It’s no secret that movie days are the best days of class, but sometimes the movies are…interesting. I have watched many movies in different classes over my four years at Saint Thomas Aquinas. Some have turned into my favorite movies, while others were strange. Here are some of those movies and my opinions on them (keep in mind that all movies shown here at Aquinas are shown for a reason; this is just my opinion over their actual entertainment)!

• While You Were Sleeping

While You Were Sleeping was the best movie I watched at Aquinas. I watched this in Christian Lifestyles with Mrs. Zande. It is a romantic comedy about a young woman who dreams about her future husband. One day she, however, gets into a predicament and ends up achieving her dreams in a different way than imagined. She has to figure out how to get out of this situation without ruining her new family bonds. This has easily become one of my favorite movies. This movie never fails to make me smile and I love the whole progression of it!

• Micheal

Micheal was another one of my favorites! I watched this in Faith and Reason with Mr. Farnan. It is about two newspaper writers that get a call from an older woman saying she has an angel living with her. They don’t believe her, but both need to report a story before getting fired, so they decide to visit her. They go on a road trip that has many twists and turns with some new unexpected friends. This movie is very wholesome and can be a tear-jerker. 

• The Legend of Bagger Vance

The Legend of Bagger Vance was good but hard for me to get into. It has a slow beginning, but by the middle, you want to keep watching. I watched this in Faith and Reason with Mr. Farnan. The Legend of Bagger Vance is a movie about golf legend Rannulph Junuh and his journey of getting back into the game after fighting in World War I. The small-town family golf course is struggling to stay open, so they host a golf championship. Bagger Vance finds Junuh trying to get his swing back and offers to coach him. Alongside Vance and Junuh, little Hardy Greaves, a boy who loves golf, caddies. This movie shows the trials and tribulations of the 1920s. It also spreads the message of letting go of the past and being present. 

• The Leap of Faith

The Leap of Faith was an interesting movie. You can tell it is an older movie and that some of the jokes are outdated. I watched this in Mr. Farnan’s Faith and Reason. The Leap of Faith is about Jonas Nightengale, a scammer, who tours small towns and preaches fake revelations. He gets stuck in Kansas with his crew and decides to play into this act to get money out of this rundown town. This was an entertaining movie, but I wouldn’t watch it again. It was longer than it needed to be and would go off into side stories that had nothing to do with the plot.

• Alive

Alive is a survival movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I watched this in Freshman year English with Mr. Farnan after reading the book. It follows a true story about the Uruguay rugby team that was stranded in the Andes Mountains after a plane crash. They have to survive off of the minimal supplies they have and make difficult decisions that their lives are depending on. This was kind of a hard movie to watch knowing that it happened in real life. If you like survival movies this is definitely for you.

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven

The Five People You Meet in Heaven was strange. I watched this in Scripture Sophomore year with Mr. Best. Within the first twenty minutes of the movie the main character, Eddie, dies while trying to save a little girl from a broken carnival ride. He then goes on his journey to heaven. Along the way, he meets different influential people that guide him through his life troubles. They ultimately help him obtain the closure and healing that he needs. This wasn’t necessarily a bad movie, it was just confusing to follow. It didn’t leave me with the same impact that some of the others did. I wouldn’t watch it again.

• The Ultimate Gift

The Ultimate Gift was my least favorite movie that I’ve watched at Aquinas. I watched this in Mrs. Zande’s Christian Lifestyles class. It is about Jason Stevens, a spoiled young man who has had everything in life handed to him. After his grandfather passes he and the rest of his family are waiting to obtain their inheritance, but it is not what is expected. They all get nothing except Jason; he receives videos from his grandfather teaching him life lessons to make him a better person. While this movie sounds somewhat normal, it takes really weird paths that are completely unexpected. By the end, I forgot what the plot of the movie even was. I wouldn’t recommend watching it on your own time.

While some of these movies, in my opinion, were awful, they are still shown for a reason. Teachers show movies to teach us a lesson, but it can also be used as a relaxing time to rejuvenate. Take advantage of this time. Even if you don’t get anything out of the movie maybe you got a nice nap in!