Sweet Land was recommended to me by someone, a blogger I think. It was a sweet little movie, set in 1920, in rural Minnesota, about a mail-order bride and her life and difficulties in the U.S. Since Inge is German, and the community she comes to join is mostly Norwegian, and since the U.S. has been recently at war with Germany, the difficulties are many. The kids found it somewhat confusing, but not inappropriate. Elizabeth Reaser who plays Inge is a beautiful and talented actress.
Amazing Grace is the story of William Wilberforce and the abolition of the slave trade in England. I saw it when it first came out in theaters, but Blockbuster offered me a coupon for a free movie, not a rental, but a previously viewed movie to own. I chose Amazing Grace, and tonight we watched it again. I found it not only educational, but moving and romantic and inspirational.
Computer Guru Son and I watched the movie Frequency the other night, and both of us found it stretched our ability to suspend disbelief past the breaking point. And I’m pretty good at “six impossible things before breakfast.” The most interesting thing about the movie, for LOST fans, is that one of the main characters is played by actress Elizabeth Mitchell who plays Juliet in LOST, and that the main character is named Jack Shepherd. Also, the movie is about time travel, or at least communication through time. Coincidence or is there some connection between this movie and the writers on LOST?
Speaking of movies, here’s a list from Inside Catholic of 50 Best Catholic Movies of All Time. I found it useful.
I remember watching Frequency years ago and liking it..Yes, Elizabeth Mitchell pre Lost. and with a different hair color of I remember right.
Amazing Grace is one that I must see. I have heard nothing but good things about it.
Aww, thanks for the link!
You may have heard the recommendation for Sweet Land from me–we enjoyed that one too, and the ethics of their situation made for good conversation with the teenagers!
~Jeanne
I have heard many good things about Amazing Grace. I actually started reading a book by William Wilberforce but did not finish as the library would not let me renew at the time…must check it out again as I was enjoying the read.
I am not certain why I have not viewed Amazing Grace as of yet…a bit of me is worried that I will be bored, I suppose. Your brief review has me thinking…bored, I will not be. I must put this one into my blockbuster list. Thanks for the reminder.
I just watched Sweet Land within the past month and Loved it. So sweet and good and pure and full of innuendo and gentleness. I keep thinking about it, even though it was a quiet and somewhat “slow” movie. Also, finished watching Amazing Grace tonight with my 4th grader who is studying Wilberforce right now. Great movie. Really truly underrated in my book. What I didn’t like though, was that Newton was still holding so tightly to his “guilt” when in reality, his song Amazing Grace is about the forgiveness he received and accepted from Christ for his past sins. His character just seemed to be still tortured and not “free”, but I understood why they did this for the sake of the movie. Anyway, thanks for the movie thoughts. Always enjoy your posts!