I was having a conversation with a co-worker not too long ago and we were discussing what movie or movies I was going to watch that week. I mentioned that I planned on watching "The Grand Budapest Hotel", and without missing a beat this individual said "you like oscar films, don't you!". Of course I responded "yes", but I think this person thought this was foreign film with subtitles which he could not understand. I explained it was a comedy by Wes Anderson that I really wanted to see, but I think the title may have seemed a little ostentatious to him, oh well his loss. In my opinion it is one of the best films of the year, it was very funny and it has to be one of Wes Anderson's best films.
I'm asked every weekend what I plan on watching that week and I'm sure some of the titles I mention throw them off because it's not something they would pay to see, but I'm not like everybody else, I love seeing almost everything. There are always exceptions, maybe it's the trailer I saw that I could just tell I wanted no part of watching that movie. I'm sure people who know me would think differently because I've seen some movies that they were right about that just sucked. I'll give some examples of bad movies I've seen, Robocop, the 300 sequel, Transcendence, That Awkward Moment, and Jack Ryan. I think the one I was disappointed in most was The Amazing Spider-man 2, there's elements I like but overall very disappointing, don't even get me started on the need to reboot it. I did recently see another hidden gem that I highly recommend which is called "Fading Gigolo", it's with John Turturro who wrote and directed this film and also stars Woody Allen. A very funny film that has Woody Allen's character setting up John Turturro's character for a menage a trios with Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara.
As a parent I've often wondered why there aren't more family films to take your kids to, and I'm not talking about animated films, which I love as well. I'm talking about movies like when I was a kid like the old Disney movies, The Computer Wore Glasses, The Apple Dumpling Gang, or The Black Hole, something other than animation. It seems today we only associate family or kids films as animated, which I think needs to change. I'm sure people my age or a little younger remember family films like The Goonies, The Sandlot, Holes and E.T. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's more potential for better stories other than just animation to be told, especially for a little older kids and parents as well. Also it seems like when you're looking for movies to take your family to there's always a huge gap in between movies for the whole family to see. As much crap as Hollywood puts out, there's a huge potential for more money I think in family films as we can attest to animated movies. Live action family films have as good a chance as any animated film, they just have start getting made and not skimp on the quality.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Let's talk about movies: Chick Flicks
Let's talk about movies: Chick Flicks: So a couple of months ago I was at work talking to a friend about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and how I thought he should check it out, ...
Chick Flicks
So a couple of months ago I was at work talking to a friend about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and how I thought he should check it out, when someone else blurted out don't waste your time it's a chick flick. Well first off I don't think he really watched or understood the movie, because he was wrong and secondly even if it was a chick flick what's wrong with that.I've seen some great films that were chick flicks, and I'll confess I actually like chick flicks. It isn't even that it's a chick flick, so much as how great the story being told is.
It happened one night, Gone with the Wind, and Penny Serenade are some of my first movies I remember watching as a kid, thanks to my mom and are some of my all time favorites. As I got older another favorite is The Ghost and Mrs. Muir or The Women, the original from 1939 not that crappy remake they recently made, which has only female actresses in the whole movie but is a classic.
Some others that I've enjoyed over the years are Untamed Heart, My First Mister, Cherish, or Sommersby, movies that rich in story telling and just fun to watch. Richard Curtis is another writer and director who has made in my opinion some great films or wrote them, such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, About Time, Love Actually and Notting Hill the latter two again are personal favorites.
Of course there's Ghost, Pretty Woman, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Dirty Dancing because no one puts baby in a corner, guilty pleasures for sure. There's more I want to add Sliding Doors, The Holiday or the Lake House, if you've not seen these, give them a try, I think you'll enjoy them. I can't write this without mentioning When Harry met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle or a couple more of my guilty pleasures like Never Been Kissed and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.
One night I decided to do a double feature of The Night We Never Met and Three of Hearts, now that was a great night as both movies complimented each other, again if you've not seen these movies give them a shot. I could go on with a lot more because these supposed "chick flicks" are great movies and I don't care what anybody thinks because I'm going to watch them and have a good time doing so, because sometimes it's just about a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her.
I would love for feed back and for recommendations of other movies I might not have seen, till next time have fun watching movies because you know I will.
It happened one night, Gone with the Wind, and Penny Serenade are some of my first movies I remember watching as a kid, thanks to my mom and are some of my all time favorites. As I got older another favorite is The Ghost and Mrs. Muir or The Women, the original from 1939 not that crappy remake they recently made, which has only female actresses in the whole movie but is a classic.
Some others that I've enjoyed over the years are Untamed Heart, My First Mister, Cherish, or Sommersby, movies that rich in story telling and just fun to watch. Richard Curtis is another writer and director who has made in my opinion some great films or wrote them, such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, About Time, Love Actually and Notting Hill the latter two again are personal favorites.
Of course there's Ghost, Pretty Woman, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Dirty Dancing because no one puts baby in a corner, guilty pleasures for sure. There's more I want to add Sliding Doors, The Holiday or the Lake House, if you've not seen these, give them a try, I think you'll enjoy them. I can't write this without mentioning When Harry met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle or a couple more of my guilty pleasures like Never Been Kissed and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.
One night I decided to do a double feature of The Night We Never Met and Three of Hearts, now that was a great night as both movies complimented each other, again if you've not seen these movies give them a shot. I could go on with a lot more because these supposed "chick flicks" are great movies and I don't care what anybody thinks because I'm going to watch them and have a good time doing so, because sometimes it's just about a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her.
I would love for feed back and for recommendations of other movies I might not have seen, till next time have fun watching movies because you know I will.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Let's talk about movies: Holiday movie traditions
Let's talk about movies: Holiday movie traditions: Do you have a holiday movie tradition, one in which you have to watch a certain movie during the holidays? Well let's explore this, for...
Holiday movie traditions
Do you have a holiday movie tradition, one in which you have to watch a certain movie during the holidays?
Well let's explore this, for me during Christmas I have to watch It's a Wonderful Life, that is one of my all time favorite movies. Of course maybe it isn't movies but all the holiday cartoons that come on T.V. , because who doesn't enjoy those. It all starts during Halloween and now there are some many different cartoons, unlike when I was growing up and it seemed like all they had was Charlie Brown but I still couldn't wait to see it. Now that my daughter is older we've introduced some of the horror classics to watch during Halloween, so that's a lot of fun, watching through her eyes what we've grow up with.
On a Personal level Thanksgiving is not my favorite time of the year, although I am working on it. This does bring up a time a few years back when I hosted Thanksgiving and had my family over, this was not an easy time for us but we made the best of it. I've always enjoyed simple things like having friends and family over to eat and watch movies. This was definitely one of those times, in fact I think we started by watching the first Austin Powers movie which my brothers and sisters and my mom hadn't seen, so that was a lot of fun. We followed that with So I Married an Axe Murderer, The Fifth Element and Sling Blade, definitely not holiday movies but who cares we were together having a blast and to me that is what your holiday movie tradition is about togetherness and fun!!
Now Christmas is a whole different thing, I love Christmas and especially all the holiday movies and cartoons that accompany it. This year I've already started a mental list of what I'm hoping to watch, of course as I've stated earlier It's a Wonderful Life is a must, another one is The Bishop's Wife, a great movie for those who've never seen it. They always do the Christmas Story marathon on TBS so I'm sure I'll catch that one and Elf which I think is this generations Christmas Story. I wish I still had my family close by because it would be a lot of fun hanging out and watching movies and who knows what non-traditional holiday movie we'd watch this time.
So maybe if you haven't started this tradition it's something you can start with your family or for yourself and it doesn't have to follow any kind of theme, just something you enjoy watching. I'd be interested in what some of your choices might be because maybe I'll include those in my holiday viewing. As I stated before it doesn't matter what you watch, it's all about having fun. Who knows maybe you enjoy going to the movies to watch movies, I've done that and that's a blast as well.
Well to everyone happy holidays and as always let's enjoy watching movies, you know I will.
Well let's explore this, for me during Christmas I have to watch It's a Wonderful Life, that is one of my all time favorite movies. Of course maybe it isn't movies but all the holiday cartoons that come on T.V. , because who doesn't enjoy those. It all starts during Halloween and now there are some many different cartoons, unlike when I was growing up and it seemed like all they had was Charlie Brown but I still couldn't wait to see it. Now that my daughter is older we've introduced some of the horror classics to watch during Halloween, so that's a lot of fun, watching through her eyes what we've grow up with.
On a Personal level Thanksgiving is not my favorite time of the year, although I am working on it. This does bring up a time a few years back when I hosted Thanksgiving and had my family over, this was not an easy time for us but we made the best of it. I've always enjoyed simple things like having friends and family over to eat and watch movies. This was definitely one of those times, in fact I think we started by watching the first Austin Powers movie which my brothers and sisters and my mom hadn't seen, so that was a lot of fun. We followed that with So I Married an Axe Murderer, The Fifth Element and Sling Blade, definitely not holiday movies but who cares we were together having a blast and to me that is what your holiday movie tradition is about togetherness and fun!!
Now Christmas is a whole different thing, I love Christmas and especially all the holiday movies and cartoons that accompany it. This year I've already started a mental list of what I'm hoping to watch, of course as I've stated earlier It's a Wonderful Life is a must, another one is The Bishop's Wife, a great movie for those who've never seen it. They always do the Christmas Story marathon on TBS so I'm sure I'll catch that one and Elf which I think is this generations Christmas Story. I wish I still had my family close by because it would be a lot of fun hanging out and watching movies and who knows what non-traditional holiday movie we'd watch this time.
So maybe if you haven't started this tradition it's something you can start with your family or for yourself and it doesn't have to follow any kind of theme, just something you enjoy watching. I'd be interested in what some of your choices might be because maybe I'll include those in my holiday viewing. As I stated before it doesn't matter what you watch, it's all about having fun. Who knows maybe you enjoy going to the movies to watch movies, I've done that and that's a blast as well.
Well to everyone happy holidays and as always let's enjoy watching movies, you know I will.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Let's talk about movies: Comedies
Let's talk about movies: Comedies: I was recently in a discussion about a co-workers all time favorite comedy, which happens to be "The Hangover". I think it was a v...
Comedies
I was recently in a discussion about a co-workers all time favorite comedy, which happens to be "The Hangover". I think it was a very funny comedy at the time, but it is not my favorite, I don't know that it would be in my top ten. What I most enjoy is how passionate we are about our favorite movies and how we take it personally if someone doesn't agree with us.Comedies are one of those things, what I might find funny, others are sure to disagree or be in total agreement with me. Point is I'm always right and these people have a lot to learn when it comes to movies...... I'm just kidding of course.
Will Ferrell is the man still until he stops being funny which can happen because comedy is cyclical and you can only stay on top for so long before something new tickles our fancy. Right now we're still in the raunch phase of comedy which was started by the Farelly Brothers in the 90's when they crossed that line we thought couldn't be crossed. It started in "King Pin" and was exemplified in "There's Something About Mary" which are a couple of my all time favorite comedies.
Charlie Chaplin is someone who made some great comedies and where would we be today if not for him and Harold Llyod and Buster Keaton. When you watch these guys and how they choreographed their stunts, even by todays standards it's still amazing and quite funny. Chaplin though for me is still amazing and very funny especially in the "Gold Rush" and "City Lights", a tremendous talent. Later in the talkie era we got the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello and of course most peoples favorite The Three Stooges. One of the greatest comedy routines is by Abbott and Costello's Who's on first routine which is in their movie the "Naughty Nineties", even in today's world it's a classic, I urge you to see it, it's amazing. I'm sure it can be found on You Tube.
A couple more of my favorites are from Mel Brooks, "Young Frankenstein and "Blazing Saddles", of course I enjoyed the Naked Guns when they were out. Of course one can't forget "Airplane", although I recently watched it again and unfortunately it didn't hold up as well as I'd hoped but it's still fun.
Some more of my personal favorites are "Better Off Dead", "Three O'Clock High", "Clifford" and of course "Midnight Run". The bottom line is as long as it made you laugh that's all that matters, even if it's "Scarey Movie" or "White Chicks", which I personally don't find funny. I do have to give credit to one more movie that came at a time when I needed it most and that is "Old School", another classic.
Well I hope you enjoy reading this and I hope maybe some of you will give me some feed back and a couple of your favorite comedies. Till next time have fun watching movies because I know I will.
Will Ferrell is the man still until he stops being funny which can happen because comedy is cyclical and you can only stay on top for so long before something new tickles our fancy. Right now we're still in the raunch phase of comedy which was started by the Farelly Brothers in the 90's when they crossed that line we thought couldn't be crossed. It started in "King Pin" and was exemplified in "There's Something About Mary" which are a couple of my all time favorite comedies.
Charlie Chaplin is someone who made some great comedies and where would we be today if not for him and Harold Llyod and Buster Keaton. When you watch these guys and how they choreographed their stunts, even by todays standards it's still amazing and quite funny. Chaplin though for me is still amazing and very funny especially in the "Gold Rush" and "City Lights", a tremendous talent. Later in the talkie era we got the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello and of course most peoples favorite The Three Stooges. One of the greatest comedy routines is by Abbott and Costello's Who's on first routine which is in their movie the "Naughty Nineties", even in today's world it's a classic, I urge you to see it, it's amazing. I'm sure it can be found on You Tube.
A couple more of my favorites are from Mel Brooks, "Young Frankenstein and "Blazing Saddles", of course I enjoyed the Naked Guns when they were out. Of course one can't forget "Airplane", although I recently watched it again and unfortunately it didn't hold up as well as I'd hoped but it's still fun.
Some more of my personal favorites are "Better Off Dead", "Three O'Clock High", "Clifford" and of course "Midnight Run". The bottom line is as long as it made you laugh that's all that matters, even if it's "Scarey Movie" or "White Chicks", which I personally don't find funny. I do have to give credit to one more movie that came at a time when I needed it most and that is "Old School", another classic.
Well I hope you enjoy reading this and I hope maybe some of you will give me some feed back and a couple of your favorite comedies. Till next time have fun watching movies because I know I will.
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