Earlier this week, I tried something different on my facebook page, and invited friends to describe parenthood using only the titles of movies. My friends really came through, and the results were hilarious.
Many addressed the general chaos of living in a house with kids
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Apocalypse Now
Armageddon
Flying Circus
How to Train your Dragon
Into the Wild
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Sharknado
Sudden impact
The Crying Game
The Fast and the Furious
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Hunger Games
Toy Story
Transformers
War and Peace
War of the Worlds
We Bought a Zoo
And the way they can be little monsters
Aliens
Animal House
Monsters, inc.
Psycho
Revenge of the Nerds
Ruthless people
There were allusions to the fact that there are no easy answers in parenting
Adaptation
Catch-22
It’s Complicated
Mission Impossible
Spies Like Us
The way it consumes our whole lives
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
From Dusk ‘Til Dawn
Six Days Seven Nights
The Theory of Everything
And it’s impact on our social lives
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
The exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and brain drain
Altered States
Clueless
Dazed and Confused
Groundhog Day
Sleepless in Seattle
The Neverending Story
Waiting to Exhale
The fraying last nerve
Big Girls Don’t Cry
Despicable Me
Drive Angry
Sure, they can be naughty
Catching Fire
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
I Love Trouble
Liar, Liar
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Invention of Lying
The Usual Suspects
Throw Momma From The Train
But they’re our little mini-mes
Identity Theft
The Imitation Game
Then there’s the high cost of raising children
Million Dollar Baby
Money Pit
The things you keep hearing yourself say, over and over again
rogerebert.com lists the following 102 must see movies… I’m really quite surprized by how few of these movies I’ve seen – or even heard of.
saw it “2001: a space odyssey“(1968) Stanley Kubrick – If you haven’t seen this movie – do so. Yes it’s boring and it doesn’t make sense. You just really need to know this movie to keep up with conversations and cultural references.
“The 400 Blows” (1959) Francois Truffaut – never even heard of it.
“8 1/2” (1963) Federico Fellini – not familiar with the movie, but Federico Fellini is synonomous with art flick
“Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1972) Werner Herzog – I haven’t seen this movie and I don’t know if I ever will. I’ve had some bad experiences with Wener Herzog – images I will never get out of my head – I can’t stand the sound of his voice either. yeech! gives me the creeps.
saw it “Alien” (1979) Ridley Scott – of course you must see this movie, but the sequel “Aliens” was better. The last one was a waste of time.
“All About Eve” (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz – it’s on my list
“Annie Hall” (1977) Woody Allen – also on my list
saw it “Apocalypse Now” (1979) Francis Ford Coppola – Classic Vietnam war movie – think “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning; it smells like victory” In this movie Marlon Brandow gives us a sneak peek at how creepy he will become.
saw it “Bambi” (1942) Disney – see it
“The Battleship Potemkin” (1925) Sergei Eisenstein – on my list.
“The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946) William Wyler – haven’t seen it
“The Big Red One” (1980) Samuel Fuller – haven’t seen it
“The Bicycle Thief” (1949) Vittorio De Sica – haven’t seen it.
“The Big Sleep” (1946) Howard Hawks – haven’t seen it
“Blade Runner” (1982) Ridley Scott – haven’t seen it
“Blowup” (1966) Michelangelo Antonioni – haven’t seen it
saw it “Blue Velvet” (1986) David Lynch – wish I hadn’t seen it – very unfortunate. I love Isabella Roselini and Kyle MacLachlan – but they took me places I didn’t want to go.
“Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) Arthur Penn – havent seen it
“Breathless” (1959 Jean-Luc Godard – haven’t seen it
“Bringing Up Baby” (1938) Howard Hawks – haven’t seen it although I love Katherine Hepburn and intend to see the movie soon.
“Carrie” (1975) Brian DePalma – haven’t seen it – really not into horror flicks
saw it “Casablanca” (1942) Michael Curtiz – this is one of those movies I’ve seen a million times. love it.
“Un Chien Andalou” (1928) Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali – Salvador Dali as director – curious – suspect it may take a great deal of patience to watch one of his movies.
“Children of Paradise” / “Les Enfants du Paradis” (1945) Marcel Carne – haven’t seen it
“Chinatown” (1974) Roman Polanski – haven’t seen it
saw it “Citizen Kane” (1941) Orson Welles – must see. if you have not seen this movie do so right away
saw it “A Clockwork Orange” (1971) Stanley Kubrick – another movie I wish I had not seen. Not just because I’ll never get those 2 hours back, but because I’ll never get those images out of my head.
saw it “The Crying Game” (1992) Neil Jordan – there was a lot of buzz when the movie came out because of the twist at the end and the controversial subject matter. Take away the twist and the controversy and the story doesn’t stand
“The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951) Robert Wise – haven’t seen it
“Days of Heaven” (1978) Terence Malick – haven’t seen it
saw it “Dirty Harry” (1971) Don Siegel – I grew up with four brothers – this movie was played many times in my presence, although I don’t think I could tell you the plot because I wasn’t paying all that much attention
“The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” (1972) Luis Bunuel – haven’t seen it
“Do the Right Thing” (1989) Spike Lee – haven’t seen it
“La Dolce Vita” (1960) Federico Fellini – haven’t seen it
“Double Indemnity” (1944) Billy Wilder – haven’t seen it
“Dr. Strangelove” (1964) Stanley Kubrick – havent seen it – although I intend to soon.
“Duck Soup” (1933) Leo McCarey – haven’t seen it
“E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) Steven Spielberg – always wanted to see this one – actually surprizes me that I haven’t managed to accomplish that yet.
“Easy Rider” (1969) Dennis Hopper – haven’t seen it – Dennis Hopper was ruined for me in Blue Velvet see #17
saw it “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) Irvin Kershner – my husband is the world’s biggest Star Wars Geek – of course I’ve seen this one.
“The Exorcist” (1973) William Friedkin – haven’t seen it
saw it “Fargo” (1995) Joel & Ethan Coen – funny and disturbing
saw it “Fight Club” (1999) David Fincher – brilliant
“Frankenstein” (1931) James Whale – haven’t seen it.
“The General” (1927) Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman – havent seen it
Saw all three”The Godfather,” “The Godfather, Part II” (1972, 1974) Francis Ford Coppola – but for some reason, I have the hardest time staying awake through them. It’s like a pavolvian response, when the theme song starts playing my eyelids start getting droopy.
“Gone With the Wind” (1939) Victor Fleming – still haven’t seen it
saw it “GoodFellas” (1990) Martin Scorsese – this is one of my husband’s all time favorite movies – so yes, I’ve seen this many times.
saw it “The Graduate” (1967) Mike Nichols – classic love triangle with the older lady twist
“Halloween” (1978) John Carpenter – have not seen it
“A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) Richard Lester – have not seen it
“Intolerance” (1916) D.W. Griffith – have not seen it
“It’s a Gift” (1934) Norman Z. McLeod – have not seen it
saw it “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) Frank Capra – Christmas tradition – every Christmas for as long as I can remember.
saw it “Jaws” (1975) Steven Spielberg – just that da dum sound scares me
“The Lady Eve” (1941) Preston Sturges – have not seen it
“Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) David Lean – have not seen it
“M” (1931) Fritz Lang – have not seen it
“Mad Max 2” / “The Road Warrior” (1981) George Miller – have not seen it
“The Maltese Falcon” (1941) John Huston – have not seen it
“The Manchurian Candidate” (1962) John Frankenheimer – have not seen it – and we have it here at the house, I should take care of that.
“Metropolis” (1926) Fritz Lang – have not seen it
“Modern Times” (1936) Charles Chaplin – have not seen it
saw it “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975) Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam – if you have a sense of humor you must see this movie. If you do not have a sense of humor stay away from this movie.
“Nashville” (1975) Robert Altman – have not seen it
“The Night of the Hunter” (1955) Charles Laughton – have not seen it
“Night of the Living Dead” (1968) George Romero – have not seen it
“North by Northwest” (1959) Alfred Hitchcock – have not seen it
“Nosferatu” (1922) F.W. Murnau – have not seen it
“On the Waterfront” (1954) Elia Kazan – have not seen it
“Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968) Sergio Leone – have not seen it
“Out of the Past” (1947) Jacques Tournier – have not seen it
“Persona” (1966) Ingmar Bergman – have not seen it
“Pink Flamingos” (1972) John Waters – have not seen it
“Psycho” (1960) Alfred Hitchcock – have not seen it
saw it “Pulp Fiction” (1994) Quentin Tarantino – this is great movie making – Quentine Tarantino is brilliant behind the camera, I wish he would not insist on getting in front of the camera in all of his movies.
“Rashomon” (1950) Akira Kurosawa – have not seen it
“Rear Window” (1954) Alfred Hitchcock – have not seen it
“Rebel Without a Cause” (1955) Nicholas Ray – have not seen it
“Red River” (1948) Howard Hawks – have not seen it
“Repulsion” (1965) Roman Polanski – have not seen it
“The Rules of the Game” (1939) Jean Renoir – have not seen it
“Scarface” (1932) Howard Hawks – have not seen it
“The Scarlet Empress” (1934) Josef von Sternberg – have not seen it
saw it “Schindler’s List” (1993) Steven Spielberg – very touching movie – well made, moving, riveting
“The Searchers” (1956) John Ford – have not seen it
“The Seven Samurai” (1954) Akira Kurosawa – have not seen it
“Singin’ in the Rain” (1952) Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly – have not seen it
“Some Like It Hot” (1959) Billy Wilder – have not seen it
“A Star Is Born” (1954) George Cukor – have not seen it
“A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951) Elia Kazan – have not seen it
“Sunset Boulevard” (1950) Billy Wilder – have not seen it
“Taxi Driver” (1976) Martin Scorsese – have not seen it
“The Third Man” (1949) Carol Reed – have not seen it
“Tokyo Story” (1953) Yasujiro Ozu – have not seen it
“Touch of Evil” (1958) Orson Welles – have not seen it
“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948) John Huston – have not seen it
“Trouble in Paradise” (1932) Ernst Lubitsch – have not seen it
“Vertigo” (1958) Alfred Hitchcock – have not seen it
“West Side Story” (1961) Jerome Robbins/Robert Wise – have not seen it
“The Wild Bunch” (1969) Sam Peckinpah – have not seen it
saw it “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) Victor Fleming – I can quote the lines right along with the movie. An American Classic.
I got off work a little early today so I met up with Mr.H at Uptown Espresso (highly recommended by the way). We putzed around Belltown for a while trying to decide what to do and then wandered over to the Pacific Science Center to check it out. As it turns out, the displays were all closed (apparently some kind of kids camp/overnighter going on) so we decided to check out the IMAX instead.
The film was narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, and Danny Elfman did the music. I am seldom disappointed by any movie scored by Danny Elfman.
I had never been to an IMAX film before – the size of the screen is astounding. And this one was 3D, so they handed us funky little glasses as we entered the theater. It took a little bit for my eyes to adjust to the 3D, but the film was stunning. I was completely riveted, although there were a few moments where I wished we were sharing this with my 6 year old nephew (I can just picture him with his mouth wide open in amazement). I usually complain that films are too long, but this one is 45 minutes. At the end we both though “that’s it?” We wanted more. All in all, I would recommend the film.
We watched two movies tonight. The first was “War of the Worlds” with Tom Cruise. The movie was exactly what I expected it to be – but Spielberg is so skilled with tension and pacing, it kept me rivited throughout.
The second movie was really interesting. “Murderball” is a documentary about parapalegic rugby and the lives of the players on the American and Canadian teams. This is more than a warm fuzzy “people in wheelchairs are people too” movie. These guys are fascinating, and as you get to know more about the players and their life stories, you get so much more caught up in the rivalry between the teams which takes an interesting turn at the Olympics in Greece. Great film – I’m going to watch for these guys at the next Olympics.
After the death of his mother, Damian is obsessed with saints and martyrs, and visits with them, asking each if they know his mum, Saint Maureen.
Damian builds himself a castle/rocket ship out of boxes down by the train tracks and a bag of money falls from the sky. Damian’s brother Anthony thinks they should invest the money in real estate and tries to get the brokers to take him seriously while Damian tries desperately to drum up some poor people to do good to.
All of this takes place during the countdown to the change over to the Euro, which would render cash in pounds worthless.
The photography was stunning and the music magical. The movie is best through the first 20 minutes, it loses some of it’s grace but deftly manages tension during the climax, and the ending is a flight of fancy fitting only to Damian. Alix Etel in the lead turns in a great performance, he has heartbreaker written all over him.
