Movie Mondays – Snorefest

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This week’s theme is…
Boring Movies

My lovely hubby has already mentioned two snoozefests that would have featured on my list – The Thin Red Line (or “Too Many Excellent Actors Spoil the Plot”) and Melancholia (or “Pretentious Wank In Two Acts”), so I’ll add a third to the mix…

My nomination for the Movie  I Most Wish I Hadn’t Bothered Seeing And Am Incredibly Glad I Saw It For Free Or I Would Have Gone Postal On The Unsuspecting Cinema Staff Award goes to…

*drum roll please*

Movie Mondays – Festive Films

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This week’s theme is… Christmas Films

Movie Monday – Payback’s a B*tch!

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This week’s topic is…
Memorable payback movies

Movie Mondays – What’s the Story?

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This week’s topic is… What’s the Story? (Movies that feature books – NOT movies that are adapted from books!)

I’ll start with one of my favourites, which is also a film that Xander loves – Inkheart. I know Dale wanted to use this one, but I called dibs on it first! Cornelia Funke wrote the character of Mo with Brendan Fraser in mind, so when he accepted the role in the film, she (and all his fans!) were delighted. There are some changes to the plot from the book, but that’s to be expected and it does keep to the spirit of the source material. Anyway, this one is about people who have the ability to read characters out of books and it’s wonderful!

Next up is from the other end of the movie spectrum. In one fell swoop I go from children’s fantasy to comedy horror with Army of Darkness, the third Evil Dead film starring the iconic Bruce Campbell. Ash is accidentally transported to 1300AD, where he must battle the Medieval dead (did you see what I did there?) and find the Necronomicon (the skin-bound Book of the Dead) in order to return home.  It has spade loads of dark comedy and Ash has a chainsaw instead of a right hand. What’s not to love?

My final choice is a little more highbrow compared to the others and was an Oscar winner in 2008. I speak of none other than The Reader, starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. It’s the story of a young German boy who reads to (and has a relationship with) an older woman who turns out to be a Nazi war criminal. He has difficulty reconciling the woman he knew as a boy with the woman in court accused of being party to atrocities.

All three of these films are great in their own right and all are very different. Each of them features books in a different way, but all are integral to the plot.

Movie Mondays – Crazy Food

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This week’s topic is… movies that feature crazy cooks. The characters in these films may be able to whip up a good feast but they are either wackos in one way or another…or they do wacky things.

When it comes to crazy cooks, the first film that springs to mind is The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), starring Helen Mirren and Michael Gambon.  With a tagline that reads, “Lust…Murder…Dessert. Bon Appetit! ” you know you’re in for something at least a little unusual. In this case, an entire roasted MAN! It’s an unusual film, but rather good, and of course, when you have the likes of Mirren and Gambon in a cast ,you know you’re in for a treat…

Next up is The War of the Roses (1989). Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner meet, fall in love, marry, have children and buy the house of their dreams together, but then boredom sets in. The desperate housewife turns her love of cooking into a catering business, but when her husband pushes all the wrong buttons and just goes too far, she serves up a meal to discuss their options. After eating her delicious and well-reknowned paté, he realises he doesn’t know where his faithful and much beloved dog is. Woof!

Finally, we have not a cook, but a crook. In A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Otto, played by Kevin Kline torments Ken, played by Michael Palin, by threatening to eat his prized collection of tropical fish, culminating in him swallowing each of them whole – alive and wriggling – much to the horror of the stammering Ken who can barely get his words out at the best of times. It’s certainly a way to extract information when you need it, but an incorrect answer results in “another chip up the nose,” in the distressing yet hilarious scene.

Movie Mondays – Vacation, Vacation, Vacation…

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This week’s topic is… Vacation, Vacation, Vacation!

If anything screams “holiday”, it’s the beach. If any beach is going to make you scream, it will be that of Amity Island in Jaws (1975). Holiday-makers are put off ever going back in the water by a man-eating Great White who chows down on anyone who ventures into the sea in the original summer blockbuster!

Be honest – the first time you saw this film, didn’t it take an age for you to work up the guts to go for a swim anywhere other than the safety of an indoor heated pool?

For my second choice, I’ll go further back to the classic Roman Holiday (1953) starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn as an American newsman away from home, and a princess who escapes her guardians in order to explore on her own and experience a bit of life. It’s a fun romantic comedy with two big stars who really deliver with the chemistry. If you’re not in the habit of watching oldies, this is a good place to start – just to see all the Italian sights and the atmosphere of Rome as they ride around on scooters it’s worth it!

Movie Mondays – Notches on the bedpost…

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This week’s topic is… Notches on the bedpost

Character: Austin Powers
Notches: Minimum of 3

1. Vanessa Kensington (The Spy Who Shagged Me)
2. Felicity Shagwell (International Man of Mystery)
3. Foxxy Cleopatra (Goldmember)

There are also allusions to his magnificent sexual prowess throughout all three films, so it is to be assumed that his past sexual activity is prolific and his sexual partners abundant. His animal magnetism knows no bounds and his chat-up line of “Do I make you horny, baby? Do, I?” seems to magically melt any woman he meets.

Movie Mondays – Things That Go Bump In The Night

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This week’s topic is… Things that go bump in the night!

I’ve always been a fan of the baddie masquerading as someone completely normal, or even completely innocuous, therefore the “boy next door” who turns out to be a murderous psychopath is always top for me, as nobody ever expects such a “nice guy” to turn out to be the exact opposite.

The perfect example of this is Norman Bates of The Bates Motel in Psycho. In the original version, he is portrayed by mild-mannered Anthony Perkins who is rather skinny and eager to please, so who would suspect what darkness lies under the surface. In the remake, Vince Vaughn portrayed him as rather shy and slightly simple which also made for a great twist (yes, I rather enjoyed the remake!).

In a complete turn-around, I also love a suave, charming bad guy. Take Dracula in his many guises, for example. He’s absolutely mesmerising and a master of deception, and the double-whammy of sex and blood is always great – the uptight Victorians were absolutely shocked and scandalised by the novel when it was published. Now, of course, we find it difficult to separate the blood and the sexiness when it comes to our vampires. Dracula has been played by many a fine actor, but the ones that always spring immediately to mind are Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee and Gary Oldman – the  latter actually managing to infuse his portrayal with sadness and perhaps even a little sympathetically, as well as sexy and scary.

Finally, I have to admit, I love my bad guys to be smart – there’s a lot to be said for intelligence playing a part in psychopathic activities. That’s where my last choice comes in. Dr Hannibal Lecter is quite the most chillingly intellectual murderer ever. Of course, he was first played by Brian Cox in Manhunter (1986), but he is often overlooked in favour of Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal in Silence of the Lambs (1991). Both, however, were scary as hell and worthy of mention.

Movie Mondays – Real Animals of the Universe

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This week’s topic is… Real Animals of the Universe.

The first one that springs to mind for me is a real oldie – a screwball comedy starring two of Hollywood’s greatest, fast-talking, bantering stars, Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Of course, I’m talking about the 1938 classic Bringing Up Baby. The “baby” in question is actually a fully grown leopard who causes all kinds of mischief just by, well, by being a leopard! Really, if you’ve never seen this film, you must rectify the situation immediately.

Go on. Off you go and get a copy. Don’t come back to read the rest of this post till you do!

So, did you enjoy it? I’m pretty certain I just heard a resounding “YES!” from you there! Now go off and watch the entire back catalogue of both these fantastic actors. I promise you won’t regret it!

Now, on with the meme…

Sticking with the big cat theme, my next pick is Born Free (1966), the true story of a wild lion cub (whose mother is killed) reared by humans as a pet, until her existence is threatened and they are forced to face facts – they  either have to teach her to live in the wild or send her to a zoo where she will spend the rest of her life caged. It’s a touching tale with poignant performances from Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers and I guarantee it will have you in tears more than once.

Last, but not least, I’ve chosen Gorillas in the Mist (1988). Another true story, this is the harrowing quest of one woman battling against poachers to save her beloved gorillas. Studying these great apes in the wild, she becomes a figure of respect and fear to the people native to the area and to the Rwandan government as she does everything within her power to ensure the safety of the animals she has come to know and love. It’s a tragic tale and another that will have you in floods if you have any heart at all.

Movie Mondays – The Car’s The Star

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This week’s topic is… The Car’s The Star
Movies that you like where a car is one of the central characters in the film.

Seeing as Dale already mentioned the Back To The Future trilogy, starring that coolest-of-cool time-travelling DeLorean, I had to think again.

Not that I was a huge fan, but the first film that springs to mind is Herbie. That loveable little racing Beetle with the number 53 on the bonnet; star of The Love Bug (1968); Herbie Rides Again (1974); Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo (1977); and that later abomination starring LiLo, Herbie Fully Loaded (2005).

I have fond memories of watching the original movie as a child and it always seemed to be on in the Easter Holidays…

Next up is a car so cool it had people singing and dancing about it. Literally. Greased Lightning is a character in its own right in the 1978 musical Grease. This 1948 Ford is so cool it even flies at the end of the movie.

And speaking of flying cars, where would we be without the original levitating automobile, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?  Star of the 1968 film of the same name, Chitty starts out a racing car that suffers a tragic accident, before being transformed by Caractacus Potts. And she floats too!

Last, but not least, I couldn’t fail to mention the hottest Hotrod in the world, Lightning McQueen! Star of Pixar’s 2006 animated film Cars, and costar of Cars 2 in 2011. He starts out a rookie with attitude, but realises the true value of friends…