Geeky Girl Tuesday: Guilty Pleasure Movies

It's time for another edition of Guilty Pleasure Movies!

Today it's another movie from my childhood.  It's one that I'm convinced helped spur my love of books and reading, along with a slightly unhealthy belief that a good portion of what I was reading just might be true.

It's The Neverending Story, a great fantasy movie that celebrates imagination, discovering confidence, and finding your purpose.

Geeky Girl Tuesday: Geek up your Halloween

The Halloween season is officially upon us (regardless of the tempting candy isle being around for about a month).

If you're like me, trick or treating is too much work when you can stop down said isle and treat yourself whenever you want.  So instead of costume ideas or things like that, I'm going to recommend some movies to turn to when the sugar crash hits.

Beetlejuice
Ahh, the 80s.  When Tim Burton's style was still new and refreshing and Michael Keaton was still making movies.  A fun movie, with what is undoubtedly the best random musical number ever.



Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
A classic that is only fun if you can fully embrace the camp of an aging Bette Davis AND Joan Crawford.  Now that I come to think of it, a Davis & Crawford themed party would be awesome!  Prepare yourself for unabashed drama and scenery-chewing that could only be handled by these two.


 
Anything with Vincent Price
No really, anything with him.  He is the high grand master of Halloween in my mind.  Fun, cheap scares, and one of the best voices of any actor.

Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (or If you give an Ape a Cookie . . .)

So this past Sunday, the Bear and I finally got around to seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

I have to say I unequivocally loved it.

Was it a bit cheesy in parts, yes.  And you did have to suspend some belief (or takes some things for granted) in the final act, but everything leading up to that point made you willing to go with them.

The CGI work on Caesar was amazing, and he really felt like a genuine character to me, even more than Gollum did in the LOTR movies.

There were lots of little nods to the original film that you would miss if you weren't a dorky fan like I am. But there were also some great big nods (just wait for the scene with the "damn, dirty apes" line and see if it doesn't grab you).

And the groundwork they laid to bring about the fall of mankind was well thought out, and plausible in the world of the movie.

I'm telling you, it's enough to make me forget that Mark Wahlberg ever made a PotA movie.



It does make me really nervous about Chips Ahoy though.  They're the cookies of the revolution.   

A to Z Challenge: Movies: If I wrote the screenplay

Click here for more participants!

Whoops!  I accidentally posted this yesterday.  Sorry if you've already read it!

~~~

I'm not 100% sure if this really fits into my geeky theme for the month, but I thought I'd go ahead with it.


I'm usually pretty good with figuring out the plot of Movies as I watch them.  But there are times that the movie diverges away from my plan.  Sometimes it's good, but in other cases, I prefer my ending.

So I thought I'd debut my new feature "If I wrote the screenplay" with a movie the husband and I saw this past weekend: Insidious.



General Plotline: A young and growing family starts to notice strange things in their new house.  When their young son enters a strange coma-like state, the strangeness hits new heights.  They move to a new house, but soon find that the spirits have followed them.  They soon find out that it's not their house that is haunted; it's their son.

Warning, Warning, Warning: Spoilers Ahead.


No Really, I'm about to give away the twist of the movie.

Where I'm picking up: After consulting with a paranormal expert, Josh and Renai find out their son is an expert Astral Projector, whose soul has lost track of his body. Evil spirits and demons want to take over his physical body. They find out that Dalton has inherited his skill from his dad, who was also a Traveler when he was a child, and was haunted by an old woman.  Josh must now enter "The Further" and fight off demons to help his son return to his body.

My Version: When Josh enters the spirit version of their house where Dalton is being held captive, he sees several glimpses of the old woman (In the first real movie glimpse, it looks like she's in a wedding dress).  He finds his son, who is being tortured by the demon.

While Josh and the demon battle, he notices that the old woman is hovering near his son.  She is releasing the chains while Josh fights the demon.  Just when Josh is about to lose, the old woman, who is still heavily veiled) steps in between them and with a bright flash of light, pushes the demon back.

She grabs Josh and Dalton by the hand and takes them away.  They have to fight off lesser spirits along the way.  When they reach the end of "The Further" the old woman says she will hold off the spirits while they escape.  Josh recognizes her voice and pulls her veil away.  It is his wife.

Flashback to real-movie scenes, where Dalton tells his mom that she's old, and Josh's mom tells him he was haunted by an old woman.

Josh finds out that the old woman is also in the real world, living as his wife in a body she hijacked years before.  Now, Josh is faced with the dilemma of letting his wife continue to do what the spirits wanted to do to his son or continuing the happy life he has.

Not sure where the rest of "my movie" would go...by that point, the movie had gone down a boring and predictable road, so my predictions were down the drain.

So what about you?  Do you ever re-write movies in your head?  Are your versions better?

Top Ten Horror/Sci-Fi Movie Quotes Blogfest

I came across this fun blogfest through Alex J. Cavanaugh.  Some really cool guys, iZombieLover and Ellie Garratt came up with the topic.  The top ten horror/sci-fi movie quotes. 

In all honesty, I haven't thought about this much since I signed up for it a while back, and now I'm a bit worried that I'll come up with enough.  Let's see how it goes:

(In no particular order. And I know, my definition of the genres are a little looser than others.)

Shaun of the Dead
Liz: It's just with Ed here, it's no wonder I always bring my flat-mates out and then that only exacerbates things.
Shaun: What do you mean?
Liz: Well you guys hardly get on, do you?
Shaun: No, what does "exacerbate" mean?
Liz: It means um, to make things worse.

Great zombie rom-com.  The first, the best, and an instant classic.

Let the Right One In
Oskar: How old are you?
Eli: Twelve... more or less.


A haunting movie, up for lots of slightly different interpretations.  As much about society's outcasts as it is a vampire movie.  For a really intense ride, try out the book (which has one of the scariest scenes I've ever read).

A Tale of Two Sisters
Eun-ju: Do know what's really scary? You want to forget something. Totally wipe it off your mind. But you never can. It can't go away, you see. And... and it follows you around like a ghost.

A beautiful and complicated film that does well under repeated viewing. Stick with the movie through the deliberately slow pacing, and feel the hairs on your arms stand up as the tension mounts.

Psycho
Norman Bates: It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes.

By now, most people know the twist of this film even if they haven't seen it.  But it's still worth watching for the absolutely amazing job by Anthony Perkins.  It's no wonder he got type cast after this movie, the above line still gives me chills.

Audition
Asami Yamazaki: Kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri!

This quote will mean nothing to you if you haven't watched this movie.  If you have, you're probably shivering now.  Another complex and confusing Asian horror that will haunt you for years to come.

Serenity
Jayne Cobb: She is startin' to damage my calm.

Unless your big fans of the series, this movie is just so-so.  But, it was great to see the story come to a conclusion (of sorts) and to see the characters' send off.

PS-Jayne's my favorite.

The Shining
Grady daughters: Come play with us, Danny.

The movie that single-handedly made me terrified of small British children. A great horror classic, even if King hated it and it really has nothing to do with the novel.

The Jacket
Jack Starks: I was 27 years old the first time I died.

A movie that didn't do well in the theaters and hasn't really gotten the notice it deserves.  A great time-travel, medical experimentation movie that manages to keep you intrigued and interested in the characters.  The first film I saw Adrien Brody in, and in my mind, still one of his best.

Being John Malkovich
John Malkovich: This portal is mine and must be sealed up forever. For the love of God.
Craig Schwartz: With all respect, sir, I discovered that portal. Its my livelihood.
John Malkovich: It's my head, Schwartz, and I'll see you in court!
Craig Schwartz: And who's to say I won't be seeing what you're seeing... in court? 

A bizarre, but brilliant film that will make you love/appreciate John Malkovich even more.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Blanche: You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I weren't still in this chair.
Jane: But you are, Blanche! You are in that chair!

A great dark comedy thriller that stars two Hollywood classics at the end of their career.  Not one to miss, but be sure you can embrace the camp.

How I've Been Spending My Time (The Depths of Netflix)

I've been very lazy this last week.  For the most part, I've been the female equivalent of the Dude from The Big Lebowski, except for the bowling.

Here's a list of the random movies I've watched.  All available on Netflix instant play.

Tales of the Black Freighter
The animated comic-in-a-comic from Watchmen. The fact that this subplot was missing from the original movie bummed me out.  But it's now available, with some very good voice acting.  Basically the same creepy story, but made even creepier with motion. 4 out of 5 stars


East of Eden
I recently read this book, and I have to declare: I am not a Steinbeck fan.  I'm coming to realize that Of Mice and Men was more the exception and not the rule.  I actually preferred the film.  It cut out the boring first half of the book, took away the heavy-handed-bludgeon-your-brain-in symbolism as well.  My only problem is that James Dean looks like he's suffering from Autism.  4 out of 5 stars

Alice (1988 Czech version)
This was one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen in my life.  And Being John Malcovich is in my top 10 list.  Very, very, very disturbing retelling of Alice in Wonderland.  Only see if you have a strong stomach and don't have a fear of taxidermy.  I'm pretty sure stuffed rabbits will haunt my dreams for years now.  3 out of 5 stars

Grey Gardens (The original documentary)
My god, I love these women!  They are so unapologetically INSANE!  Beautiful, tragic, funny, and voyeuristic. 5 out of 5 stars

Un Chien Andalou
This 15 minute silent film was created in part by Salvidor Dali.  It is everything you would expect from his crazy mind.  (He even makes a guest appearance as a priest being dragged in front of a piano covered with a rotting donkey carcass.  Yes, you read the sentence correctly).  If nothing else, this movie has proved to me that I don't understand surrealism, at all.  The opening segment is more shocking than anything I've ever seen in Saw.  *shiver* 2 out of 5 stars (if only for my ignorance)


Helvetica
This is a documentary about the development of the font Helvetica.  Yes, they have officially made a documentary about EVERYTHING.  While I was hoping for the quirkiness that led to these: NSFW tattoo and male tramp stamp, it really is just about the creation of the font.  Or at least the part I watched.  I couldn't get through it. 2 out of 5 stars

Brokeback Mountain
This was everything I thought it would be, but better.  I sobbed at the end.  And I got to see Anne Hathaway's breasts, a privilege my husband hasn't had. :) 5 out of 5 stars

Coupling (BBC series)
All four seasons of this series are available on Netflix.  The seasons are very short.  I don't think any were above 12 shows.  This is a very hilarious, raunchy, British version of Friends.  It has some of the best speeches in any comedy show I've seen.  I love the one about progress and porn from season one (I think).  The last season is throwaway to me, because my favorite character Jeff isn't in it.  Don't watch in mixed company or with your parents. 5 out of 5 for seasons 1-3, 3 out of 5 for season 4