3-In-1 Review

While I haven't been to anything new lately (which will end with this weekend's viewing of Spiderman 3), I did see three movies in 24 hours over the weekend:

Freedom Writers: Hillary Swank's movie based on a real-life teacher reaching out to inner-city kids. I liked the movie enough, but I didn't like Hillary. She may have 2 Oscar wins, but the believeability wasn't there for me in this one.

The Queen: Helen Mirren is excellent playing Queen Elizabeth in the aftermath of Princess Diana's death. However, this is not a movie for many people. It's very talky and it's more about the politics after Diana died than what life was like inside the palace before or after Diana's death. I guess it's good to see if it makes you feel better that even the elite can have dysfunctional families.

Luther (2003): I was surprised that this was the movie I liked the best of the three. Most of us raised in a church setting know the name Martin Luther but I, for one, really didn't know much of his story beyond the elementary teaching that he led the Reformation. The movie showed very effectively the problems Luther had with the Catholic church and how that led to his thoughts about proper ways to worship and bringing religion and the Bible to the people. In many ways, Luther's story mirrors the story of Christ encountering the moneychangers at the Temple. Joseph Fiennes is excellent as Luther, showing both his persuasive logical side and a tormented almost tortured side. Sir Peter Ustinov also shone through as Frederick The Wise.