented dancer, and I believe we’ll get to see her dance in this one. This movie is about a boy, Henry, who lives with his mom and brother and seems to be gifted in some way. He learns that Maddie’s character, his next door neighbor, is being hurt by her stepfather and decides to do something about it. Looks intense.

Gifted. I have seen this movie advertised lately, and it looks so good! Chris Evans’ character is caring for his niece and people are trying to take her away. She is a very gifted child, but he wants to keep her childhood “normal”. It looks inspiring and uplifting. I’m looking forward to this one.

Ferdinand. I am so excited for this movie. It is one of my very favorite children’s books. There will be more elements added to the story to make it long enough to be a movie, but I love this story overall. I’m so glad that children will get to experience it. In my 9 years of teaching, there hasn’t been one class when the majority of the students had no clue who Ferdinand was and had never heard this beautiful story. It’s a lovely tale of not having to be what everyone thinks you should be. It’s okay to just be you even if you’re the biggest, baddest bull in Spain and all you like to do is just sit and smell the flowers.

Tulip Fever. This was a book I was actually interested in reading. I just haven’t gotten around to that because it’s number 1,927,462,938 on my to-be-read list. However, I’ll watch this one before reading the book. It looks so scandalous. And again, I love a period piece.

Same Kind of Different as Me. This looks like a feel good movie. I really like Greg Kinnear, and this one doesn’t look like it’s going to disappoint. Just the trailer reminds me to look beyond the surface. The title eludes to the notion that people are so complex and deep. It’s good to pay attention to that.

And finally……Pitch Perfect 3!! I was perhaps the last person to jump on board the original Pitch Perfect bandwagon. (Not sure why…but I was.) I watched Pitch Perfect 2 in theaters with my neighbor in Louisiana, Megan, and we laughed our heads off and, remember Megan, we were the only ones in the theater. See…

Anyway, I always watch the movies when they’re on TV. I even have the Pitch Perfect station on my Pandora. I can’t wait for this new one. There’s no trailer yet, but there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be in for lots of laughs and some great tunes.

I’m definitely looking forward to being able to see these movies this year. Are there any others coming out that you’re excited about that you didn’t see here? I kind of want to see The Boss Baby. That one looks pretty funny. How can you not love Alec Baldwin?

I hope that everyone has had a great week. Here’s to tomorrow being Friday and to a great weekend!