Weekend movie review: The Light Between Oceans

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Regular readers of Grandma's Briefs likely know I'm a huge fan of movie trailers. I share them often here on my blog. I always ensure I get to the movie theater in plenty of time to see all the previews preceding a feature film. I even went so far recently as to set my DVR to record an AXS TV program called "Nothing But Trailers" — three full hours of trailers every Monday night.

About six months ago I stumbled across the trailer for THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS. Deeply moved by it, I passed it along to my oldest daughter, who was so deeply moved she purchased the novel, written by M. L. Stedman, within 10 minutes of watching the trailer. She in turn passed along a glowing, nay, raving recommendation of the book so I then purchased it too. Hardcopy versus her digital version that she couldn't share with me.

I was as enthralled by the book as my daughter, and we agreed when the movie came out, we absolutely must see it together.

the light between oceans movie 

Needless to say, when I lucked out and was invited to screen THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS earlier this week...

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Saturday movie review: Special Correspondents

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Not long ago, my husband and I saw a Graham Norton Show (our favorite talk show) episode in which his guests included Eric Bana and Ricky Gervais. They were plugging the upcoming release of their Netflix original feature film, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS, written and directed by Ricky Gervais. From the giggles and guffaws their banter elicited from the host and other guests — as well as my husband and myself — I figured the comedy would be a fun diversion and quickly added it to my queue.

We finally got around to watching it last week, and it was indeed a fun diversion. Far different from most everything else in my Netflix queue, but far more fun, for sure.

special correspondents netflix film

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS stars Eric Bana as Frank Bonneville, a self-absorbed radio journalist who hasn't reached the career level he hoped for and believes he deserves. Problem being...

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Saturday movie review: Recent stinkers

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I've recently had a bad run of films in my quest for under-the-radar-but-awesome movies to review for you. It's fairly common to come across a stinker or two between several movies I'm happy to watch and pontificate upon here on Grandma's Briefs. Rarely does it happen, though, to have three in a row — on DVD, not streaming — that just plain stink.

Such a trio made an appearance on my big screen this past week. Each one I had added to my Netflix queue, requested be mailed to me ASAP upon seeing their trailers. Because each one had a trailer that made me think This will make a great review!

Each one stunk. Big time. Leaving me feeling overwhelmingly obliged to tell you to avoid it. Regardless of how good...

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Weekend movie review: The 33

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Most folks recall that in 2010, thirty-three miners were trapped for an excruciating — for themselves as well as their families — 69 days in a collapsed mine in Chile. Most folks recall the miraculous ending to the ordeal, too.

Knowing how the story plays out detracts not one bit from the drama of THE 33, the film based on the inspirational story.

the 33 movie poster 

Director Patricia Riggen did an impressive job bringing to life the miners' horrifying ordeal, based on a screenplay by Miko Alanne and Craig Borten. And the actors portraying the miners, their families, and the men who worked diligently to free the men from their potential grave 200 stories...

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Saturday movie review: Man Up

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We're taught that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I learned last week that the same should be said for movie titles — don't judge the film by its title.

If I had given in to my initial reaction to this week's film, MAN UP, based on its title, I would have missed out on a sweet, silly-yet-smart romantic comedy. The only thing that saved me from scrolling on by MAN UP while searching through Netflix was Lake Bell, whose understated, self-deprecating sense of humor always makes me chuckle.

man up movie poster

In the screwball comedy with an ill-fitting title, Bell stars as 34-year-old Nancy, who's single and

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