Category: movies

Angels & Demons (2009 movie)

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17 Again PosterMy husband and I went to the first showing today and we both enjoyed it.  We also both thought it was much better than The Da Vinci Code (movie), mainly because it moved at a brisk pace.  Of course, this fast pace made light of every event in the book.  I found the scenes that were the most detailed were ones not in the book at all!

Anyway, you know right from the first scene with Robert Langdon that the movie is not going to follow the book.  After the first scene I turned to my husband and commented that they skipped a good fourth or fifth of the book right from the get go.  And the changes did not stop there.  It would be quicker to tell you what was the same as opposed to what was different from the book.  But, I just the read the book this year so it was fresh in my mind.

But, the movie was good.  I loved the Italy backdrop and enjoyed revisiting the country we just visited last year.  Made me want to go back, but that’s a different post.  I will say without giving too much away that I disliked the ending of the movie.  To me, the book was so much better and there was no reason to change it.  My husband said the change was due to a time crunch, but I believe they made a story choice and I did not like it!

So, if you liked the Da Vinci Code or liked the book, I think you will like the movie.  Tell me what you think after you see it!  Or, you can leave a comment just to say hi:)

Favorite 100 Movies

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Okay, Jason and I have spent the last 10 years watching all of the movies on  AFI Top 100 Films list (the original version).  It was fun and made us see movies that we never would have watched otherwise.  We ranked them ourselves and it was great discussion starter.  For the most part we felt the same about the movies we loved or hated, it was the ones in the middle we disagreed on the most.  Anyway, so I decided now that we were done and I had my own ranked list of these highly esteemed movies thatI could come up with my own more pedestrian favorite movie list.

The movies are on here for different reasons.  Some are great movies, some are sentimental picks, and some I’ve seen more times than I can count.  You may also note I love romantic comedies 🙂 I’ll probably post more about movies in the future – maybe once a week.

The actresses that appeared most – Audrey Hepburn (5). Katherine Hepburn (4), Diane Keaton (3), Sandra Bullock (3), Molly Ringwald (3)

The actors – Cary Grant (6), Humphrey Bogart (5), Johnny Depp (4)

So here’s my list (now a page you can find on the top).  Have I forgotten about a good one?  Let me know.  I’m sure this list will change since I will remember movies and I will see more.  And, yes, I realize I am a compulsive list maker 🙂

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100 Movies To See Before You Die

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This week Yahoo came up with this list of 100 movies to see before you die.  I’m not sure I agree, but it is fun.  I’ve bolded the ones I’ve seen and added my two cents, for what it’s worth.  And two cents isn’t going to go too far these days 🙂  Feel free to join the fun and do your own list.

To choose the titles for the list, we considered factors like historical importance and cultural impact. But we also selected films that we believe are the most thrilling, most dramatic, scariest, and funniest movies of all time.

from Yahoo

 1. 12 Angry Men (1957) – loved it

2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – couldn’t wait for it to end.

3. 400 Blows (1959)

4. 8 1/2 (1963)

5. The African Queen (1952) – loved it

6. Alien (1979) – loved it

7. All About Eve (1950) – very good

8. Annie Hall (1977) – liked it.  love Diane Keaton

9. Apocalyse Now (1979) – bizarre

10. The Battle of Algiers (1967)

11. The Bicycle Thief (1948)

12. Blade Runner (1982) – interesting

13. Bllazing Saddles (1974)

14. Blow Up (1966)

15. Blue Velvet (1986)

16. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) – very good

17. Breathless ( 1960)

18. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – loved it

19. Bringing Up Baby (1938) – loved it. can’t go wrong w/ Katherine Hepburn & Cary Grant

20. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – very good

21. Casablanca (1942) – liked it

22. Chinatown (1974) – very good

23. Citizen Kane (1941) – liked it.

24. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – cool & different.  liked it.

25. Die Hard (1988) – liked it, but really, what is it doing on this list ?!

26. Do the Right Thing (1989)

27. Double Indemnity (1944) – liked it

28. Dr. Strangelove (1933) – hated it.

29. Duck Soup (1933) – didn’t like it

30. ET the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – made me cry in 1982

31. Enter the Dragon (1973)

32. The Exorcist (1973)

33. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – funny

34.  The French Connection (1971) liked it

35. The Godfather (1972) – very good

36. The Godfather, Part II (1974) – still very good

37. Goldfinger (1964)

38. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1968)

39. Goodfellas (1990) – not a big fan

40. The Graduate (1967) – loved it

41. Grand Illusion (1938)

42. Groundhog Day (1993) – wanted the day to end, like yesterday.

43. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

44. In the Mood For Love (2001)

45. It Happened One Night (1934) – one of my absolute favesCover Image

46. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – what’s not to love?

47. Jaws (1975) – still don’t like swimming in the ocean

48. King Kong (1933) – okay

49. The Lady Eve (1941)

50. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) – very good

51. The Lord of the Rings (2001) – LOVED it.  Wish I was young enough to have an Aragorn poster i nmy bedroom 🙂Cover Image

52. M (1931)

53. M*A*S*H (1970) – funny

54. The Maltese Falcon (1936) – loved it

55. The Matrix (1999) – very good.  but I could watch Keanu in anything.

56. Modern Times (1936) – good

57. Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1975) – funny

58. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)

59. Network (1976) – Hell yes!

60. Nosferatu (1922)

61. On the Waterfront (1954) definitely a contender

62. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – funny

63. Paths of Glory (1958)

64. Princess Mononoke (1999)

65. Psycho (1960) – creepy and good

66. Pulp Fiction (1994) – saw it twice.  did not like it either time.

67. Raging Bull (1980) – good

68. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – it was better in 1981

69. Raise the Red Lantern (1992)

70. Rashomon (1951)

71. Rear Window (1954) – loved Jimmy Stewart. liked the movie

72. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) – I get the James Dean thing, but the movie was just okay for me.

73. Rocky (1976) – I love Rocky and have watched them all (but 5) many times. 

74. Roman Holiday (1953) – LOVE Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck and Rome.

75. Saving Private Ryan (1998) – not a fan of war movies or ones that make me cry, but this was really good.

76. Schindler’s List (1993) – hard to watch, but excellent

77. The Searchers (1956) – not a John Wayne fan, but this was okay.

78. Seven Samurai (1954)

79. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – loved it.

80. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – creepy and wonderful.  loved it.

81. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) – love musicals.  this was pretty good.

82. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – it’s Snow White, of course it’s great!

83. Some Like It Hot (1959) VERY funny

84. The Sound of Music (1965) – one of my all time favesCover Image

85. Star Wars (1977) – very good in a campy sort of way

86. Sunset Blvd. (1950) very good

87. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) no idea why this is on the list

88. The Third Man (1949) – very good

89. This is Spinal Tap (1984)

90. Titanic (1997) – loved it, but wouldn’t need to see it again

91. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – loved it.  named our cat, Scout

92. Toy Story (1995) – okay

93. The Usual Suspects (1995) – good

94. Vertigo (1958) – didn’t really care for it

95. When Harry Met Sally (1989) – love it

96. Wild Strawberries (1957)

97. Wings of Desire (1988)

98. The Wizard of Oz (1939) – love it

99. Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown (1988

100. The World of Apu (1959)

I’ve seen 70.  How about you?

The House of Usher, 2006 movie

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I taped this looking forward to a new take on The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.  It had been awhile since I read the short story, but know the story.  It is a true masterpiece of American Gothic and I knew the movie had to be creepy.

The movie has a big house and twins, Maddie and Roderick, or Rick as he is called in this movie, and…that’s it.  I am somewhat offended that they call this a modern take on the short story.  It is not even close.  First, it’s just a house.  There was no feeling of the house being alive or even at the very least, haunted.  Second, the ‘visitor’ is an old girlfriend who is never quite fully clothed who doesn’t mind having sex with Rick.  And, well, the eerie twist of this movie is just gross and is really ridiculous.  

Before you even consider watching this movie, read the story, close your eyes and imagine the movie, and then move on with your day.  There is no reason to waste any more of my time or yours by talking about it further.

Oscar Winning Quotes Quiz

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Thanks for participating!  10 out 15 is not too bad!

The Oscars are next Sunday.  I looked through the list of past Best Picture winners and chose my favorite 15.  Let’s see if you can guess them by the quotes from the movies I chose.

Here’s how to play…Identify these Best Picture Oscar winning movies and leave a comment with the # and movie,  and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun!  To help you out these are in chronological order (the first one winning an Oscar in the 1930′ s and the last one winning in the 2000’s)

1. “What she needs is a guy that’d take a sock at her once a day, whether it’s coming to her or not.  If you had half the brains you’re supposed to have, you’d have done it yourself long ago.”  It Happened One Night (1934 winner)

2. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”  Casablanca (1943 winner), Mark

3. “You gotta hand it to the Navy; they sure trained that kid how to use those hooks.”

    “They couldn’t train him to put his arms around his girl, or to stroke her hair.”  The Best Years of Our Lives (1946 winner), Hockee

4. “You’re maudlin and full of self-pity.  You’re magnificent!”  All About Eve (1950 winner)

5. “A word to you about escape.  There is no barbed. No stockade.  No watchtower.  They are not necessary.  We are an island in the jungle.  Escape is impossible.  You would die.”  The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 winner)

6. “The mirror…it’s broken.”

    “Yes I know.  I like it that way.  Makes me look the way I feel.”  The Apartment (1960 winner)

7. “The best of them won’t come for money; they’ll come for me.”  Lawrence of Arabia (1962 winner)

8. “Where the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.”  The Sound of Music (1965 winner), Kathy

9. “Leave the gun.  Take the canolies.”  The Godfather (1972 winner), Don

10. “I think we make a real sharp couple of coconuts- I’m dumb, you’re shy, whaddaya think, huh?” Rocky (1976 winner), Hockee

11. “Bob, I gotta bad feeling on this one all right?  I mean I gotta bad feeling!  I don’t think I”m gonna make it outta here!  D’ya understand what I’m sayin’ to you?

    “Everybody gotta die some time, Red.”  Platoon (1986 winner), Hockee

12. “I’m an excellent driver.”  Rain Man (1988 winner), Hockee

13. “I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner.”  The Silence of the Lanbs (1991 winner), Mark

14. “But we have the white wizard.  That’s got to count for something.”  Lord of the Rings:Return of the King (2003 winner), Tonya

15. “It’s the sense of touch.  In any real city, you walk, you know?  You brush past each other, people bump into you.  In L.A. nobody touches you.  We’re always behind this metal and glass.  I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so that we can feel something.” Crash (2005 winner), Jason

Jane Eyre, 1983 movie

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Okay, this is my third Jane Eyre movie in a few month’s time and it was the best of the three.  Your comments led me to believe it would be and you were right! 

Timothy Dalton was an almost perfect Edward Rochester.  He was harsh, commanding, moody, and dark.  I could listen to that voice all day.  I said almost perfect because he was really too good looking for the role, but there are worse things than a handsome Mr. Rochester so we’ll move on.

I really liked Zelah Clarks as Jane.  She showed Jane’s strength and depth that I found lacking in the other two adaptations. 

The BBC miniseries was four hours long so it was obviously the most thorough of the movies and it was a delight to see how much more was included.  I thought it may have skimped a little on Jane’s time at Lowood School, but it allowed for richer, fuller scenes later.  The production itself seemed dated, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since Jane Eyre wasn’t written yesterday 🙂

I will probably watch more versions, I hear the latest BBC production is great, but will need to take some time off from Jane and Edward.  I certainly don’t want to tire of them!  As a Jane Eyre fan I was not disappointed with this version and highly recommend it.

Jane Eyre, 1944 movie

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Jane Eyre****

After watching the 1996 iterpretation of Jane Eyre (review here) and reading the comments I thought I’d try another version.  I watched the 1944 movie with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine and loved it!  It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was a vast improvement over the last. 

This movie contained more of the story and details in less time than the 1996 version.  There wasn’t a wasted moment and I surprised at how much they were able to show in the 96 minutes.  Her time at the school was well done; I wouldn’t want to attend the strict school.  I thought it did a good job at showing the growing relationship between Rochester and Jane.

The cast was wonderful.  Orson Welles did a good job as Mr. Rochester.  He was dark, menacing, and a commanding presence.  He may not have been old enough, but if that is my main complaint, that’s not bad.  I thought Joan Fontaine captured the spirit of Jane, if not the personality.  I was enchanted by young Jane, Peggy Ann Garner, and Adele, Margaret O’Brien.  And I was surprised to see a young Elizabeth Taylor as young Jane’s friend, Helen.  She was beautiful even at such a young age!

I also have the BBC miniseries checked out of the library and am looking forward to watching it soon.  Maybe after I’ve watched all of the different versions I can choose my dream cast!

Finding Neverland, 2004 movie

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Finding Neverland****

Finding Neverland is the charming story of James Barrie, author of Peter Pan, and his inspirational, yet odd relationship with the Davies family.  Barrie is a married man whose last play has just bombed on stage.  He meets the widower Sylvia and her four young sons and becomes fixture in their lives while becoming a ghost to his wife.  The boys, including the troubled Peter, provide the perfect muse for his next play, Peter Pan.

I love watching Johnny Depp on screen and the beautiful Kate Winslet was as wonderful as ever.  From the previews I was expecting a lighthearted, fun tale, not the earnest, heartfelt movie that it turned out to be.  I was very much moved by it.

It was nominated for 7 Oscars and won one for Best Original Score.

I have read that the movie is not exactly accurate in its details, but for me that did not take away from my enjoyment of the film.  If you know the true story of Barrie and the Davies family it might make you feel differently.

Jane Eyre, 1996 movie

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Jane EyreJane Eyre has always been one of my favorite books.  I think it may have been the first classic I read by choice.  I love the independent Jane Eyre and the mysterious Edward Rochester and the spookiness of Thornfield.  About 5 years ago they opened the musical on Broadway and I loved it.  The music and cast were wonderful.  I think I actually preferred the casting of the Broadway musical to that of this movie.

Anna Paquin plays young Jane Eyre who is orphaned, rejected by her aunt, and mistreated at the school for girls she is sent to live.  After she is old enough she accepts the position of governess at Thornfield and is immediately drawn in by the manor, her ward, Adele, and the master of the house, Edward Rochester.  Edward makes Jane jealous by bringing home a girlfriend, Blanche played by Elle McPhearson.  Jane doesn’t want to believe that Edward loves her and when she does she is crushed by betrayal.

I like the setting of Thornfield in the movie.  It is real and eerie.  William Hurt is Edward Rochester and Charlotte Gainsbourg is Jane Eyre.  They are both adequate, but not great.  I do not think that William Hurt captured the brooding Mr. Rochester.  Although the movie hits the major plot points of the book I think it neglected to show how Jane and Edward fell in love which is the whole point of the book!

This is the first movie adaptation of the book I’ve watched and cannot recommend it.  It does make me curious to check out the other adaptations and see if they did it better.

Capote, 2005 movie

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I’ve never read In Cold Blood, but it is in my ‘to read’ pile, so I thought I’d see this movie about Truman Capote during the 4 1/2 years it took him to reasearch and write the book.  In Kansas, two young men murder a family of four and Capote asks his childhood friend, Haprer Lee, to help him research in Kansas.  Once he meets the prisoners he becomes very attached to one of them.  He was there when the two were hanged for their crimes.  An interesting note – it was during this period that Lee had To Kill A Mockingbird published.

Okay, I thought Philip Seymour Hoffman was excellent as Capote and Catherine Keener did an outstanding job as Harper Lee, but I did not care for the movie.  It was slow and a little erratic.  Some parts were interesting, like that Capote never wrote another book after this one and he never took notes from interviews, but on the whole I thought it was a yawner.  I do think it will make In Cold Blood more interesting when I get around to reading it.

I would only recommend this movie if you are a fan of Truman Capote or In Cold Blood.