Movie Musings

Biker Santa

My friend and fellow Holidailies participant, The Mighty Kymm, tagged me on Facebook with the challenge to list – without thinking about it – ten movies that have stayed with you.

I said I’d play, but that I’d make it my entry for tonight (late, as usual). So here’s my list, in no particular order:

  1. A Fish Called Wanda: It was a rainy night in San Francisco. I was eighteen, I was in school at USF, and we saw it at Opera Plaza, then went ghost hunting at the Lone Mountain campus. For weeks before and after, we referred to it as “A Fish Called Wanda Weekend.”
  2. Life Without Zoe: Another film I originally saw in San Francisco. It’s actually part of an anthology, New York Stories, but that segment is my favorite. Who wouldn’t want to live in a boutique hotel, have a famous flautist for a father, and go to schools with sheiks’ sons?
  3. Frankenstein: The original black and white film with Boris Karloff was my first horror movie – I was six or seven – and I remember having to sleep with my closet light on for weeks afterward. Ultimately,I became a really big horror movie fan.
  4. Shadow of the Vampire: John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe in a movie about the making of a vampire movie, starring a real vampire. Best line: “Don’t eat the writers.”
  5. The Lover: There was a lot of controversy when this film first came out, because it involves the affair between a 15-year-old girl and a 20-something man (though both lie about their ages). Jane March, who played the girl, had barely turned eighteen when filming began. It’s a quirky, arty film, but even though it’s really explicit, it’s also really well written, and beautifully shot.
  6. Midnight in Paris: I know it was everyone’s favorite thing of the summer when it came out a couple years ago, but it was everyone’s favorite for a reason. While it did not make me run off to Paris, it did remind me why I love to write.
  7. Marley & Me: Yes, it’s silly. Yes, the ending in sad. But I work in rescue, loved the book, and was still learning how to communicate with my first big dog, Max, when it came out.
  8. We Bought a Zoo: I didn’t read the book until after we’d taken my parents to see this for Christmas, which is good, because the film changes a lot. It also leaves the core of the story alone. My stepfather kept complaining about it – I think he was confusing it with some Zoo comedy – but by the end we were all teary. Btw, the book is amazing, and you should read it.
  9. Empire Records: This isn’t the world’s greatest film, but it always makes me happy. Also, it’s fun seeing the cast (Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger, Ethan Embry) looking like babies (well, high school students).
  10. Little Women: The 1995 version is my favorite because it touched a little on transcendentalism, and I liked the casting, but I know a lot of other people hated it. But this is my list, and it’s one of the films I re-watch at least once a year. So, yeah.

Today’s Santa: An ornament that amused me, once upon a time.

Christmas Cheer

Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than cheesy Christmas movies. They’re a guilty pleasure for me, for my friend Ms. J., and even for my mother, who usually has nothing to do with commercial television. What I really want right now, is to be curled up in bed with the dogs, and a mug of tea, writing Christmas cards and watching a string of them.

Peppermint tea is my Christmas movie tea of choice, though I sometimes drink Gingerbread or Cinnamon tea. Peppermint, though, is best, especially with sugar stirred into it, so it tastes like a liquid candy cane. Sometimes, after a mug of peppermint, I’ll use the last dregs to make hot chocolate, which is it’s own special pleasure.

Earlier this afternoon, I did watch Snowglobe which my DVR grabbed for me while we were at church this morning, but it was nearly eighty degrees, which just isn’t conducive to getting lost in Christmassy goodness. It’s supposed to be cold tomorrow and Tuesday, however, and I’ve got other Christmas movies on the DVR, as well as the array available on cable all week.

Tonight, instead of Christmas movies, we watched TransSiberian, which was at least in a snowy setting. It’s a pretty grim movie, meant to be a thriller, but I found myself cursing at the idiocy of the main character more often than not. Ben Kingsley was great in it (is he ever not?) though, and I was surprised to find that Woody Harrelson’s performance was quite watchable.

Still, I’d much prefer to be watching an endless stream of happy, cheesy movies where Beckie saves Christmas, marries the dashing man about to take over as Santa, redefines life at the North Pole, and lives happily ever after.

Catching Up

I’ve been negligent about blogging here. I could list any number of things that were keeping me away, but the reality is, I’ve either been writing fiction, writing for work, prepping for my conference, or reading, and I feel like I’m gathering my energy. Also, I just don’t have a lot to say.

The weekend before last, we went to one of those seminars where they try to sell you a timeshare and give you prizes. We had no intention of buying anything, even when they offered to throw in everything from Callaway golf clubs to the kitchen sink, but we left with a gift certificate for 2 free tickets anywhere in the US (sadly, too late to use for San Francisco) and a seven-day car rental to use with them.

Not too shabby.

We also saw Hancock which was disappointing, largely because it was a black comedy for the first half than morphed into some weird romantic epic/action flick. The performances were fine. The script sucked.

We spent this last weekend at the movies as well, seeing The Dark Knight on Saturday afternoon, and both Journey to the Center of the Earth and Mamma Mia on Sunday. Gotta love matinees.

I also had my nails done, in preparation for my trip. I had a discount for services at a place Deb said was good, and we met there, and had some girly fun. I’m now sporting solar acrylics – I’ve never had fake nails before – but the cost is about the same, and it’s been two and a half days and they still look amazing. With normal nails, I can’t go two and a half hours without chipping or breaking something. They’re longer than I’m used to, however, and I can’t decide if I like the French Manicure look. Still, they look really good.

Two weeks to go.
Watch now as I panic.