By Trina Boice WHAT’S JANE AND EMMA ABOUT? Based on the true story of Jane Manning, this touching movie illustrates the sweet friendship between her and Emma Smith, wife of Latter-day Saint prophet Joseph Smith. It’s a story you have probably never heard before, but one that will warm your heart, strengthen your faith, and add greater depth to your knowledge of history. Jane was one of the first ...[Read More]
JANE AND EMMA Family Movie Review
CRAZY RICH ASIANS Family Movie Review
By Lindsi Neilson WHAT'S IT ABOUT? When Rachel Chu accompanies her boyfriend Nick to Singapore, she is shocked to discover his family is extremely wealthy. As she navigates the tricky social and familial situations she finds herself in, everyone learns more about what’s really important in life. IS IT ANY GOOD? (Grade: B+) While the premise is simple and the storyline predictable, this movie has a ...[Read More]
Family Reviews: Big River, Merry Wives of Windsor, and The Foreigner at UT Shakespeare Festival
By Jonathan Decker (Clinical Director, LMFT) The Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival delights every year with first-rate, stunningly-acted performances of The Bard’s works, along with other fantastic plays. Enjoying the cool weather of Cedar City and its charming small-town shops and restaurants, along with the plays themselves is an annual highlight for my wife and I. This year we had th ...[Read More]
White Privilege- A Latter-day Saint’s Perspective
By Jonathan Decker, Clinical Director, LMFT “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.” (Luke 12:48) You know in testimony meeting when a person says they didn’t want to stand up and speak but felt that they needed to? That’s me right now. I don’t want to court controversy. I’m not a “kick the hornet’s nest” type of person. I don’t want the inevitable flood of angry comment ...[Read More]
RED TAILS Family Movie Review
RED TAILS REVIEW (GRADE: C ) I had truly hoped that Red Tails would be spectacular. Heaven knows it had the potential to be: the true story on which it's based (that of the segregated African-American WWII fighter pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen) is loaded with heroism, tragedy, and triumph. Also, George Lucas served as producer while others directed and wrote (as happened in the better films o ...[Read More]
Overlooked Gem: THE GREAT DEBATERS (2007)
Denzel Washington's second foray into directing (after Antwone Fisher) takes the basic structure of an inspirational sports movie and turns it on its head, as a small-town school goes up against the Ivy-League giants of the nation. The action and strategy, however, revolve around words and ideas, not athletics. Telling the true story of an East Texas “negro college” during 1930' ...[Read More]
THE HELP Family Movie Review
THE HELP REVIEW (GRADE: A) One of the best films of the year so far, The Help displays an impressively-acted balance of prejudice and tolerance, hatred and love, despair and faith, heartache and belly laughs. Like one of my all-time favorite films, Life is Beautiful, The Help performs the impressive feat of taking a dark chapter of human history and injecting it with light, hope, and humani ...[Read More]