I like a good movie.  That being said I haven’t been to a movie I really remember and enjoyed in a very long time. “Run Away Bride” was way back in 1999 for heaven’s sake.  And finding a movie Brent and I both agree on is near to impossible.  He isn’t much for the romcom genre and I’m not big on spy-shoot-outs or Westerns.  I did like the “Da Vinci Code,” and the “Top Gun” movies were pretty good. But finally, the stars aligned this last month and I have seen two movies that made me think and left me feeling good about life.

“Boys in the Boat” takes you back to the 1930s. A tough time in lots of ways. Joe Rantz is the main character who has had to fend for himself since he was 14 and along with the other eight members of the crew, earns his spot on the U. S. 1936 Berlin Olympic rowing team.  They truly were amateurs who took Hitler and the world by storm.  It’s a good-guys-win movie that will leave you wondering if our lives are a little too cushy.  We took the husbands or maybe they took us.  Anyway, they liked it as much as we did.

We left the boys home for “The Color Purple.”  It is a musical about black women in the early to mid-1900s who support, learn and grow together.  “Epic, gutsy and feel-good” are the words one critic used.  Friend, Rebecca, thinks the fourth descriptor “family” should be added.  Four of us went.  Four of us cried.  Four of us would see it again.  If you have sisters or friends you love you should all go see it together.

So, Grandparents, if the Marvel Superhero genre has grown a little old and you’re looking for a good way to spend a couple of hours, go to the movies.  “Boys in the Boat” is the ticket if you’re a Grandma or a Grandpa.  If it is a girls’ night out “The Color Purple” fits the bill.  Both illustrate the Good Life isn’t always good, but you can get there with heart, hard work and perseverance.