Who the heck do I think I am?

My favorite film version of Inherit the Wind is on Encore - it was an 80's TV-movie version with Jason Robards, Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Kyle Secor, and Megan Follows.

AWESOME.

But it's not out on DVD, according to Amazon. SO SAD.

This is superior, IMO, even to Frederic March and Spencer Tracy, and WAY better than Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott.

I shall now be enraptured for the next two hours.

So, watched AEon Flux, courtesy of Netflix.

I vaguely remember the MTV cartoon, but didn't really follow it.

The movie was utterly unmemorable, apart from what one expected: Charlize Theron in a lot of catsuits, rather pointless action sequences with (at the time) really cutting-edge SFX.

But there was one surprise: Freya was played by Caroline Chikezie, better known to us SPN folks as Tamara in Mag7. (And yes, my mutant powers enabled me to recognize her the moment she appeared onscreen. I tell you, I should be a casting agent.)

Not worth watching it again just for that, mind you. But an interesting note.

Gakked from briony530. Did you think I could resist?

Entertainment Weekly's list of the top movies of the last 25 years. With my comments, of course. (Many of these are things I've Netflicked over the last two years)

Go through their list and BOLD the ones you have seen and underline the ones you own on video or DVD.

1. Pulp Fiction (1994) – Not a Tarentino fan (though I liked Kill Bill 1&2)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03) – Cried three times in Fellowship – all because of architecture.
3. Titanic (1997) - Jack! Rose! Jack! Rose! Swear if they went below one more time I would have hurled something at the screen. But the underwater footage, the montage when the ship sank, and the schmoopy ending? Yeah, I cried. Amazing depiction of the real-life stuff; horrible romance.
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
5. Toy Story (1995) - And thus began the awesomeness that is Pixar.
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998) – If you’re not into gore, get past the first battle sequence, because after that, it’s a very human story. And in its way as important as Schindler's List. (I'd also put Amistad on here, but it's not as flashy.)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - This movie freaked my shit out. I think I can watch it now, but the first time I had nightmares for a week.
9. Die Hard (1988) – Amazingly, I’d never seen this all the way through until a few months ago.
10. Moulin Rouge (2001) - I do have this movie in my house, but I didn’t purchase it. It’s Mom’s copy.
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) - Eleven.
12. The Matrix (1999) - I keep meaning to pick this up, but then, I also keep meaning to see the 2nd and 3rd ones - even if they do suck.
13. GoodFellas (1990)
14. Crumb (1995)
15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
16. Boogie Nights (1997)
17. Jerry Maguire (1996)
18. Do the Right Thing (1989)
19. Casino Royale (2006) – again, technically in my house, but the borrowed from my mother. Ugh. What a hot mess this film was.
20. The Lion King (1994) - Still awesome.
21. Schindler's List (1993) – the kind of film I can only watch once about every 7 years. (True story: my ex-husband had a colleague in grad school whose mother went to see this movie and spontaneously remembered that she had spent several years living/hiding with a family of Polish Catholics while her real family had been in a concentration camp. Turned out that her father survived, came to collect her, and the family didn't want to give her back. It was all so traumatic that she had literally suppressed the memories all those years...until seeing this film. Now that's powerful.)
22. Rushmore (1998)
23. Memento (2001) - Someone told me there's a way to watch this in chronological order. I really want to figure out how to do that.
24. A Room With a View (1986) - Briony, I agree with you; I think Remains of the Day is a much better choice. But oh, well. This one really did usher in the Merchant/Ivory era, I guess.
25. Shrek (2001)
26. Hoop Dreams (1994)
27. Aliens (1986) - I saw this movie before I saw Alien. My mother and a friend of hers took me to the movies with the plan that I'd see something else. But for some reason I couldn't see the film I'd wanted to see, so they took me in with them to this one. I remember Liz giving me a very hurried explanation about the first film, an "all you need to know" primer. (I saw T2 the same way, btw, but with college friends, not my mom.) Whereas Alien is Sci-Fi / Horror, this one is all Action. Pure Action. IT ROCKS. "Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
28. Wings of Desire (1988) - This is a trippy, weird, sweet, bizarre, beautiful tone poem of a movie. It's also much, much better than the remake (City of Angels). Plus, Peter Falk.
29. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
30. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
31. Brokeback Mountain (2005) - I'm glad they made it, but I hope that in 10 years, it will seem quaint and outlandish.
32. Fight Club (1999) - Weird, weird film. I'm still not sure if I liked it.
33. The Breakfast Club (1985)
34. Fargo (1996)
35. The Incredibles (2004) - Actually, I can't remember if I have this currently or if it's at Mom's.
36. Spider-Man 2 (2004) – pretty sure Mom has this, too. What a mess.
37. Pretty Woman (1990)
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - Here's the thing. I hate Jim Carrey. But this movie proves he can ACT. And the problem is that once I see that, I'm even more disappointed when he's in films and fails to do so at all. But the movie is really interesting and weird and worth seeing.
39. The Sixth Sense (1999)
40. Speed (1994) – I can’t remember if I’ve seen this all the way through. Cable, not Netflix.
41. Dazed and Confused (1993)
42. Clueless (1995) - Emma in like, the Valley. Fer Sure!
43. Gladiator (2000) - And the soundtrack.
44. The Player (1992)
45. Rain Man (1988)
46. Children of Men (2006)
47. Men in Black (1997)
48. Scarface (1983)
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - And the soundtrack.
50. The Piano (1993)
51. There Will Be Blood (2007)
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988) - SO NOT my kind of movie.
53. The Truman Show (1998) - Again, proof that Carrey can act, when he's directed well and held in. Jim, please, take a tip from Robin Williams: restraint.
54. Fatal Attraction (1987) - I think I know all I need to know about this, but no, never saw it.
55. Risky Business (1983).
56. The Lives of Others (2006)
57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
58. Ghostbusters (1984) - and like Princess Bride I think I can probably quote the whole darn movie, practically.
59. L.A. Confidential (1997)
60. Scream (1996)
61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
62. sex, lies and videotape (1989) - I think it's on my Netflick list.
63. Big (1988)
64. No Country For Old Men (2007)
65. Dirty Dancing (1987)
66. Natural Born Killers (1994)
67. Donnie Brasco (1997)
68. Witness (1985)
69. All About My Mother (1999)
70. Broadcast News (1987) - I've seen bits and pieces on cable, but no, never all of it.
71. Unforgiven (1992)
72. Thelma & Louise (1991)
73. Office Space (1999) - Know all the jokes, I think.
74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
75. Out of Africa (1985)
76. The Departed (2006)
77. Sid and Nancy (1986) - Want to see
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
79. Waiting for Guffman (1996) - As a theatre person, this movie was almost too painful. But then the production itself and the music were surprising. Kudos to McKean and Guest.
80. Michael Clayton (2007)
81. Moonstruck (1987)
82. Lost in Translation (2003) - Unfortunately, I think it was.
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
84. Sideways (2004)
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002) - I remember when the slash community was BUZZING about this because Cuaron got picked to direct POA. So we all ran out and got the unrated version. Eh. It was okay.
87. Swingers (1996)
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) – hell, no.
89. Breaking the Waves (1996)
90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
91. Back to the Future (1985) - I still want my jet-powered skateboard.
92. Menace II Society (1993)
93. Ed Wood (1994)
94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
95. In the Mood for Love (2001)
96. Far From Heaven (2002) – This is a beautiful film in every aspect. It was amazing and heartbreaking and real. The attention to detail and the performances of each of the main characters was staggering.
97. Glory (1989)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
99. The Blair Witch Project (1999) – they all deserved to get killed, if you ask me.
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

I posted a little flopsy for the SPN_Thur_nights blind challenge, a while ago, and voting is open.

The post with the poll (and links to all the fics) is here.

So go read them, and if you liked mine, vote for it as one of your top three. If you didn't like it best, that's fine, too.


In other news:

Everyone who is mourning anjenue AKA rosesanguina, I'm so sorry. We are poorer for losing her. I remember her fiction, and I think I remember her from those early days of FA and LJ, but I'm sorry to say that if I ever met her, I don't remember. But it doesn't matter; it's never easy to lose our young people, and especially someone who clearly was loved by those whose lives she intersected.


On a related note, I've been meaning to blog that etakyma and I finally watched "A Bridge to Terabithia" Tuesday night. We had been soooo antsy about what we'd heard about this movie that even though ordinarily we would have seen it long before now, and even though I borrowed the DVD from my mother about... a year ago? Maybe more? we hadn't actually watched it yet.

I'm very relieved to say that it's good. It does not, contrary to the rumour, completely veer off from the significant moment of the book, but meets it and carries it through.

The thing is? The marketing and promotion of this movie was done ALL WRONG. I understand that they might not have wanted to spoil the story (especially for kids who hadn't read the book), but focusing on the digital effects gave the impression that they were treating the story as bubblegum, or alternately making it into a poor-man's Narnia/NeverEnding Story kind of thing. It's not. Okay, it gets a little silly at times, and some of the "imagination" sequences were too long, but that's how kids of that age play. At least that's how I played when I was their age.

If they'd wanted to avoid spoiling, but give a much more vivid impression of what the movie was, and get those of us who *know and love* the book to go to the movie, they should have focused on the fact that Jess and Leslie are both misfits in their class, Jess's relationship with his sister and the way he is uncomfortable at home, the friendship that develops, and then out of that, the "magic" that they discover in Terabithia beyond the stream. THAT? would have made me want to go see it, instead of dreading the ruination of the book so much, that it took me 3 years to watch it.

Anyway. I'm finishing up a bunch of work, I have WAY too many LJ tabs to get through before I leave, and then? FLORIDA, bay-bee.

I was riding the T happily this morning and when we got to Fenway Station, the conductor announced that the train would run express to Reservoir and if we didn't want to go there, we should get out.

So I walked from Fenway station along the Riverway to my building, about a 10 minute walk.

Then I was reminded we had a meeting at Research North this afternoon, which is.... basically across from Fenway Park. Yeah.

Luckily, I caught a shuttle back to West Campus so did not have to walk that distance 3 times in one day.

Stopped at Barnes & Noble on the way home. Picked up the "Sexiest men" People issue and the Entertainment Weekly "Top entertainers" issue b/c it featured JKR. Also got a few new books (shut up, Amy, they're not gifts, they're essentials): Artemis Fowl #1, Witch's Canyon (which is listed as Supernatural: Witch's Canyon), and two books I hadn't been looking for but found on the shelf: "Dancing With Werewolves" which looks like an Anita Blake clone; and "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull, which looked really interesting.

Made it home about 6:30. Hm. Should probably eat something other than cookies. But they're right here!

Anyway.

Oh, films: Over the weekend we saw "Enchanted" and were, thoroughly. I've also updated my queue at Netflix owing to Amy being away for the next 10 days, reorganizing to get films she won't care about seeing. I had 28 movies in my queue, and when I got done, I had 59. Ahem. But three of those are series discs--Dexter and Rome S1 and some old Daily Shows that I never got to see. Also added a bunch of new films, a few old ones I never got around to seeing.

I'm really loving Netflix. I really save money with it, because I'm seeing things and then evaluating whether I want to own. Some stuff I know I just want to *have*, but... I'm also finding that even when I watch something and say, "Okay, we'll put that on the pickup list," I tend not to buy it unless I can really find a deal on it...because I've seen it. Heh.

Though it mystifies me as to why I still don't own "The Rock" on DVD. It's one of my favourite tapes. Huh.

Finally - I got my spn_thur_nights fic exchange assignment and I already have an outline...and 7 pages written. Hey, remember I said I had a meeting today? Yeah. I hope my recipient will like it.

Okay. On to food.

Crown was good. My trip got off to a rocky start when I accidentally left my wallet at home, meaning I had to go back for it before I could pick up the rental car, but it got squared away relatively painlessly and I made it to Batavia around 12:45 AM. The day was by turns VERY hot and humid and rainy, and due to a sudden (and unexplained) attack of nausea, I had to sit down instead of staying out on the field to listen to TRM's give their pre-tourney pep talk. But by the end of the day I was feeling better. Got my Josie-fix and filled up on seeing people from home, which was good. Had dinner with Hona-Ishi, Muirgen, Christopher, Risa, Rosalia, and of course Maghnus, after which he and I caravaned to Rochester and stayed in a B&B around the corner from my mother's house. I cleaned out more stuff from her house, including my comic books and some other odds and ends, which I now must store somehow here in my rapidly over-cluttered flat.

But the B&B was lovely, with addictive French Toast, cozy rooms, and a beautifully peaceful parcel of land. Joel and I enjoyed ourselves muchly. :^D


Now home, watching "Journeyman." And I must post Monday Meta, I guess.

But meanwhile, I'm SUCH a movie=hound, as most of you know. How could I not do this?

( Movie Meme )

A. O. SCOTT's latest review of "Wild Hogs" had me cracking up the other day. Perhaps because it reads like so many of our journal entries?

Here's the link for those who are registered at NY Times

( Text of Wild Hogs Review behind the cut )