Midnight Sun – Review

Midnight Sun – Budget Unknown – 1 hour and 31 minutes

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Click on a vendor to purchase: Amazon, Best Buy, iTunes, Target, Vudu, and Walmart (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer)

Katie has spent the day sleeping and the night awake.  She has a rare disorder called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP).  The UV light, even the smallest amount, can trigger a reaction that can kill her.  When she was 5, little girls called her a vampire because she stayed inside with tinted windows.  However, Morgan wasn’t afraid and become her best friend.  There is one thing Katie looks forward too.  That is Charlie.  A boy in the neighborhood the goes past her house every day.  She has the biggest crush on him but resolves to see him from afar.  After graduation, Katie begs her father to let her go out one night and play her guitar at the train station.  He melts at his daughter’s request and she is out the door.   While at the train station, she catches Charlie’s ear.  He introduces himself.  She pretends not to know him, freaks out, and runs.  Leaving her songbook behind.  The next morning she begs Morgan to get her book.  Morgan finds the book and Charlie.  She sets up a plan for Katie to meet the crush of her life.

While it has the same premise as Everything, Everything, it is not the same movie.  This illness is real and it can kill.  Katie is not presented as resentful or hateful because of her disorder.  On the contrary.  She accepts her limitations and works within them.  She dreams of being out in the daytime but settles to spend her time at night.  This gives the viewer more compassion for her, her family, and her illness.  This is a great drama/love story for teens at full price.  Everyone else, matinee.  And Patrick Schwarzenegger is a star in the making.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars

Stupid tree – Katie

You couldn’t last 2 hours – Morgan

It’s all my fault – Charlie

I can lift weights – Jack

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Love, Simon – Review

Love, Simon – Budget of $17 million – 1 hour and 50 minutes

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Simon has a normal life with a smart mother, strong father, and culinary enthusiasts sister. He spends the majority of his time with his friends Abby, Leah, and Nick. He has known Leah and Nick since they were all 5-years old. And while he only met Abby months ago, he feels like he has known her forever. With so much love and support around him, he still doesn’t feel comfortable telling anyone he is gay.  One day, Leah calls him to check out a blog post.  In the post, a kid calling himself Blue admits he is in the closet.  Blue feels like he is on a Ferris Wheel going up and down keeping this secret inside.  Simon makes an email account and writes Blue back.  Simon calls himself Jacques.  The two correspond for days.  But when Simon leaves his emails open on a school computer, his classmate Martin screenshots them.  Martin threatens to out Simon unless he helps him get with Abby.  Now he is playing with his friends’ emotions and secrets, just to keep his secret and keep Blue in his life.

Based on the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, this extremely funny, romantic, and mysterious movie isn’t about ‘coming of age’ (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). Simon isn’t a brat, spoiled, or coming from a bad situation. He is a great kid with a good home and a large secret. He isn’t coming of age or discovering himself. He knows who he is but he just hasn’t told anyone else. Simon discovers how much the people around him love him and that everyone has a secret. This movie will bring tears to your eyes as Simon finds his love story.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars

Well, maybe not that gay – Simon

I am figuratively dying – Abby

Are you her barista now – Leah

What’s the deal with Abby and Martin – Nick

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I Can Only Imagine – Review

I Can Only Imagine – Budget of $7 million – 1 hour and 50 minutes

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Click on a vendor to purchase: Amazon, Best Buy, iTunes, Target, Vudu, and Walmart (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer)

Bart Millard sits in a recording studio being asked about the inspiration for a song he wrote.  With his bandmates Mercy Me, shipping out CDs to local radio stations, Bart recalls his past.  It started as a young boy who loved music, especially Amy Grant (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  His father was an abusive alcoholic while is mother was fearfully complicit.  One day, his mother drove him to Camp Glorieta and he meets Shannon.  Bart was asked to journal during is camping experience and he wrote that camp was the best week of his life.  However, when he gets back home, his mother is gone and his father’s drinking binges are worse.  So to make his father happy he played football.  Until he injured his feet and couldn’t play ever again.  So as he was rehabilitating, the only club activity open was Glee Club.  It’s there a teacher heard a voice, that will sell millions of records across the globe.

Based on the song I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me, this is a funny movie about hope and forgiveness (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). As a kid, Bart hides his abuse from everyone around him. As an adult, that abusive past is holding him back from opening up to people off and on stage. Even the band’s manager Brick notices that he shuts himself off during the middle of a performance. Only forgiveness can bring this song to light. And that forgiveness comes had the hardest moment for himself and Arthur. It’s this forgiveness that really reaches the audience.  This is an experience for the whole family to enjoy at the matinee.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars

Dreams don’t pay the bills – Arthur

I just don’t like being alone – Bart

It’s totally safe. Well, except for that one kid – Shannon

You can and you will. There will be no discussion about it – Mrs. Fincher

She’s the smart one – Brick

Can Only Imagine – Budget of $7 million – 1 hour and 50 minutes

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