My pick for this week's theme is: The Day After Tomorrow
The movie stars Jake Gylenhall whom I must admit looks good as the guy you want to believe in and be with you when the world ends. Some scenes that I loved from this movie, was when they were stuck in the library and they had to choose what kind of books they would have to tear and burn, I love that they were fighting and the answer that came was so simple. Taxes. Books on Taxes. I really laughed at that part. I mean, it was the perfect choice. History will be rewritten and new ways of computing taxes if and when anyone survived would be implemented.
Other touching scenes include other countries accepting the Americans since they were the ones who were the most devastated. I also cried a bit when he tried to keep the people from going out but since he's just a kid, and everything is frozen solid the people thought they were safer risking it out there.
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I had 2 movies in mind when I first read the topic, since I have begun to come back slowly to the blogging world. Well, first thought was Autumn in New York. But then, I went back a little earlier and found a movie that engaged me more and really made me feel New York.
New York actually is a place close to my heart because one of my aunts, and I only have 2 currently lives in New York. They are the only relatives I have that we dearly call 'New Yorkers'.
Without further ado, my pick for this week is "You've Got M@il!"
I love the part when they walk around in the morning, inspired by their conversation through email the day before. The bakeries opening, the smell of sharpened pencils, the streets and that his nickname through chat is his address. It's all totally cute! That daisies are the happiest flowers and that he needs to do a little tweaking.
I could go on and on but New York was really showcased in this movie and I think it's a great movie with great actors.
I got to watch this, I was laughing, crying, relating to the character. Vilma Santos (as the strict librarian just totally reminds me of my mom). My mom is the strict English teacher.
I could relate to the fears of not living up to expectations. I could relate to being alone. I could relate to bits and parts of the story. The added factor was that the movie was shot in New York and I would love to visit New York because my cousin and one of my favorite aunts is in New York.
Without further ado, here's the trailer of the movie that made me laugh, cry, relate and a whole lot more.
My pick for this week is something I love better in the books but I also like the fact that it was translated into the big screen, so who am I to complain. May I add that I hastily read all the books and got totally hooked so I am now looking forward to the movies.
Well, most movies disappoint you as soon as they hit the screen. Somehow this is one of them. It pains me to admit it that the interpretation and the lack of, was hurtful, but I love the character and the storyline that I am just crossing my fingers and hoping that the next ones are better.
No clue to what I am talking about?
The movie is of an awakening by a demi-God, one who is the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman. He doesn't know it but then he's dyslexic and can understand Greek writings. He thinks better underwater and he heals easily through water. My favorite hero and yet a non-hero, Percy Jackson.
Take a peek into the intricate lives of a young journalist, a band and the groupies. This is what you get when you watch my pick for this week's TCP.
I just love Kate Hudson in this movie. She reminds me of my friend and I, we were groupies of the Eraserheads. But that story is for a different entry. I love her character so much.
William Miller is a 15 year old kid, hired by Rolling Stone magazine to tour with, and write about Stillwater, an up and coming rock band. This wonderfully witty coming of age film follows William as he falls face first to confront life, love, and lingo.
I love the conflict at the end. The band denies everything written by the young writer. Kate Hudson (Penny) never gave her real address to the bandleader (soloist of Stillwater), instead gave the address of the young writer. In the end, they resolved to do the interview again. To redeem the young writer's career.
It's a journey of life, music, passion and love.
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If hubby had to make his pick, no doubt about it, he would have chosen: The Bourne Series. Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum, and Bourne Identity. He loves the character and the story and how the movie was executed. But I'm not my husband.
My pick is something you've already read and heard of in a previous entry. I think. It stars my favorite actor besides Matt Damon, no other than Robin Williams.
In my pick, Matt Damon is a school janitor in an ivy league school who has this uncanny ability (genius) to solve mathematical problems which are perplexing and complicated theorems, corollaries and the like. Where every line there should be proof of your solutions. ( I am recanting my statement, hubby would enjoy the math challenge here). One day, he decides to solve a particular problem left at the chalkboard by a math instructor and since the answer is correct and none of the students can claim that they were able to solve it, the search led to Matt Damon.
The story is unique, heartwarming and touching. It was also written by both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The movie is Good Will Hunting.
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*Apologies to Kikamz for being absent for such a long time. Rediscovering the hardships of waiting in school and scrambling in the morning.
A meme where we get to talk about our top pick for a certain topic. Come and be a coucher.
Dear Reader,
Today's theme is a movie that disappointed me. Sad to say, I can't leave it to just one. I'm posting 3. In no particular order, here they are:
X-Files I Want to Believe - sure I love the fact that Scully and Mulder are back together, but the characters were so different from what I was so used to in the tv series and the first movie. Plus, where's the supernatural factor?
Queen of the Damned - I guess I expected too much from this movie, since Interview with a Vampire had such a stunningly stellar cast. I was looking forward to powerful characters who would portray the ancient vampires. Maharet, Mekare, and others. Tom Cruise wasn't even Lestat anymore so it was a bit of a letdown for me. I loved Aaliyah as Akasha though.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the Half Blood Prince - maybe I was expecting much more since this was a very important part of the series before the big one.
School is Fun Movies A variety of movies with school settings that I enjoyed, cried, laughed and just had fun watching. Be a coucher and tell me your pick
Dear Reader,
Well, I think I'll keep this short for a change, nah, Impossible!
School is fun made me go on memory lane since my short-term memory is coming up empty or rather falling on High School Musical and that doesn't hit the spot for me. My picks are not that old. I could give you a list. High School movies are much more fun because of all the angst and teenage drama and seemingly complicated love things. My favorite movies in reverse order:
Cruel Intentions - an old movie, then remade by actors I really like. Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Philippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. They are in highschool and the movie is actually like Gossip Girl , manipulations, controlling, competition and more.
Another Cinderella Story - a movie where I found Selena Gomez, fun and attractive. It's a sequel to my 2nd top pick. I just love the rags to riches theme or in this case, the one with talent wins.
A Cinderella Story - I love this movie not because of Hilary Duff, but because of Chad Michael Murray, (Lucas Scott of One Tree Hill, also starred in House of Wax). He's just yummy as the quarterback who writes poetry and wants to go to Princeton.
My top pick is Drive Me Crazy(1999). The movie stars Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and Adrian Grenier (Entourage)
Nicole Maris is a popular high school preppy senior in Utah who gets her life turned upside down when her perfect date, Brad, falls for a cute cheerleader from another school a month before the school's centennial senior prom.Devastated, she rushes off to her yearbook and crosses off one after another possible prospects for her date. Then her sights settle on Chase Hammond. She's his next-door neighbor, they were friends in a different lifetime. He's going out with Dulcie (Ali Larter) who decides that they're in a cooling off period. She cleans up his act (make him fashionable and become a part of the 'in crowd'). He teaches her about fighting for causes and others. They were pretending to like each other so that the ones they would make the ones they wanted jealous. In the end, they were meant to be for each other. One more thing, I love about the movie, is the soundtrack but not the Britney Spears song. I like Stranded by Plumb, and Keep on Loving You by The Donnas.
Other movies of note in School Genre: Honey (with Jessica Alba), 10 Things I hate about You (Heath Ledger), Step Up (1 and 2) and so much more. Wanna Find more movies? Learn something new? Click on the banner above. Sorry, had to remove the music, it was playing automatically.
This is my entry for today's theme: For Love of Family.
I am not sure whether anyone has seen this. I saw this at Hallmark Channel and though I saw it on tv it is defined as made for tv movie.
The title of the movie is: Gracie's Choice.
The Summary: Threatened once again with juvenile hall and foster care as a result of her drug-addicted mother's irresponsible behavior, seventeen-year-old Gracie make an unprecedented sacrifice to keep herself and her siblings together-by fighting the courts to become legally emancipated from her mother, terminate her parenting rights, and be named the boys' adoptive parent.
If you're interested: Here's a clip of the movie. This is the end of the movie and shows the decision of the court.
My version of the summary: Gracie is a smart student being raised by her grandmother. The welfare checks keep coming, she maintains a job while going to school. Her mom is a no-good mom played by Anne Heche. It's a very dramatic movie. The guidance counselor tries to help her. Her boyfriend tries to help her but then he also gets scared of the thought that she wants to be a mom to her brothers though all of them are her half-brothers. She learns that when you open a bank account, your money earns you money. Things like that which she learns will help her family in the long run. To see the judges' decision on her emancipation. Watch the video clip. Kristen Bell is famous for playing Veronica Mars, starred in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Couples Retreat, also the voice of Gossip Girl. She also played Elle Bishop in Heroes (the tv series).
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I almost drew a blank on this one. I've been thinking about it the whole week. The first thing that came to my mind in all honesty was Poison Ivy of Batman and Robin. She wants Mother Nature to fight back so she crossbred some plants that could defend themselves. I really think it's a pretty lame entry, so here I am racking my brain some more.
My pick for the love of nature movie would be one that is a documentary. Most of you have probably heard of it: It's a documentary made by Al Gore discussing one of the most prominent issues that we are facing in the world today. Global Warming. It truly is affecting everything and it's a movie that one should really see, that will jolt us to our very cores. Seriously. I pity the polar bear who has to swim a long time just to get to that block of ice where it can rest. It's just heartbreaking. Comparisons of how snow, how much ice, that has been depleting. Areas that was once filled with snow have become deserts. It's really scary and will give you a rude awakening.
From director Davis Guggenheim, An Inconvenient Truth is a passionate and inspirational look at former Vice President Al Gore's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. In this intimate portrait of Gore and his "travelling global warming show," Gore comes across as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and intent on alerting citizens to this "planetary emergency" before it's too late.
Interspersed with the bracing facts and future predictions is the story of Gore's personal journey: from an idealistic college student who first saw a massive environmental crisis looming; to a young Senator facing a harrowing family tragedy that altered his perspective; to the man who almost became President but instead returned to the most important cause of his life. With an emphasis on hope, An Inconvenient Truth ultimately shows us that global warming is no longer a political issue but rather, the biggest moral challenge facing our civilization today.
After having its U.S. debut at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and international premiere at Cannes, An Inconvenient Truth opened to rave reviews and enthusiastic audiences everywhere. A smash hit, the film went on to win Academy Awards® for Best Documentary feature and Best Song. It also became a global phenomenon, one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time with a worldwide audience estimated at 5 million people.
What's your For the love of nature pick? If you have one, go ahead and write about it, don't forget to click the banner above and add your link to the post.
I can't embed the video of the trailer but in case you're interested: Click here
It's Tuesday once again, and of course, its time for my favorite meme of the week. This is the meme which never fails to surprise me since I can never guess what the popular entry would be. Then there are just entries that are entirely new to me that I become glad of the discovery like Fireproof and The Rebound that were some of the entries last week. (Feeling host ba na nagrecap?)
I almost hit a blank wall on this one until I remembered my favorite actor. Robin Williams will never fail me in any category. OMG! See, it just reminded me that I should have recanted or at least added additional entries and added What Dreams May Come as my favorite lovestory of all time, with that is Sweet Home Alabama. Hay, makes me feel like doing a do-over.
On to my entry for this week. Here's a few hints, Pierce Brosnan is in it. It showcases the million and more talents of Robin Williams. It shows that you can have a petting zoo in your house for a birthday party. Still no guesses? What about this photo?
What do you do when after you get a divorce, you are only allowed to visit your kids once a week? Daniel, who is an actor with a million voices decides that he can't stay away from his kids so he sabotages his wife's Miranda's advertisement in the paper as she looks for a nanny for their kids. Daniel goes to his brother, asks that he changes his looks and turns into the proper and very Scottish, Mrs. Doubtfire. In the process, he learns to cook, takes care of his children better and turn his life around. More comedic moments when his wife has a suitor in the form of Pierce Brosnan. Other funny scenes would include his son seeing Mrs.Doubtfire peeing while standing up. Lessons are learned when the restaurant scene happens. This is in celebration of Miranda's birthday and the disastrous meeting with his new boss where he's going to pitch his idea for a new tv show for kids. Daniel (RW) sabotages Stu's (PB) dinner since he's allergic to pepper. Daniel runs back and forth from his table with his family as Mrs. Doubtfire and to the other table, his boss's as Daniel.Drinking with his boss, he begins to screw up little by little till in the end, he sits on the boss's table as Mrs. Doubtfire and had to double back as Stu chokes on his jambalaya. When Daniel does the Heimlich maneuver on Stu, the wig comes off and it is discovered that Mrs. Doubtfire and Daniel is one and the same person. With this happening, the court judges that he will have supervised visits and he defends himself by saying that he loves his kids so much and that's what made him do it. Happy endings happen when in the end, Miranda decides on no supervised visits, and that Daniel gets his new job, his show as Mrs.Doubtfire. It's touching when you see the movies end. There's a portion of the show where he gets a letter from a child asking about a divorce.
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I was going to write about 50 First Dates, to veer away from my usual picks of dramatic love stories. But then I saw that Rossel has already written about it. Then, I remember crying about this movie, liking it since it had different twists and turns and more. Before I go on and on about it, this movie stars Michelle Trachtenberg, famous as Buffy's little sister and as the infamous Georgina in Gossip Girls. The guy is Will Estes of American Dreams.
The title of the movie is The Dive from Clausen's Pier. The plot like every love story is simple yet complicated. The movie starts with highschool sweethearts Carrie and Mike. They're the couple you write in your slumbooks as the 'first to get married', been steady since forever and the perfect couple.An accident shocks the couple apart. Mike jumps into the pier, unknowingly, the water is shallow, so he becomes a quadriplegic. Then, the unspeakable happens, Carrie dumps him to go to New York and pursue an ambition that is yet to be defined. She hooks up with Kilroy, whom she doesn't really know. In the end, she decides to choose to straighten out her life, and try to face her past so she can move on with her life.
Why is it that when I read or hear the word girl power what comes to mind is the image of Charlie's Angels, the Powerpuff girls and after a few more seconds I receive the image of Totally Spies. I'm betting that most couchers would write Charlie's Angels the old ones and the new ones I imagine. I'm still wracking my brain for an entry that wouldn't be them.
So, when an answer evades me, I turn to my bestfriend "Google" and found that Girl Power is a phrase made popular by spice girls and girl power often refers to feminism and/or warriors. Think Amazon women or Buffy or Echo of Dollhouse.
Well, if ever there was a woman who impressed me in her role as a warrior, it would be Kiera Knightley as Guenevere of King Arthur. Then I delved even further and found one movie I really like and can actually tell you the story, but I bet you all know this movie so I wouldn't bore you.
If you haven't watched it, you can read all the details here
All I can say is it's action packed, she kicks but*! shows women are strong even if we do show emotions. That we can handle guns, rolling, kicking a** and hand to hand combat.
I'm much tempted to just put Harry Potter but then I never post the first thing that comes to my mind. With the topic as just magical... I'll deviate from wizards and jump into the witches. Or we can do magicians too. But then there's 2 that stand out to my memory and I love the soundtrack. It just stuck with me.
Without further ado, my picks are:
Practical Magic
Practical Magic is a movie based on Alice Hoffman's novel of the same title. A tale of 2 sisters raised by their aunts who are renowned witches in the area. They know to throw salt on your left shoulder. Plant rosemaries and a whole lot more. It's a beautiful movie which stars beautiful people. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play Sally and Gillian respectively. The plot is great too, how when in need, all you have to do is ask for help from your family and help will come. I can't find a clear trailer for the movie - this is the best one I could come up with and this was where I heard "This Kiss" by Faith Hill the first time and I absolutely love it.
Not to be content... I just had to add this one in for good measure. Robin Tunney is amazing in this one. Plus, the song playing on the video is the famous opening theme of "Charmed". I'm talking about "The Craft"... By the power of three times three...I beseech thee. "Light as a feather, stiff as a board." I just love this movie. The trailer says it all so enjoy watching.Plus the end of this video, when the bus driver warns them about the weirdos is priceless.
Other Magical Movies worth mentioning: Harry Potter series of course, my favorite is Goblet of Fire. The Prestige: Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. For more picks of the magical nature, click on the banner above.
I am particularly lost in this category. Should I pick horror movies again? When I think of Supernatural, I think of the tv series which is my absolute favorite and it's already on it's 5th season which is pretty much exciting.
I had to rack my brain about this one and I can only think of 2, which aren't in the horror/gruesome category so I decided to write about them.
From these 2, I had to choose a favorite.
My first pick but not the top pick would be: "Ghost" - a lovestory that starred Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze with my classic favorite Whoopi Goldberg.
I just love the pottery scene and the coin which he passed thru the door and lifted it by pushing at the side of the door and making it float to her. I get shivers and goosebumps in that scene.
Now, for my TOP pick!
Chris and Annie are parents who just lost their 2 kids in a car accident. Chris is a doctor who loves his wife Annie so much, but they are suffering from their devastating loss. Chris then dies in an accident leaving Annie behind. Annie tries to cope, but it's too much for her. Chris goes to Heaven. Annie commits suicide and goes to Hell. Now, Chris learning of Annie's suicide fights his way to go to Hell and find his True Love.
My favorite quote from the movie:
That's when I realized I'm part of the problem. Not because I remind you. But because I couldn't join you. So I left you alone. Don't give up, okay?
Here's another one:
Thank you for every kindness. Thank you for our children. For the first time I saw them. Thank you for being someone I was always proud to be with. For your guts, for your sweetness. For how you always looked, for how I always wanted to touch you. God, you were my life. I apologize for everytime I ever failed you. Especially this one...
Can you guess which movie it is?
Give up? It's What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams, my favorite actor.
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Today's TCP is about Urban Legends. Unfortunately, I think my post for Suspense/Thriller also falls into this category. So again, my pick remains the same : When a Stranger Calls. The Urban Legend: A babysitter left alone in charge of sleeping children receives severalthreatening phone calls. After reporting the calls to the phone company, the girl is notified by the telephone operator that the calls are originating from the upstairs extension. The babsitter flees the house just ahead of an armed intruder who has already murdered the children.
Read my post about When a Stranger Calls here. If you want to see more movies under the category of movies based in urban legends, you can also check out Wikipedia. My other picks in the list: Shutter and Mothman Prophecies. I love the horror I felt in Shutter but it's more of a ghost story than an Urban Legend. But most Urban Legends are indeed based on ghosts coming back to haunt people or just real bad guys.
Plus, if we do the horror route about just real bad guys - I know it's not a movie, but I really like Harper's Island. It isn't a movie but it's a 13-episode series that really feels like a movie.
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