Can Watching Romantic Movies Negatively Affect Your Marriage?

According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by novelist Jojo Moyes, and based on research from the ‘Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory at Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh,’ watching romantic moves can be detrimental to marriage giving people an unrealistic view of relationships and marriage. While common sense might tell us there is no such thing as the perfect relationship, the conclusion is that some people are far more influenced by what they see on film or read in books than they realize claims Dr Bjarne Holmes, conductor of the research. Films and books often tap into this whole … Continue reading

Because I Said So (2007)

Don’t waste your time. Seriously, I haven’t been this disappointed in a movie since I paid money to watch Home on the Range with my daughter. The film features Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo. Keaton plays Daphne Wilder, a mother of three beautiful daughters (Moore, Graham and Perabo). She dances in attendance at the weddings of her two older daughters Maggie and Mae (Graham and Perabo) but wrings her hands in worry that Milly (Moore) is never going to be happy. Milly has a string of bad relationships that we hear about more than see. She … Continue reading

Movies Week in Review – February 11th – 16th

Trying to decide what to rent on your next trip to the video store? Maybe our week in review will help you. Our first blog of the week was entitled “Movies I Wish I Could Recommend, but I Can’t.” I discussed the films “Notting Hill,” “My Life So Far,” “Because I Said So,” and “Rumor Has It.” Each of these films lured me in with the promise of being good, but they each let me down, big time. On to happier things . . . “Strictly Ballroom” is a fun mockumentary about the world of ballroom dance and the things … Continue reading

Book Review: The Orphan Train Children: Will’s Choice

The Orphan Train Children series, a spin-off of the Orphan Train Adventures Series, tells the story of children who were sent West on “orphan trains” to be fostered by townspeople. The children in this series are fictional; the orphan trains themselves are not. In Will’s Choice, twelve-year-old Will, whose mother died when he was four, travels with his father who works in a circus. When Will shows no signs of being talented enough to earn a living with the circus (okay, he’s rather clumsy), his father tells him that he has arranged for him to go “on a grand adventure”—to … Continue reading