50 Down

Well as of today I have watched 50 movies off my new list.  The list started with 196 movies on it, but it seems to keep growing.  People tell me about movies, I see trailers for movies, read books about movies, one way or another my list keeps growing. My list is now at 210.  And that’s not including the Coen Brothers movies that I want to watch, though there is some overlap.  And, I’m not only watching movies off of this list, I am watching many more.  To see the movies I’ve watched so far this year click here.  Here are a couple of movies from my list that I’ve watched recently.  (Click on the photos to see the IMDB page).

  House of Wax (NR 1953) *****
  I loved this movie.  I had seen the remake a few years ago with Chad Michael Murray and was not impressed, but when I read about this movie in one of my books it was supposed to be very good so I watched it.  And I was not at all disappointed.  This movie is about a wax sculpture whose partner burns down his wax museum, with him inside, for the insurance money.  The sculpture comes back badly maimed and with a vengeance.  This was a classic old school horror movie and I absolutely loved it!

  Sunset Boulevard (NR 1950) *****
This movie caught my attention from the very beginning and held it throughout.  An old silent film actress is all alone in her house, forgotten by Hollywood, but she is writing a script, preparing for her comeback return.  A writer stumbles upon her house and she convinces him to rewrite her script, and promises to pay him handsomely.  He soon realizes that he has gotten into more than he had bargained for.  This movie was fantastic.  The use of narration and the acting was so good.  I highly recommend this movie.

 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (NR 1966) **
My book raved about this movie and talked about how good it was, but honestly, I hated it.  It was boring and dragged on.  It’s the story of a married couple who has some young people over after a dinner party and they drink too much alcohol and start to fight, embarrassing their guests.  If someone knows what all the fuss is about this movie, please let me know.

  The Ref (R 1994) ***
I read an article online that had this movie on a list of great Christmas movies.  While I’m not sure about that, but it was a very funny movie.  A house burglar gets more than he planned when he decides to hold these people hostage and lie low in their house.  Their bickering and screaming get in his way and he ends up being more of a marriage counselor than a thief.  An entertaining comedy, but full of cursing.

These are a few of the movies on my shelf waiting to be watched:

They’re Coming–back

All winter I have been sad because a few of my favorite shows have not been on TV, but it’s finally time!  They’re coming back in two weeks, and I’m so excited!
Rizzoli and Isles–Continuing it’s fourth season–New Episodes Start February 25th at 9pm on TNT
If you don’t watch this show, you have a week and a half to get caught up, and you definitely should.  It’s one of my favorites!
Grey’s Anatomy–Continuing it’s tenth season–New Episodes Start February 27th at 9pm on ABC
Will April choose Jackson??
The Voice (with Usher)–Season 6 beings–New Episodes Start February 24 at 8pm on NBC
Yay Usher’s back!!

Still impatiently waiting for the return of…
Returning to start Season 2 sometime in the Summer.  I can’t wait that long!!

A Guilty Pleasure

There are certain TV shows that I could watch over and over and over again.  For example:  Grey’s Anatomy and The Cosby Show.  I recently started re-watching what is probably my favorite TV Series ever–The Closer.
Any other Closer lovers out there?  Well if you don’t know Brenda Leigh Johnson, consider yourself introduced.  Get ready to fall in love.  This show was my favorite as soon as it premiered in 2005.  I don’t think my Dad and I missed an episode.  I have been really enjoying re-watching the series and even though I know “who did it” in every episode, I am still as entertained as ever.  I was so sad when the series was over in 2012, but watching now it’s like they were never gone.

The Closer was on TV for seven seasons.  The series follows Brenda Leigh Johnson, who is a southern girl from Atlanta.  She becomes the Deputy Chief of the LAPD’s Priority Homicide Division, and makes several people upset.  She is a CIA-trained interrogator and it is her job to get confessions and close cases–and she’s pretty awesome at it.  I was doing some reading online about the series and found out the each season has a major theme.  I never knew that or realized it before, but now that I do, I can see it.
Season 1–Woman Alone
Season 2–Partnerships
Season 3–Family
Season 4–Power
Season 5–Change
Season 6–Attraction
Season 7–Love and Loss
I started a couple weeks ago, and so far I am almost done with Season 2.  I think Season 2 is one of my favorite seasons of the show.  So many great things happen with the characters.  It really is all about the partnerships.

If you have not discovered The Closer, then please do.  I think it would be worth your time.  Closer fans out there–what’s your favorite episode?

Some Movies from January

 

I marked three movies off my list is January.  Here’s what I thought of them.

 Chinatown (R 1974) ****
I really enjoyed this Jack Nicholson movie.  This film follows a private investigator, Nicholson, who used to work in Chinatown.  His experiences there have followed him to this job.  He is good at his job, but this time he could have taken on a bit more than he should.  This is a very exciting movie with an awesome story.  I highly recommend it.

Funny Girl (G 1968) *****
If you know my mother, you know that she loves Barbra Streisand.  I grew up watching Hello Dolly and a few other of her movies.  Watching this movie made me feel like I was hanging out with my mom watching her favorite movie.  This movie had me cracking up.  Streisand is so talented.  I am surprised it took me this long to watch this movie.  Also, Streisand won Best Actress for this movie, and it really shows.

The Big Lebowski (R 1998) ***
This movie, written and directed by the Coen Brothers, was weird, but it had a very entertaining and interesting story that kept you interested.  This is a very comical movie about mistaken identity.  I think I was in the perfect mood when I watched this movie.  I do not know that it would have been as funny if I hadn’t been caught on the perfect day for it.  It was definitely entertaining.

 

 

Those aren’t all the movies I watched in January.  Click here to see the full list.

Posts coming soon:
An awesome DIY that I’m super proud of
My favorite read from January

The Coen Brothers

I have come to the conclusion that the Coen Brothers are my favorite writers/directors.  I am always blown away by their films.  I really enjoy them.  I watched one this weekend called The Big Lebowski.  I really enjoyed it.  I have seen several of their movies and this weekend I decided that I’d like to try and watch them all–just add that to the list.  I was surprised when I looked up their filmography that I have already seen quite a few of these.  They direct almost all of the movies that they have written, but there were 5 that they have just written that I have also added to my list.  Here are the movies that they have made.  I have bolded the ones that I have already seen.  I have also requested a couple of books on them from the library because I want to learn more about this awesome duo.

Wrote the Screenplay
1985  Crimewave
1994 The Hudsucker Proxy
1998  The Naked Man
2012  Gambit
2014  Unbroken

Wrote the Screenplay and Directed the Film
1984  Blood Simple
1987  Raising Arizona
1990  Miller’s Crossing
1991   Barton Fink
1996 Fargo
1998 The Big Lebowski
2000  O’Brother Where Art Thou?
2001  The Man Who Wasn’t There
2003 Intolerable Cruelty
2004  The Ladykillers
2007 No Country for Old Men
2008  Burn After Reading
2009  A Serious Man
2010  True Grit
2013   Inside Llewyn Davis

I’m pretty excited about this list.
Do you have any favorites on this list?
Which one should I start with?

Movie Reviews

I’ve watched a few more movies off my list that I haven’t gotten a chance to review for you until today.  There is a wide variety of movies that I have watched.  Hopefully you’ll find something that interests you.

  American Psycho  (2000 R)
This movie is on a lot of lists as being a very well done, very good movie.  Because of this I was expecting a lot and was excited to watch this movie.  I was, unfortunately, rather disappointed.  This movie has a very interesting way of telling the story and the story itself is intriguing, yet disturbing.  Christian Bale does a very good job of portraying this character and making you really believe it is a real person.  But the movie just didn’t live up to my expectations.  ***

Bonnie and Clyde (1967 NR)
I had heard good things about this movie and I was not disappointed.  This was a very well made, well acted movie.  I enjoyed the story and the action in this movie.  I highly recommend it.  ****

Charlie’s Angels (2000 PG13)
This movie came out when I was ten.  And when it came out, I think all of my friends saw it, except me.  They were all doing Charlie’s Angels poses in pictures and sneaking around the playground karate chopping people.  I had seen bits and pieces of the movie in my life but never the whole thing, and I decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about.  Well, the fuss was not about much.  I think I had very high expectations for this movie, since I had heard about it so much growing up, but I have concluded that I really wasn’t missing out on much.  **

Dr. Strangelove (1964 PG)
If I would describe this movie to someone, I would probably describe it as just plain weird.  I’m not even really sure how to summarize the plot for you.  This is one of those movies that you just kind of sit there watching it for a while and then it starts to get funny.  Since I had no expectations for this movie it ended up being pretty good.  But I am not sure that it is one that I would end up ever watching again.  ***

Kate and Leopold (2001  PG13)
I love Meg Ryan, and I love Hugh Jackman, so how had I never seen this movie before?  This movie was simply a really cute love story.  I really enjoyed it.  ****

Saturday Night Fever (1977 R)
Okay, can someone please explain to me what the big fuss about this movie is.  I watched it and I did not like it at all.  I almost turned it off, but decided that it must have a really great ending.  The movie was alright, but I just did not enjoy watching it.  The only thing I enjoyed was the soundtrack.  **

The American President (1995 PG13)
I really enjoyed this movie about the president falling in love.  It was a very well done movie and I enjoyed the acting and the storytelling immensely.  And let me just say that I really enjoyed Michael J Fox in this movie.  I thought he did a very good job.  This was just a good romantic movie.  *****

The Ladykillers (1955 NR)
This movie was so much fun to watch.  I really enjoyed it.  This movie is about a group of bank robbers who are hiding out at an old ladies’ house and she gets too nosy for them, so they decide to kill her.  But killing this little old lady proves to be a difficult (hilarious) challenge.  This is a very good black comedy.  And I read somewhere that it is known as one of Alec Guinness’ best performances.  And for those of you who don’t know, that’s the original Obi-Wan Kenobi.  I really enjoyed it.  *****

 

Top 10 Movies of the Year

Here are my Top 10 Favorite Movies of the Year.  I started with 205 that I watched, narrowed that down to 38 favorites, and here are my top ten.  It was not easy to pick, but I am very happy with my choices.  These are the best movies I watched this year, and some of them, ever.  I hope you will be interested in some of these if you have not seen them and that if you watch one of them that you will love it as much as I do.  (Click on the picture to see the IMDB information).

#10–Warrior
2011 PG-13

#9–The Reader
2008  R

#8–The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957  PG

#7–Shutter Island
2010  R

#6–Ghost
1990 PG-13

#5–12 Angry Men
1957  NR

#4–Top Gun
1986  PG

#3–The Last Samurai
2003  R

#2–Argo
2012  R

#1–Memento
2000  R

Honorable Mention
Silver Linings Playbook  2012  R
Fargo  1996  R
Bringing Up Baby  1938 G
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter  2012  R

I’d love to know what your favorite movie(s) of the year!  I’m always looking for suggestions of things to watch.  Comment below!

The Numbers are In

One thing I have tried to keep you updated on this year is the books and movies that I am reading and watching.  I have really enjoyed it.  I have compiled a few lists of my favorites from the year.  But first here’s a look at my year by the numbers.

205    movies watched this year
144     movies that I watched for the first time this year
222    books read this year
6         books I read this year that I had read before
68      non-fiction books read this year
10       the number of times I watched Pitch Perfect
38      the number of movies that were contenders for my favorites list
44      the number of books that were contenders for my favorites list
74,346   pages read this year
24,782,000  words read this year (based on 50,000 words in a 150 page book)

Coming Tonight–The list of my top 10 fiction and non-fiction books that I read this year
Coming Tomorrow–The list of my top 10 favorite movies I watched this year

Where Have I Been?

I have been sick since Thursday with strep and a sinus infection.  It has really wiped me out.  I missed 3 days of work and I am still not feeling back to normal.  Hopefully I will soon.

All of our gifts are wrapped, our Christmas cards are done, and I have been feeling pretty accomplished.  And I have watched several movies in the last week, some better than others.  Here are the reviews for the ones that I watched and crossed of my list.

  Ghost (PG13 1990)
This is one of those movies that left me wondering, why have I never seen this movie before?!  Parents-why?  I loved this movie.  I was blown away with how much I enjoyed it.  This movie stars Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg.  Whoopi Goldberg was fabulous.  She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in this role and I would say she definitely deserved it.  Don’t be like me.  If you haven’t seen this movie, go out there and get it from somewhere and watch it!  *****

Selling God-Documentary (NR  2009)
This movie was not at all what I was expecting it to be and it downright infuriated me.  I am going to write a more detailed review about this movie later, as long as I can find my notes.  I thought the movie would be about how Christianity has become commercialized.  But no, this movie was about how some of the key points of Christianity are marketing ploys to get people to join the religion.  I want to give this movie no stars because of how much I hated how they treated the topic, but it was a well made movie so I should probably give it two stars.  But I’m not happy about it, so I’m only giving it one.  *

  The Reader (R 2008)
I almost stopped this movie 15 minutes into it, but I pressed on and I am glad that I did.  It turned out to be a very beautiful and moving story.  The story starts off with a 15 year old boy and his affair with a 30 year old woman, which is why I would have stopped the movie, but then things change and the story takes a different direction.  I recommend this movie with reservations.  I really did end up loving this story and it was told beautifully.  However, some of the content is hard to get past.  But it was a beautiful movie and I am glad that I made it to the end.  ****

Calamity Jane (G 1953)
This movie was just plain fun.  It is about a rough around the edges woman named Calamity Jane, who is very closely compared to Annie Oakley.  This is a musical following Calamity, her journey to get an actress from Chicago to come to her little town, and how later she wishes she hadn’t.  It is an entertaining love story and has fun music.  I could listen to Doris Day sing all day long.  ****

  Get Shorty  (R 1995) This movie was not what I had expected going into it, but it ended up being rather entertaining.  However, it is a movie that I will probably never watch again.  It was alright, but it wasn’t spectacular.  ***

Blue Steel  (R 1989)
This movie stars Jamie Lee Curtis as a rookie cop in New York.  Wait, did you read that right?  Jamie Lee Curtis as a cop?  Yes you did, and I think she does a great job.  I am a big Jamie Lee Curtis fan, and this movie did not disappoint me.  This is an intense thriller that follows Megan Turner on her first few days as a New York City cop.  She ends up getting into some very uncomfortable situations.  This is a very intense movie, but all in all I enjoyed it.  ****

I hope that you are not getting tired of all of these movie reviews.  I really do enjoy watching all kinds of different movies and my hope is that I pique your interest and you find a movie that you enjoy watching.

Holiday Guessing Game Answers

#10  “We invite you to ask yourself this one simple question: Do you believe in Santa Claus?”
Miracle on 34th Street
This is one of my childhood favorites.  I watched it a lot when I was little.  And who doesn’t love Mara Wilson?
She’s just so cute!

#9  “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”
A Charlie Brown Christmas
This is one of my mom’s favorites, which means that we watched it almost every year as children.  It is a good thing that it is so good, or else that could have been torture.

#8  “Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!”
It’s a Wonderful Life
This movie was always a favorite in our family.  We watched it almost every year.  I think this movie is a holiday classic in most families.

#7  “You’re all hard work and deadlines, and I’m all snowballs and fun times.”
Rise of the Guardians
This movie just came out last Christmas.  We didn’t get to see it in theaters so we rented it when it came out in the Redbox and I loved it!  I really enjoyed the story in this movie and I will admit to crying during the movie.  I thought it was that good.  I am hoping to add this to my Christmas movie collection very soon.

#6  “Come out and relax on a farm, music, dancing, home cooking. Open holidays only.”
Holiday Inn
I happened upon this movie sometime earlier in the year.  And when I watched it I really enjoyed it.  I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen it before.  It really should be considered a holiday classic.

#5  “Schwartz created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!”
A Christmas Story
This is another movie that I grew up watching.  It quickly became one of my favorite Christmas movies and it still is.  I always try to catch it on TV at least once.

#4  “Don’t tell him what you want, he’s a liar.”
Elf
When I first saw this movie I thought it was so stupid, but the more I watched it the more I began to love it.  I love the story of this movie and who cannot say that Will Ferrell is pretty amazing in this movie?  It has already become a tradition for us to watch this movie every Christmas.

#3  “I wanna wash my hands, my face, my hair with snow.”
White Christmas
I grew up watching this movie with my family and I am so glad that I did because it is so good.  My sister and I love this movie and we would always beg to watch it every time we were at my grandmother’s house because she was the only one who owned it.  This movie should be a Christmas classic in every home.

#2  “Is this toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association?”
Home Alone
Ah, Home Alone.  This will always be one of my most favorite Christmas movies.  It’s wonderful.  There’s not too much else to be said about it.

#1  “Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean is doesn’t exist.”
The Santa Clause
Oh the Santa Clause, what a wonderful movie.  Who doesn’t love this movie?  It has a great story and it really gets me into the Christmas spirit when I watch it.

 

Did I leave out any of your favorites?  What do you think deserves to be a Christmas movie classic?