February

A few years ago, when I taught high school in Maryland, we had a whole week off in February because of snow. This past week, we've had similar weather in Michigan, and, while my waitressing shifts have not been cancelled, I have felt a bit house-bound. I chose to use my time during both storms the same way: watching movies. Thankfully, I've been more moderate this time, but here is what I've been watching:

A few very good movies:
1)Joyeux Noel, about the true story of the Christmas day truce between enemy forces in World War I; they join together to sing Christmas carols, exchange gifts, play soccer, and have a church service. After that, they don't want to fight. This movie brings up so many fascinating issues relating to war & peace in modern times, and is extremely well-made.
2)Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, about two people who are in love, but can't get along, and thus have their memories of each other erased by a special "procedure," only to discover that they don't want to lose them--a very good, unique love story where the characters feel real.
3)The End of the Affair, based on a great novel, this is a well-crafted movie with profound meaning not only about love & marriage but also about God entering people's lives in a real, unexpected way. The only problem is that the movie is pretty graphic.

A few so-so movies:
1)Prelude to a Kiss, an interesting 90's romantic comedy with young Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin.
2)Duets, about people singing great pop songs in karaoke bars--but the story lines of the characters aren't always the greatest.

One not-very-good movie:
Because I Said So, a new romantic comedy about a mother and three daughters that has promise but is not very well-written and is rife with sexual content.

The post-holiday season is not a very good one for movies. The holidays were definitely a climax, and now I'm renting random movies from the 90's.

Anyone have recommendations of old or new classics that might be skipped over?