Pendragon Sword of His Father

A couple of weeks ago I read a review in a homeschool newsletter, for a new "Christian" movie - "Pendragon Sword of His Father".

"Set in 411 AD, Pendragon tells the story of young Artos who is raised to believe that God has a purpose for each day. When his family killed and he is taken into slavery by the Saxons, Artos questions his God. Advancing through the military ranks, Artos begins to understand that his father's vision was not based on the strength of man, but on the plan of God. Further betrayal by his friends forces Artos to decide between following God's plan unto certain death or abandoning God to save his own life." (IMDB).

We had recently read about the Saxons in history and as the trailer looked promising, I did something that I very rarely ever do - I bought the DVD. Not only did I buy a DVD but I paid full price for it. I liked the idea that a homeschooling family produced and acted in this movie and that it was billed as a "Christian" movie, and seemed like something my ds would love.

Over the past couple of days the kids and I have watched this movie. The kids thought the movie was great! I'd give it maybe a 2 out of 5.

I thought the costumes and scenery were great and as I stated above I liked the fact that a couple of Christian homeschooling families produced and acted in this movie. Even though the movie had fighting - there was almost no blood shown and there was nothing gruesome about it - as some warfare movies (or documentaries!) tend to be.

The acting was bad. The storyline was mediocre. I generally avoid watching "Christian" movies for those two reasons.

I know this movie, along with other "Christian" movies do not have large budgets - and believe me - it shows!

Will I watch this movie again? I might - preferably without the kids by my side...any movie is hard to watch when you are having to explain things as well as listen to comments from your co-watchers (and listen to them eating crackers!). Or I might just try selling it on eBay to get back some of my $.

Is it worth shelling out $20 for it? I'd say not. But if you think you might be interested in watching it - see if your library carries it or would order it (our library didn't have it), borrow it from a friend or see if you can buy it cheaper on eBay :)

Babette's Feast

About 1 1/2 years ago we somehow came across a great movie - Babette's Feast.

It's the story of two old spinster sisters who are used to living simply, plainly and in denying themselves.

Along comes a foreign woman- Babette, they take her in and she agrees to be their cook. The sisters "teach" the foreigner how to cook and she lives with them for many years.

Upon the advent of their dead father's anniversary of birth, the women decide to hold a celebration for their friends. The cook agrees to prepare the meal using a large sum of money she won from the lottery. Exotic foods are ordered and shipped out to the cook. The sisters and their guests are apprehensive about what this foreign woman might try and feed them, since they are used to simple foods and seem to believe that fancier foods are "ungodly" or sinful.

Babette prepares her feast. Working in the kitchen by herself she prepares multiple courses comprised of foods they've never tasted...caviar, quail and turtle soup are a few of the exotic dishes she serves.

The plain folk are surprised at how wonderful the food tastes, overcome their fears and start enjoying this exotic meal.

Just talking about this movie makes me want to watch it. This time I'll let my 8 yr old watch it too. She loves watching cooking shows on tv "especially when they are cooking meat!". Rather surprising being that she is not a big meat eater.