Day Fifteen: Belle from Beauty and the Best

Day Fifteen: A character who you can relate to the most

This one was really hard for me to decide on. Not because I couldn't narrow it down but every answer I seemed to come up with was lame. Me and my sister discussed it for days, jumping from main characters to vague side characters before finally deciding on someone - Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Not in the 'my boyfriend is overly furry with a tendency to growl' kinda way, but instead in the 'I read books like my life depends on it and occasionally bursts out into song' sorta way. I have a huge affinity for books and my room is well on its way to become a library by itself. And the singing? Well I don't have the voice of Belle, but I do spend a lot of singing. Probably more than I should for someone who.. well can't sing.

 Side note: people in librarys' don't appreciate it when you do this.

 My sister insisted that I mention the person she was voting for that I 'relate to the most'. That person being Justin Finch-Fletchley from Harry Potter.

 Her theory was that I tend to melt into the background, no one really realizing I'm there till you're actually talking to me. I quick to start to hate people if they do something, not always caring about the truth since I have no real interest in actually making new friends. I keep to myself and I tend to get forgotten easily but me and my friends are close. Also I would probably be in Hufflepuff (even though I like Ravenclaw more, although that has nothing to do with Justin Finch-Fletchley. Just thought you'd like to know my preference).

I like Belle more, although my sister's theory was a lot more thought out than 'Belle like books and I like books so we're the same'.

Day Fourteen: Baghead

Day Fourteen: A movie that no one would expect you to love

Remember when I said I hate horror movies? Well not hate so much as incapable of processing, which then makes me unable to enjoy then on any level. I saw the trailer for Baghead, and it made it out to be a sort of.. comedy making fun of horror movies. Liars. Yet somehow, I actually kinda enjoyed it.

Baghead is about 4 actors desperately trying to make it big without much success. Their solution is to go to a cabin in the woods with a pact to not leave till they write a screenplay. Well, of course it's not that easy to write a screenplay and they start to cling to any remotely good idea. That remotely good idea being a group of kids in a cabin that slowly begin getting picked off by a guy with a bag on his head. As they are writing and filming it, off camera a guy with a bag over his head shows up to different members of the group on their own - each assuming it was someone else playing joke. Then they find out it isn't, and that it's really some guy in the woods starting to pick off their group.

Part of the movie was comedyish. The other part had some guy that you would sometimes see in between the trees and sometimes in the windows. It had me looking over my shoulder whenever I was in the woods. I can't explain why I even remotely liked this horror movie and can't stand others. So far my theory was that it had just enough comedy to put me at ease with the bonus of having a definite ending opposed to the open endings other horror movies seem so fond of. Anyways, long story short: hey look, I found a horror movie I actually kinda sorta like.

Day Thirteen: Bring It On Again

Day Thirteen: A movie that is a guilty pleasure

Don't scoff at me, I know what I'm talking about.  I'll watch this movie if I'm feeling too stressed out and I need to just not think for a while - sometimes you just need a movie that isn't mentally stimulating. And yes, I know I put the sequel here instead of the first one. In my opinion, the second one is better then the first. Crazy right?

It's Whittier's (What a stupid name) first year of college, and the thing she's most excited for is joining the cheerleading squad. When she try's out for it, she's not only welcomed onto the squad but is told that she could potentially be Cheerleading captain. As the practices progress, Whittier realized what a terrible person the current captain is and quits to make a statement; however then she doesn't know what to do now that she's not in cheerleading. She is then struck with a brilliant idea - to make another cheerleading squad that uses all the rejects on campus. The unfortunate souls who got their funding for their club cut and can now no longer have the club. The end of the movie come down to a showdown between the two cheerleading squads, competing for who gets to represent the school at Nationals.

I've never been a cheerleader. I've never held any interest in cheerleading, in fact I sorta made fun of them in high school [They were never very nice to me in high school]. But for some reason, I love this movie. It's fun, quirky, upbeat. It lets me just enjoy something without having to think too hard.

Day Twelve: Legion of Fire: Killer Ants!

Day Twelve: A movie you hate

Don't get me wrong, I love bad movies. We make movie nights out of movies that are so bad they are good: Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, Troll 2, The Skeleton Man, Sleepwalkers. Love them. And by the title of this movie you'd probably think this movie fall into that category - usually anything with an exclamation point in the title is delightfully bad. 

To be honest, I don't remember this movie very well. I'm going to have to tap into my 7 year old self's memory for this one. I went to stay with my grandparents when I was 7 or 8 for maybe 2 weeks, which was super exciting since it was just me. No mom or dad or sister, just me and my grandparents who I rarely got to see since they live in Wisconsin whereas I live in Pennsylvania. My cousin who was a year old than me came over to spend the night and we decided to watch TV. To add to the excitement it was past 8, which was my definite bedtime at home, can you say living on the edge? A movie came on TV which we decided to watch for.. some reason or another. Boy did I end up regretting that.

It opened in some small town with a kid playing on a really really tall and narrow mound. Then he crashed through the mound which you find out is actually an anthill that's home to some rare South American Ants that ate people. So of course this kid was eaten clean to the bone. From there it went down hill, the town got swarmed by these ants and everyone was getting eaten - the town was in panic. At the heart of it all was I think an expert of something, probably bugs or ants. He had a group of people with him, and they went in search of the Queen Ant to kill, which I guess would cause all the other ants to go away. Or something.

It sounds funny and all, but let me share something with you - I'm terrified of horror movies. I'm fine with thrillers and gory movies, but the minute they branch into horror [ghosts, possessions, pretty much anything I can't fend myself again I suppose] then I just can't handle it. This movie is the entire cause of it I think. I had nightmares for weeks and weeks. I forced my sister who had just moved into her own room to share a room with me again. I couldn't even tell myself I safe on the top bunk of our bunk bed by theorizing they couldn't climb ladders cause the movie specifically showed some guy try something like that only for the ants to climb the ladder and eat him alive. I guess you could say I was traumatized.

To be honest I'm afraid to re-watch it to see if it's still scary or just funny - even thinking about it makes me antsy [see what I did there? Antsy? And I'm talking about Ants. So punny.]. Regardless of the quality of the movie, I still think I would hate it. This movie cause me so much trouble over my life, I spent most of my nights hiding under my covers since, you know, covers shield you from everything at night.

Ps: In case you're wondering, I actually couldn't even find a poster for this movie. That's the picture they have on imdb and when I googled imaged for it nothing came up but that picture. I didn't even know the name of the movie until I googled the plot about 10 minutes ago.

Day Eleven: Stranger Than Fiction

Day Eleven: A movie that changed your opinion about something

I hate Will Ferrell. Well, I did. But then I watched this movie and everything changed. I dunno what it was about him that just set me off. I definitely didn't like the humor in most of his movies - was just not something that tickled my funny bone - and really didn't like his.. persona he seemed to create in interviews with people. Basically I wasn't big on the Ferrell. However this movie changed everything. I still don't like most of the humor in his movies or his characters in his movies, but it's okay. I'll always have this movie to fall back on, so everything will be okay.

Will Ferrell plays an IRS auditor who is pretty OCD and does stuff like brushing his teeth the same exact way each time, for the same number of time. Then one day he wakes up to continue his normal routine to find everything he does narrated. At first he's suspicious, thinking he might even be crazy, but harmless none the less. He starts to actually get worried when the narrator says he's going to die, causing him to seek outside help. This narrator changes everything in his life in Will Ferrell's desire to now live life to the fullest, desiring everything he never had because of some innate fear.

I've never seen Will Ferrell in a serious role before, and this movie was a refreshing change of pace - as an extra bonus the movie was extremely emotional. On the Will Ferrell note, I was equally pleased with his role in The Other Guys. It's probably the first Will Ferrell role that actually made me laugh.

Day Ten: Young Frankenstien

Day Ten: Favorite classic movie

I seriously love this movie, I can never get enough of Gene Wilder. The movie is funny, heartfelt, crazy. The one liners in this movie are just phenomenal. When the original Dr. Frankenstien dies, he leaves his castle to his neurosurgeon of a grandson. His grandson then moves to Transylvania into the castle and initially views his grandfathers research and experiments as utter rubbish. After going through his books, he finds that maybe creating life was possible after all, and goes about to make his own monster.

What makes a movie a 'classic' movie? Does that mean old? Or does that mean something that will withstand time and stay popular? I wasn't really what sure what movie to chose for this, it took a good amount of consideration and jumping back and forth before I finally chose Young Frankenstein. I'm still not positive that counts as a classic movie, but I googled lists of popular classic movies and that was on it's list. So there.

Day Nine: Harry Potter

Day Nine: A movie with the best soundtrack

Okay, This is not the 'best' soundtrack. Not by a long shot. Also up for the running was Juno. I'm all about the dorky indie music, and Juno has indie coming out of the wazoo. If you haven't listened to the song Treehugger by Antsy Pants and Kimya Dawson from the movies album yet, then you have to - it's such a happy song. Scratch that, I'll just put it up here because of how happy and fun it is:

Anyways, my reasoning for choosing Harry Potter is because it's been a huge part of my life. The music for this movie has been with me through the best and worst times of my life. Even today, in anticipation of writing this blog, I found myself humming along. Also I can play the crap outta the song on the clarinet (I play the clarinet like a Boss. And by that I mean I'm pretty good and proud of what I can play. Which includes Hedwig's Theme. Ya know the one, the main song you hear).

I suppose best is subjective. Sure it may not be the critically best soundtrack, but it hits home with me. Something about the music is welcoming and familiar, and that's good enough for me to be considered the 'best'.

On a slightly related note, have you heard the song from Requiem for a Dream? Even if you haven't seen the movie, I guarantee you've heard the song. So many trailers and movies use it that it must be some inside Hollywood joke at this point. I admit, I do a little rage every time I see a trailer use it. The entire soundtrack for Jumper (that was a bad movie) was the Requiem for a Dream song, throughout the entire movie. Rage.

This is the song, actually called Lux Aeterna by Clint Mansell:

 

An example of a movie trailer that uses it (one of many):

 

Even my homeboy Lord of the Rings uses it. However to give them a little slack, they re-orchestrated it with a choir and full orchestra, then renamed it as 'Requiem for a Tower'. So punny:

If you haven't noticed, I just found out how to put videos on the site. Go me.

Day Eight: Lord of the Ring

Day Eight: A movie that you’ve seen countless times

I love Lord of the Rings. Also yes, I'm counting the trilogy as all one movie Because I love all of them. I've watched the movies countless times, read the books so many time they fell apart. I have the graphic novel for The Hobbit (speaking of. SO excited for The Hobbit movie coming up) and I have a map of Middle Earth on my wall. 

 

See? There. I'm awfully proud of it. So you may have figured out that I’m pretty into the whole Middle Earth. Frodo traveling to Mordor to try and destroy the One Ring? The Fellowship of the Ring at his side to lead him along the way, Gandalf the White, Aragon the Ranger, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Woodland Elf, Samwise the Brave, Pippin and Merry, Boromir the generally stupid but not all together bad guy. Good ol' Gollum popping up every now and then to be creepy. I can't get enough of it. Fun Fact: my favorite of the three movies? The Two Towers. Most likely because I'm all about the Ents.

 

Seriously. I want one.

Day Seven: Oldboy

Day Seven: The most surprising plot twist or ending

Oh gosh this movie. Oldboy has about 3 plot twists and/or surprise endings. The movie has you on the edge of your seat from the very beginning with this deep seeded need to find out why everything was happening.

One day Dai-su is kidnapped from a phone booth and wakes up in a shabby little room. There he is kept for 15 years without any clue who locked him up or even why. When one day he is finally freed, he sets out to find out why and get revenge for all those years lost from his wife and daughter that are now gone from his life forever. Once out in the town, he meets a woman named Mido who takes pity on him and decides to help him out, in which Dai-su gladly accepts after so much isolation.

This movie is such a mind trip, I was captivated. When the movie ended, I'm pretty sure I just sat there, since I needed my brain to catch up with everything that was going on. I recently found out that Oldboy is part of a series called the Vengeance Trilogy, which are three movies that have same themes opposed to being connected by plot or characters. The Trilogy goes Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, then Sympathy for Ms. Vengeance. I'm excited to watch the other two who has, from what I understand, an equally plot twist-y ending.

Day Six: Casanova

Gosh that poster looks cheesy, but I promise, I'm going somewhere with this.

Do mini-series count as made for TV movies? The only made for TV movie I could even think of was that one Lifetime movie where the entire high school gets syphilis, so I thought that counting mini-series was probably a good idea to save everyone from that particular description.

So Casanova was obviously about Casanova, the womanizer of Venice. This mini-series is written by Russel T. Davis, with Peter O'Toole and David Tennant. I'm only specifying who's in it so everyone doesn’t get this confused with the movie Casanova with Heath Ledger. The mini-series follows Casanova from childhood, to starting out as the Casanova we all know and love and how he falls in love with a woman he desperately wants but cannot have. Over the years, while still getting it on with oodles of women, he never forgets his one love – even when he's an old man with little left in life.

David Tennant makes this mini-series, his portrayal of Casanova is enjoyable on so many levels. I've watched the mini-series multiple times and each time I've loved it more and more. I highly suggest it.

Day Five: The Princess Bride

Day Five: Favorite love story in a movie

Let me start of by saying I'm definitely not a chick flick kinda gal. It takes a lot for me to actually care about the love story in a movie – to find it believable. Well The Princess Bride has everything I want from a romance movie: sword fighting, evil Princes', giant rats, revenge, kindly giants, true love, a good amount of comedy and a lot of adventure.

A grandfather visits his sick grandson to read him a story, William Goldman's The Princess Bride. The story follows Buttercup after her true love Westley is murdered at sea by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Without Westley, love no longer seems like a real thing, and soon she finds herself courted and engaged to Prince Humperdinck, a vile heir to the kingdom Florin. Days before their wedding, Buttercup gets kidnapped by a three men: a Sicilian genius, a great swordsman with a revenge plan, and a kind giant. However the kidnappers soon realize someone is following them, someone who also wants Buttercup.

This is an extremely well paced, adventure story with everything I love in a movie, and at the heart of it is true love. Love story's usually aren't my cup of tea, but there's something real and heartfelt about this love story. Something admirable.

Day Four: Toy Story 3

Day Three: A movie that makes you really sad

You've seen Toy Story 3, right? Of course you did, so I don't really need to explain why it's sad. I knew the ending was going to be sad, however I was not prepared for the entire movie to be sad. Okay, that may have been an exaggeration. The entire movie wasn't sad – just most of it. The beginning was sad, then there was a happy part, then a sad part then a happy part, then another sad part. Then to top it off, the greatest sad to ever sad. It seemed then as soon as I stopped getting all teary eyed from a part and enjoyed the happy, another sad part swept in to moisten my tear ducts. It definitely didn't help that my aunt was sitting next to me bawling the entire time, hearing someone else cry just makes you want to cry too.

Day Three: How To Train Your Dragon

Day Three: A movie that makes you really happy

I want a dragon. Specifically a dragon exactly like Toothless. I want to ride it, feed it, do that cute thing where you get it to chase the light spot like a cat. If I’m ever feeling down, I watch this movie. Not only is it so happy and cute, it's so pretty too. The way the dragon is giving an actual personality is genius, and just makes me want one even more.

This movie is about exactly what the title suggests. Hiccup is a Viking, but you wouldn't be able to tell from his appearance or attitude. He doesn't feel any real need to pillage or plunder or fight dragons or yell a lot. The other Vikings few him as a disgrace, so he goes out to kill a dragon in an attempt to prove himself worthy. He finds a wounded dragon that's just ripe for the killing, but he can't do it. Instead he nurses it back to health and tries to find ways to fix the dragons broken tail wing. He grows attached to the dragon, names to Toothless and becomes friends with it. He then tries to change the Vikings view on dragons, with … mixed results.

What's not to love about this movie? Dragons, Vikings, epic fights. Did I mention Dragons? Cause that's my favorite part.

Day Two: Moon

Day Two: Most Underrated Movie

Have you heard of Moon? Probably not. It got a limited release in theaters and even then it didn't last very long, which is a shame because it's such a spectacular movie. The people who did know about it took one glance at it, and just saw a space movie. No aliens, no big bad guy, no explosions - boring, right? Wrong, so very very wrong.

The movie follows Sam Bell as he works on the Lunar Mining Base for his 3 year contract. He's alone except for a robot named GERTY who helps him in his mining tasks. GERTY is his only contact since something damaged the satellites, stopping his ability to communicate with his family at home. But it's okay, he only has a few more months left of his contract before it's time for him to go home to his wife and newborn baby. That's when things go strange.

This movie is quietly beautiful. It smoothly transits from scene to scene, from nothing happening to.. everything. If you haven't seen this movie, you need to. Not enough people have and it definitely deserves it.

Day One: Super 8

To kick off the site, I'm doing a 30 Days Of Movies .. thing. That way I'll have 30 things already set up to talk about, then I'll get into the swing of things and continue to post after the month is up. Without further ado, let's get this party started.

Day One: The best movie you saw during the last year

I went to see this movie on a whim, although none of the trailers impressed me and even the promise of J.J. Abrams didn't seem to convince me. To be completely honest, that might have been because of the incredibly disappointing viral marketing they used for it, I was promised Cloverfield-esque viral marketing and all I got was a sad excuse. (Seriously J.J .Abrams, how could Cloverfield's viral marketing be so spectacular and then Super 8's so meager and sad?)

Anyways, back to the movie and not about how disappointing the viral marketing was. ...Okay, I maybe still be a bit bitter about that. Right, so we went to the movie, sat down in the completely empty movie theater and I had my mind blown. This movie wasn't an alien movie. This movie was a look into people, namely children, and their reactions to change and chaos. Yes there was an alien, but that wasn't the most important part of the movie, it was a side character.

The movie is about a group of kids who go out to film a movie for a festival they want to enter. When a scene takes place at a train station and a train starts to arrive while filming, the kids think it's awesome – now their movie will be more realistic. Then the train derails, which is possible the coolest scene I've ever watched. The biggest problem was something was on that train, something that got loose and invaded the city. The military comes in, people went missing, strange things happened. In the middle of it all are the kids, trying to continue their movie despite the chaos starting around them.

Of the year, I definitely say this movie was my favorite. I was just blown away by how good it was and I'll most definitely be buying it when it comes out on DVD. Super 8 satisfied my inner Monster Lover.

Once more with feeling.

I like the idea of blogging, I really do. I love reading blogs and the more I read blogs, them the more I want to write my own. I've started up several attempts in the past and I've realized something: I suck at it. I always have visions of writing witty re-accounts of something funny that's happened to my day. However whenever I try to do that, I have flashbacks of my Diary days where I'd write 3 pages then suddenly forget I have a Diary.

So now I'm trying something new. I'm giving myself a set topic to talk about, a task. See I consume media like crazy - I marathon run entire series at a time and knock out multiple movies in a day. If I put my mind to it, I can finish a book in a matter of days. Now I'm figuring I can put my unusual super powers to good work by reviewing what I've recently watched/read/listened to/whatever.

I have a lot of hope for this blog. Unlike my previous... attempts, I have a pre-laid out plan on what the purpose of the blog is going to be. Opposed to waiting for something interesting to happen in my life and then remembering to write a post about it on my sad excuse for a blog, I'll just do what I always do - consume media like the beast I am. Just in addition I'll also be writing about what I'm watching.

Here's hoping it goes as smoothly as I'm thinking it'll be.