Meet the Parents and Some Like It Hot

On friday night I knocked Meet the Parents off the list and on saturday I watched Some Like It Hot.

I'd seen Meet the Parents in the past found it funny...but I just always end up feeling bad for Ben Stiller's character.

Some Like It Hot. Okay I had never actually sat down and watched the whole movie, I always caught bits of it on tv, but the whole movie is great. Jack Lemmon , Tony Curtis and Marlyn Monroe are awesome together. I liked Lemmon and Curtis more then Monroe though. She just seemed kind of out of it... Which according to history she was, half in the bag the whole time of shooting. It is the first time I watched a whole movie starring those 3 classic film icons, I guess we can call them that now. Truly without the film stars of the past our popular actors today would suck even worse then some already do. ;)
There are a few things I loved about the movie with out a doubt. Surprise the year. 1929 I honestly have said it once and will probably say it again but there is something about that time in history that just seemed so classy. Even the Chicago mobsters did things with a certain style. The speakeasys always looked like a good time, how could they not be? In smokey, loud bar type place that is hidden, illegal booze, always on the look out for snitches and the cops. Just seems like it would have been a thrill going out any night...And who could discount the jazz music. New at the time it appealed to a group of people, those some that like it hot!

off topic

I have drawn a few conclusions over the past few days. one, I'm obviously crazy, two I'm afraid my blogs are all sounding the same and three I'm not sure how to make sure they stay unique. This is what I know, all the movies I'm watching are different, they have different aspects to them that make them awesome...My problem is that what I find awesome in one movie I'm pretty much finding awesome in any movie...except Gremlins. The music! I think I mentioned the music of movies in almost every blog. Really though, have you ever watched a movie that had no score? No music what so ever. I have. I think it was called ' 7 Seconds' or something, me and Lauren rented it, thinking it would be good . Ya it wasn't. It was like watching the movie 'Open Water'...you just want that time in your life back.
Maybe I will try and pick something different out from every movie. And I am most definitely not going to do a separate post per movie...I do have some form of a social life you know. Ha!
I don't mind tossing a few in one post, or just a little mention of what I watched and what not...
Man I should be asleep. It was without a doubt a ridiculous day at white oaks mall...bank robberies, running out of pearl paper, making crazy money in spiffs, running back and forth between blacks and Cinema1 like 10times. I could go on with the madness but surprise I have a movie to watch before I sleep, Meet the Parents borrowed from Tiffany...I can't wait until my movie collection is crazy huge like those of the people I work with and know.
Ah forgot, I watched Titanic after Moulin Rouge! and before Gremlins... Obviously I haven't written about it yet..i lost my page of notes. Lame. I'll come up with something.
stay tuned I've got a comedy, an action\adventure\epic, a drama, a scifi, a horror and a classic to watch soon all borrowed from some awesome people.
Ps I'm Soooo thankful for the people helping me out with this, lending me movies and such! Makes life just little easier. :)

Errr off to watch meet the Parents and snack on goldfish...
I love goldfish.

MOGWAI!!! Gremlins makes 14.

Movie #14 Gremlins (488)

Wow, this movie used to scare the crap out of me...now I really can't see why. Last night I did jump at least twice watching the movie. The movie was good for when it was made, the effects anyway but not the acting. I love the MOGWAI when he is cute and fury, when they become Gremlins its just not fun any more. Overall the movie is a classic and I love the little narrative at the end that warns you about the possibility of a Gremlin being in your home.
Oh and corey feldmen is super cute as a little boy!
Ps thanks to Katie and Tanya for watching it with me!

I am slowly picking up speed on my movie watching, realizing that I need to get a lot more done...the downside is that I am doing little of anything else. I think I'm going to get the portable dvd player so I can do more, but still watch my movies. Okay also I'm not to excited for the movies from the war and western genres those movies (mostly the war ones) always make me really sad...gunna havta wait till nicer weather for those ones. No february blues here!

Moulin Rouge!

Movie #12 Moulin Rouge!

Again another off beat type of musical. Yes it has music, dance, a love story but this one is presented in a whole new way. Set in a classic 1889 Paris, Bohemian life style where love is all that matters...to some.

This movie is filled with a collection of modern music that obviously was not around in the 1889's from The Beatles to Madonna. That is what I would have to say is my most liked thing about the movie, the music hands down. Kidman and McGregor do a wonderful job singing their own songs in my amateur opinion.

I guess if you enjoy music, and a slightly tragic love story then Moulin Rouge! is a movie you might just like!

Ferries Bueller's Day Off

Movie #11 Ferris Bueller's Day Off (490)

Let me start by saying that I really enjoy this movie, always have but I didn't want to watch it. I haven't sat down to watch this movie since semester one of my grade 12 year. Communication technology class, an international video contest to win $25000 in new technology for our school. We wrote, directed, shot, edited and submitted a short video spoof of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. With the support of our school and community (Achannel, RogersTv, local radio stations) we won first place. Needless to say we spent around 3 months creating this award winner and spent those 3 months listening to twist and shout, well our version of it anyway.

P.S. did you know that the parade scene (my favourite) was not created for the movie? It was an actual parade thing place in Chicago during filming. Over 10000 people are in the parade scene most of which are just random people who lived in Chicago at the time.
P.P.S. I really enjoy John Huges movies. He found a way to reach right into the core of any generations youth. My mom was a Brat Pack Fan, I was\am a fan and I can bet my younger sister and brother will eventually come to understand how great his movies are.

** Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it...**

Batman

Movie # 10 Batman (491)

This movie has three of my favourite things to have be part of a movie!

#1- Tim Burton : This man is crazy awesome. There is something about the way he directs a film, his eye just captures me. I just like his style of movies.

#2- Danny Elfman : Again another man that is crazy awesome. He has an incredible talent with composing music, I own other movies his music was a part of and they are some of my favourites for that reason alone. without music a movie has no feeling. He brings to life the silence of a film, gives those emotional, triumphant, epic moments that extra boost and drive of meaning.

#3- SUPERHEROES : Okay, memory lane trip! In grade 9&10 myself and my two closest friends went through a stage of loving superheroes. My best friend Lauren was Batman, our friend Jess was Wonderwoman and I was Superman. Basically we collected anything that held our heroes logo. I still have superman pjs, a pillow and a blanket that turns into a cape.

Batman, he is one of the cooler heroes because he really doesn't have any 'powers' besides being loaded! He is just a rich guy that wants to rid his city of the bad guys.

Okay the interesting thing I'm gathering from this movie is the way in which it was done...comparing it to the new Dark Knight movie they basically tell the same story but in 2 severely different ways. The Dark Knight is almost geared more towards and older audience then the original Batman. Also with the makeup difference between Nicholson's Joker and Ledger's Joker, Heath's joker makeup makes him seem like more of a man that has gone bat shit crazy (Haha get it, Bat shit!).

As this movie ends I have watched 10 movies and have 491 left to go. I did some calculations and figured out that I need to watch at least 40 movies a month from now on to be able to meet me goal. I might start going by genre to keep things organized, but I'm not promising anything. It is really starting to set in that I have gotten myself into a pretty big challenge...and I couldn't be more excited!

Lord of The Rings

Movie # 9 The Fellowship of the Ring (493)
This past friday night I watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy's first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring. Without a doubt an amazingly epic adventure. There are so many ways I could take this entry... I could go philosophical, or just ooo and ahh about all the special effects. I think I'm just going to toss out what's on my mind and what was on my mind when I watched the movie.
First things first I want to live in Rivendale. I just love how beautiful they created this place. Image the photo opportunities, just incredible! I also really enjoy good foreshawdowing, it gives tiny hints if you listen and helps a watcher get right into the story. This movie has a good blurb at the beginning that gives some background info and a slight peek at the possible future.

A bit of a side note here, but did you ever notice that no matter how old Elijah Wood gets when ever he yells, shouts, exclaims something he sounds like a 13 year old boy? Ya just something I have discovered recently while watching his newest movie '9'where he voices a character.

Okay back to main overviews, the music. Oh my god the music! Howard Shore did an unbelievable job. The music is epic, sweet, heartbreaking, breathtaking. Itsunami something I would want to listen to while reading or just relaxing. There really isn't a thing a do not like about this movie, besides Boremire , he can go over a waterfall...(FORESHAWDOWING!).

All in all a wonderful set of movies and I do recommend you watch them in a marathon fashion. Just get snacks and drinks, turn off the phone and do it up. It is pretty amazing to fall into such a world. Seriously it might just exist...you never know!
Ps only 492 left!

Four More Movies

This week I watched a few movies, The Shawshank Redemption, The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, and Chicago. The only one I watched this week that I had not seen before was Chicago. Needless to say it was awesome. Lets do this in an organized fashion...movie title and little blurb about each movie.
From the top:

Movie #5 (497) The Shawshank Redemption

Based off the short story by Stephen King titled "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". I saw this movie because a friend of mine loved it and suggested I watch it. Being a Stephen King fan I knew I might just like it ... being most of his books made into movies suck this one most definitely did not! Tim Robbins who plays Andy Dufresne plays him well. He is simple and fairly serious until he begins to see how the system works and accepts his certain situation whether he was guilty or not. The movie is rather long but really how else would you tell the story of a man living out the what would have been 2 life sentences... it really is an interesting story with the mix of different stories and characters that come into the main story line. It is almost as if Andy is just there in his part experiencing it all, but not letting it truly affect him. I obviously do not wish to give anything away...Andy had a plan and he stuck to it. That's all I have to say.

Movie #6 (496) The Wizard of Oz

"OH its a wonderful place!" says my 3yr old brother as for the first time he watched Dorthy walk out of her fallen home and into Munchkin-land in the Merry Old Land Of Oz. It was actually awesome watching his facial expressions while he experienced OZ for the first time. I was shocked when I found out that the movie was filmed in 1939...there is some pretty good special effects for the time it was filmed. You know a movie is truthfully timeless when a busy 3yr old will sit and watch the whole thing. It may be 70 years old ( which actually amazes me) but it still has enough magic to entertain the young of this generation.

Movie #7 (495) My Fair Lady

I instantly fell in love with this movie when I first saw it. I honestly do not have much to say about this movie. It has adorable songs, characters you begin to love and of course the amazing Audrey Hepburn ( obviously I love the movie because we have the same last name, ha ha). I would have to say that my favourite thing about this movie is the transition Eliza goes through but how she still keeps a bit of her real self. The best song is "Show Me" in my opinion, I think the lyrics are awesome!
"Don't talk of stars Burning above; If you're in love, Show me! Tell me no dreams
Filled with desire. If you're on fire, Show me!" and so on and so forth. Overall one more movie off the list!

Movie #8 (494) Chicago

Directed by Rob Marshall and the winner of 6 Academy awards really no surprise!
The 1920's, my number one favourite era in history...gangsters, illegal booze, burlesque, flappers, flasks, thigh highs, heels, garters and guns and did I mention the awesome music?
I watched this movie with my older sister about 30 minutes in we had to pause for snacks. It was already gold absolutely loving the way the musical numbers where performed and worked into the line of the story. I am a fan of musicals and this is the first time I had seen one that did not randomly have the actors burst into random songs where they are more of a transfer to the stage, change your outfit and belt it out style. Richard Gere, oh wow his singing and his dancing...and his strip show might have been able to live without having to experience that. But Gere aside loved the story, the drama, the murders and the music! All that just for your name in the headlines. One I do recommend for sure!

Blade Runner on a Sunday Night

Movie #4 (498) Blade Runner
It is actually a little weird to watch a movie like this, created in 1982, set in 2019. 2019 is only 9 years away and there is no way our world would be as it is in the movie. I understand that it is one persons view of what the world could be, one story, but how many stories have been told that kinda have the same effect. Each car with the ability to fly, people living peacefully on other planets. The whole world metal and flashing lights. I wrote this out while I was watching the movie...I had yet to see a live animal when an owl flew across the screen...two seconds later I was informed it was fake, a "replicant owl". So is there animal life? To think (by this screenwriters point of view) that they had this vision of what the world would be like in 2019 makes me happy that our world hasn't completely gone to shit..yet. I can honestly say that I would not want to life in a world with no wild life, no scientific mysteries, no questions. I just think it would be hella boring...do replicants breath? do the bleed?...well I am almost done the movie and just noticed it is really dark and seems to be raining all the time. Batty is a really intense character. The end of the movie really surprised me, Batty kind of broke my heart at the end...he might have been the "bad guy" but he just didn't want to die. I wont go into detail, leave it for you to watch on your own.
PS: Replicants do bleed. Red blood and all...

Quotes:

Batty: I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die.

Deckard: I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life - anybody's life; my life. All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got? All I could do was sit there and watch him die.

Summer Nights...and Sweet Transvestites

This past Saturday, December 16th, I watched two of my all time favourite musical movies...Grease and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Practically on different ends of the spectrum when comparing content and musical numbers.
Movie #2 (500): Grease
Grease was filmed in 1978 and the ripples it created are still affecting anyone young and old today who love good music, a fun story and awesome dance numbers in a film. Directed by Randal Kleiser and staring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as well as many others who gathered fame and a name from this one movie.
I have loved Grease for as long as i can remember. When I was younger I had a VHS copy of Grease and watched it so many times it eventually stopped working...later I was given a second copy on VHS and just this past year I finally bought it on DVD. I have changed and grown up since then but this movie is still magic to me. I can't really pinpoint why I found/find it so awesome, could be the music, the dancing, the era in which it is set, could even be the actors themselves. I honestly don't know. I think that if this movie had not been on the list I would have vetoed the whole idea of "must see" movies. Grease is seriously a timeless classic. I plan to make sure my younger siblings and eventually my children know and at least watch the movie once....Rocky Horror on the other hand...
Movie #3 (499): The Rocky Horror Picture Show
I believe you need a taste for outside normal when and if you ever watch this movie. Whether you choose to enjoy it or not it does say something for offbeat musical..comedies? tragedies?...science fiction? I have no idea what The Rocky Horror Picture Show really is, besides awesome. It was filmed in 1975, originally a play in London,bringing it to theatres with the audience participation, dances and sing-a-longs it had become a fast underground cult classic. Now over 30 years later the movie is still being shown in select theatres for special occasions..normally Halloween.
I was shown it in grade nine at a friends house. I immediately loved it! Just the random musical numbers, the dancing ( who seriously has not done the Time Warp at least once?). I then bought the movie and showed it to my friends at my grade 9 Christmas party...most were like wtf, but others fell in love just as I had. It became a fast favourite of almost the whole group eventually...we had the songs on our ipods, our own favourite characters and had talked many times about themeing a party rocky horror.

Well, 3 down only 498 left to go!

And so it begins, 500 movies to go...

Tonight I began my self-inflicted challenge of watching the 501 must see movies suggested in the popular book. I decided this would be something fun to fill in my extra time, with all things considered I do have two jobs and a busy family life, but one job is at a movie store…perfect fit? I think so. I started with purchasing the movie journal. In the journal was the list of movies (alphabetically) and places to write my own reviews and star ratings. That, and facebook gave me the idea to blog about my cinematic adventure. I’m hoping that is what it will turn out to be. An expansion of movie culture, who knows I might end up a huge western fan by the time I'm done.
The first movies I have decided to watch are ones I already have in my library, true these are titles I have seen multiple times but is that not why we buy movies in the first place? To be able to watch them whenever? Anyway, that’s what I do…
Therefore, with one down and 500 to go it begins.
Movie Number 1 > Scream (501)
Directed by the ever famous Wes Craven, I absolutely love this movie. The first time I saw it I was a little younger (try like 10) and was scared shitless. Now being a horror movie fan, I love the script and tie-ins of all classic horror flicks like references to Halloween, Friday the 13th, Prom Night, etc. The movie has a great plot twist at the end, and the actors just make it so much better (Matthew Lillard = my favourite). I don’t want to give anything away (if you haven’t seen the movie, please crawl out of your hole and go rent it) but I must relay the rules to survive.
#1: Never have sex, only a virgin will be able to outsmart the killer and live
#2: No Drinking, No Drugs – sin factor
#3: Never say, “I’ll be right back…” because the chances are very high that you will not be back.
Those are the rules as the movie tells it, if you have broken rule number one, just follow rules 2 and 3 and maybe you will be okay.
Hey, you never know if you are gunna end up in a scary movie!