"Don't worry. If you're going to hell, I'll just come pick you up."

I really have no excuse for barely posting the past two months except for sheer laziness. The move to Austin has been a little overwhelming and I am still adjusting to working full time again. Since it has been so long, I will cover multiple movies in this one post and attempt to be brief.

In the past month and a half, I have gotten to the theater a few times. My mother and I saw The Artist my first weekend in Austin and I took myself on date for Valentine's Day to see Big Miracle. A few weeks ago, on my first official visit to the Alamo Drafthouse since moving, I saw This Means War and  I have also seen Wanderlust and John Carter.

That only counts as a few, right? :o)

I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with The Artist. It was getting such rave reviews and I just really was not that impressed. Set in the late 1920's, you see silent movie star George Valentin struggle to figure out what do to once the world becomes interested in talking pictures. For starters, the plot reminded me way too much of Singin’ In The Rain. My mom really liked it but I thought it was a little boring, maybe I need to see it again now that I know what I am getting myself into.

It had gotten decent reviews, but my love of all things Kristen Bell is the real reason I saw Big Miracle. Based on a true story, it is about a family of grey whales that get trapped in the Arctic Circle and the people who helped save them. The movie not only shows the story from the side of Greenpeace, but also the native Alaskans who want to use the whales to feed their people and the big oil company that wants to drill in Alaska. It was a touching story and one worth seeing when the movie comes out on DVD, as I think it is already out of theaters.

Principal: You're a teacher. You got no business in the ring with those animals!

Brendan: Actually, I used to be one of those animals. I guess I forgot to put that down on my application.
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I have to say, I really enjoyed Warrior, a lot. It is getting good reviews, but I still went into the theater not sure if I was going to like it. I am not a huge fight fan but this was FANTASTIC.

The acting was great, the music by Mark Isham was moving and you cannot help but get into these fights.  There were even a few ladies behind me in the theater that were cheering and clapping :o)

The story is about two brothers whose parents got divorced when they were teenagers and each boy chose to live with a different parent. Tommy chose his mother who he ended up taking care of when she gets sick. He is an ex-Marine who has just come home for the first time in fourteen years. Brendan chooses their alcoholic father so that he can stay near the girl he loves, with whom he ends up getting married and having two children. He is a former UFC fighter and is currently teaching Physics to high schoolers. Both brothers individually decide to start training for SPARTA, the biggest winner-takes-all, mixed-martial-arts tournament ever.