Movies that make me cry...- Stepmom
- Life as a House
- Pretty much any movie about Sept 11 (recent cry fests include World Trade Center and United 93)
- I have a vivid memory of sobbing at Free Willy, in the theater, back in the day (I was 12)
- Ditto Lion King (I was 13)
- Keeping with Disney, the Fox and the Hound (how is that a children's movie?)
- Meet Joe Black
- American History X
- My Dog Skip
- Old Yeller (I'm not sure why, but I think we used to watch this movie a lot)
- Lord of the Rings movies
- Harry Potter flicks 4 & 5(more with Cedric than Sirius...which is not true to book). I predict crying in 6, 7 & 7.5
- Return to Me (something about the dog + David Duchovny...gets me)
This list was harder to craft than I expected. I know I cry a lot at movies...but coming up with specific movies...well, that requires memory. Something which I lack.
And, in honor of the horrific, thick, wet snow today, true story:
Me: mouth open wide, eating the snowPasserby: (laughing) you might as well get some nutritionAs if snow has any nutritious value.
Hello, and how was your weekend?Mine was particularly good. Not only was I totally productive on the cleaning front (it is SO clean here. No, really) but I also saw an unexpectedly enjoyable movie on Friday.First with the cleaning...remember way back when, I started a "big clean?" Yeah, well I never finished that clean. The upstairs hall has sported two vacuums and various junk for a month and a half. And the bedroom? Really never was cleaned. But today the bedroom, the hall and the downstairs are all tidy and scrubbed (with my new super floor cleaner vacuum combo - which has so much suction power that at points it was getting stuck to the floor and I was having a hard time moving it. Using that thing was a serious work out). The only areas that I have left to do (probably at various times on Saturday or Sunday of next weekend) are the kitchen and the bathroom. The bathroom is semi-clean. The kitchen had to be avoided because there is a patch of 4 parquet tiles missing as well as about 14 newly buckled tiles. I think that as the underfloor is drying, all the tiles are buckling. It is actually a serious hazard and I have hurt my toes numerous times on those damn tiles. I also keep stepping on them and crunching them in...The movie was Stardust. It was actually really well attended for an older movie (might be the $5 price tag, good deal for the city!). And it was not only a well crafted, engaging story but it also packed some major laughs! Really glad I went.Tuesday I'll start working out. Hopefully every day for the next week or so, try to find a pattern...maybe some classes that I like. Other than that...same old, same old. Hopefully in the next few days I'll have a "I got a job, congratulate me and buy me gifts" post. Ok...there's no reason why you should buy me gifts for that. But you should always just buy me gifts in general. It's Wednesday? Buy Katie gifts! It's september 1st, buy Katie gifts!
Spoiler alert - I'm about to ruin the movie for you, so if you haven't seen it, stop reading.Good, good...now, let's get to it, shall we? I was disappointed about some of the omissions, but before I start listing them I do want to say that the movie they made was an entertaining film - it all worked together to make a really good movie. And while I felt disappointed in certain omissions (some of which I feel could have just as easily been in the movie) I'm OK with much larger omissions.Let's start with the small omissions that hurt:- The swamp. Why oh why could they have not made Fred and George leave a swamp behind? Who cares about the fireworks (especially since they didn't have one that spelled POO)?
- Prefects. No Hermione/Ron as prefects - therefore that piece of Harry's anger is totally missing.
- Harry's anger. Yes, he does display SOME teenage anger. BUT, in the book he is angry with Hermione and Ron for a LONG time. And even after he's "over it" he's still a pissy bugger and goes off on Hermione and Ron/snaps at them frequently.
- Maybe not an "omission" but the change in Sirius' death and the way it was done made it much less sad. I really am not loving the way it was treated.
- Again, not an omission...but having Cho be to blame for the downfall of the DA really ended her relationship with Harry abruptly. It was never really acknowledged...ick.
- And ENTIRELY not an omission, but Mr. Weasley, Fred and George's hair? BAD.
Larger omissions that didn't really bother me that much:- Quidditch. (Although Ron as goalie could have been loads of fun. But I love Ron, so more Ron time would have been delightful).
- All of the extra time in his house at the beginning as well as extensive Order of the Phoenix time(although it seems like it is sort of important to know that Aunt Petunia knows a bit about magic and is in touch with Dumbledore)
- All of the extra detail/rooms in the Department of Mysteries. It just made for a better action sequence without all of them splitting up (although I do think more of the kids should have been harmed, they all came away with only scrapes and bruises). I wish the fountain would have been involved but loved the detail in Dumbledore v. Voldemort.
All in all, not true to the book all that much. The major plot is the same - but the details in some places are entirely different. And I'm OK with that. Because film and literature are two very different mediums....But have any of you stopped to wonder how they are going to make the next movie? How awful that last bit will be? What a downer that movie will be?
I wonder...if Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were pitched nowadays would it have ever made it to film? Sort of a creepy children's movie (along with Babes in Toyland)...yet somehow these are the movies I remember watching in childhood. And I was always fascinated with the weird contraptions in Chitty's house (was there an egg machine?). Fascinating fact of the day: Roald Dahl was one of the screenwriters on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - makes a LOT of sense.I've decided that I love being in charge of RSVP's for parties. I love hearing who is coming and who isn't. It's delightful. Have a party? I'll take your RSVP's. And, this party is an experiment in email as RSVP device - I have a feeling I'll get higher numbers of email RSVPs than phone. In fact, I sort of bet that all of the people of my age will email. Email: 1. Human contact: 0.Ending it all with some Harry Potter...so I finished Azkaban. I must admit that I'm wavering a bit on Harry dying in book 7. After reading Chamber of Secrets I was sure of it - he was dying. Azkaban has me questioning. One of the things that I know I've read before (in more than one of the books) is that Voldy always underestimates the "old" types of magic (Harry's Mom protecting him with her love being the obvious one). And, because of Book 3, Peter Pettigrew owes Harry his life. A life debt. A strong, ancient form of magic. Which may come back to haunt Voldy in the end...Peter saves Harry's life at the last?
You know what I hate about the movie Pretty in Pink? That Andy (Molly Ringwald) takes her bosses really classic, fun pink prom dress and makes it into the most hideous, unflattering prom concoction EVER. I mean, the dress Andy wears to prom is possibly the ugliest prom dress in the history of movies. Every time I see this movie I feel angry that she butchers the bosses cute pink dress. It takes away from my enjoyment of the movie...I started sorting through my pile of crap today while watching Pretty in Pink...
Sometime a little bit ago my sister wrote her thoughts about the movie The Last Kiss. Without going back and reading it (to avoid pollution of my own thoughts) I remember her sort of disliking the movie and having a negative reaction to Zach Braff's character (of the "How could he do that to her" variety). Now my sister and I, while we share a few traits, are quite different. In many ways, complete opposites. And I think my reaction to this movie proves that.Because I totally emphasized with Zach's character. With his bad, bad choice. With the fear behind the choice. And while I know there are many reasons to discount my opinions on this (my lack of serious relationship) I don't think I emphasized with Zach because I would make that choice. But I also don't know that I would never make that choice. Because for me, the fear of losing my independence is sort of large. I have pushed people away in the past (which is sort of what he was doing) unconsciously, but looking back...I am the type who has commitment issues. Either way, I liked the movie a lot. And I liked all of the characters and felt they were all pretty real and well done(except maybe Rachel Bilson. Maybe they could have done better at casting or she could have been less...just less). And that whole cheating thing...while I hate the idea of it, don't think I could ever forgive it...I just have a tiny voice inside that tells me that it's not so black and white. Sometimes, yes. But sometimes, like the movie, not so much. And while I hate to admit it, I am not certain I would never put myself in that position somehow.
Now I'm going to go ahead and read my sister's movie review and see what she actually thought. Pretty much like I thought...totally opposite of me. I'm not going to go ahead and write about why I think our thoughts were so different because I don't feel right writing about her here. But either way it's interesting.
