I just want to thank the crew, the Academy, and Jesus.

I'm also loving this topic and it's timeliness.  I'm all about the cinema!  I'm going to follow the lead of several of my fellow blogettes and share some of my more untraditional 'faves' with y'all.

1. Best Performance By An Actor I Usually Hate

I detest Julia Roberts.  I think she is your typical smug, self-adoring celebrity.  And she has a horse face.  But there are times when I see movies of hers, and I can't help but love them and think she was great in them.  The first such film is My Best Friend's Wedding which I thought was incredibly hilarious and fun.  The Julianne character she played was a nut job, but relatable, and I loved the performances by Rupert Everett, Cameron Diaz and Dermott Mulroney.  I also have to give it up for Erin Brokovich, which I thought was deeply moving and also well-done on Julia's part.  The superbly talented and unrecognizable Aaron Echkart is just a bonus.

2. Best Suprisingly Well-Done Turn By A Character Actor

Despite the fact that I have not ever seen Star Trek anything, I thought the spoof film Galaxy Quest was really great.  The story was engaging and the cast was wonderful-- even a not-yet-famous Justin Long.  But the stand-out here was definitely Enrico Colantoni, of "Just Shoot Me" fame (or not).  He plays an alien with a funny, halting monotone and an awkward movement, and he's quite brilliant.  I love those moments when some actor you would have otherwise discounted shows you why they made it.  It's like, who knew?

3. Best Dramatic Performance By A "Comedic Actor"

I've always appreciated Jim Carey's offbeat performances in Man on the Moon, The Truman Show, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  But here, I got to give it up for Steve Carrell in Dan in Real Life.  The movie is definitely not perfect.  E.g. What does the fact that he's some sort of advice columnist have to do with anything?  And some of the family interactions feel a little forced.  But even through the funny parts, Carrell is playing a total straight man and he really brings you in.  I remember watching this movie in the theatre, and when the talent show scene came on, and he's singing to Juliette Binoche, I suddenly had tears streaming down my cheeks.  It was such an incredibly poignant moment, the kind you rarely feel in movies these days.

4. Best Performance That Wowed Me After-The-Fact

I really liked the movie Gone Baby, Gone and thought the actress playing the trashy mom was good, but didn't think much about it at the time.  But later, I noticed Amy Ryan in Dan in Real Life (incidentally, with Steve Carrell) and also in "The Office" (also with Steve Carrell). She was so good in "The Office" going tit-for-tat with comedy heavyweight Carrell, it was really hard to believe that she is the same woman from Gone Baby, Gone.  But she is, which makes her performances in both all the more impressive.  Seeing her in this movie put her on my and many other's "Ones to Watch" list, and very deservedly so.

I could go on and on.

  

5. Most Incredible Flash-In-The-Pan (Claire Forlani, from Meet Joe Black to brilliant cinematic achievements such as Jackie Chan's The Medallion???  But why?  She's so. . . pretty. It makes no sense.)  

6. Actor I Had Lowest Hopes For But Was Completely Proven Wrong About (Daniel Craig, a brilliant Bond and also wonderful in Munich)

7. Best Performance By A Movie Star I Had Completely Forgotten Was Actually An Actor (George Clooney in Michael Clayton- wonderful film)

8. Best Movie That Deserves All Of The Overblown Praise It Gets (Walk The Line)

Anyway, the point is I love movies, and of all the awards shows, The Oscars is the one I have some respect for.  So enjoy the show, and my pick for Most Versatile Leading Man (from song and dance on Broadway to Wolverine- is there anything that Hugh Jackman can't do?).

Favorites?

Short and Simple this week…

In lieu of the upcoming Oscars event on Sunday I have compiled a list of my favorite movies and, in my opinion, the worst movies ever made.

Top Five:

1 – Braveheart
2 – Pride and Prejudice
3 – Rocky Series
4 – Sound of Music
5 – Without Limits (not a very well-know film but a very inspirational running movie)

Bottom Five:

1 – Basically anything recent with Samuel L. Jackson (i.e. Snakes on a Plane, Freedomland, Lakeview Terrace, etc)
2 – The Hottie and the Nottie (not that I want to admit to actually watching this)
3 – Glitter (just before Mariah Carey went crazy…)
4 – From Justin to Kelly (American Idol film gone very very bad)
5 – Baby Geniuses (I am the oldest of 10 kids, so unfortunately, I have seen some very very terrible children’s films)

Feel free to add your own favorites/worst and/or challenge my list.

Positively Cinematic

Is it normal to frequently-or-always imagine one's life as a series of celluloid scenes? Is it? Because I've realized that's how I've viewed the world ever since I was a little girl, and I have a bad feeling that no, it's not normal.

It's not just the present moment that always feels... epic. It's the past too. And forget about the future. It's all spread on a huge screen and hundreds of people are popping popcorn into their mouths and laughing, and crying hysterically (and "hiccuping"), and biting their fingernails with me and my cast of characters.

The old hallway in my apartment building... it's old. The moldings are layer upon layer of paint-- a stale pinkish beige. My door is brown. Fluorescent lights blink. There's a window above my door that's sealed shut now. My neighbors are quiet, except for old Helen who practices her violin day and night, but pauses delicately when she hears a door open or close. I can feel her rush over to her peephole.

She is the rent-collector who makes sure her flapper-girl neighbors aren't up to no good. That they have no male visitors. That they haven't been drinking the moonshine.

The elevator is entirely copper with intricate curls and designs. It rattles up and down and you've got to slide the manual door open. It weighs a ton. There's an ancient fire place in the lobby with a large mirror over it. I catch a glimpse of myself for a moment, dark mascara sliding under my eyes.

I am sneaking in from my night job- singing at a bar, to a nearly empty audience.

Outside are brownstone steps. I am met with cool, crisp air and the sound of wind coming off the Hudson. Boats bobbing in the basin. There's the Eleanor Roosevelt statue, pensive with her hand under her chin. She is all-knowing.

I sit down next to her, somber Saturday after somber Saturday, pigeons at our feet. I'm hoping she'll share her secrets, even though she refuses to speak. You know the answer Eleanor, all you have to do is say it.

I hop down the steps, swinging my lunch bag. The sun is shining.

Little birds are carrying ribbons and flowers over my head and humming along with the bread-and-butterflies.

But then I get on the subway platform and the woman with the dirty fingernails is playing her guitar and her voice carries down the tiled tunnel.

I frantically weave between the densely packed strap hangers, running from her voice but it follows me like snaking smoke. And I can't escape her gaze. She sees my fear and laughs a gaped-tooth grin. The train comes and I push my way on. Everyone else seems unafraid and the doors shut in the silence.

They've tried to paint the office walls bright colors, I suppose to keep us motivated. But the greens and oranges look stiffly, uncomfortably vintage. I get started on the daily filing and data tracking, knowing it was never supposed to be this way.

I look around and no one seems disturbed. Everyone else is sorting and labeling and copying and whiting-out, efficiently making their way around the corners of the cubicle maze. I begin by feeling itchy, and then warm- I tug at my turtleneck. The windows are sealed with insulation- I want to peel it off. I turn to my coworker friend, "We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into when we came here, huh?" She is confused: "What do you mean? Legal needs all my records to match." I swivel back in my chair, with tears perched in my eyes. My hand covers my mouth as I sink a little. I am realizing I must leave even though I only arrived at work minutes ago. I gather my coat and scarf and bag. Someone asks where I'm going. My voice is louder than I'd anticipated: "Lightness has a call that's hard to hear!!!" And I run. And I trip, get back up and run out into the street, dragging my scarf down 5th Avenue, unable to catch my breath but I don't stop because I'm losing it.
I run through the park where we once gathered for tambourine playing, when I wore flowers in my hair; and another time when the leaves once covered the pavement and everything was yellow and red. But I run through it, kicking up the old leaves, the old flowers.
I run through the intersection where I was almost hit by a bus on 9-11, that when it continued on, the driver giving me a stunned look, I saw the boy I used to date on the other side and we hugged and cried in the middle of the street, people filling the lanes, everywhere around us.
I don't stop until I get to a train station and get on the first train out, romantically zipping past the giant board with the blinking track listings. I get on a train that travels above ground and pass the connected apartments of Queens, the auto body shops, the train yard. The sun and clouds defined above. The scenery grows less urban and I begin seeing trees and the sidewalks disappear... the duck farm and the little bridge with the creek running under it... I've caught my breath and arrive at a station that looks familiar. I walk three miles to the beach where we celebrated dawn after the prom, the same place where she came to cry when our friend died at 28-years-old of a brain tumor. And the seagulls and the seaweed and the sea glass and the sandpipers suck the tears out of me and it starts to rain, pour...

Of course it does, it's an indie film.

"A Day in the Life" starts up. I am soaked. My hair is stuck to my face and my jacket is taking on a translucent hue, but I sit anyway- in the dune, near the sign that says not to sit in the dunes. I put my head back and let the sky consume me.

Wide shot. Roll credits.

The 12:01 Phenomenon

The first 12:01 am show I remember hearing about was the release of Episode One of Star Wars my senior year of High School. I had friends who were camping out at the theater over night. I’ve since met friends in college who slept outside of a theater in Washington, DC for a full week in advance of the show. Despite all the hype, my parents wouldn’t let me go. I had to settle for a 7:00 pm show on opening day. I felt inadequate.

For some reason, missing out on that first midnight show has made me all the more likely to go to them now. In theory, going to a movie at 12:01 am is kind of compulsive. I’m not sure what it is that makes me do it. There are lots of reasons to go to the 12:01 am show: you get to see it before anyone else does and not have to worry about having the surprise leaked by some doting fan discussing it on the street; you’re so excited about seeing it that you can’t bear the notion of waiting until the following afternoon; you have a real craving for junior mints at that hour of day anyway so why not entertain yourself while eating them; you have insomnia; you’re a college/law school/grad school/business school student and don’t have to get up until noon anyway; you’ve been dying to show off your new Darth Sidius costume; or maybe its just that all your friends are doing it. . .

After being deprived of that first opportunity in high school, I’ve developed a penchant for the midnight show. Star Wars Episode Two. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. Spiderman. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Fellowship of the Ring. Two Towers. Add to that all the opening day movies: Superman, Return of the King, the other Harry Potter movies, Quantum of Solace, Spiderman Two, Spiderman Three, Cloverfield, Star Wars Episode Three. I know there are others that are escaping me; some worth watching, others not.

For someone who hates crowds, waiting in line, and sitting still for more than 30 minutes at a time, I absolutely love the 12:01 show. There’s something about the excitement of sharing the absolute first show with a theater full of others who are just as excited as you are, if not more. If you’ve never been to a movie in which someone in costume gets up before the previews and acts out a scene from the previews, you haven’t lived. If you haven’t staked out your seat in a jam-packed theater and gotten more entertainment from watching your fellow viewers, you’ve missed out. If you’ve never gone in costume yourself, that’s probably a good thing. And if you’ve never waited in line in sleet and freezing rain, you’re probably far less likely to have caught the cold I did while waiting to see Return of the King.

But if you’ve never gone to a midnight show, I challenge you to this. Pick a movie with lots of hype. Read the reviews. Watch the stars on morning show circuit. Take a look at the action figures lining the aisle at the toystore. Go online and buy yourself a ticket to the midnight show. Get a group of friends who are willing to poke you to keep you awake while waiting in line. Get a thermos of coffee or flask of whisky to keep you sharp while killing the time. Bring a pack of cards, your ipod, this week’s issue of the economist, or whatever you need to bide the time, and settle in for your wait until the witching hour. Watch the sheer giddiness on the faces of the folks around you. Listen to the cheers when the first Fox searchlight graces the screen, and join the thunderous round of applause. Do that, and if you’re not sold, I’ll comp you your ticket.

A Walk to Remember. That Doesn’t include A Walk to Remember.

But I do love Mandy More (FYI).
Anyway, for anyone who goes to the movies or rents them regularly, it seems like memories of those experiences are a dime a dozen (if one could really call staring at a screen an “experience.” For those of you who watch the Bachelor, you’re used to almost anything being called an “experience, so we’ll go with it). But there are a few that stand out in my mind. My first thought on this week’s topic (Movies!) was to turn my blog of movies into a top 10 (or even a top 5, bottom 5) but instead I think I’ll take a trip down memory lane……

First Movie. The first movie I can remember seeing is Gone with the Wind. MommaMonday took me to this old theatre downtown that had been renovated and was being used to showcase local theatrical presentations. I can remember some years later going back to see the production of A Christmas Carol. I slept through most of that…..and then some years after that, when we had our Senior Prom there. Anyway, we went to see Gone with the Wind and I remember MommaMonday remarking that we were the youngest women in the audience by a good three dozen years; it was a very true statement as almost everyone else had blue hair and bifocals. The movie was amazing, though, with the old dresses (I can still visualize Scarlett in her curtain dress after all these years) and quaint southern drawls. The antique sconces, intricate woodwork and blood red curtains of the old theatre just added to the effect. What a first movie experience!

First R Movie. I remember going over to Aunt and UncleMonday’s place when I was fairly young (12, 13 maybe) to watch the cousins while they moved stuff from their apartment into their new house. Unbeknownst to my parents, who never would have approved, they popped in Pretty Woman for me to watch while the cuz went down for a nap. I had never even heard of the movie (I’m 12, remember…), but sat there completely mesmerized. I wanted to dress like Julia Roberts, act like Julia Roberts, fall in love like Julia Roberts. I don’t remember completely “getting” that she was a hooker in the beginning. I think that being 12, I concentrated on the Rodeo-drive shopping and romance of having some rich man sweep you off your feet. It definitely made an impression, being that I still hold onto these same hopes…..

First Stolen Movie. My boyfriend in high school had some friends who worked down at our town’s local movie theatre. The first time we ever went there on a date was to see the movie High School High. His friends let us in without paying (thank God, I remember the movie being awful), but when I told my mom about it (with great glee when I got home. “Guess what?! We didn’t have to pay!”) she marched me back up there and made me pay for both my boyfriend and myself. It was absolutely mortifying. So instead of being able to move on and forget this positively retched movie (which, no doubt, for 99% of the 100 people who ever saw it was possible), it instead still lingers in my brain. Thank you MommaMonday and Jon Lovitz. Blech.

First Bawling, Hiccuping Movie. I saw Titanic in the theatre. With 200 other women. We all cried. I’m not sure about the rest of them, but I even went so far as to bawl. Loud painful sobs, with nose blowing and hiccupping. I’m not sure I would experience quite so much visible emotional sadness if I were watching it for the first time at 27, but I think for a hormonal 18 year-old, it was more than I could handle. How could Jack die and leave Rose by herself; they were so in love?! I know everyone likes to make fun of that movie today (Jack, I’m flyyyyiiing), but I think we’ve all forgotten that it did stir quite the emotions when it first came out (okay, at least all of us who have estrogen coursing through our veins).

First Profound, Eye-Opener Movie. My college boyfriend really wanted to go see a particular movie that I had no interest in seeing. Until that point in my life, I’d probably pretty much bossed people around when it came to the movies. If they wanted to see something I didn’t, we compromised until we got to the one movie we were both willing to see, but neither of us was dying to see. I never completely caved. But with Oh, Brother Art Thou?, I was adamant that I DID NOT want to see such a stupid looking film, but I gave in. Anyway, I was mesmerized by the movie, which still reigns in my top 10 of all time. I’m the first to admit that I was completely wrong, and it just made me realize that I should let other people have their way some too, especially when it can result in enjoyment like that. But just so you know, giving in can result in seeing films like Malibu’s Most Wanted (GirlFriday?!?), The Perfect Storm, and I Am Legend (see below), all disgraces to the film industry.

First Walk-Out. The only movie I have ever walked out on was Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. 2. When Nature Calls, or some shit like that. I can’t even remember what was so horrible about it, or even who I was with (who, no doubt, wasn’t happy about having to leave). I think I can almost recall some crude bathroom humor, which doesn’t ever sit well with me, but it could also be the presence of a lame plot. Either way, I left and forfeited probably close to 10 bucks. At the time I think I would have paid 10 more just not to have to sit through the rest of it. So next time I see one of you, make sure to let me know how this one ended. Since I obviously care. One other note on this subject: I also could have walked out on I Am Legend, if I hadn’t been with three other people. It was unnecessarily scary and the dog dies (ooops, spoiler alert, sorry).

I could run this trip down memory lane on for hours (or pages), but I’m going to leave you with just two more. First “I Could Sit Through That Again, Right Now” Movie: Contact. A really terrific movie for any of you who have never seen it. And First Subtitles Movie: Amelie. Also great. And also probably could have sat through that one again as well.