Today we went out for the first time… other than clinic visits and such that is. We went to see the movie Eclipse at the local cinema. It was great. Yes, not only did I like going out, I liked the movie too. I know there are doubters and naysayers out there about the whole Twilight thing, but I am not ashamed to admit that I liked the books and like the films as well. They seem to get better with each one. Number three was definitely better than two, which was better than one.
It was nice to get out… and really nice that Stacia joined in. So good to see you girl. Really good.
Now we’re back home. I’m in my usual spot, hanging on the couch and right now, watching the Sci-Fi Channel. Karen is mowing the lawn and Kev is pressure washing the deck. It’s beautiful outside. Not as hot as it’s been.
Music sometimes makes a scene, or a movie for that matter. Here’s a selection of tunes used in films that had an impact on me. By no means a comprehensive list, but a few who sprung to mind when I thought of doing this post. Enjoy and feel free to add your own in the comments section. Always looking for new music, new films to see, or reminders of films and music I’d forgotten about.
Let the River Run – Carly Simon – Working Girl
A nice little fable of a film. The song, at the end, sort of sums it up and lends itself to that feel good feeling.
Band of Brothers Requim – Band of Brothers
Beautiful piece of music and a fantastic mini series. If you haven’t seen it… do so. You may cry a lot, I did, but it’s amazing.
Have a Little Faith in Me – John Hiatt – Benny and Joon
I fell in love with this song after hearing it in this movie. A little fable of a film. This film just works.
Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon – Urge Overkill – Pulp Fiction
Tarantino knows how to use music in his films. This scene is just plain riveting. And the music in it is perfect for it.
Come What May – Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman – Moulan Rouge
I had no idea these two could sing, and sing so well. Besides which, this is a lovely lovely song.
Cell Block Tango – Various – Chicago
Fun fun. Listen to this a couple of times and you’ll find yourself singing along.
She’s Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing
Patrick Swayze singing. Who doesn’t love that? Or love this movie for that matter. No one puts baby in a corner.
I Am Changing – Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Jennifer Hudson’s defining movie moment.
Long Ride Home – Patty Griffin – Elizabethtown
One of my favorite songs which was used really well in this movie.
Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova – Once
A fantastic little film with some awesome music. If you have never seen this, or heard the soundtrack, or listened to the Frames, check some or all of that out. The two from this movie now have their own band called The Swell Season.
Vianne Sets Up Shop – Chocolat
This music just simply makes me happy.
Cruisin’ – Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis – Duets
Who knew Gwyneth could sing this well. Wow.
You’re The One That I Want – John Travolta and Olivia Newton John – Grease
No list is really complete without this. If you are a person of my age, give or take 10 years either way, you know and at least secretly, if not down right openly, love this song and this scene.
Back Where You Belong – Sinead O’Conner – The Water Horse
Just a really gorgeous song.
You Sexy Thing – Hot Chocolate – The Full Monty
Who doesn’t love rough burly guys dancing… I ask you.
All I Want Is You – U2 – Reality Bites
This song sort of sums up this entire movie.
Stuck In The Middle With You – Steeler’s Wheel – Reservoir Dogs
Ear cutting off scene so beware…. Tarantino knows how to use music in his films.
Goodbye Horses – Q Lazzarus – The Silence of the Lambs
R Rated, for those who care. I’d advise not watching if you do.
In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel – Say Anything
Iconic image from film this one. I think this spawned thousands of incidents where guys stood outside girl’s homes and played music.
Lust for Life – Iggy Pop – Trainspotting
Ok… so the voice over is in french, but for the purposes of this post it’s the music that counts….
In The Deep – Bird York – Crash
A truly intense gritty movie. Loved it. And loved this song in it.
People Are Strange – Echo & The Bunnymen – Lost Boys
The song in the first part of this clip is Gerard McMann’s Cry Little Sister, also good… Love when People Are Strange is playing and scenes of regular people doing what they do.
Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies – Prelude To A Kiss
Unfortunately I couldn’t find a video clip from the movie with the song in it so I had to settle for the video. A lot of people haven’t even heard of this movie. I liked it. Also a little fable of a movie.
American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Silence of the Lambs
The girl, before being kidnapped, drives along singing this song at the top of her lungs, no care in the world… and then… the second tune from this film. What can I say?
Like To Get To Know You Well – Howard Jones – Better Off Dead
This is the music video, not the clip from the movie… unfortunately.
Across 110th Street – Bobby Womack – Jackie Brown
A fantastic intro/opening credits to a movie. Love this and again love Tarantino’s use of music in a film.
I was thinking about film today, as I do pretty often, wondering what I’d pick if I tried to come up with a combo list of slightly strange sci-fi movies including some post apocalyptic stuff. Films I liked. Films that had an impact on me… couldn’t forget scenes from them, made me think a bit… that sort of thing. This is what I came up with…. in no particular order.
There could be others, and I’m sure if I sat here long enough I would think of other films I should’ve and would’ve included. I think when I make one of these lists that it’s all about the day I’m making it. Tomorrow the list would include some of these same films, but there would probably be differences. That’s the way it goes. That’s life. For now, today, these are some of my choices for the top films that always make me cry. Honorable mention would go to films like Piano, On Golden Pond, Old Yeller, Fried Green Tomatoes, and countless other films you might be thinking of right now.
Philadelphia
The humanity in this scene is sort of overwhelming. You have to ignore the crappy dubbing and the Greek subtitles, but it’s powerful none the less.
Beaches
Friends know each other for years, have their differences, lead disparate lives, stay bonded through everything, and love each other to the end.
Steel Magnolias
Nothing more heart wrenching than mother losing daughter. I distinctly remember seeing this and crying and laughing out loud and crying again.
Mystic River
Again… parent losing child. This is powerful.
Playing By Heart
This whole movie takes the watcher on a roller coaster of emotion. I cried a few times. This scene is just sort of indicative of what the movie is about. Not really a scene that made me cry. It’s got an amazing cast and is a great film, if you like emotional movies about love and relationships that is. If not, skip it.
Schindler’s List
This is one of, for me anyway, the most powerful scenes in film, ever. Schindler is leaving and he breaks down wishing he could’ve saved more, done more. It makes me cry just thinking about this scene. Spielberg is a master.
Ghost
Sort of a common choice, but good none the less. A classic tear jerker. The moment when they see each other and he gets peace.
Powder
Fighting and then giving over of yourself… if you haven’t seen this movie it is a powerful film about humanity. Just strange and amazing.
The Hours
I could’ve picked more than just two scenes from this movie. It’s another character study kind of film about choices and consequences and living with both.
E.T.
I had to include this… E.T. goes home.
Boys on the Side
Love… loss…
Immortal Beloved
I don’t know why this gets me so much, but it does. Partly it’s the music, partly watching him remember and knowing, finally, as an audience member, what the music was born out of.
Saving Private Ryan
This is the worst battle scene I’ve ever seen in film, for me. I started crying almost immediately and by the end I was a mess.
Man From Snowy River – Chase sequence – Fantastic music here and beautiful photography to go with
High Fidelity – Let’s Get It On – Jack Black doing his thing
Reality Bites – All I Want Is You – WARNING – There’s a brief speaking part that’s not in English (a person has to take what they can get with YouTube when movie rights, etc. are in effect).
Jackie Brown – Across 110th Street – Opening credits of the movie
Pulp Fiction – Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon – WARNING – drug overdose scene in this clip right near the end – I absolutely love Tarantino’s film making.
Once – Falling Slowly
Trainspotting – WARNING – Foul language alert
Kill Bill Vol. 2 – Goodnight Moon – Quentin Tarantino knows how to use music in his films
Moulin Rouge – Come What May – This is a great song, and I was totally surprised to learn these two could sing.
Chicago – Cell Block Tango
And, of course, a couple of additions because I never stop at 10…
Immortal Beloved – Ode To Joy (love the visualization of ode to joy… beautiful film making here)
Duets – Cruisin (cheesy, sort of, but who knew Gwyneth could sing… not I, until this)
Total Film has built a top 40 movie music momentsof all time, counting down from 40 on the first page to one, on page 14. Check out their list to see if your favorite made it in, if you agree… or not. There are YouTube clips from each, pretty fun to watch them again. I think I’ll try and see if I can come up with my personal top 10 in the next week or so. Check back to see what I’ve chosen. For now just enjoy their list. It’s a walk down movie music memory lane. Say that three times fast….
Here we are… back home. Hanging out at our humble abode with the pups. It’s been a weekend of family time, cleaning up, laundry, and relaxation. Just what a person needs after being on vacation for a couple of weeks. Nice. Now some great smells are coming from the slow cooker and women’s college world series softball is on the TV. Also nice. Karen’s out watering the plants. I just got done buying tickets to see the Indigo Girls at the Oregon Zoo in July.
Tomorrow we work… uhg. But, we also go see Pink Martini at the Schnitz with Stacia and Eric. Should be good. The last time we saw them, Pink Martini not Stacia and Eric, they were terrific. Uh, I guess Stacia and Eric were terrific too. Don’t get me wrong. They were. Terrific. I just wasn’t initially referring to them. Never mind, you get what I’m saying. Speaking of terrific. I think I need to post another little something from the Playing for Change Website. I think it’s episode 8, War…
One last shot of the castle. You can probably see it most in this shot, the Harry Potter-ishness of the whole thing. It was beautiful last Wednesday. Perfect sky for taking photos, perfect weather for sneaking onto the grounds of a famous castle.
We set off on our journey to Scotland last Wednesday… first stop, Alnwick (pronounced Annick) Castle on the North East Coast of England. This is the castle Hogwarts is based on in the Harry Potter films. They filmed parts of the place and CGI’d the rest. Kind of cool in person. The castle and grounds are a major tourist stop and were fairly packed. There was also a fee just to walk on the grounds, not to mention the other fee to go inside the castle. We decided to try and get to a spot where we could take photos without actually paying to go onto the grounds. We weren’t staying long anyway, so paying the fee seemed kind of ridiculous, especially given that it was kind of steep.
We paid to park, decided to have a little picnic there in a very nice area where the dogs could be with us. Another rub of entering the grounds at Alnwick is that dogs were strictly not allowed. In fact, the guy at the pay booth for the parking specifically told us no dogs allowed. Bummer. After our nice picnic lunch Martin and I set off in search of the perfect spot for photos. We actually ended up going around toward where the pay booths were, but then veered off onto what, to us, looked like any other path. We followed this path and ended up on the grounds, near the castle. Who knew. I think it was a gardener’s path and we weren’t supposed to use it or be there, but what the heck. We both felt like someone was going to stop us at any moment and tell us to go, but we ventured forth anyway, just so I could get some shots. Which I did. This is one of them. You can actually recognize, from the films, the center part of the castle. It looked familiar to me.
This is sort of a non-post post. Which suddenly just made me think of post toasties. Wasn’t that a cereal once? Or possibly still? But, I digress. Here’s the deal. Most of you who know me know I’m a bonafide geek. Very nerdy, in a cool flip flops and t-shirts tokenhippygirl kinda way. I love all things gadget. All things geeky electronic. All things techie. This probably stems from my early exposure to the original Star Trek series, among other sci-fi/fantasy greats like Land of the Giants, Godzilla movies, and the Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman series on TV. So when this whole social networking thing started I was in. First… I blog. Then… I Facebook. Then… I Tweet. Now… I integrate these things into one tokenhippygirl network that will some day <insert evil laugh here> take over the world. Uh… was that my outside voice? I think it might have been. Now, though I don’t know if I’ve done it correctly, when I blog a snippet of that blog will appear on my Twitter feed with a link back to my blog. Circular dude. Very circular. I love this. I also am totally in love with Twitter right now. At first I was like… OK, how is this cool. But seriously… it’s cool, to this geeky girl anyway, because I can pick people to “follow” and when I do they start to appear in my stream. How is this cool you ask? Well let me tell you… it’s cool because I have decided to follow things/people like The New York Times, Rachel Maddow, Neil Gaiman, Time Magazine, Ann Curry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Mraz, etc. It’s cool because when one of them posts something, I see it. Which means that I’m getting great live streaming news action snippets all in one place. I can scroll through and if any one particular thing looks interesting, and there’s a link attached to it that will whisk me away to the main story page, I can then get whisked away to the main story page and read the meat of what’s there. Great for a person who likes to get her info from many different sources. Great for a girl who’s interested in many different things. I’m following news agencies, family, writers, actors, friends, sports people, magazines, etc. And now I don’t have to “run around” to various different sites. I just go there, and I get what Anderson Cooper has to say, or Air America Media. It’s awesome. L-O-V-E it. Not what I thought I’d ever use it for, and totally what I’m ending up using it for. It’s a real tweet for anyone like me, get it… tweet… bah ha ha ha!!… OK, I’m better now… Anyway… it’s a treat for any geeky jeans and shorts wearin’ corny curious soul of a person like me. Check it out. What can I say… it’s cool.
The previous post about The Spirit and All That Jazz has spurred a post about the worst films I’ve ever seen. I’m going to post 10. At least, that’s my goal right now, at the start. It could gain momentum and be a bit longer list. We shall see. They will be in no particular order, though the two already mentioned here would actually be one and two on the list, respectively. (And, if you read the title you know I expanded to 13. Sitting here now I can think of a few more, but I’ll stop here. I’ll save the others for the part 2 list)
As mentioned… The Spirt was bad. And I mean… bad. I know, it’s supposed to be stylized. I get that. To me, however, it had no style at all. Run, don’t walk, from this movie. Spend your time doing something more worthwhile… like mowing the lawn or going to the dentist. Anything. Anything would be better. Really.
This strange, I really can’t stand it, oddity of a film won 4 oscars. Maybe it’s that I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s me. Maybe not. Either way… All That Jazz was terrible. Hard to follow. Choppy. Uh… just plain… strange. No other way to put it. Sometimes I like strange. Sometimes strange is good. This was/is not one of those times.
Supernova . Completely terrible and very disappointing. One of those times you think… man, it has good people in it. Actors I like. But somehow even they look bad in this movie. Really bad. There’s nothing much more I can say about this other than… ew.
Event Horizon. Sam Neill. Laurence Fishburne. Worse than terrible. Not only was it bad it was, to me anyway… disturbing. Which maybe it was supposed to be. Whatever. I’ve seen plenty of movies that were slightly disturbing, or even a lot disturbing, and they weren’t bad. They were disturbing, but that was OK because it was part of the story or moved it along. This… disturbing for no damn good reason. Creepy in a I have to take a shower now kinda way. Avoid this film.
Max Payne. I don’t even really know what to say about this movie. I was excited to watch it… and then we did. All the best parts were shown on the previews. Now, looking back on actually watching it, I can’t even remember the movie all that much. I just know we were like… uh… that was not good.
Chapter 27. I thought… wow, this could be interesting. Sadly, I was mistaken. Not only was it not interesting, it was painfully slow. Slow and… really slow. We looked at each other and were like, OK, we have to turn this thing off. I fast forwarded and watched the last two thirds of this film at high speed, slowing slightly once in awhile to keep up with what was going on. Which took like a minute or less each time. This thing is unbelievably shamefully sorry. The only interesting thing about it is that Jared Leto looked transformed… kudos to him. However, his weight gain is the only heavy thing this movie carries. There was no substance to it. None. Just creepy looks and… a whole lotta nothing. Too harsh? I don’t think so.
Righteous Kill. Writing… bad. Directing… not great. Acting… OK. Predictability… yes. This film, on the surface, would seem to be a winner all around… good actors, good director, etc. But, it’s not. And in fact, it’s silly, predictable, over the top, and just plain uninteresting. Another film we fast forwarded through because we couldn’t take it at normal speed. I would’ve turned it off completely, but I had to see the end to make sure the bad guy was who I knew it was after watching the first 10 minutes. It was. Skip this. Even DeNiro and Pacino can’t save this terrible excuse for a movie.
Margot At The Wedding. I hate it when I like no one in a movie. When there doesn’t seem to be one redeeming person. For me, this film was like that. I didn’t enjoy a single line of it. After watching this movie, and again, we fast forwarded through much of the end of it, I felt ucky. Annoyed. Like someone had robbed me of a small amount of time in my life and I was perturbed about it. In fact, I still feel perturbed just thinking about it.
In Bruges. It could just be me, but this movie was awful. Again, I liked no one. The shots, all puns intended, at humor were not funny. Though maybe it was just my sense of humor, which this film didn’t even touch, that made me want to throw a shoe at the screen. I don’t know. I couldn’t believe how bad this thing was for me. I watched and then just wanted to say what was the point of that? There are films where it’s OK to ask that fateful question at the end… then there are films like In Bruges.
Freedomland. I thought… good actors. Come to think of it maybe I should stop right there to say that possibly I shouldn’t always see a movie because of the actors involved, but a girl has to have some way, some criteria for picking films to watch, and that’s one of mine. Sue me. But I digress… back to the movie. It lumbered. It was like walking uphill in water. Slow and painful.
The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford. This movie is beautifully shot, I’ll give it that. It’s gorgeous in fact. However, that’s the only thing it has going for it. Other than, alright, OK, the acting in it is also pretty good. I just didn’t like it. Talk about watching paint dry. By about half way through I was like… this thing is beautiful, but c’mon already, shoot him. Get it over with. That, to me, is never a good sign. One should never be thinking get it over with already while watching a movie. Plus… could there be any longer or worse title for a movie than this?
One… 37 people have visited my blog today. My best day, so far, was 342 viewers. I’m no aplusk on twitter, but hey… thanks for viewing!
Second, and much more important… my bro and I watched what we have decided is the worst movie we’ve ever seen. In the past both of us would probably have said All That Jazz, even though it’s always gotten rave reviews, but now a film has usurped that title. The sad part is we watched it all the way through, and we don’t know why. There’s no rhyme or reason for us watching. We kept looking at each other and laughing, wondering why. We even voiced the question… why? We never did figure it out, we just kept at it, kept watching. And still I wonder… why? What movie prompted all this question asking, you ask? Here it is… drum roll… the movie that’s taken over sole possession of the worst movie we’ve ever seen is… envelope… The Spirit. Yes. The Spirit. Frank… c’mon man. That thing stank it up. It was terrible. Bad direction, awful writing, laughable acting, corny, and not in a good way, special effects. I was saddened, disappointed, and kind of amused. When a movie that’s supposed to be semi serious… and yes, I realize it was supposed to be a bit over the top… creates nothing but chuckles of disbelief, it’s bad. When there’s constant checking in with your movie watching mates to see if they are having the same nauseating reaction as you, it’s bad. When all faith is lost in the acting ability of the likes of Samuel L. and Scarlett, at least in the finishing up of this particular movie, it’s bad. The moral… bad. Don’t see this stink pot of a film. Avoid it. Tell your friends. Your children. Your family. People you meet on the street. Warn them. Shout it from the roof tops. This thing tanks. It tanks big time. Now maybe I should tell you what I really think. LOL
Better late than never… this is a draft I started a few days ago so bear with me…
Oh my… we’ve had a weekend. And, it’s not even over yet. We still are going to head to the racquet center to hit against the ball machine. This is after we hauled 80 cement blocks and another 40 slightly smaller cement blocks yesterday. That’s unloading them from the truck and then stacking them. We made four trips from the sand and gravel place to our house. The pups came along for the ride every time. I wonder if they thought… oh, so this is our life now. Back and forth to and from this strange place, home, and then in the truck again. Makes me laugh to think about what their reaction might have been, or what they might have been thinking. Maybe they just thought… wow… what a great adventure this is… we get to go, we get to hang in the truck with them, we get to get loved on pretty much all the time we’re driving. And we don’t have to haul those big blocks. Not a bad gig.
Yesterday, drove to Nonna Emilia’s for dinner, picked up our new hot tub cover (the cover is new, not the hot tub), ran through Lowe’s purchasing stuff for the yard, and then came back home to unload said stuff, take a dip in the newly covered hot tub, and then watch a pretty good movie. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
Today, ladies and gents, we got up, had oatmeal (so healthy, I know), and went to work outside. Karen cleaned off the back deck, and did some weeding. I cleaned out the Japanese garden, and then started to pressure wash the front deck. We’re trying to figure that whole thing, the front deck thing, out after our major stain faux pas last year. We’ll prevail. I know we will.
April 6. It’s tomorrow… well, it’s today, but tomorrow as opposed to the previous part of this post. And… I’m explaining too much. But there’s a reason… you see, I got up early this morning. No, not my usual early. I got up really early. The alarm is set for 6:30. It’s set that early so I can get up, get on the treadmill, and then have time to get ready for work (my work day starts at 8:30). This morning, however, I said no to the treadmill. First time in two weeks, but seriously… we worked so much this weekend I’m beat up. I needed a day off. So I’m like… woo hoo… I’ll just re-set it for 7:30 and get another hour of sleep. Which I do. So… it’s 7:30 and it goes off and Karen says… get me up at 8:00 (she decided to sleep in herself a little I guess and since she works at home, she can do that on Mondays… no early meeting). I get up. I take a shower and I’m looking at the clock in the bathroom seeing how much time I have, so I know when I have to make sure I get Karen up. Then Karen walks in and she’s like… uh, it’s only 6:45. I’m sure, and I mean sure, that it’s not. I say… no… it’s 7:45. She says… the clocks all around the house say 6:45. I think… no way, the clock in the bathroom says it’s 7:45. Then she turns the clock. It’s actually a clock on a little stand, looks like a large pocket watch (pretty cool… thanks Mary), and sometimes it gets turned in one direction or another. So Karen turns it upright and I see… oh no… it’s only 6:45. Apparently the clock in the bedroom thought it was the time and date to spring ahead last night. It’s on the old daylight savings time schedule. Damn the old daylight savings time schedule! At this juncture all I can do is laugh… and relax. Now I have a lot of time to get ready this morning… drink a cup of tea, finish this blog, stop at the grocery store on the way to work, mail back the Netflix movies, and mosey on in. A minute ago I was rushed… now, I’m calm and mellow. The pups, however, are not into this early rising thing. Weston was like… oh no… I’m not getting up, and he didn’t. He burrowed himself back under the covers and is sleeping in the bedroom. Riley… she’s right here, in the office, but she’s fast asleep in one of their little beds. They think this getting up early is a bit ridiculous. Who could blame them… so do I.
Now… back to the post. We didn’t end up playing tennis on Sunday. We decided we were too sore from all the heavy lifting this weekend, so instead of trying to swing a racket with really sore shoulders, we took the dogs for a walk. Which was better anyway because the pups got to come along. And let me tell ya… they love when they get to come along. The walk was good. It was actually warm out… really warm. T-shirt wearing warm. Nice. The pup’s hair is too long though and they both got too hot. We gave them water at one point, but on the way back to the car Weston decided he was done and he wandered over into the grass, in the shade, and laid down. It was so funny. He looked at me like… OK… this is it, I’m staying here. I actually picked him up and carried him the last 100 yards to the car. He would’ve walked, but what can I say… we totally spoil them. Plus… he didn’t look super sporty at that moment. He just looked ticked off, hot, and was panting a lot. Who can refuse a face like that?
April 8… Yes, it’s days later. I saved this post as a draft and am just now finishing it up. Sad. I’m a sad excuse for a blogger. Life… what can I say? It’s more important than blogging. Shocking? Maybe. But true… so… let’s get to it. The blogging that is.
The movies… we watched a couple of pretty good movies this last weekend and one not so good. We give two thumbs up to Seven Pounds and to The Secret Life of Bees. Both, in their own way, good stories. They were both also sort of predictable, but we didn’t seem to care. Some beautiful cinematography, and some great what I like to call snap shot moments. Times when the camera lingers on an image that’s stunning. Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, was the better of the two (the the reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes didn’t seem to think so, but oh well… it’s all subjective anyway right?). Pretty compelling, well acted, and again… nice direction and cinematography. The ending wasn’t a surprise to us, even if it was meant to be, but we didn’t mind being able to figure it out. We wanted to watch anyway. The summary… man loses woman he loves, man decides to help seven people, man has unexpected interruption of his plan, and then the plot thickens. Check this one out… it’s good. I don’t think it got the attention it should have. As for The Secret Life of Bees. It’s one of those feel good after watching it movies. Plus, it’s full of really great women, with a few really great guys as well. Well acted, and just a good feel to the film. I can always tell when I like a movie because I watch what we call in our house “the stuff”. It’s all the extras they have in the special features section on a dvd. If the film is bad… I don’t care to watch the stuff. Sometimes even when a movie is just OK I don’t watch it either. But when a film is good… I watch. I want to know more about the film making process, some of the background, etc. Karen doesn’t ever like the stuff… but she actually watched it on the Seven Pounds dvd. Trust me… that’s saying something. The movie we didn’t really like… Cleaner. It had Samuel L. Jackson in it, but even he couldn’t bring it around. Not terrible… just a tad boring. Needless to say… we didn’t watch the stuff.
And so ends the saga of this late post… this after the fact post. Whew… I feel better getting all of that off my chest… and out of my draft folder. OK… now back to our regularly scheduled and on time blog….
We seem to never have a dull moment. Ever. Always on the go, always “stuff” to do. Always. Always. Always.
This weekend was no exception. To sum up… We had furniture delivered Friday evening and then met friends for dinner at The Varsity (it was great to see you Jimmy! … and the rest of ya’all too, don’t want you to feel left out even though we see you all the time), we redecorated our bedroom around the new furniture, we rented and returned a U-haul to move some family furniture from our house to my nephew’s place, we met up with friends at a club and boogied our selves down to the ground at Barracuda followed by dessert and coffee at Hobos, we met my mom and new step sistas for a trip to Red Pig Tools (fun for the whole family if you love handcrafted garden tools) and then lunch at the Carver Cafe (pretty tasty… long wait, but great burgers when we finally got them… possibly it was so crowded because I just now found out, while looking for a link for the Cafe, that it was used for the cafe scenes in the movie Twilight…. who knew? Not I. If you’re interested you can find that info HERE), we loaded up a bunch o’ stuff in the truck and took it to the dump (including some hazardous materials in the way of old stain that they only take on the last Saturday of the month), we watched a bad, underscore bad, movie called Choke (don’t see it, whatever you do), and it’s now only three o’clock on Sunday. We’ve decided to turn down an invitation to have dinner with friends at Joe’s Crab Shack. It’s time for us to just relax at home. Hang out. Enjoy some quiet time. Read. Surf the net. Blog.
The sandwiching part of the title of this little missive is about what you ask? OK, so here it is. It relates to a conversation Karen and I had last night on our way to the “Hot Flash Dance” where we boogied and hung with new and old friends. Our conversation was this… though I guess I must first describe what we refer to as sandwiching. Sandwiching is when three people dance together, with one person in the middle… sort of sandwiched in. So here’s what we discussed, which I think is worth sharing if for no other reason than it made us both laugh hysterically. We decided that when you’re young… a teen and in your 20′s, and even into the 30′s… when you sandwich it’s sexy. Three people all sort of dancing together, being silly, being sexy… whatever… it’s kind of sexy. Like a, let’s see if I can find a sandwich that sounds sexy… OK, here it is… kind of like a Grilled Taleggio and Tomato Sandwich. Sounds sexy yes? Kind of exotic, not completely sure what’s in there, mysterious… yet fresh and juicy with the tomato and all. Sexy. But when people get older… later 30′s and then 40′s and beyond… sandwiching isn’t as sexy. And don’t get us wrong… there are still some sexy sandwichers out there. But c’mon people… sandwiching after 40 is usually, in our analogy anyway, like a great bologna and cheddar sandwich. Plain, comfortable, friendly… but not really sexy. We, at this time in our lives, are like bologna. And don’t go feelin’ all sad and bummed for us. We’re not bummed, or sad. We like being bologna. We like sandwiching and laughing our butts off while we do it. It’s hilarious. No longer sexy… it’s just plain fun and silly. There you have sandwiching 101, Karen and Tam style. I love being us.
Without further ado… I decided to randomly pick ten movies I’d consider, at this moment and off the top of my head, to be some of my most favorite. Then I threw in, as I did in my earlier 10 Cheesy Movies post, a couple of bonus features. I know if you asked me next week to come up with a list of films that these would, probably for the most part, still be on my list. Though, right now and thinking about it, since I’m writing this after compiling the list below, I could add Bridge Over the River Kwai, or any of a number of other Hitchcock films. But, I didn’t, and I haven’t. What follows is the list I came up with today. Check them out and feel free to leave a comment or two on your thoughts and/or what your picks would be.
Amadeus. There’s just something about this one. Very intense. Tom Hulce is awesome in it. Slightly over the top, but then I think his performance actually sort of makes this movie. As we hear the whisper… “Amadeus”.
The Shawshank Redemption. Who doesn’t like this movie. Everyone I’ve ever met likes it. I think it’s got something to do with the age old story of guy goes through something unjust, guy endures, guy says screw you to the corrupt establishment, guy lives happily ever after. Yeah… something to do with that.
The Usual Suspects. Group of unlikely fellows gets wiped out by scary mystery man with a surprise at the end. Really great story telling here. Excellent writing, directing, acting. All around great romp of a movie. Add in Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Benecio Del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollack, Pete Postlethwaite and, well… what more do you need?
The Matrix. Sci-fi at it’s best. This movie changed the way we enjoyed action, special effects, and strange new lands. I can watch this over and over. Who doesn’t duck slightly when the bullets go flying as Keanu is doing his ultra limbo. Pretty cool.
L.A. Confidential. What a fantastic ensemble movie. Just, to keep it simple, really great. Has an excellent feel and look to it as well.
Rebecca. Scary housekeeper, mystery former wife, slightly quiet and brooding husband, the hint of ominous things going on, and Hitchcock. I know this wasn’t his favorite of his movies, at least the process of making it wasn’t, but this is a damn good one. A master class in direction, camera angle, building the plot, and telling a story. Plus… Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.
Blade Runner. Ah, another sci-fi great. Early Harrison Ford, strange future world, androids, Rutger Hauer’s dying scene, and a story based on a Philip K. Dick novel called “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. How can you not like this movie. It’s dark, brooding, and strange. All good.
Kill Bill vol. 1. Quentin Tarantino at his best. Not to mention Uma kicking ass and Keith being wise, witty, and making a mean bologna sandwich. I love, love, love… let me repeast, love, his dialogue.
The Princess Bride. Mawage. Mawage is wat bwings us togever today. Ah… there’s no other movie like this. Sword fights, love, a six fingered man, ROUS… it’s phenominal.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. This is a film filled with powerhouse acting. I mean, think about it… Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy (in his last performance), and Katherine Hepburn. It gets no better than this. It is a true acting master class. Not to mention that it’s also a very well done movie.
Two Bonus Features:
Lawrence of Arabia. Beautifully shot, a bit strange, and incredibly long, this is a great movie. Oh yeah… and Omar Shariff, Alec Guiness, and Peter O’Toole. Wow.
Silence of the Lambs. I can watch this movie over and over. Just a great all around film. Again… great acting… Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins, who can go wrong with acting chops like that. Then you throw in the plot, the story telling, the very creepy bad guy, a very famous rendition of Tom Petty’s “American Girl”, and you have a winner.
I was looking around, and will continue to I’m sure, for ideas and such on how to go about performing a marriage ceremony. I came across this little bit from a film called “Little Murders”. Some of it is slightly… uh… shall we say colorful… so if you’re not into that, feel free to skip it. If you’re not going to be offended and know it, check this out. I’m really considering this approach to officiating…. bwah ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, and it’s kinda long, so if you want to fast forward a little, go to about the three or three and a half minute mark.
My movie picking skills are lacking. For a while there I was doing pretty OK. We saw some decent movies arrive in the ol’ Netflix envelope. Lately though it’s been rough. So rough in fact that we have now resorted to watching the first season of Seinfeld to cleanse ourselves from the bad vibes of terrible movies. As an example I offer up portraits of 10 not so excellent films we’ve watched in the last month. Oh, and so you don’t start throwing potatoes at me or anything… the last couple are movies we watched that we actually liked, a lot. There have been a few (at this juncture I feel compelled to thank Liz for suggesting The Fall, you rock Liz… thanks for saving me from a complete descent into movie picker hell) worth watching. Some I’m not mentioning here, but that were fairly alright. It’s not been all bad, just mostly bad.
Without further ado… some bad ones… avoid them. They suck.
And now, the two we really liked… tah dah…
If you haven’t seen The Fall, check it out. It won’t be for everyone, but put simply, it’s stunning. The way it was filmed is worth a viewing, even if you don’t like the story. And the little girl, whoever she is, was fantastic. So cute. It’s strange, and gorgeous.
I happen to love the movie The Princess Bride. It’s up there in my top five I’d say. And it is to this favored movie of mine that I now turn for ideas about how to go about performing a proper marriage ceremony. Mary? Martin? What say you to this as an idea for how we should proceed….
It was so lovely walking yesterday. Afterward we went to Maggie’s for a lovely dinner and a viewing of the movie Mama Mia. If you haven’t seen it, do. It was one of those feel good films. All fun. Oh, and dinner was especially tasty as well. Thanks Maggie. You rock.
This is a list, off the top of my head, of 10 totally cheesy (for one reason or another) movies I completely love. It’s great mindless entertainment watching these and I never, repeat, never, get tired of them. You might shake your head at me, wondering about my sanity in picking these gems, but really… I dare YOU not to like them. You don’t have to say it out loud either. You can keep the fact that you like them too to yourself. It’s OK. But, you like them. I know it. And, even if you don’t, watch and make fun. That’s part of the joy of watching these films anyway. The temperatures are going up, so… grab some popcorn, turn up the air conditioning, throw one of these bad boys in, and prepare to be entertained! Say cheese….
I think, with this one, it’s his little dancing around thing he does in this movie. This has never gotten anything close to good ratings, but you know, who cares about ratings. To me this is pure cheese ball entertainment.
Probably my favorite movie of all time. Love, action, silliness, good acting, and loads of cheese… all in one film. You might have to watch this one twice.
One of those great 80′s movies that, for some reason, I totally love. Maybe it’s because I have a spot in my heart for soft shoe. Nah, it’s probably just because Jason Robards is in it.
“I want the knife. GIve me the knife. Pllleeeeeaaaasse.” I might have gotten some of that wrong, but it’s the gist of it. This one is so completely corny, and not all that well done, but who cares. I love the little kid in this.
I was compiling the list just now and then remembered, when I got all done with it, that I love this movie. Probably one of the cheesiest vampire films of all time, but so totally cool. How can you not love Jason Patric’s angst or the over the top acting of who turns out to be the head vampire. Oh yeah, and Kiefer Sutherland is in it.
And lastly, yet another great movie I forgot to add to the list, hence the addition of this just added bonus feature. Samuel L. Jackson and Geena Davis have some great exchanges in this movie. They keep me laughing. Nothing like the whole, “I’m not talking about the linen”, exchange… it’s funny, and terrific.
We also saw a couple of pretty darn good movies in the last few days. The first, Lars and the Real Girl, a very quirky and sweet little movie written by Nancy Oliver and starring Ryan Gosling. I won’t try to explain it here other than to say that the movie has an almost fable-esque quality to it. So, check out the link and then check out the movie. It sounds strange, but it’s really very very sweet. We liked it a lot. The second, August Rush, didn’t get very good reviews, but we liked it none the less. It also felt a little bit like a fable, and though very improbable, it was totally enjoyable. This is the kind of movie where you have to suspend what you believe might actually be possible and just go on the ride. It’s, yes, another sweet movie. No action sequences, and many moments where you might say to yourself, uh huh, sure, that wouldn’t happen, but warm and fuzzy by the end. It makes you feel like anything is possible and that the world is a good place. Not a bad way to spend two hours.
This sign is affixed to the building on N. Mississippi Avenue in Portland, Oregon, that houses Fresh Pot, the coffee shop featured in the Morgan Freeman/Greg Kinnear movie, Feast of Love. We rented it recently because, you know, we’d walked by during filming, which was some time ago, and then forgotten all about it, until recently. We didn’t see either Morgan Freeman or Greg Kinnear on that long ago walk and in fact didn’t know either one of them were in the movie until we stopped and asked the night security guard, who was out protecting the film “stuff”, what the film was called and who was starring in it. I guess we’re not as hip as we might lead ourselves to believe. Ok, confession time… we don’t think we’re hip at all actually. It’s a myth. Misnomer. Complete fable. No hipness here folks… please step back. Seriously though… if you want a good cup o’ joe in a cool non-chain type of joint, Fresh Cup is for you.
The photographs up in the banner were all taken by me. They were taken at, in order: Westminster Abbey, London; Window, Portland, Oregon; London Eye, London; Exchange Building, Boston; Invergarry, Scotland; Alleyway, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Stop this day and night with me, and you shall possess the origin of all poems; You shall possess the good of the earth and sun—(there are millions of suns left;) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books; You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me: You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself. ~Walt Whitman
Avatar, Angels and Demons, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation, Immortal Beloved, The Trouble With Harry, The Killing of Sister George, X-Men: Origins, Nights in Rodanthe, Watchmen, The Killing of Sister George, RocknRolla, Last Chance Harvey, Knowing, Fast and Furious, Coraline, Synedoche, New York, The Reader, Frost/Nixon, Push, Crossing Over, New In Town, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Passengers, Underworld, Australia, Killshot, The International, He's Just Not That Into You, Bedtime Stories, Taken, Inkheart, Best in Show, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Spirit, Bottle Shock, Doubt, Gospel Hill, Seven Pounds, The Secret Life of Bees, Cleaner, Choke, City of Ember, Milk, Changeling, Max Payne, Body of Lies, Conspiracy, Babylon A.D., Pride and Glory, Bangkok Dangerous, The Fall, Kunfu Panda, Eagle Eye, The Women, Righteous Kill, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Wanted
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Music Playing on my Ipod
Zee Avi, The Avett Brothers, James, Rob Thomas, Bell X1, Pink, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Van Morrison, Cher (the older stuff), The Swell Season, Ben Harper, Matt Nathanson, Ryan Adams, Sara Bareillis, Pink Martini, Ella Fitzgerald, Dixie Chicks, Billie Holiday, Blue October, Patty Griffin, Jon McLaughlin, Alexi Murdoch, Landon Pigg, Marc Broussard, Brett Dennen, Brandi Carlile, Sonia Dada, James Morrison, Antigone Rising, Gomez, Scissor Sisters, Melissa Etheridge, Paolo Nutini, Indigo Girls, Ray LaMontagne, Amos Lee, Uh Huh Her, Missy Higgins, Anouk, Duffy
The Eyre Affair, Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, The Secret Life of Bees, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, The Coma, Interred With Their Bones, The Quickie, Breaking Dawn, Eclipse, New Moon, Twilight, Predator, Vernonika Decides to Die, Next, The English Patient, Twelve Sharp, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, You Suck, Digital Fortress, Bloodsucking Fiends - A Love Story, The Wanting Seed, The Elephant Vanishes, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, The Well of Lost Plots, Hitchcock/Truffaut, The Rough Guide to Film Noir, The Drowned World, Lamb, Harry Potter, The Stone Raft, idlewild, Lisey's Story, The Alexandria Link, poetry of Nikki Giovanni, Blue Highways, Children of Men, City of Falling Angels, selections from The World - Life and Travel, Just Out, The Willamette Week, The New Yorker, poetry of Pablo Neruda, poetry of e.e. cummings, Tales of a Female Nomad
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