Movies, Anyone?

Last year we decided to join Netflix to get movies for our family viewing.  This has been almost addictive for us, but we have really enjoyed seeing some wonderful movies that we had never heard of before.  We have watched some of our old favorites like Follow Me, Boys and Johnny Tremain.  We have spent many evenings enjoying Jane Austen's books brought to life in many different versions.  We have found a new British favorite series called Cranford which is simply delightful!!  We LOVED the HBO series John Adams which stayed so true to McCullough's book of the same title.

One of the neat things about Netflix is that as you return movies (via prepaid envelope) you get an email asking you for a review.  The more movies you review the better Netflix understands what type of movies you enjoy and sends you listings of movies that you might enjoy based on your ratings.  Ingenious!!

A couple of our favorite movies that were recommended by Netflix were Gifted Hands:  The Ben Carson Story and The Greatest Game Ever Played.    Gifted Hands is the incredible story of a young black man raised by a single mother.  He has a difficult time growing up, but due to his mother's strength and integrity and God's blessings upon his life he becomes a pediatric neurologist who saves many lives.  He becomes world known in his field, but gives God all the glory.  I have seen the book that this movie is based on in the CBD catalog for many years.  This was truly an inspiring movie.

The Greatest Game Ever Played is about a  young amateur golfer who learned the game of golf by caddying at the golf course across from his home.  He comes from a poor immigrant family and is thrown into the "golf club" culture where he is slighted.  He overcomes tremendous odds to win a big golf tournament.  This was a wonderful story that really intrigued some of my children.  Like a good living book it enticed them to "do" something with what they had learned.  One day Aaron mowed our front lawn very short, got the post-hole digger out and made a one-hole golf course.  As there are no golfers in our home, he, Jackson and Kaelan gathered plastic baseball bats and balls and put them in a bucket.  A tomato stake with a red bandana on it became the flag.  Aaron was the golfer, Kaelan with a small clipboard and pencil was the score keeper and Jackson, carrying the bucket of bats and balls was the caddy.   They had several days of fun "playing" golf on our new golf course.

Books have always been a way to teach and inspire my children.  Now, with the selections that we can find at Netflix, movies are teaching and inspiring them as well.