Movie meals

I'm not sure where that title came from. It just popped into my head and seemed like a good alternative to "Food for thought," and it works here.

I've seen two holiday offerings at the movie theater in the last two weekends, and being the movie fanatic I am, I had to comment.

Four Christmases and Nothing Like the Holidays ...

I had low expectations considering the mediocre reviews each received, but was pleasantly entertained by each one. Tonight's, however--Nothing Like the Holidays--took first.

Four Christmases was entertaining. It was fun. I laughed out loud several times. I cringed a few times. I got slightly sentimental maybe once. (I can't remember for sure on that last thing, really, so it must not have been huge if I did.) I like Reese Witherspoon. I like, um, whats-his-name ... good grief, I've forgotten his name, but you know, the MALE LEAD. He played against Jennifer Aniston in The Breakup. Him. In one scene, he did a pretty funny spoof on the nativity story. (May lightning not strike my head for saying that out loud.)

Nothing Like the Holidays and Four Christmases shared many of the same elements. Families, in all their insane glory, getting together for Christmas. Obnoxious sibling rivalry and hi-jinks. Unfathomable parental actions. Love, in the end.

But I have to say, I like a movie that makes me think and teaches me a little something I didn't already know about the world.

I already knew this, but I re-learned that people who talk on their cell phones in movie theaters are idiots.

Yeah, they really are. Don't do it. Just. Say. No. And I didn't even learn that from the movie. The one I paid to see but couldn't hear in one of the most critical scenes--the scene where you learned why one character was the way he was. I may never learn because I COULDN'T HEAR HIM TALKING OVER THE IDIOT ON HER CELL PHONE!

Rant over.

From the movie ...

I learned some fun stuff about Puerto Rican holiday culture. Maybe stereotypical, maybe not really the norm, but how would I know? Still cool. In one scene, the Parrandas, the families go door to door on Christmas Eve singing, playing music, gathering up all the other neighbors and parading to a party together--one they've cooked and preened for and planned all year. It brought a genuine tear to my eye. It wasn't the least bit sad; it was just beautiful. We don't have enough of that kind of thing in our lives.

Everyone kept talking about drinking coquito. Todd and I were still trying to figure out what it was as we ate dinner after the movie. I see from another website that it's a drink made from coconut milk and rum. Not a fan of coconut, so I'll probably be passing on that.

Four Christmases had a neat, tied-up happy ending. Nothing Like the Holidays was more slice-of-life. Some things resolved, others were hinted at, yet others left you hanging. I'm one of the weird ones who really loves slice-of-life stories. Happy endings are nice, but kind of boring. Slice of life is, well, more like real life. (Remember, I'm the one who didn't like cartoons as a kid.)

So, anyway ... I've mostly forgotten about Four Christmases, and I had pretty much forgotten about it an hour after it ended. I think Nothing Like the Holidays will stick with me for a while.

If you want to see a holiday movie and can only pick one, I'd say go with Nothing Like the Holidays.