It's December 1, and just like so many this holiday season, I'm worried about getting everything on my big lis marked off before the holidays! With only 17 out of 100 of the AFI 100 Years 100 Movies (10th Anniversary list) watched, I still have a great deal of work to do to reach my goal of watching, and blogging, about each movie. So, it's time to dedicate myself, and set a short-term doable goal by December 31! I don't think it's fair to think that I could get one a day in for the month, but I do think that four a week is doable with holiday days. So, I'm going to try to watch and blog 16 movies on the list by the end of 2012! 

My Movies, My Thoughts: The Deer Hunter Not for the Lighthearted

My Movies, My Thoughts: The Deer Hunter Not for the Lighthearted: #53 The Deer Hunter 1978:  I just kept thinking, this movie is so noisy! Steel-town trains. A loud Greek wedding. Bombs. Yelling. And, the s...

The Deer Hunter Not for the Lighthearted

#53 The Deer Hunter 1978:  I just kept thinking, this movie is so noisy! Steel-town trains. A loud Greek wedding. Bombs. Yelling. And, the sound of gun shots...in the mountains...in Vietnam. I'm not sure that if this movie hadn't been on the AFI Top 100 Movies List, that I would have ever watched it. 

There are moments of poetry, when Mike, played by Robert DeNiro, stops to apppreciate the "sun-dog" or when he stalks the deer in the mountains, and when the hunting party pauses to listen to the piano music in the bar. But, for the most part, I found the movie very brutal, both visually and audibly, and although poetry is an observation of the real, I tend to like my poetry to take me away to happier places. And, I guess the subject of war should be brutal, expressed in the gory and loud poetry that can only be experienced in the sights and sounds of the big screen. This movie is no Russian roulette...there is a bullet in every scene. Robert DeNiro plays the tough guy, deep thinker poet well.

For me, this one was a tough one to get back into my movie watching/blogging, as it required a great deal of emotional energy and patience. I may have to move the "Sound of Music" up just to balance it out!

My Movies, My Thoughts: "Anonymous" is interesting twist on Shakespeare

My Movies, My Thoughts: "Anonymous" is interesting twist on Shakespeare: I had heard about the movie, "Anonymous," some time ago, but it had simply slipped my mind until I saw it in the video rental store last eve...

"Anonymous" is interesting twist on Shakespeare

I had heard about the movie, "Anonymous," some time ago, but it had simply slipped my mind until I saw it in the video rental store last evening. How delighted I was to find this (I am an English major after all) movie, and how very unenthused my husband was that I did (he's not an English major!).

This story claims to be the real story of the works attributed to Shakespeare (notice I did not say "by Shakespeare"), and was an interesting telling of how the plays that are so very famous came to be. As the movie supposes the writings are that of the Earl of Oxford Edward De Vere, who because of his station in life and that playwriting was nearly a sin, could not be known as the author.

I warn you however that Shakespeare himself is not portrayed well in this movie and does come off as somewhat of a lying, cheating oaf! If what you are looking for is something that makes you rethink everything...okay not everything, just some things...you knew about literature and wonder just a little, then this movie is for you! 

Now, I'm feeling guilty that I haven't read any Shakespeare since college. Maybe it's time to take in a sonnet or two!

My Movies, My Thoughts: "Salmon Fishing in Yemen" is not as unlikely as it...

My Movies, My Thoughts: "Salmon Fishing in Yemen" is not as unlikely as it...: As summer generally goes, there is little movie watching going on at our house. I do admit, we have seen all the summer blockbusters at the...

"Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" is not as unlikely as it seems

As summer generally goes, there is little movie watching going on at our house. I do admit, we have seen all the summer blockbusters at the theater...it's the television that has been getting a good long rest during the warm months as we are busy outside indulgening in the long days and loads of sunlight. As such, I thought an eight month break in blogging was extrememly unacceptable, and it was time to get back to my project of moving watching as a hobby. I know, some people doing flower arranging and model building, but taking in a good story with all the drama that comes with the big screen has been my favorite since the first time I can remember going to the theater as a child. It was "Snow White," I believe, the original Disney version which was my first. After that, it was "Star Wars" with my brother sitting in the back of my grandmother's borrowed stationwagon at the drive-in with my parents. 

So, tonight I decided it was time to warm up the set and watch a movie: "Salmon Fishing in The Yemen." I know that it's not on the AFI Top 100 Movie List, but I wanted to start small and work my way back into the project :) As luck would have it, it was a delightful movie with excellent performances from Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor (always a favorite of mine). 

It is a story of the impossible becoming possible, both with the fish and with life. What seems unreal is real. What is real is not really once you take a closer look at it. It is also the story of faith. Faith in God. Faith in humanity. Faith in each other. 

It moved me to think about my own life and the impossibilities I find there. Recently, I took a new position at a local college. I was asked to build a building which many had come to believe was an impossible task. As I look at this movie, and what it tells me about faith and belief and doing something real, I am moved by it. Thank you Emily. Thank you Ewan.

"Salmon Fishing" is this movie lover's summertime inspiration and hope that she can build something that until now has been merely a dream. 

"Sierra Madre" Is Treasure

Review #19: Treasure of Sierra Madre, 1948 Hot. Really hot. When you watch this movie you feel the heat. The heat of the dry, Mexican mountains. The heat of the frustrations of manual labor. The heat from the tension between friends. The heat that comes from greed. In a nutshell, this movie is about greed, and the men who go crazy from it. And, Humphrey Bogart does a good crazy. You see glimpses of it early on in the movie, as he asks the same American man for money three times in a row. You hear Walter Houston foreshadow this crazy as he sets the stage for what will become the beginning of the end for Bogart's character. I thought this movie was a western. It's not. It is really a movie about the vices of greed and how it can ruin you. It's a movie about losing your mind. It's a movie about living. Bogart's character lived for himself. He lived for each day and was a man without a dream. He got the gold. And, that was all that he wanted. Then, he died. The end. This movie is #38 on the AFI 100 Movies 100 Years list. For me, it's along the lines of movies like "Psycho" and "Vertigo," exploring why people act the way that they do. I have to admit that it is unlikely I would have ever watched this movie without it being part of my movie project. What unlikely movie favorite have you discovered?

Hepburn is Hilarious!

Movie Review #18: Bringing Up Baby, 1939. This is a laugh out loud flick that proves life doesn't have to be so serious! If there was ever a man that needed to loosen up, it's Cary Grant's stuffy museum character. And, Katharine Hepburn is just the woman for the job. Once she starts talking, she doesn't stop! Her stream-of-conscience thought processes are one step away from landing her in the nut-house, and causing mass mayhem in the streets with her playful leopard that's running loose. You have to watch this film to appreciate it. So, grab some popcorn and your sweetie and kick back for a good lighthearted evening.

"Bridge" Spans Test of Time

Movie Review #16: Bridge On the River Kwai, 1957 I find it hard to get too excited about watching a war film. Generally speaking, I am always expecting the worst from them. Hard. Bloody. Little dialog. However, I have to say that this film did not take me there. It was bright. Beautifully shot. And, full of words...and whistling. It was actually a rather enjoyable film, and not what I was expecting. Do you remember when I said that just when I think a know a film or it's story, I'm surprised to learn that I just only thought I did. I really am learning so much, and experiencing a world of stories that I otherwise would not have known. Alec Guinness is rather captivating as the British commander who stands up to the Japanese Commandant, By not giving in to his demands. However, in standing up for the rules, Guinness ends up helping the enemy and is blinded by the very values that saved him earlier in the film. And, in an ironic twist, William Holden's character, who was a bit lack-luster in the values area, returned to save the day, albeit under duress. I was only a bit saddened by the meaningless loss of life at the end....which made it more of a true to my expectation war movie. If you haven't watched this film, I recommend it. If it's been a while, you might dust it off and take a peek. It's worth a viewing!

Don't "Duck" this Funny Favorite

Movie Review #15: Duck Soup, 1933 With each new movie I watch from this all-time favorites list, I pride myself on being able to learn something new...add something to my movie vocabulary...become well-watched! So, when it came to this movie I was perplexed. I really had never been a fan of the Marx Brothers' comedy, and had seen little of their work. Throughout the movie I tried hard to make sense of the senselessness. I tried to find direct parallels with what was going on in politics, the world during that time. I looked for meaning in the dialog. It shouldn't be a surprise to you that I didn't find it, or at least not much of it. I even had to look at several websites to figure out why it was titled "Duck Soup." and, it had nothing to do with the movie comment, rather it was just another joke. I was still perpexed why this movie made it to the classics list. I guess the joke's on me! So what did I learn from it? After I decided that careful consideration and deep reflection were not the best paths for figuring out this movie, I was able to take this away from my experience: 1. Don't always take yourself so seriously. 2. If you make movie watching a list that you are just checking off, then you lose a lot of what you could have gotten out of the entire experience of watching. 3. Enjoy the jokes in life, and take them for what they were meant to be...fun. 4. And lastly, laugh loud and hard! Here's to wishing you fun and lots of laughs in 2012! Happy New year!