The Usual Sleeper

So I’m beginning blog post #4 with another confession. The confession: I tend to fall asleep watching movies.  I tend to fall asleep watching movies a lot.  I don’t know what it is, but somehow nearly every time I start watching a movie past the hour of oh, let’s say 10 p.m. (read 4:30 p.m.) I wind up dozing off which is actually pretty frustrating.  It’s frustrating because I usually begin dreaming about the movie adding my own dreamland modifications.  Then of course, I wake up wondering what the heck the true story is.  For example, in the 'Usual Suspects' starring Kevin Spacey (whom I adore), I found myself wondering… Was there really a scene in which he runs to Las Vegas to play blackjack and then joins the chorus line to start singing ‘Somewhere Beyond the Sea?’ (Other Kevin Spacey fans know that this crazy image was a remix of two of his greatest roles; The MIT professor in ‘21’ and Bobby Darren in ‘Beyond the Sea’).   

Anyways, regarding my narcoleptic predicament, I think I figured out what the variable is for the movies that I do not fall asleep in.  (No, it’s not watching them @ 8:00 am after coffee or instructing my movie viewing partner to pinch me….).  The variable?  I never fall asleep in movies in which I have seen the preview for.  On some level, I think seeing the preview allows my brain to make a lightly sketched road map that gets retraced and filled in with all the little details of the movie once I actually see it.  Without having any idea of what the movie is about or where it’s going, my mind is literally a blank slate and that’s when it gets filled in with nothing but ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ’s. 

Now, in this movie ‘The Usual Suspects,’ I was incredibly disappointed that I kept falling in and out of consciousness for one very specific reason: the final scene.  Now, without giving anything away, (a cleverer thing to say than ‘now, I don’t really know how the heck they got to this ending but…’) I’ll just say this: I think the last time I saw a movie with such a great and twisted ‘blow your mind ending’ came from Paul Giamatti in ‘The Illusionist.’  In a word, that ending ruled.  I mean, it’s one of those endings where your mouth is open and you’re creepily laughing while occasionally saying things like, “no freakin’ way!” 

Well, that is exactly how I felt with that same buildup and satisfying ending in ‘The Usual Suspects.’  Or rather, it is how I should’ve felt if only I had stayed awake!  Instead, the only sentiment I’m left with is wondering why the heck there are so many Baldwin brothers all over the place when everyone knows they can’t hold a candle to their brother, Alec.  Seriously.  I mean, while Alec is practically the face of SNL, William and Stephen are in a bunch of c-level TV shows, (William in Gossip Girl and Stephen in the short-lived Dirty, Sexy, Money) and you can’t even tell them apart!  Their names should be changed to “Baldwin, but not Alec.” 

I mean come on, how great is Alec Baldwin?  He gets to star in a TV show with Tina Fey (my favorite actress) and his commercials for Capital One are the single handed reason why that is the credit card I own.  And how much better is Alec than his brothers?  Well, to get another Baldwin in the commercial, Capital One thought it would be a better idea to clone Alec to get a second Baldwin rather than asking one of his brothers to be in it.  Proof:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdYWT1nY5A4  Need I say more?

That’s all for now.  The next update will come after a) having watched the preview beforehand and b) after having downed a large coffee. 

Movies Watched: 5/100

Days to Go: A few less, but still a lot.

PS- In wanting to fact-check my Baldwin references, turns out I was wrong.  The Gossip Girl and Dirty, Sexy, Money characters were actually both played by William.  Who noticed? No one.  Who cares? Again, no one.  Point proven. 

PPS- Don’t be silly.  Of course I didn’t get a Capital One credit card just because Alec Baldwin does their commercials.  Part of the credit goes to Jimmy Fallon’s commercials too. 

Hey, That's Tom Hanks!

So the most recent selection for the movie project came from the Romantic Comedy list.  Coming in at #10, You've Got Mail.

Wait, did I say You've Got Mail?  Excuse me, I meant Sleepless in Seattle.  Although, now that I mention it- it is basically the same movie, isn't it?  Sleepless in Seattle uses communication via radio and You've Got Mail features communication via radio for the more fast-paced society (aka- email).  If they were to put out yet another sequel, it would probably be called something along the lines of 'You Just Got Poked' and would feature a man and woman who met via Facebook. 

Whatever the title, you know what all these sequels would have in common?  Yep, they would all star Tom Hanks.  Which of course would make them all awesome.  I have a theory that the only reason Meg Ryan got invited back to reprise her lead female role in You've Got Mail is because Nora Ephron (the director of both SIS and YGM) knew that the movie would completely tank without Tom Hanks and telling basically the same story with a new girl would be slightly awkward.  I mean, that guy is so great that he's even carried a movie all by himself! (Think- Castaway).  But this way, by inviting them both back, they could almost intentionally play it off as, "of course we knew we were making the same movie, silly!"

I'll admit, I'm coming off a little harsh and judgmental.  Especially for someone who actually has a small guilty pleasure spot in her heart for both movies.  Sleepless in Seattle has a very serendipitous feel to it; two people who are from completely different cities and are at completely different points in their lives (one is engaged and one was recently widowed), discover through a series of chance encounters and fortunate accidents that they are destined to be together.  Yes, I know- a complete plate of cheese and yet it is a plate of cheese I have served myself probably 8-10 times.

However, seeing it again for the 11th or so time, (I had to, the rules of the AFI game are no movies go unwatched- even ones that may have been seen countless times in the past) did cause me to search the movie for stand-out scenes that I hadn't noticed before.  Below is just one example from those delightful new discoveries:

Think- the scene where Meg Ryan and Bill Pullman get engaged.  They're at the table discussing possible venues for the wedding, and some random family member and his wife go on a rant about how the wedding can't be outside because the husband is allergic to bees.  What makes this funny is that the man must have interjected "but the beeeeeees!" about a dozen times as if anyone was even remotely listening to him.  Hilarious.  As an added bonus?  The wife who also throws in a few bee interjections herself is played by the same woman who plays Barney Stinson's mother on HIMYM.  Only the cool readers (2 out of probably 3 readers total) know what that acronym stands for. 

Another interesting part of this movie project, is getting to enjoy multiple performances by the same actor.  For example, Mr. Thomas Andrews from the beloved Titanic movie has a small role in Sleepless in Seattle.  He plays the on-screen husband of Tom Hank's real-life wife, Rita Wilson.  The only notable scene that they share is the one in which Rita Wilson talks about some sappy movie and starts completely bawling her EYES out.  So- our dear friend Mr. Thomas Andrews is a bit cursed with unfortunate water-work incidents. 

And on that ill-chosen pun, I think I'll end this post. 

Movies Watched: 4/100
Days Remaining: A lot.         

Shipwrecked

So, we're only 1 movie deep into the project and I already have to confess a violation of the rules. I mentioned in the last post that we were planning on beginning with the #10 movie in each category of the list, but for the very first selection we went with the #6.  But, for good reason.  A very 3-dimensional reason...

 I'm slightly ashamed to admit that yes, I indeed fell prey to the scam of re-introducing Titanic to theaters for the 100th Anniversary of the ship's sinking.  I think in the back of my mind I thought that the extra dimension would cause A) Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' to be substituted for something like a Daddy Yankee song B) Leo's character to find his own dang door to float on or C) the older Rose character to stop being so selfish and put that necklace up on eBay to leave her granddaughter a decent inheritance. 

Sadly, none of my hopeful alternative endings came true and the 3D effects were more than a little lackluster.  (Although, it was very entertaining to move my hand back and forth in front of my face exclaiming, "It's like it's coming right at me!" Also, Jared looked pretty cute wearing 2 pairs of glasses.)

Seeing the movie for the 2nd, 3rd, or maybe even 4th time (I've lost count) did bring back a couple memories.  Regardless of what viewing number this past one was, I certainly (and vividly) remember my first time seeing the movie.  In 1997, I was a little 3rd grader who desperately wanted to see the movie because it was all my fellow 8 year old classmates could talk about.  However, after seeing it themselves, my parents decided that the movie was NOT appropriate for my young and innocent eyes.  A number of years later, during a family vacation to California, they caved and we purchased the movie on pay-per-view from our hotel room.  I vividly remember going to the bathroom during two scenes to avoid having to watch them with my parents.  (I'll let you take a wild guess as to what those scenes were.)

Another couple of years later, my mom came home with a "surprise" she bought at Target- Titanic on VHS.  In those days (wow, I must be getting old) movies that were as long (read, torturous) as Titanic needed to be split between two tapes.  I'll never forget the line that concludes the first tape.  Right after the Titanic crashes into the iceberg, and the characters are beginning to accept the inevitable, the Captain turns to the idiot whose idea it was to speed up the ship and says, "I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Ismay." Dun Dun Dun.

Well, I suppose it's safe to say that paying $14 a ticket to see what one can only describe as an 'eye-roll love story' was probably not the best idea.  My next great idea?  Making the most of the 100th Year Anniversary by visiting the Molly Brown house.  Hey, maybe they've added a 3D effect to the tour.  Good thing I kept my 3D glasses...

Days to go: 728
Movies to watch: 97

Entries on The Usual Suspects and Sleepless in Seattle to come soon.

   

 

 

The Idea

The idea for this blog came a couple weeks ago after seeing yet another disappointment at the movie theater.  Well, If I'm being completely honest, the idea actually came a year ago- but more on that later. 

I remember a time when I used to think that literally every movie I saw had Academy Award Winner written all over it.  These days, with a more picky (read matured) movie taste, I find myself continually disappointed with the movies that Hollywood seems to pump out.  The routine is always the same.  I 1) see a preview 2) am instantly amazed by it and 3) declare, "I have to see that!"  I think the real winners are the editors of previews because it is my personal belief that they can make all crap look like gold. 

So cut to a couple of weeks ago when this very thing happened.  I went to see the movie "Friends with Kids" which, by the preview (of course), looked like a hilarious and original screenplay filled with memorable one-liners.  What I got instead was a non-funny, painful to watch, unrealistic take on kids and relationships. 

On the way home, I started thinking about the AFI's best of the best lists and thought (after my poor movie choices), it wouldn't be a bad idea to call in some back-up in regards to what qualified as a timeless film.

I mentioned earlier that the idea for this blog came about a year ago.  My college roommate Melanie and I were sitting in our living room talking and we thought it might be fun to work our way through the AFI's top 100 movies.  We would watch the movie, and then I would blog a review about it to practice my writing.  At the time, I was writing for my college newspaper and wanted to further develop and explore this new writing passion. 

We printed the list, got the popcorn ready, set a finish date for early May (this was about 4 or 5 months away, but hey- we had to finish before we went our separate ways after graduation) and made it all the way through.... 5 movies.  Maybe. And 2 blogs.  Maybe.

So I guess, to be completely accurate, the idea for the blog was less created and more resurrected.  But, after the first attempt and failure, it's time buckle down and get serious.  This time, I've implemented a few updates...

The List: Rather than go with the 'Top 100' list, we thought it would be more interesting to view the Top 10 of each genre.

The Players: That 'we' I typed above has changed a bit too.  While Melanie is an awesome movie-viewing partner, our differing state zip codes makes viewing the movies together a bit difficult.  The one agreeing to jump on board in her place is my boyfriend, Jared (who also shares an interest in movies.)

The Rules:  Completing 100 movies and 100 blogs in 4 months was obviously too lofty of a goal (especially for two second semester college seniors) so this time it'll be 100 movies in 24 months.  Hopefully, that will average to about 4 movies a month.  Rather than completing each category of 10 before moving on to the next genre, Jared thought (and I agree) that it would create more of a build-up if we watched all the 10's, then the 9's, etc. etc.  Sort of a 'saving the best for last' method.  Well actually, 'saving the best of the best for last.'

Now that everything's laid out on the table, I guess the only thing left to say is "ready, set, go."  Or maybe more appropriately...

"Lights. Camera. Action!"

Days to go: 730
Movies to watch: 100