Movie Giddy

Just got back from Inception. I've got 2 minutes to write my post before feeding the baby. Juno and Leonardo were superb. Smart, mind-bending, perfectly played out. About time for this new (and improved) Matrix-esque thriller. I want to see it again and again. Favorite scene: hotel fight.

Also. Saw a trailer for the new Tron movie. You read that right. Hot, very hot.

Shut Up, Like, New Moon is Sooo Good!

It's true. We sat in Friday night traffic. We ran through the mall, two pregnant moms, to get to the theater on time. We stood in line with a bunch of tweeners, and nearly screamed like they did when the doors finally opened. We elbowed and rushed to the theater, where the hormonal energy level hovered near frantic. We desperately scanned the theater full of thirteen-year-olds saving whole rows of seats, and luckily found the last two together. We rolled our eyes at the teenagers, though we felt like two ourselves. We secretly snickered at the other moms, especially the ones that seemed even slightly older than us. I pointed out two big middle-aged black men sitting together, obviously sore thumbs, and my friend pointed out a couple of 80-year-old grandmas - good for them!

Then 25 minutes of previews started, including 5 minutes of straight screaming during the trailer for another Rob Pattinson film. I almost screamed myself, I was so caught up in the mood, and that was only the first time.

Then there's a black screen pause. The title appears. Bella starts speaking. And we all enter two hours of total, unadulterated and unapologetic adolescent fantasy. The audience screamed. I reservedly clapped. My friend and I did a lot of elbow-nudging and shoulder-slapping. Girls in a swoon yelled, "I love you, Jacob!" Stick-in-the-mud moms, who made me ashamed to be one, yelled for people to shut up. If I'd been able to tear my eyes from the screen I would have rolled them at both.

Thank goodness the first movie, which was ok, was such a success, warranting a much bigger budget - and a new director - for the second, which was honestly, seriously, like SO GOOD! Better acting and directing, awesome special effects, excellent storytelling and frankly way better than the book, which I just read to get me from Twilight to Eclipse, not because I liked it. By the end, it even had my friend switching from Team Edward to Jacob, which I could understand but never do myself.

I am so totally going to see it a hundred more times! With any any anyone who wants to go. And then there will have to be a DVD release party. Love love love it! And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Nailed on the Head

This morning as we were rushing around, Ed casually mentioned, "There's an article on the front page [of the Washington Post] you should read - it's about 'Twilight' fans and the new movie."

"Whatever. I'm not one of those 'Twilight' fans." (Even though I got pre-sale tickets to "New Moon" tomorrow night with some friends.)

"No, it's about women who love it but don't want it admit it. It's about you. Just read it."

On the front page? OK, I guess I can spare the time...

"'Twilight', the love that dare not speak its shame" is about older women (like older than 17) who got sucked into the black hole, loving and hating every minute of it. Wow. Very, very, embarrassingly accurate. Go read it if you care; maybe it applies to you, too. If not, here are a few choice quotes:

1)...they thought "Twilight" could not come for them. They were too literary. They didn't do vampires. They were feminists.

"Prior to 'Twilight,' my favorite books were by Anthony Burgess" and Ayn Rand, says Jenny West, 32, who had never heard of the series until she saw ads for the movie last year. "I bought 'Twilight' [the book] with the full intention of ripping it apart." Then she read it. In one night. Bought "New Moon" the next day. "I was kind of horrified with myself, and I had to keep going." When she finished the last book, she reopened the first one and started again.

**************************************

2) One minute you're a functioning member of society, the next you're succumbing to the dark side, wondering how deep you're willing to go -- and what that longing says about you.

*******************************

3) The women who have succumbed to "Twilight" have heard all of these arguments before. They wrote those arguments. This self-awareness is what makes the experience of loving "Twilight" a conflicting one, as if they had all been taught proper skin-care routines but chose instead to rub their faces with a big pizza every night.

**************************************

4) Men feel perfectly comfortable slathering their chests in greasepaint and screaming like half-naked ninnies at football games, but women too often over-explain their passions, apologizing for being too girly or liking something too trashy.

The grown women of "Twilight" will no longer apologize. They will go to those midnight "New Moon" screenings.

But as for telling them how silly they're being, how Edward is not real and neither is Jacob, how their brains are rotting and their sense of reality is being distorted and this obsession is crazy, just crazy? There's really no need.

They already know.

**************************************

Yeah, ok, so I did resist for a long time, scorning the popularity and obvious pathetic-ness of it all. I did read all four books in a week, staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning and neglecting every adult responsibility in my life. And yes, I immediately went back and re-read books 1 and 4 when I was done, and then part of 1 again and then 'Midnight Sun' on Stephanie Meyer's blog. Yeah, ok, so I admit it made me feel 17 again, emotionally intense and alive.

But since I'm grasping for things in my favor, I'm going to the 7pm Friday show, not the one on Thursday at midnight. I have not visited Forks, nor do I have immediate plans to. I own no 'Twilight' paraphenalia or clothing. I have joined no Twi-hard fan sites or blogs, much less started my own. And if our baby is a girl, neither Bella, Rosalie nor Renesmee will be in the name.

However, if it's a boy, and the middle name happens to be Edward, well that would be after his Dad, and not the books, wouldn't it?

Junkie

Crack
Crack with a remote control

Crack laced with heroin in Italy

Heroin crack with adrenaline and a diamond

Crack-heroin-crack layers dipped in caramel and double coated with Jacques Torres chocolate, which also contains crack

And that's all I'm going to say about that...

for now.

I'm Ready

The other day at the gym I was watching Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearing when an ad came on for the DVD Mirrors, starring Kiefer Sutherland. The following train of thought ensued:

I've never heard of that movie. I like Kiefer Sutherland but I don't like horror films so I'll never see it. But I do like Kiefer Sutherland. What did I just see him in? A Time to Kill was on TV the other night; he played a prejudiced jerk. They gave him red hair but he looks better blonde. He's so good at playing the tough guy. I was really into 24 for a few years but it's too dramatic and intense, I can't take it anymore. But I did watch part of it last night with Ed. He is a perfect Jack Bauer. I knew a Jack Bauer in elementary school; I wonder how he likes having that name now. What else has Kiefer been in lately? There was that wannabe 24 movie, The Sentinel, but he was too Jack Bauer serious guy in that. No soft side! I liked him in Flatliners but that was like 20 years ago. Dang. I'm ready to see Kiefer in a romantic lead. I wonder if I can start a petition and send it to Hollywood. I'm definitely writing a blog post on this. This is important stuff. I saw him on Letterman once and he was such a puppy dog - modest, polite, almost shy. I just wanted to pat his head and kiss his cheek. And he looks so good in jeans.

Wow, Hillary's back already? How long has she been droning on? Mute her, I need to think.

OK, OK, let's see, a romantic lead for Kiefer Sutherland. I'm thinking shy guy gets drawn out of his shell by a strong woman, like a modern Who Am I This Time? or something. Man does that movie need to be remade. It was adorable and perfectly cast and acted but the film and sound quality suck. (If you haven't seen it, do.) Kiefer would be perfect in that part - quiet exterior with passion inside. Love that! Or let's see, maybe hot shot gets brought down to earth by the unlikely perfect girl, or something like yet another twist on Taming of the Shrew. I just want to see him happy and smiling more - waaaay more - than in all these serious roles!

I'll have to think who I want to play opposite him. Not just anyone can have chemistry with Kiefer. And there are a lot of actresses that annoy me so we'll have to choose carefully. But I'm pretty sure I want Greg Kinnear or possibly Jeremy Piven to play the best friend/brother. Or Mark Wahlberg - he looks good in jeans too. OK, on my petition I will commit to go see this romantic comedy at least twice at full price and also rent it on Netflix.

I'm ready for this. Who's with me?

8 Essential Non-80's 80's

The 1980's gave us some great period films. I mean really great. While viewing may not tell you much about the decade they were made in, they will certainly lend merit to its film making. I love these movies:

#1 Blade Runner (1982)
I haven't seen this in ages and I'm sure I didn't understand most of it. But it's one of the few quality futuristic films (set in now-not-so-distant 2019), with a happy ending twist of sorts at the end.

#2 Dead Poets Society (1989)
Perfect! What a fabulous film! Made in the good old days before Ethan Hawke grew up and Robin Williams became annoying beyond description.

#3 Glory (1989)
Career-defining roles for Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick. Everyone should see this film. I assume it's even somewhat historically correct.

#4 The Mission (1986)
DeNiro at his finest as an 18th century slaver-turned-priest in South America.

#5 Out of Africa (1985)
It seems like every movie set in or about Africa since this has tried - and failed - to replicate it. This was the first Meryl Streep movie I ever saw, and was later shocked to find out she was American.

#6 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
A true original. Nothing comes close.

#7 Somewhere in Time (1980)
"Come back to me!" Whew, I love Jane Seymor and Christopher Reeve together - talk about chemistry. Plus I happen to also love time travel stories so you can't go wrong with this.

#8 Stand By Me (1986)
An impressively well-done coming of age memoir of four preteen boys on a small adventure. It seems important to watch, but left me with unshakable nostalgia and regrets over my own adolescence.

Honorable Mention:

Dirty Dancing (1987)
Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

8 Essential 80's

So I was talking to Maren yesterday and she mentioned that Quinn is going to host a film series on campus. He's a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont and is always up to something interesting. This year most college freshmen were born in 1990, which means they missed the 80's completely. I can hardly fathom it. So Quinn has put together his list of "8 Essential 80's movies" to show the students this winter - one a week. (Don't you think it should be "8 Quinn-Essential...?")

Of course this is fodder for my inner pop culture blogger so I got to thinking about what my list would include. Coming up with great 80's movies was the easy part. Narrowing it down to eight essentials was strenuous. Here's how I came to them: first I came up with my list of 80's movies I love. Then I took out all the films made in the 80's but set in a different time period, past or future. I wanted true 80's movies that showed the 1980's. I made a separate list of the other-time-period ones because they deserve it. Then I thought about what I would show college students. I was age 5 through 15 in the 80's, so I did not catch a lot of adult dramas or foreign films in those years. When I looked at my remaining list I thought, "How is it possible anyone hasn't seen these? They're so classic!" But I guess that's the point. I suppose it's possible that people born in the late 80's and early 90's might not have been exposed to them. The final cut was either my personal preference or how well a film represented the filmmaking or culture of the 80's. I considered having "14 Favorites of the 80's" but it doesn't have the same ring as "8 Essentials" so I had to close my eyes, cut some more, and here they are (in alphabetical order). I'm trying to ignore how many of these are Rob Reiner films.

8 Essential 80's Movies

#1 Back to the Future (1985)
Though mostly set in the 50's, the beginning and end make a point of being very 80's for contrast; plus many lines and scenes have become iconic.

#2 The Breakfast Club (1985)
You can't have an 80's movie list without something from the brat pack and it doesn't get more bratty than this one.

#3 Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Duh.

#4 Ordinary People (1980)
Here's our only drama in the group, for a little balance. I caught this late one night on cable a few years ago and was kind of spellbound by how well such an everyday story was told. Afterwards looked it up and was pleased to see it had won Best Picture that year.

#5 The Princess Bride (1987)
Duh.

#6 This is Spinal Tap (1984)
This is more of a cult favorite than mainstream blockbuster but it's a fabulously funny farce on 80's rock bands, and college students should love it.

#7 Top Gun (1986)
Duh.

#8 When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Barely makes the 80's cutoff, but it covers a period of like 15 years through the 70's and 80's so it does count. This is a lovely and funny tale of a friendship-turned-love that echoes the real relationships many of us have. Singles love it.

Also Highly Recommended for a Full 80's Experience:

Raising Arizona (1987)
It was a toss-up; I wanted this in the list but not sure what to trade for it.
Big (1988)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
E.T. (1982)

So what’s your list – what would add or take away from mine?

Remember we're not talking about anything set in another time (i.e., no Raiders of the Lost Ark or Dirty Dancing) - those will be addressed in a soon-future post.

Girls' Night Out - Pride and Prejudice

I know I'm not alone in my girlish adoration of all things Jane Austen. (In case you were wondering, I am Marianne Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility - who are you?) I've read most of Jane's books (plus The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler) and seen many of the Hollywood movies (plus Becoming Jane, which I loved.) Only a few years ago was I made aware of the A&E versions, when my sister-in-law Michelle got Pride and Prejudice for Christmas. Dave and Michelle both raved about it, and I caught a glimpse of the darkly handsome Colin Firth on the cover. I got it on Netflix a few years ago and watched it in spurts while feeding Ginger; it was totally fabulous and I was so sorry when it was over.

I was reminded of its awesomeness when Michelle recently wrote about staying up until 4am to watch the whole thing. Really wish I lived in England and was there for that.

So you might guess how I felt when I was approached by Shanna and Genevieve, two new friends here, and asked, "Hey, Kari, do you like Pride and Prejudice?" Duh. "Yes!" Whatever the screening purpose of this question, I definitely want in on it. Turns out they were putting together a little girls' night out. Talk about being in the right place at the right time; I really needed this.

Saturday night we met at Shanna's house. The husbands and kids went to Genevieve's house for a BBQ, and we gathered in Shanna's basement with heaps and mounds of food and watched the entire 300 minute series nonstop. Shanna disappeared for a bit to put her baby to bed but I don't think we even took a bathroom break. Several women were invited but couldn't come for various reasons. Which was fine because it was more couch space and food for the rest of us.

Let me just mention that we all brought several dishes meant to feed a crowd - southwest salad, chips & artichoke dip, chicken penne alfredo, 2 bean salad, caramel corn, apples & caramel dip, and chocolate chip cookies. I was stuffed to the brim and blew my weekly weigh-in, but it was worth it.

Lydia was an idiot, Darcy was the most unreadable ever, there was something weird with Jane's face/neck shape, Wickham can kiss my butt, Mrs. Bennett was exhausting, Mr. Collins was perfectly creepy, Mr. Bennett most excellent at dropping the sarcastic lines, and Lizzie, dear Lizzie, always perfect in expression and reaction to all situations. She wins the best-usage-of-eyebrows award, and most beautiful smile.

A couple of my favorite moments/scenes, in no particular order:

• Elizabeth firmly shutting down Lady Katherine and her objections to her alleged engagement to Darcy
• Mr. Collins explaining why his staircase is just perfect for a clergyman like himself - neither too steep nor too shallow
• Elizabeth & Darcy meeting by surprise on the Pemberly grounds
• Darcy's cutely anxious expression as he rushes back out to see her after getting dressed
• Darcy telling Caroline Elizabeth's eyes are the ones that have charmed him, not her own
• The first, and second, Darcy proposal conversations
• The conversation/banter-while-dancing

We had started about 5:30 so we ended about 10:45pm - not too bad for a Saturday night. Unless you get home and your husband still hasn't done the dishes like you thought he might and you have to do them yourself. Even so, it was wonderful. Genevieve is a get-things-done kind of chick (after my own heart) so she's already planning some kind of spa/pampering night in November, and I do hope we can do another movie night soon. Probably not so long, but a nice 2-hour chick flick - some of my favs are Chocolat, French Kiss, Moonstruck, Strictly Ballroom and Enchanted.

What would make a great girls' night out for you?

Review Haiku

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

#1
No green men this time
Mulder and Scully in love
Scully might believe

#2
Mulder still believes
Psychic powers - real or fake?
Skinner cameos

#3
Creepy Russian stalks
Experimental transplants
Avoid public pools

Review Haiku

Putting that education to use! (Per Gabe's request...)

Vantage Point

Too much back and forth
Lacking depth but not action
Dennis ages well

Disco Honors to Matt

I liked this very, very much. (Thanks to Elizabeth for passing it on.)


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

The outtakes video is almost as good.

Don't Play Golf with Vadar

This week we've been watching the Star Wars movies on SPIKE, only tolerating the sickening repetition of Captain Morgan, Joe Dirt and KFC commercials because I heart Luke Skywalker and Ed wants to be captain of the Millennium Falcon. It became all worth it when, during The Empire Strikes Back tonight, we caught this commercial.
(Thanks, YouTube.)

Making Christmas: Movies

I know, I know. I should have done books and movies together in one post. But neither one was on my original list so I wasn't organized enough to do it. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't think of movies earlier. I like movies. I used to watch a lot of them - I think I remember doing that. Anyway, I saw a commercial for Fred Claus the other day and it got me thinking about all the Christmas movies - several come out every year, hoping for a little box office holiday love, and they're not usually any good. But people go see them because 'tis the season. Then I got thinking about a few Christmas movies that are good - we might call them classics - and this addition to the Making Christmas series was born.

I could only come up with four that I like enough to recommend:
It's a Wonderful Life - Cliche, yes, I know. I've never been one for bandwagons. Which is why I never watched the whole thing through. Then last year I finally saw it start to finish and it was so...wonderful!
A Christmas Story - What can I say? If you've seen it, you already know. If you haven't, you're missing out.
Scrooged - A Christmas Carol that doesn't put me to sleep. Love Bill Murray.
While You Were Sleeping - At first thought I don't consider this a Christmas film, but I guess it really is. It's set around Christmas time and the themes of family vs. loneliness are emphasized. Sweet story, and one of Sandra's best, in my opinion.

I know Miracle on 34th Street is a classic for many, but I pass on the whole Santa thing. Here are a few other people's lists to get your juices flowing:
The Culture Beat
Listmania! Ultimate Christmas Movie List
Lots of Christmas Movies
Reel Reviews
Christian Christmas Movie Reviews

What are your favorite Christmas movies?
Any classics that it's tradition to watch?
How about new ones - are any of the holiday movies made in the last 10 years any good?
What's the absolute worst Christmas movie you've ever seen?

Say Along with Disco Mom - Movie Quotes!

Updated with answers!

Tonight I've put my to-do list on the shelf and settled down in front of the AFI 100 Years 100 Movies special on CBS. During the commercial I went to the AFI website and found all their other "100 Movies" lists and thought it'd be fun to do some stuff with those lists on here once in awhile. So as an extension to the Singalong series, let's do some quotes, shall we? And for this one I do have to insist you do it from your head and don't cheat with the internet. Where's the fun in that?

Name the movies these quotes come from:

1. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. Gone with the Wind
2. Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death. Auntie Mame
3. Snap out of it! Moonstruck
4. Hasta la vista, baby. Terminator 2
5. You've got to ask yourself one question: do you feel lucky? Well do ya punk? Dirty Harry
6. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. Casablanca
7. I'm walking here! I'm walking here! Midnight Cowboy
8. I am big! It's the picture that got small. Sunset Boulevard
9. Go ahead, make my day. Sudden Impact (Dirty Harry)
10. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night. All About Eve
11. You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender, instead of a bum, which is what I am. On the Waterfront
12. You talking to me? Taxi Driver
13. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Apocalypse Now
14. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. Streetcar Named Desire
15. What we have here is a failure to communicate. Sweetie Pie Cool Hand Luke

Some great ones here...has anyone seen all of them? (FYI, Casablanca was the most represented on the AFI list, with seven quotes.)

I Really Am Disco Mom

DISCO. Many images does this word evoke. There's the music. Dig it. There are the clothes. Polyester. Love it. There's the lifestyle. Sex, drugs, mirror balls, girly hair. And there's the dancing. Work it. Disco was peaking about the time I was born, so it was just passe enough to be a little funny and alternative when I hit the teenage years, and I formed a fondness for it. I even middle-named my daughter Xanadu (before seeing the film, which is TERRIBLE. Luckily that's not the origin of the name so there is some redemption in Samuel Coleridge's poem. But back to disco.)

And of course what one single movie comes to mind when you hear DISCO? What cult classic gives perfect homage to all things DISCO?

A few weeks ago AMC was showing Saturday Night Fever. I'd owned the soundtrack on vinyl years ago, and now own it on cd, but I'd never seen the whole film all the way through. So I sat down to at least watch the beginning. I knew it was about a Brooklynite, and I'd heard the first scene, where Tony is walking down the street with a can of paint, was filmed on 86th Street in Bensonhurst, which is where our church is. So I thought it would be fun to see that part, and sure enough it was Bensonhurst and not much has changed in 30 years. He stops to buy a double decker slice of pizza and I said to Ed, "That pizza place could be in our neighborhood. There's a million like that around here." We watched on, to the part where Tony goes home after work. He's shown walking down the sidewalk to his family's house, and again, I said to Ed, "That house could be in Bay Ridge (our neighborhood.) That looks just like the houses in Bay Ridge." We watched about the first half hour and decided to stop wasting our time when things got pretty raunchy that first night at the dance club. But the Italian family dinner scene was a real treat, a perfect example of how people, as well as places, don't change much around here. I kept it to myself that time, but I could have told Ed that family could be in our neighborhood.

A few days later the girls decided to desynchronize their naps, so I was entertaining Ginger while Hazel napped in the afternoon, and I flipped on the TV. AMC was showing it again, and as luck would have it there was about 25 minutes left, including the big dance competition. So I missed the middle, but caught the end, and it surprised me. Tony & partner of course won the dance competition but he became disgusted with the results and gave the prize to the couple he thought was better. Then he and his friends who were all doped up went and played on the Verrazano Bridge, which is mere blocks from my house and featured in our 2006 Christmas card pictures. That really caught my attention. One of his friends falls off and dies - unexpected dramatic turn - and they are shown with police on a path under the bridge that we go walking on some Sunday afternoons. Tony spends a soul-searching night riding the subway and determines to get out of the vicious cycle his life has become.

After seeing the bridge at the end of the movie, I thought, wow, I'm really living where it happened. (I say "happened" as if it's real, you know what I mean.) And guess what - I really am. Movie-locations indicates that most of the movie was filmed right here in Bay Ridge, including Tony's house, about 15 blocks from where I live. I had no idea I was right in the middle of it, albeit 30 years later. "Disco Mom" was a fun super-hero kind of title I chose for myself, but now I feel like I can really claim it, and I do.

I am Disco Mom.

(And speaking of Brooklyn movies, see my very favorite.)

Younce Family Classics: The Definitive List

Every family has a list like this - movies you watched as a family when you were little kids, over and over. And when you became older you realized that you didn't even know what the movies had been about when you were little, you just watched them because your family did. Maybe some became your favorites as adults; others you don't even want to admit ever having seen.

Over the years I've been showing Ed some of the "Younce Family Classics", and he thought he'd seen them all. Then I mentioned one the other day, and he'd never even heard of it. So of course I put it in the #1 spot on our Netflix queue so he could seen it asap. Then we wondered how many other YFC's he'd never seen or heard of. This prompted me to rally the troops and get everyone's input, to compose a definitive list that all Younces agree on. These are not the best movies of all time, just the ones our family watched a lot, for whatever reason.

And here it is:

An American in Paris
Auntie Mame
A Christmas Story
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Donovan's Reef
Drop Dead Fred
Fletch
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Gigi
Gizmo
The Great Race
Hatari!
How to Steal a Million
Koyaanisqatsi
Meatballs
My Fair Lady
North to Alaska
The Pirates of Penzance
The Princess Bride
Raising Arizona
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Sting
Support Your Local Sheriff
What's Up, Doc?
Young Frankenstein
Zorro, the Gay Blade

I imagine that some of these, like The Princess Bride, Raising Arizona and A Christmas Story would appear on many family's lists from our generation. But others, like A Funny Thing and What's Up, Doc? may be a little more unique to the Younces. Honestly, it's quite a mixed bag (ok, a little heavy on John Wayne.)

So next time you're wondering what to watch, give a Younce Family Classic a shot - you may be surprised - you may even like it.

What's on your family's list?