My Monthly Movie Thoughts in 5 Words and an open invitation

January 30, 2010April 8, 201717 Comments

These are the movies I’ve watched this month and I’ve given each one a grade and 5 words to describe it. There are two ways to actively participate. One, if you’ve seen any of the movies leave me your 1-5 words in the comments and I’ll add them to the post. Or, if you are feeling ambitious and want to do this on your own blog leave me a link in the comments and I’ll add it to the bottom of the post. Of course, you can just browse and enjoy too 🙂

(2009. Cast- Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez) Grade B+ (3D version)

Must see 3D. Visually stunning.

See it on big screen (Jenners)

It’s my favorite for now! (Alice)

Loved every bit of visuals (Richard)

Evil Humans vs. Blue Natives (Stephanie)

A stunning graphic masterpiece. (Teddyree)

Amazing Alien Adventure, Awesome Action (Beth)

Unobtainium? Really? but visually stunning. (Heather)

Sam Worthington proves he’s worthy. (Tony)

(2009. Cast- Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener) Grade B

Powerfully sad. Heartbreaking mental illness.

Beautiful. Acting superb. (Heather)

Highlights plight of the homeless (Kathy)

Great story, very sad movie (Richard)

Actually there’s two of them. (Tony)

Continue reading →

Fave Film #87 – Pride & Prejudice

January 29, 2010January 5, 201620 Comments

1995 BBC miniseries

Cast- Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle

Elizabeth Bennet, one of five daughters, is living in 19th century England where the only way to secure her family’s future is to marry well. Her oldest sister, Jane, seems to have met a great prospect in Mr. Bingley, but Elizabeth cannot abide the pride and arrogance of his good friend Mr. Darcy.

Why I love it- Um, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. I know there are lots of other great reasons to love this movie, but if you take Colin Firth out of the picture, this is no favorite! I thought Jennifer Ehle was a great Lizzie. She had warmth, sparkle, and a quick wit. The rest of her family was suitably annoying and ridiculous, but in a good way.

Now that I’ve read the book I can truly appreciate how closely this follows Austen classic. The sets were perfectly lovely and not Hollywood in any way. There were added scenes to let us see a bit more of Mr. Darcy and that made it easier for me to see him apart from only the times Elizabeth saw him, as was the case in the novel.

I watched this for the first time in September 2008. You can read my thoughts here, but here’s the last thing I said-

Great miniseries, but don’t expect your husband or boyfriend to sit through it, unless he really, really loves you. But, beware, you never know what he may expect you to watch.

Well, the reason I’m reviewing this now is because Jason really, really loves me. We watched an hour a night for a week. It was so much fun introducing Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth to him. He really didn’t get Mr. Darcy’s appeal, especially for the first half of the movie. I kept telling him it was Colin Firth and that’s all he needed to know, but he still wasn’t convinced. And I’m still waiting for him to come home with a 5 hour miniseries about the history of the stock market or 100 years of Michigan State basketball.

This is a must see if you are a fan of the book or the era. You won’t be disappointed.

So, go ahead and tell us who has been your favorite Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier, Peter Cushing, Matther Macfadyen, Colin Firth) or tell me your fantasy Mr. Darcy. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us 🙂

Common Thread Quiz

January 26, 2010January 30, 201031 Comments

What is the common denominator in these book (and one movie) combinations? Tell me the number and what you think the five books have in common, Go ahead and take a guess – you could be right! If you are the first to get it right you will earn an extra entry in both of the giveaways I have going on right now.

1.Set in Kansas (Candice)

2.Main characters named Jack (Nise)

3.Books made into movies starring John Cusack (Mark)

4.Published after author’s death (Hannah)

5.Magical Realism (Mary)

6.Pirates! (Hannah)

7.Authors born in Ohio (Susan)

8.First published in 1926 (Em)

9.2009 RITA award winners (Mark)

10.One degree of Kevin Bacon (Mark)

Monday Movie Meme

January 25, 20109 Comments

Feature Presentation…

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

Share on your blog the different ways you keep movie memories alive. Visit the Bumbles to see how others share their movie love.

I do two things on my blog…I have my 100 Favorite Movie list and will review one on Fridays that I don’t have an author interview. But more recently I started my monthly Movie Thoughts in 5 Words post and I hope that it becomes more interactive. I post the movies I’ve watched for the month and choose 5 words to describe it. If you’ve seen any of the movies and leave 1-5 words I’ll add your words to the post and a link to your blog. Stop by and add your 2 cents (or 5). Dec. Nov.

We do use Netflix and I do rate the ones we’ve watched, but I’ve never used the friends feature where you can suggest movies for friends and get suggestions too. I’ll have to look into this.

If I’ve read the book I will get around to watching the movie, but I am usually disappointed. Unless it’s Lord of the Rings 🙂

I do use IMDB as a resource and it is great. They have everything you need to know there! I should sign up so I can rate books there too.

How about you? How do you share your thoughts on movies?

Monday Movie Meme – Token of Appreciation

January 18, 2010March 20, 201013 Comments

“the second time you see something is really the first time. You need to know how it ends before you can appreciate how beautifully it’s put together from the beginning.” (Film Club)

Visit the Bumbles for more Appreciation lists

We’re are supposed to list movies that get better the more we view them, our appreciation grows. This is a hard one. When I rewatch movies it is usually because I loved them the first time (and the second, third, and fourth), but these are movies I liked more the second time than the first. There are many movies that I see and because of a twist (Sixth Sense, No Way Out) or just because I fell in love (Lord of the Rings) I want to see again immediately, but these are the ones that maybe I didn’t LOVE the first time. Here we go…

I liked this a lot the first time, but I watched it again and fell in love with the individual performances. Jodi and Anthony are flawless, as is the creepy Ted Levine, and their performances alone are reason enough to watch this again and again.

This is one I liked the first time, but really appreciated it more the second time. I didn’t know the end, so when I watched again and saw the way it was all set up I was amazed by Hitchcock’s genius.

Jason and I saw this at the theater and there was so much ribald humor that I was a bit embarrassed to laugh (prudish, I know). I saw it again in the privacy of my own home and I just let myself be taken over by the silliness and raunchiness. But I find Ben Stiller funny, I don’t think you would ever appreciate this movie if you didn’t.

I watched this the first time after I had spent 5 hours watching the BBC mini-series with Colin Firth, so I spent much of my time noting everything they left out or changed. When some time had passed and I watched in on tv I was able to appreciate it for it’s own merit. I’ve seen it several times and love it each time.

I did like this the first time, but loved watching the way it was expertly woven together with each additional viewing. And there are so many characters that it was much easier to keep them straight the second time and even third time around.

I know there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind this morning. What about you? Have any movies that get better the more you watch them?

Monday Movie meme Monster Mash

January 11, 201016 Comments

The Bumbles host this wonderful weekly movie meme and today it’s all about Monsters! This is a tough one since I don’t watch many monster movies, but I can come up with a few. So, here I share with you a few of the more memorable monsters from my movie watching…

The Balrog from Lord of the Rings was scary and tough enough to take down Gandalf. That’s powerful.

The Alien Queen. Well, all of the aliens scared me, but she was scariest of the bunch.

Maybe he’s so scary because he could be real?

A scary monster? Not once you get to know him.

And my favorite monster of all…

Monday Movie Meme – Sports

January 4, 2010January 9, 20109 Comments

This week’s movie topic is all about Sports…

I love sports and there would just be too many if I started listing favorites, so I’m going to pick some Olympic based movies I love. Not sure how long this list will be until I get started, so let’s go.

I love the Olympics and gymnastics are a favorite. This 1984 made for TV movie was a favorite of mine growing up.The story of Nadia Comaneci, who scored the first perfect 10. Haven’t seen it since I was a young teen, but maybe I should find it.

Another true Olympic story I loved was this one.Running Brave (1983) is the story of Billy Mills, a Sioux Indian who overcame many obstacles to run the 10,000 meter race in the 1964 Olympics. Stars Robbie Benson.

Cool Runnings DVD Cover Art DVD movie DVD video film review The story of four Jamaicans on a bobsled trying to make the Winter Olympics is funny and sweet. And John Candy is great.

Miracle Hockey Movie

I’m not a huge hockey fan, but the USA vs. the USSR in the Cold War? And we are David and they are Goliath? Makes you proud to be an American 🙂

Cutting Edge DVD Cover Art DVD movie DVD video film review

And my last pick is not based on any real Olympic event, but I’ve seen it many times (just today I watched 30 minutes when I found it on tv). Figure skating is always fun to watch, but I also enjoyed the sparks that flew between these two. Sad, but true.

There you have it. These are not the best sports movies ever filmed, but they are my favorite Olympics movies. Did I miss a good one? Why not visit the Bumbles and see everyone else’s sports picks?

December Movie Thoughts in 5 Words

December 31, 2009April 8, 20179 Comments

I love movies, not as much as I love books, but close. I review movies on my Top 100 list and a few here and there for challenges, but wanted to keep a running tab on the other movies I watch. I don’t want to review them all, so I’ll give the movie a grade and 5 words to describe it. If you’ve seen any of these and want to add one word of your own leave a comment and I’ll add it to my post.

(2009. Cast includes: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates, Quinton Aaron) Grade A

Inspiring True Football Story. Heartwarming.

So many layers of goodness. (Nolatari)

Much more than football. Uplifting. (Teddyree)

Don’t mess with Sandra Bullock. (Tony)

(2009. Cast incudes: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galiianakas, Justin Bartham, Heather Graham) Grade B+

Most Insane Bachelor Party Ever.

A fun dirty crack up! (Teddyree)

Good friends form memories together. (Tony)

(1987. Cast includes: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis) Grade B+

Kooky. Passionate. Italian Love Story.

Mousy Cher gets a makeover. (Stephanie)

Timeless. Truly Cher’s best work. (Nolatari)

(2006. Cast: Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson) Grade B

Charming Life of Beatrix Potter.

(2006. Cast: Emilio Estevez(also the director), Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Helen Hunt, Sharon Stone, William H Macy) Grade B

Historical Day. Original Footage. Tears.

Utterly engaging and provocative. Bravo! (Nolatari)

(2009. Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams) Grade B-

Fun. Forgettable. Cool Special Effects.

Unforgettable– Margot

Fun but forgettable. Great casting. (Nolatari)

I liked Watson better, alas. (Tony)

(2007. Cast: Halle Barry, Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi) Grade C-

Unbelievably Inconsistant Thriller. Redeeming Ending.

(2008. Cast: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifa, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson) Grade D+

Silly Money Robbers. Very Disappointing.

Everything Austen Challenge completed

December 18, 200911 Comments

My fourth 2009 challenge is done. Whew! Wasn’t sure I was going to make it 🙂 I joined this challenge without ever having read a Jane Austen novel and now I can say I have. I really enjoyed reading Pride & Prejudice and can understand why this is a favorite of many. Mr. Darcy ranks right up there with romantic heroes. I listened to Sense & Sensibility and enjoyed this as well, although not as much as Pride & Prejudice. I watched the 1995 movie version with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet as the two sisters and liked it so much it ended up on my Top 100 list. I read The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and watched The Jane Austen Book Club movie and was surprised that I preferred the movie. And for my last task I watched the 1995 BBC production of Persuasion. I liked this story and look forward to reading the book.

I am so glad I joined this challenge because it introduced me to Jane and now I feel like we’re old friends. Thanks Stephanie for hosting this great challenge.

You will choose 50 of the books I will read next year. If you help me you could win a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble. Go here to vote. (Right now the top vote getter is A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving)

Persuasion, 1995 movie

December 18, 20096 Comments

Leads- Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds

Anne rejected Wentworth eight years before due to the influence of a family friend and is now considered an old maid at 27. When Anne’s family is forced to rent their home due to money problems, Anne once again finds herself face to face with Wentworth. Only he is barely civil and she is more than disappointed.

I have not read this Austen novel yet (although it looks like I will be doing so in 2010 thanks to all of you voters) and only had a vague impression of its plot. Although I thought the movie was quite slow in parts I still enjoyed it. The costumes were wonderful and the two leads were very good.

Because the movie can only be so long I am still left wondering about a few things, like the specifics of why Anne rejected Wentworth and what exactly was going on with her cousin and sister’s companion. I am looking forward to reading the novel to fill in some blanks, but I thought the movie was beautifully done, as with most BBC productions.

This is my last Austen for the Everything Austen Challenge 🙂 I checked this movie out of the library.

Stacy's Books

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Tag: movies