Read this book, See this movie

I have two recommendations to make today: a book and a movie.

Yesterday I finished reading Marley and Me by John Grogan and it had me tearing up the whole last chapter. It's a great book that takes you through the lives of journalist John Grogan and his wife as they start their married life together. But, unlike your traditional autobiography, this one has a third person driving the chronology... a bad dog.

It's at times hilarious, deep, and moving. I found myself laughing out loud on the subway while reading this book. There were also moments when there were tears in my eyes. Occasionally I was laughing and tearing up at the same time. I've never been a dog owner, so I can only imagine what a dog owner would go through reading this book. I highly recommend it and have passed it along to my wife, Wendy, and she'll pass it on to our friend Ciara, who will pass on it on to our friend Bob. It's that good.

Plus, they made a movie out of it with Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. I'm just hoping they made a decent movie out of a really good book.

Speaking of movies, last night my wife and I had free tickets to go see a sneak preview of a movie called Death Race. Unfortunately my usually useful photographic memory failed me and I got the movie time wrong. We showed up at 7:30pm for a 7:00pm movie. Oops! But, we didn't want to go home since we were already in Times Square and jumped in to see Henry Poole is here starring Luke Wilson.

I've been wanting to see Henry Poole is here since I saw a preview back in May. I had tears in my eyes and Wendy was outright crying through most of this movie. Henry Poole is basically a recluse trying to live his days alone in a newly bought house. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for him there happens to be a water stain on the wall of his house that neighbors think is the face of Jesus. And, with that miracle, people start invading Henry's life. He fights it, in what becomes a sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking battle of belief and non-belief.

I think the acting here is great and the supporting cast is amazing. Luke Wilson plays the mopey, sad, angry, solitary man pretty well. So well, in fact, that there are times when I had a hard time caring for Henry Poole. There are moments when the movie's pace slows to a crawl but overall, it's a pretty good movie regardless of the faith background you're coming from.

Henry Poole is here leads to great conversations about miracles, belief, faith, etc. Take a friend and bring a tissue.

(Photos courtesy of MarleyandMe.com and IMDB.com)