There seemed to be a dry spell in good movies to rent over the last few months. All the good flicks come out in theaters over Christmas or the summer, and leaves the you a few months of wait time for redbox options. Since we got hit with some really icy and cold weather here in Atlanta, the schools shut down all week. That means Gabe was off as well, and we kindly obliged to the chance on catching up with a little R&R. I had completely forgot The Giver came out in theaters! It is a strong movie based on the novel by Lois Lowry. An easy watch, but it leaves you with deeper thoughts than you bargained for…

The film starts in black and white in a futuristic country that seems to be man-made or set apart from the rest. It is a contrived world, where from birth, children are taken from their “birthmothers”, and then assigned to a family unit. You are only with your family unit until you are assigned with a task as an adult member of the community. This world is a well oiled machine. Everything runs like clockwork. There is no pain or emotions. Just a smooth running society overseen by the Elders. Jonas, the main character in the film has more perceptive qualities than the rest of the citizens, and when the time comes, he is assigned “Receiver of Memory.” A role which only one receives every blue moon. It embarks him on a training with “The Giver of Memory” played by Jeff Bridges.

The plot is fascinating as The Giver slowly pulls back the red curtain to the reality of the world they live in, and through his instruction, Jonas receives the memories of the world past. Emotions, love, hate, war, peace are all received into his memory in small pieces. Something that is overwhelming and painful at times, but the depth of relationships is something the current society is without. Jonas realized their controlled world is missing the very heart of what makes life worth living, even though sometimes pain must exist with it. The film starts to reveal more color in the scenes as you are drawn into the story. It parallels perfectly with how you experience the movie.

Even though Jonas is supposed to be the keeper of these memories, he starts on a mission to blow them wide open in order to bring back the reasons for truly living. Katie Holmes and Taylor swift have roles in the film, but I would say Meryl Streep plays the most compelling female role as chief Elder. She is the only other person besides The Giver who remembers how it once was. She plays the antagonist role as the only other person who remembers the world as The Giver does. She begins to suspect he is training Jonas to do away with the world they had built, and adds to the suspense of what the outcome of the story will be.

I hope I have you intrigued enough;) When a film comes along that has some depth to it, I think it’s worth a whole blog post because it doesn’t happen often! So, if you are stuck indoors this weekend, here is your flick to watch!

P.S. What recs do you have? Here’s the last movie that got a whole blog post;)

The post Movie Watch: The Giver first appeared on In Honor Of Design.

The post Movie Watch: The Giver appeared first on In Honor Of Design.

I casually asked for movie recs the other day on instagram, and received several votes for About Time. Have you seen it? Since we hadn’t seen it yet, Gabe and I decided we would trust the general vote:)

For some reason, this movie had me up for hours in deep thought afterwards. I even dreamt about it. I guess its not uncommon that a movie leaves an impact on me, but this one actually affected my whole week…

Directed by Richard Curtis (Love Actually), starring Rachel McAdams, Domhnall Gleeson, and Bill Nighy. The characters were perfectly cast. You know how sometimes you think a movie would have been so much better had they had a better main actor or actress? Well I think they nailed it with this one. Tim’s pursuit of love and the small moments he lived to maintain love in his life was captivating. As in true British form, you never know quite what is going to fly out of their mouths (sometimes you need earmuffs), so we were thoroughly entertained the entire movie and laughed out loud on more than few occasions.

For those of you who have not seen it, the main premise throughout the was learning to be content with the present, and not only be content with it, but to LIVE in it. This seems to be the recurring theme of my own life in the last few years so that is probably why this movie impacted me so much. Tim is an average guy with who has the option to repeat moments in time, and re-live them if he wants a do over, but in the end he doesn’t feel the need to ever repeat a moment. The last few scenes are every day life moments that I have seen play out in my own every day life. They are moments he chooses to soak in and really take notice of his life.

(Image source one, type by IHOD // image source two)

The day after I watched this movie, it was a particularly mundane weekday. Holding a teething baby, cleaning up toys, attempting to answer emails and manage a business, de-boning a chicken for dinner, catching up with several loads of laundry, carpool, baths, diapers, bedtime routine, hanging out with Gabe before bed, etc. However, it was a particularly good day. One where I could tangibly touch deep happiness and contentment. One where peace was deeply settled in the atmosphere. The difference was I went into the day with no expectations, but just one thought. Today is a gift from God. The only important thing out of this day is that I love my kids and my husband well. It’s quite simple, but so easy to let our lives become one day bumping into another and a whirlwind of months ensue. Life can get complicated, but if we have a clear perception of our priorities in this world, peace always follows.

P.S. I am calling my bangs “fringe” from here on out…

What did you think of the movie? I would love to hear your toughts? And if you haven’t seen it, grab your guy or best girlfriends and get a movie night on your calendar!

(Just a little warning: As with most British films, there are moments of crude humor, nudity, and scenes. We were able to skip over them pretty easily. Not a movie for kids.)

The post About Time first appeared on In Honor Of Design.

The post About Time appeared first on In Honor Of Design.