Two Days, Two Movie Reviews - Wed., May 28

Tuesday:

Had a good workout this morning at the 50-minute aerobic exercise class my mom goes to. It was mild to moderate in intensity. I enjoy exercise routines and loved moving to the music. 

After class, mom took me to Enterprise so I could pick up my rental car. The agent showed me three cars from which I could choose. I picked the 2014 Chevy Cruze with leather interior and only 2,900 miles on it. When we went back into the office she couldn't find the keys, then asked her co-workers if they had the keys. One of the guys in the office said he had the keys and was taking the car for the day. To her credit, my agent asked him if he could take a different car. He did. (I'm glad because my other choice for standard-size car was full of scratches. I didn't want to rent that car and have them hold me responsible for the scratches!) 

We went back to mom's house, changed out of our workout clothes into something a bit nicer. From there, we headed to Wilsonville to pick up our "adopted" family member, Kimmie, to have lunch at a Thai restaurant. It had been about seven months since I last saw Kimmie, so we were able to catch up on all that has happened. Kimmie will go with us to Silver Falls State Park on Sunday so we can spend more time together.

Kimmie at Thai Village Restaurant in Wilsonville, Oregon

Tuesday afternoon was mellow and I read more of "Allegiant," the third book in the Divergent trilogy. At 5:45 p.m. my son Michael came over after work. He took me to dinner at Village Inn at Bridgeport Village, then we went to see "X-Men: Days of Future Past." 

"X-Men" is a great movie but, as with any movie involving "time travel," you have to keep up with what is happening. Time travel in this movie is done through consciousness with the help of Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), not physical movement of the person. Once again, the young Professor Xavier is played by James McAvoy, this time as a lost soul immersed in his own angst. Wolverine plays a major role as he tries to convince young Professor Xavier and a young Magneto that they must work together to stop Mystique/Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing Dr. Bolivar Trask. Dr. Trask is the mastermind behind the Sentinels, killing machines developed in the 1970s from Mystique's DNA, who can change and adapt to any weapon used on them. The Sentinels are used to hunt down and destroy mutants along with any humans who help mutants.

"X-Men" has a tight story with excellent acting and viewer immersion into the future and into the past. Look for the original Star Trek TV series playing on a screen in the background during the 1970s portion of the movie. The president is a parody on Richard Nixon. 

Wednesday: 

Mom and I went grocery shopping at New Seasons and Costco this morning. When we returned home we called my sister, Jan, to see if she wanted to go with us to see "Blended." We didn't hear back from her right away, but she eventually called, then came right over. We made it to the 1:45 p.m. showing of "Blended" with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. We almost didn't go because the critic ratings ranged from 25-60 out of 100. However, the fans gave it 4-1/2 out of 5 stars. 

Wow, the fans are right on! The movie is funny and touching. We laughed and laughed. Plus, part of the movie takes place in Africa so there are big game animals and a beautiful resort. The resort is having a "blended families" week and, by default, the two families end up sharing a table and events. I really like the way Adam Sandler had three girls and Drew Barrymore had two boys to raise. Each of them weren't quite sure how to relate to their own off-spring of the opposite sex. But inroads were made when they teamed up and helped each other. It's quite heart-warming (and did I mention funny?).

While we were in the movie, we could hear rain pounding on the theater roof and thunder. When we exited the theater, the rain cleared and we had a beautiful evening. Watching the news later, we heard there was hail mixed in with that rainstorm. 

After the movie, we went to mom's house, had dinner, and played Rummikub.

Tomorrow, Mom, Jan and I are going to Silver Falls State Park for a picnic and to see waterfalls we couldn't see on Monday. It shouldn't be nearly as crowded as Memorial Day.

Travel Bug out.