Spring Viewing

It's swordfights and sandals season around here.  That means I force my peeps to watch every movie my mom and I watched over the Easter Season, and then some.  It's the "some" that has taken over for the most part, as my latest viewing of The Ten Commandments didn't hold up to the test of time.  Other than Yul Brenner.  So, if you feel somewhat religious, or at least enjoy the entertainment value of any movie with a concept of Theology, then here a list for you.

Pompeii

It has swordfights.  It has sandals.  It has gladiators.  Gladiators who must eventually kill each other.  But not before they become friends against the machine.  One's black, one's white (isn't that always the way with Gladiators?), both have British Accents.  In fact, everyone in this movie has a British Accent, except for Kiefer Southerland, who dismally tries.  It has romance, it even has Horse Whisperers.  But that's not all . . . it also has, gasp!  Natural disasters galore!  Mount Vesuvius erupts of course, but we all knew that.  What we didn't know about were the earthquakes, the pyroclastic flows and the tsunamis that went with it. Oh, and did I mention Jon Snow?  It has Jon Snow, doing something productive that season HBO killed him off.  And all charmingly connected together by the Pompeiian remains of two lovers in their final embrace.  Even Chris managed to stay up and watch.

Troy

Why this movie didn't do well in theatres is beyond me.  I once saw an interview with Brad Pitt where he said he didn't understand the power of an entrance, until he made Legends of the Fall.  Perhaps he hadn't made this movie yet. I'd call it a skin flick.  Mostly his.

Gladiator

I remember seeing this movie in the theatre and the exact point where every woman in the audience finally got Russell Crowe.  Literally, there was a collective audible gasp as he takes to a stolen stead and defies the Emperor.

Cleopatra

I've read Cleopatra's Memoirs, and this movie was historically very accurate.  Liz is just stunning, and Cleo is my favorite historical character.  The featurette included on the making of the film is a real piece of history itself, nearly putting Fox into bancrupcy. 

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Still hasn't lost its magic.  Like being on a roller coaster for the entire film, and one of the best opening scenes Steven Spielburg has ever done.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The best of the entire series.  Ok, I get that Steve met his wife and all he could come up with was magic rocks for the second installment.  The premise for the fourth installment was nothing short of ludicris (especially since the History Channel did they best to debunk the Crystal Skull myths).  This story has meaning, it has Sean Connery and River Phoenix, may he rest in peace, and everything else you expect from an Indy movie.

The Natural

What kind of wife would I be if I didn't mention Baseball as a Spring passage.  My Husband doesn't count the days until Spring, he counts the days until "Pitchers and Catchers" day.  What can I say, its a Baseball movie.  It has Robert Redford in it.  Better than "Field of Dreams" or "Bull Durham" in my opinion.

The New Halloween Hit List

For this season, there are a few new entries I thought worth viewing:

Dark Shadows

Another Halloween selection featuring our fav Johnny Dep.  The setting in the 70's, complete with music and costumes, was a surprise and Alice Cooper looks the same 40 years later.  Hilarious.

Snow White and the Huntsman

I know, I know, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Stewart.  While she is supposed to be the star vehicle in this dark little take on the Grimms Fairy Tale, Charlize Theron is the stealer as her costumes get more elaborate and darker with every scene.  After our second viewing, Grace said to me, "sort of Halloweenee, isn't it?"  (I suppose at some point I will succumb to the Twilight series, but not yet."  And let's not forget Chris Hemsworth, pre-Thor!

Edward Scissorhands

Tim Burton and Johnny Dep's first project together is worth a revisit, at least at this time of year.

Ghostbusters 2

I'm not usually a fan of sequels, but I happened across this one on cable, and laughed out loud.  Our boys have been reduced to party entertainment as the scene opens five years later.  Rick Moranis (Little Shop of Horrors), never disappoints, nor do any of our heros and all of their little toys.

The Hit List From Last Year

Hocus Pocus
Practical Magic
Little Shop of Horrors
Ghostbusters
The Ninth Gate
Sleepy Hollow
Young Frankenstein
Dracula (with Frank Langela)
The Curse of Dracula (with Bela Lugosi)
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Translyvania 6-500
The Witches of Eastwick

The Thanksgiving List

 There isn't much in the way of movies focused primarily on Thanksgiving, but this one particular movie was one of my mother's favorites.  It was originally broadcast on TV by ABC studios, and though you can find it on Amazon, I would not encourage you to purchase it.  I rented it from Netflix, and was disappointed in the quality.  Grainy, black & white.  But Truman Capote's narration of this story, a memory from his childhood, brings back my own memories of watching this on TV with my mother as a child.  It was usually broadcast around Thanksgiving, and has that association for me.  For years I tried to find it looking under the title "A Thanksgiving Visitor" and couldn't find it on Netflix.  Turns out, Capote did write a story by that name, but it has never been made into ta movie.  I finally found it by searching under Truman Capote on Netflix.

Barbara's Black Cats

See?  I told you they were simple.  Right before her big party, the Santa Ana Winds blew in.  At the time of publication, she was still looking for the cats ears in the garden.

 

The Halloween Line Up

We are not crazy about horror or gore, so don't look for any of that on this list.  Funny, yes.  Classic, yes.  Well made versions of the stuff that used to scare us silly when we were little kids.  Hopefully, you will agree:

Hocus Pocus

Hard to believe a Disney movie didn't make it in the theatres.  The three most hilarious witches to come out of Salem in decades.

Practical Magic

Now these six witches are probably the most glamorous you will ever find, and all six have some of the best hair in Hollywood.

Ghostbusters

Great music, ridiculous concept, dogs and cats, living together.

Little Shop of Horrors

A Halloween musical with Rick Moranis and Steve Martin?  Who knew either one could sing or dance.

Sleepy Hollow

Tim Burton does it again.  Oh, and it's got Johnny Depp. 

The Ninth Gate

Now here is a Johnny Depp movie maybe you haven't seen.  Very well done, very sexy creepy.  It's also got Frank Langella and Lena Olin, two of my favorites.

Young Frankenstein

If it's been a few years since you watched this Mel Brooks classic, its time to take another look.

Bram Stokers Dracula

A little bit gorey, a little be sexy, but it's probably the closest to the original novel of any of the Dracula renditions out there.

Dracula

A remake from 1979 with the most handsome, elegant Dracula ever, played by a very young, incredibly handsome Frank Langella.  Don't miss his interview in the special features.

The Witches of Eastwick

It's got Cher, it's got Michelle Pheiffer, its got Jack Nicholson.  It's on the list.

An American Werewolf in London

This was probably the first movie on my list, and still one of my favorites.  The Dr. Pepper Guy, early John Landis special effects (he did Michael Jackson's Thriller make-up and special effects), and a soundtrack with every song ever written about the moon.

The Short List of Fall Movies

This list is very short, because there are only 10 days between the Autumnal Equinox and October 1st, which is the advent of the Halloween Season at our house.  The season being crowded with both MLB and NFL, there is not much viewing time anyway.  Anyone have any suggestions or favorites of their own for this season?

The Thomas Crown Affair

I like the remake.  I saw the original in the theatre when it came out, and it was just so cool.  Didn't hold up. 

Stylish, clever, and Rene Russo is the most perfectly dressed woman for Fall in NYC.  And Pierce Brosnan, of course.

A River Runs Through It

Watch this first before you watch the next movie, or you may never see it.  Brad Pitt, being a bad boy, and film footage in Montana.  Robert Redford directs.

Legends of the Fall

Now this is a movie.   At least for women.  Chris thinks it's one of the biggest tear jerkers out there, and rightly so.  I cry at the end of it every time I watch, and every time I watch I discover a new emotion in scenes I had forgotten about.  I once saw Brad Pitt doing an interview, where he said he never realized the power of an entrance, until he shot this one.