Thursday 28 May 2015

Thursday Movie Picks: Mother-Son Relationships (Biologically Related)

This week’s theme has been surprisingly difficult, and I had to break the rules a little too. If you’re not familiar with the Thursday Movie Picks, it’s an amazing thing hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week brings a new theme, and all you need to do is pick 3 movies that fit the bill to discuss. This week is one of many 'All in the Family Editions', this time featuring Mother-Son relationships.


only-god-forgives-mother-son

Only God Forgives is probably the anti-choice for this week’s themes, as I can’t imagine the mother has a ‘Best Mum Ever’ mug at home for her actions. Ryan Gosling’s character’s brother is murdered and his crime lord mother compels him to hunt down his killer and cause trouble. Still, I’d like to think it shows how much he loves his mother to go and do this at her command, but maybe he’s equally afraid of her? This movie made little sense at the best of times!

how-to-train-your-dragon-2-mother-son

How to Train your Dragon 2 introduced us to a character we thought was long gone, Hiccup’s mother! (Not a spoiler - much to my disappointment this was all over the trailers). Getting to see Hiccup reunite with his mother after all those years and to see the similarities in the two of them was heart warming and a real highlight of the whole film. If only it could have been kept as a surprise.

Here are my three:


Who doesn't love Shaun's mum in Shaun of the Dead and who wasn't completely heartbroken when he realised she had been bitten.  As well as the awkward everyone threatening to stab each other stand off while there is a gun pointed at his mum!   It was one of the really emotionally moments in this zom-com that made us all fall in love with the Cornetto trilogy.



At the beginning of this movie, Trevor's mom, Arlene (Helen Hunt) is a bit of a waster, she keeps letting her alcoholic, abusive ex (and Trevor's father) back into their lives while apparently skipping on much of her parental duties.  However, as the film moves forward you learn more about Arlene and what she has been through and she also realises what her son actually needs from her.  Its great to watch Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) be the parent in there relationship and to see the tables turn as the story progresses.


This is where I am technically cheating because the reason I chose this film was because of the relationship between Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) and Michael (Quinton Aaron), hence the cheating as they are not biologically related.  However, the more I thought about it the more I considered her relationship with her biological son SJ (Jae Head).  He has been raised with all the luxuries in life and has never wanted for anything and yet he is willing to share his whole life with Michael because of the way he has been raised.  My all time favourite scene in this movie is after the boys are in a car crash while Michael was driving, Leigh Anne is running down the street shouting 'My kids, they are my kids...' such a heart-warming moment.

19 comments:

  1. Whoever picked A.I (I think it was Allie) I am afraid you have cheated, he's a robot so he can't be biologically related. However, it would be a perfect choice if it were not for the last bit. I haven't seen the The Blind Side so I can't really comment on whether you cheated there as well (but don't worry we all do it. I did it last week).

    I really, really liked Only God Forgives, I found incredible but I do know it splits opinion a lot.

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    1. I tried to focus more on the relationship with her biological son but yeah, I'll just go ahead and take that one out.
      - Allie

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    2. No, no, no don't do that! Keep it!

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    3. And I do remember you did focus on the the biological son, so I do think it's fine. Never intended for you to delete it.

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  2. I love that you picked HTTYD2. That's my favorite of these. Shuan of the Dead is a very thoughtful pick as well.

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  3. LOVE THAT YOU MENTIONED PAY IT FORWARD!!!!

    ALL THE FEELS!!!!

    TEARS!!!

    OH MY GOD, THE TEARS!!!

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    1. I get all teary just thinking about it...waaaaaaaahhhh!
      - Jenna

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  4. I've only seen Pay It Forward and The Blind Side from your picks. The Blind Side was enjoyable but for me the other fell apart as it went along. I've heard that Only God Forgives is a mess but I love Kristen Scott Thomas and now that she's seemingly retired the chances to see new things from her is limited so I'll eventually get around to it.

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    1. I loved Pay it Forward, it seemed so different to everything else that was coming out at the time! I can watch it over and over and it never fails to make me cry!
      - Jenna

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  5. The mother-son relationship in HTTYD2 was one of the great parts of the movie.

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  6. Shaun of the Dead is easily my favorite among your picks. It's just perfect. It was on the short list of my picks before I moved in another direction. Nice points on The Blindside. Decent movie. Same for HTTYD2. Great work!

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    1. The scene when she turns is so heartbreaking, even though they are still making jokes it tugs at my heart strings everytime!
      - Jenna

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  7. Only God Forgives I didn't think was all that good but DAMN that is some relationship Kristin Scott Thomas has with her boys! HTTYD2 just gives me ALL the feels. I purposely didn't watch any trailers for it so I was genuinely surprised when Hiccup's mom showed up.

    Pay It Forward... what a shamelessly manipulative piece of claptrap. I guess you could say the same thing about The Blind Side, but I think that one works much better, largely because of Sandra Bullock and the wonderful family dynamics she creates, even (and perhaps especially) with her adopted son.

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  8. I LOVE that you included Only God Forgives here. That was one of the most messed up mother/son relationships I can recall on film! Love Kristen Scott Thomas in that.

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  9. Nice picks! Pay It Forward has stuck with me since I was in my teens and first saw it. Such a hard movie to describe 'cause it's powerful and a bit strange (for me o_O). OMG love Shaun of the Dead! That's a movie that is eternally re-watchable. :)

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    1. Yeah Pay it Forward is definitely not forgettable in a hurry!
      - Jenna

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  10. Great choices! I especially like Shaun of the Dead.

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  11. There's no such thing as anti-choice...twisted relationships are allowed. :)
    What's not allowed is non biological relationships...there will be a theme dedicated to it in the coming weeks.

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    1. Argh, i'll want to use The Blind Side for that as well!! :-/
      - Jenna

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