I have felt a wee bit under the weather today so I spent most of the day in bed watching some movies. Now this is entertainment, but also educational. A great story is still a great story whether it’s on the written page or if it’s shown in theatres worldwide.
Some of today’s list included “The Matrix,” “The Longest Yard,” “Pitch Perfect,” “Wanted” and “The Heat.” I think just before I retire for the evening, I shall watch “Pleasantville” or “The Bourne Identity.” I haven’t quite made up my mind yet.
A remake of the original that I find to be better. It’s my favorite Sandler movie and Burt Reynolds cinched it for me.
The original mind-blowing concept which makes us question our lives, our reality. The red or the blue pill… which is it?
Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite actors. Combined with Melissa McCarthy and the F-Bomb dropped more times than I cared to count, I was amused. And yes, I know law enforcement officers like these characters. More amusement.
Angelina Jolie, guns and the suspension of reality. An excellent combination. Jolie always makes a great flick. Have you seen Maleficient? Wow.
I didn’t think I would like it the first time I saw it. Honest. However, it’s an infectious sort of cute and the tunes will bounce around my cranium for the next few days.
Each of these movies from some different genres have stars I enjoy and, like Calgon, they take me away. When you feel like crap on a cracker, away is very, very good. On the morrow, I’ll be back, feeling better and writing something a bit more and “me.” Top of the evening to you all.
Tag Archives: Movies
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6 Degrees of Seperation?
“Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister.”
~John McClane~
My most humble and sincere apologies to everyone. It’s been hard (literally and figuratively) to sit my butt at the keyboard and converse with you about one of my true loves… writing. I have been ill for a little bit and with the fairly frequent weekend visits to Dallas, TX, I’ve just been pretty wiped out. The upside to this is I have been watching movie after movie after movie because laying in bed, there’s not much else to do. In the past couple of weeks, I have seen over thirty on DVD. I thought I would take a moment to share a couple of finer moments with you.
Becoming Jane must be seen with Pride and Prejudice – back to back and in that order. I have also decided to add Jane Austen’s residence to my bucket list of places to visit.
Speaking of The Bucket List, I don’t know if I recommend watching it while sick in bed. It’s a tremendous movie. I love Jack Nicholson’s movies overall and realistically I should have paired the Bucket with another of his I enjoy, As Good as It Gets with Helen Hunt. Of course, this reminds me, if you haven’t seen Prizzi’s Honor co-starring Kathleen Turner, do so. You will thank me later. (It’s much snappier and crisper than the more modern / similar Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
There was also the “tear-fest” that ensued when watching Fried Green Tomatoes, Beaches, The Time Traveller’s Wife, and The Lake House in a marathon session one afternoon. Gads. I’m such a girl sometimes. Fried Green Tomatoes is one of my favorite performances by Kathy Bates. I got a first taste of her acting abilities in Stephen King’s Misery and in it’s own 6-Degrees of Separation, she also starred with Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt. But Bates’ diversity of characterization is amazing. If you haven’t seen her in The Blind Side, it’s a total turn-around from Misery and her role as Mama in The Water Boy still has me rolling after all these years.
Ah… the Water Boy. Adam Sandler. I did take in a double-feature one night when I couldn’t sleep. I had to watch Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, a hero story all in its own. I’ll admit it. I’m not a huge Sandler fan. But there is no denying the comedic timing and talent he possesses.
But the heroism didn’t end there. O.M.G. Fantastic 4, The Green Hornet, X-Men, Daredevil and Elektra came into play. I know. I know. A lot of people weren’t at all impressed with the last two, but I have a thing for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner (remember Alias???) And because I’m a huge fan of action movies… those led into a Lethal Weapon marathon that just makes me smile. I mean, forget the weirdness of Mel Gibson as he’s aged and the divorce settlement with his ex. At the end of the day, the man is a hell of an Oscar-winning actor, producer and director. Plus, he has those blue, blue eyes.
Another actor with some pretty blue eyes (and also a fellow Texan) is Matthew McConaughey. Yeah. I did it. I watched four of his movies as well. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch and Fool’s Gold. I haven’t had a chance to see his fairy-dust, chest-beating performance yet in The Wolf of Wall Street, but I’m sure that’s coming soon.
A couple of other movies that bear seeing for too many reasons to list here are The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Water for Elephants and Eat, Pray, Love. Each of these is based on an amazing book and the screenwriters did a fabulous job of transferring the critical elements of each story to the screen. (And yes, I finally watched EPL because of the number of references to it “Raj” makes in the hit TV show “The Big Bang Theory.”
So tonight… I shall sit and devour yet another movie. I’m torn as my choices are becoming fewer and further between. Most of my DVD collection is in Dallas so I’m making due with what’s left here in town for now. On another trip down there, I will have to pick up another 50 or so.
I shall leave you to your own devices while I snuggle up in bed with Bruce Willis. It’s a Die Hard kind of night. Yippie-ki-yay, mother…….
I Love Tape and Star Wars… and tape…
I don’t see how the Empire could be powerful enough to control the galaxy and still lose to an army of teddy bears :confused:
The Empire did not lose to a bunch of teddy bears. They lost because of the damned wookie.
The Empire did not lose to a bunch of teddy bears. They lost because of the damned wookie.
For the past few days I have slept some. I have eaten some. And I have packed more boxes than I ever care to again. I know good and well I will more than likely be repeating the process again in 2014 twice – once to finish this move and another to hopefully move from the apartment into a more permanent residence. I. AM. NOT. AMUSED. Okay, I’m better. Just had to get that out. Phew.
What is tickling my “not so funny bone” during this weird adventure is “tape.”
Since the first time I encountered the wonderfully sticky substance and wrapped my first present using GOBS of it, tape has been my friend. It’s versitile, handy and my “go-to” adhesive for many things. Let’s face it, without duct tape the world would be in sorry shape. Who needs the force? I am Obi Wan with duct tape.
But packing tape is an entirely different story.
It’s not like duct tape, electrical tape, scotch tape, strapping tape, etc. It has it’s own handled dispenser which my husband handles as if he were Luke Skywalker brandishing his light saber against Darth Vader in the Battle of Endor. I operate it like an Ewok trying to fly a sky rider while a storm trooper is after me. It’s a bloody mess. My husband is a Packing Tape Jedi Knight. Yoda is he. In awe am I.
Yoda stated earlier to me he was tired of going to war with the Boxes. He said, “After days of battle, I’m tired and sore. And if I have to hear the sound of tape again…”
I tuned out the Jedi Master.
With all of the tape I have ever wielded, I have never once given thought to the sound it makes coming off the roll. We battled another box and it yielded it the tape. Each strip held a sound different from the last as it howled its battle cry.
As we sealed the last box for part one of the journey, Yoda was exhausted, but victorious. He never wants to hear the tape emit any sound as long as he lives. He deserves a long, winter’s nap. Personally, I want to know if packing tape would have finished building the other half of the Death Star (or maybe that’s really the job of packing tape’s big brother duct tape.) I think I’m going to have to find a Wookie and ask…
Avatar Trilogy
“Man is always inclined to be intolerant towards the thing, or person, he hasn’t taken the time adequately to understand…”
Robert Brown
The first time I saw Avatar, I got sucked in by the visuals. Good Heavens… the visuals!!!
The second time I saw Avatar, I watched it for the story which was actually kind of soggy for me. It was more or less a politically correct denunciation of US imperialism, nature exploitation, cowboys and indians violence, and the rest in a story of US campaign to exterminate the natives of a planet for its minerals. It was about intolerance and greed (which inherently should make a good storyline, but it felt wishy-washy at best.)It’s all rather “Dances with Wolves” set in outer space. And yes, being the woman that I am, I appeciated James Cameron’s ability to throw a love story in the mix. Thank you, James!
The casting… superb. There really isn’t another word for it. Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver could not have been better choices and I’m hoping that they will come back in the sequel.
Sequel?
Oh yes…. Avatar is the first of a trilogy – most likely an award winning trilogy that will take plenty of time and money to produce.
You see, the concept for the 2009 blockbuster Avatar started in 1994 with an 80 page treatment for the film. It grew to a screenplay and a multi-million dollar venture that has grossed more than two BILLION (yes, with a B) dollars and brought home three academy awards for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction.
For those looking for Titanic releases from movie mogul, James Cameron, in another genre, your wait will be a long one. Mr. Cameron has no outward desire to do anything but continue the Avatar storyline. “I’m making ‘Avatar 2,’ ‘Avatar 3,’ maybe ‘Avatar 4,'” Cameron revealed during an interview about the Chinese film industry. “I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them. I’m not interested in taking scripts.”
With the long wait for Avatar, don’t hold your breath for the next in the trilogy. The earliest we might see any sign of life is going to be 2014, but more realistically it will be 2016. If the sequels are anything like the original, I think they will be well worth the wait.
