Monthly Archives: March 2013

After a few weeks of watching basically the same movie twice, I’ve decided to switch it up a bit. Instead of comparing remakes to their originals, I’m going to create a list of my 75 movies everyone needs to see before they die. Now this isn’t going to follow any specific criteria, it’s just based off of how I feel about the movie. I guess what you could say are factors would be whether or not it was funny, does it have a good soundtrack, interesting plot line, and so on. With each title I’ll give a brief explanation for my choice/ranking. And with that here goes nothing!

75. The Master of Disguise (2002) – It’s funny. And who doesn’t love Dana Carvey. That is really all that is good about the movie. Also, the Turtle Club scene was probably one of the most quoted scenes by me when I was younger. There’s not a good plot, but the jokes given are funny. Even 11 years later.

74. Waterboy (1998) – Again, this one is all about the laughs for me. I’m a pretty simple person and stupid things like this movie get me.

73. Casablanca (1942) – This is a nice, but sad love story. I’m going to be honest and say I was short one movie and I asked my mom and she said this one. I always liked Sam the Piano player though. Also it’s pretty cool that it was tied into what was going on at the time.

72. The Producers (1968) – There is a great plot line to it and it’s not your typical plot. Instead of the main characters being the good guys, they are actually the bad guys! And this sounds bad, but Springtime for Hitler is a pretty catchy song.

71. Just Go With It (2011) – Another weird Adam Sandler movie, but it’s a good rom-com. And that is right up my alley. I personally hate sappy love stories like The Notebook. It was a rom-com that was well structured and had a happy ending.

70. Saving Private Ryan (1998) – It’s a pretty compelling story. I’m a history buff so stuff like this really interests me. And also who doesn’t love Tom Hanks and Matt Damon?

69. The Sound of Music (1965) – Another awesome story. There is kind of a happy ending, I mean as happy as it probably could be considering the situation. Also, the songs are catchy and get stuck in my head way too easy. And it just adds to the reasons that Julie Andrews is a great actress/singer.

68. Last of the Mohicans (1992) – Ok, I’m going to be honest with this one, the only reason this is on the list is because of the music. It completely matches the movie and is just amazingly composed. Yeah, there is a nice love story there, but really I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the last 10 minutes of the movie more times than I have the entire movie. Whoops. Just a forewarning if you haven’t seen it, it’s kind of sad at the end, so be prepared.

67.  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – Another music case. To be quite frank, ET scared me when I was younger and it always made me cry when he got left behind and when he left Elliot. So that right there means I maybe watch it once a year, but it is still worth watching. ET does some pretty funny stuff and it’s a cool concept to think about.

66. Grown Ups (2010) – Again, I apologize, but it’s another tacky Adam Sandler film. But for some reason I really like this movie. When I first saw it I had low expectations, but it turned out much better. It is one of those cases that I was genuinely laughing, alas at stupid jokes, but I was still laughing.

65.  The Great Gatsby (1974) – This is my favorite book. Yeah, they didn’t do as well as I could have done (haha), but it was still nice to be able to visually see the story. I think in a book you can get connected with characters, and that connection is aided by seeing them on screen, if it’s good. And there is a remake coming out, which I’m more excited about than I should be. 😀

64. The Infidel (2010) – This is a movie that I’d imagine no one has heard of. It happened to be on HBO a couple of summers ago and I was captivated. It’s about a man who was raised Muslim, but finds out later in life that he was actually adopted and born Jewish. It is a funny take on how someone handles the situation. He actually goes to a man to teach him how to be Jewish. It is definitely worth your time.

63. Clue (1985) – I grew up playing the game when I was younger and when I found out there was a movie I was ecstatic. It chalk full of great comedy. It is also great because it has Tim Curry in it, who I think can be such a versatile actor. And because it brings the game to life it is a good watch. There is such a plot twist at the end I was not expecting it, but I approve of it very much.

62. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – This is another rendition of a great book. Again, there are some discrepancies, but it is such a good story that that doesn’t really even matter. Gregory Peck portrayed Atticus exactly as I thought he would be and when an actor is able to do that my respect level for them is off the charts. If you haven’t read the book then shame on you, do it and then go watch the movie.

61. Sweeney Todd (2007) – HOLY COW SNAPE CAN SING! When this movie first came out I thought “Eh, that’s cool, a bit gory whatever”, but when I found out that Alan Rickman was in a movie with Johnny Depp I kind of died. It is such a good movie, all the blood and murder aside. I think it’s an excellent example of what lost love can drive a person to do. And Alan Rickman and Johnny Depp sing together, and do so well.

60. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – LMS is another movie that people probably haven’t seen or even heard of. I appreciate because it shows that life is always what it seems, but you can definitely make the most of it. It is also cool because it is one of the first movies that Steve Carell is in and it reveals a completely different side of his skills. Whereas he is usually funny, in this movie he is downright straight forward and depressed. It’s surprisingly hilarious at points and sometimes it tugs at your heart, but it is definitely worth watching.

Well, sorry for rambling and repeating words, but I really do love all of these movies. Tune in next week for 59-45! 🙂

Unfortunately I’ve run out of time to watch any remakes for this week. So, instead I’m going to just talk about how good the movie Pitch Perfect is. Hopefully everyone has seen it and if not you need to get on that!  (There is a potential for spoilers.)

I remember sometime last fall seeing the promos for the movie and thought it would be funny. Sadly, I did not make it to the theatres to see it there. I ended up waiting until it was available on-demand and watched it when I went home for winter break. After watching this movie I realized that it was the first movie in a very long time that made me genuinely laugh. I mean, when I watch movies I chuckle, but it’s more of an “I’m going to open my mouth, but no audible sound will come out”, when I was watching Pitch Perfect though I was cackling, to say the least. There were some hilarious jokes that were right up my alley. One of my favorites was when Bender was insulting Fat Amy and then asked her to make out with him and she replied, “I sometimes think I can do crystal meth, but then I think, hmmm, better not.” Small gems like that make the movie so awesome.

As for the actors, I was surprised that they were actually singing. It was still auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as I was expecting. And Rebel Wilson was definitely a scene stealer. Every time she was on the screen I was laughing. Anna Kendrick at first made me kind of nervous, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like her, but after watching the movie my view of her is completely different. I loved how sarcastic her character was; well I just loved how sarcastic everyone was! And Skylar Astin has been added to my list of future husbands.  🙂 Before this movie I had no idea who he was, but now it seems his fame has gone through the roof and he was just in the movie 21 and Over. Overall, the cast did a great job!

Everyone needs to watch this movie. It is on my list of 100 Must See movies.(which just gave me an idea to make that my blog for the next couple of weeks!) And this isn’t just because it’s funny, but it’s also a pretty good plot line and has some catchy music to go along with it. I’ve attached some clips that just briefly highlight the awesomeness of this movie! 😀

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhTOs6tx62U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oIorP3ruo

I was sitting in my dorm the other day thinking of what movies I could look at next and was ashamed of myself for not thinking of this one first. I’m pretty sure that watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was an integral part of a lot of people’s childhoods. I remember I was so excited when I heard that they were remaking it and calling it Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Similar to most things, nothing can really beat the original, but that doesn’t mean that the second movie was horrible.

Gene Wilder

Johnny Depp

A lot of people weren’t impressed by the remake of the classic movie when it was released in 2005. Quite frankly, I thought that Johnny Depp made Willy Wonka more of a creep than Gene Wilder did, but other than the creep factor I’d say that they were both pretty good. The music from both of the movies is extremely catchy, well at least in my opinion. I also like how the same story line was there, but the newer one seemed to be more modern and was its own in a way. Both movies did a great job at getting the audience to hate the other kids. Giving them each a background story established them and made the audience not like them.

I guess the biggest differences were who was casted and the presence of Charlie’s father. The original had Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, whereas in the 2005 version it was Johnny Depp.  I think they both did a good job portraying the role, despite the fact that Depp added a pedophile affect to the role. I think compared to the original the biggest difference with the casts is that the cast from the newer movie has some more fame. It seems to me that most of the cast in the original, besides Gene Wilder, were one hit wonders as actors. And with the newer movie, there were a lot of well-known actors in it. For example, there was Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Freddie Highmore, and Christopher Lee. (Fun fact- Freddie Highmore is going to be in a new show called Bates Motel, staring as a young Norman Bates from Psycho, sorry I’m excited) The only big difference I saw between the movies was the presence of Charlie’s dad. I think with him not being there in the original it creates more of an empathetic stance towards Charlie. And with the new one it shows his dad as being the main bread-winner and his mom staying home. That really was the biggest difference in the plot.

One area where both of the movies could be better is in the fact that there are some parts that are flat out scary. For instance, in Willy Wonka the scene where they are going through the tunnel and Wonka is saying all of this random stuff freaked me out when I was younger. Actually it still scares me a bit. Also its creepy that you never see what happens to the kids. I mean, that is sticking to the beliefs of Roald Dahl where he believes that bad kids get punished, but it’s also mildly disturbing because it’s kids that are disappearing. And for the newer version, the part where Veruca Salt is attacked by the squirrels is also kind of freaky. But other than those scenes the movies are pretty child friendly.

In all, they are both pretty good movies. They are each unique in their own ways. If you haven’t watched either of them or read the book you definitely need to do so. It will be worth your time! 😀

Here is the clip of the creepy boat ride

and also one of the best scenes from the movie

and a clip from the newer movie