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Movies for Mother's Day

There's no better present to give to your Mom on Mother's Day than your time. If you're strapped for cash or don't have a car, invite your Mom to spend a couple hours hanging out and watch a movie together at home on your Xbox 360™. Rather than sitting next to each other in a large darkened theater, where you can't even talk and have to buy expensive popcorn and drinks, put together some quick snacks at home, gather some pillows and blankets, and download videos from Xbox LIVE® Video Marketplace to watch with the entire family. (Note: You may want to download videos ahead of time, since some downloads may take longer than others.)

Here are a couple of movies to consider for your Mother's Day moviefest:

Blood Diamond (HD Available)
If you're feeling bad about not getting your Mom or wife some nice "bling" for Mother's Day, here's the perfect excuse. Set during the recent Sierra Leone civil war, Blood Diamond begins with fisherman Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) being ripped apart from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields. While working in the fields, Vandy discovers a rare, valuable diamond and hides it, but finds himself captured and taken to prison shortly after. At the same prison, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a South African smuggler, finds out about the hidden diamond and offers to help Vandy find his family in exchange for the diamond. With the help of American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), who is covering the war and diamond smuggling, the trio sets off to retrieve the hidden diamond.

Aside from the storyline about "blood" diamonds, war, and other more somber items, the dedication that Vandy expresses toward his family is one to remember on Mother's Day. DiCaprio and Hounsou both received Academy Award nominations for their roles in this film.

The Hours (HD Available)
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning book of the same name, The Hours stars Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman. The drama intertwines the stories of three women living in different time periods, yet all coping with depression and connected by a novel. (Don't run away yet. I know this may not sound like a "fun" movie to watch, but it's a powerful story with brilliant acting.)

In 1923, English writer Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) is working on her novel which will be titled "Mrs. Dalloway." In fact, The Hours was the working title that Woolf originally gave to her manuscript. In the 1950s, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a pregnant housewife trying to plan a birthday party for her husband, but who is engrossed with Woolf's novel. In 2001, Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep), whose nickname is Mrs. Dalloway, is a publisher who is preparing a party for her long-time friend Richard Brown (Ed Harris) who is dying of AIDS.

This movie and its leading ladies were nominated for multiple prestigious awards, including Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Nicole Kidman), Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore), Best Director (Stephen Daldry), and Best Supporting Actor (Ed Harris), just to name a few. Nicole Kidman won the Best Actress category for both the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards.

Happy Mother's Day!

Article by SoozyQ