The Popcorn Bucket Review

This weekend I went on a date with my hubby to the most magical place on Earth.

No, not Disneyland. That would be like descending into H. E. Double Hockey sticks for him.

We went to the movies. My friends, there have been slim-pickins indeed at the theaters lately. I usually see about 3 movies a month. It's been so bad though that we haven't been for weeks!!!

A few weeks ago we were so desperate to go. Curtis said he would see ANYTHING just to go out with me. So we saw "Confessions of a Shopaholic". True love indeed. Right up there with accompanying me to "Twilight". I'm sure he'll be translated any minute. I'd better get him to take out the garbage first, though. That was a cute movie. I wouldn't pay to see it again or anything. But worth the fare the first time.

This weekend we went to see "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage. Before I get into that I have to ask--Has anyone seen Hugh Jackman's latest trailer? Aye-chee-momma!!! I'm not an Xmen fan, but I might just become one. Feast ladies, feast. I just wish these pics were clearer so you could see every rippling muscle and tendon.

And there is an added bonus to this movie. It also has one of my personal faves in it. Liev Schreiber. I don't care if he plays a baddie or a goodie. He's always a goodie to me. I'll need to watch the other 27 (or however many there are) Xmen movies first. I need to get caught up.

Okay back to "Knowing". I've been itching to see this movie for ages.

WARNING: If you want to see it with absolutely no preconceived notions whatsoever--stop reading now. If you don't really care--then proceed. But don't say I didn't warn ya! I'm telling it all. You can always go see the movie then come back to this post.

The reviews I read, which I hardly ever agree with, said this movie starts out as a super-natural thriller (oh, yeah!), then turns into an action movie (please don't tease me), finally ending as a full-blown sci-fi (I'll take it). They fail, however, to mention the religious undertones dotted throughout the movie. It has every simile it could possibly have short of the Crucifixion itself.

Children (pure, unspoiled souls) that hear "whispers" from other-worldly beings.Parallel to the Holy Ghost? Maybe.

A father and son who repeat over and over "Together Forever". Get them to a Temple!!!

A man (said father) who uses science to try to explain everything, denying religion in any context (just how does he think he's going to be together forever with his son without religion?). But he does use science to foresee the end of the world. A burning world destroyed not by man, but by a totally plausible natural disaster (cough, the hand of God, cough).

Do any of you remember those big sets of books "The Illustrated Books of the Book of Mormon". They were like having a pictorial encyclopedia with full-color paintings in it? I used to pour over the pages that depicted the last days when I was younger. People running around on fire with their clothes hanging like burning rags, cars engulfed in flames, and buildings just shells of armature with a burning sky in the background. Well, the conceptual visual artist of this movie must have looked at the same books because some scenes were so close to those books it was eerie.

More similes: The father has to decide to let his son go (an ultimate sacrifice on his part) in order to save the human race and ensure that humanity would live on somewhere.

Space ships that resembled glowing temples carrying those faithful little children and saving them from the fate of the rest of the burning world. He ends up spending his last moments with his estranged parents (his father's a, what else, preacher) and sister.

And finally, the children (a pint-sized Adam and Eve) running through a field of wheat (abundance), carrying rabbits (procreation), wearing white (the clothes of angels), heading toward a huge white tree (the Tree of Life).

I'm trying to think if I missed anything. I'm sure I did. All in all, it was really enjoyable. The subway crash is a scene of triumph for the special effects guys. You will not breathe for what seems like 15 minutes. I'm glad we don't have subways anywhere around here. I don't think I'll ever go on one again.

And I'm trying to figure out how Nicholas Cage looks the same as he did over 20 years ago in "Raising Arizona" (Another oldie but goodie). Come to think of it, he might even look younger. He does wear an awful lot of eyeliner. He's on a one-man crusade to support Maybelline.

I digress.

Go to the movies!!!

If I haven't ruined it for you.