ok, i love to be entertained. this is not really a great thing. most likely i fit into the category of neil postman’s work amusing ourselves to death. But that is a discussion for another day...
well, i was answering one of those email question surveys (what was your favorite stuffed animal?, when was your first kiss?, was your first kiss WITH your favorite stuffed animal) and the question of “what is your favorite movie?” came up and i started to answer with “the last one i saw” because i always like the last movie that i saw the best, until i see a new one (kind of a “love the one you’re with” philosophy)...
but i do have a couple of movies that i will watch OVER and OVER again. and only a couple, i DO not like to read books over and over (except for about 5 of them, and i will cover those on another day) and it is the same ways with movies. i like NEW ones best, but there are the few that if i only had them, i would be fine (well, i am not all fine now, so i would be like i am now, slightly northwesteastsouth of fine)...
What Dreams May Come- and by the way, i am the ONLY person in the world that liked this movie (i have checked with everyone in the world too). it is TOTALLY spiritual incorrect (a reincarnation kind of tone, but with heaven and hell), but when robin williams says to that old traveler guy while they are in hell (and by this i mean they are literally in hell)... “tell the children i love them and i wouldn’t leave their mother”, oh my gosh, i cry me a bucket. i swear that if i was in hell (literally or in this case figuratively) adam would be robin williams and would come and get me, i know he would.
2. Wit- this was not a movie theater movie but was made into a movie for HBO. it is an adaption of a pulitzer prize winning play (that was written by a kindergarten teacher) about a college professor dying of cancer who specializes in the poetry of John Donne. sounds exciting, huh? i can really sell these to ya, can’t i? anyway i have always loved the poem “death be not proud” but the way it is lived out in this movie and the way emma thompson plays this woman is INCREDIBLE and i want to die that well and have audra mcdonald be my popsicle pushing nurse. i will never read “the runaway bunny” again without crying. enough said. you just have to see this beautiful movie.
3. Gladiator- not a line wasted in this movie, not a word that doesn’t need to be there (most unlike this blog). ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!?!? gives me chills...
4) 300- LOVE IT and i am a girl. it was like watching the most beautiful ballet piece with blood as a prop. the use of red throughout the movie was quite interestingly done and in places i actually gasp out loud because it the scene is so gorgeously set up and directed and visually it is a FEAST. i LOVED watching the director’s comments and seeing how he translated the author of the graphic comic’s vision SO completely. made me love the movie even more seeing the pages of the graphic novel and how the actual scene looks exactly like the author/illustrator’s vision. how do people have that much talent? and why don’t i have it...
notice that all of my list included movies with a LOT of death- hmmmm. i am a really depressing person, aren’t i? and i think they are all rated “R”, this says something else about me that i don’t quite wish to express in black and white, but i know that you are all thinking bad thoughts about me, so let me just complete the picture...
5) and for the new movie of the week... Atonement. LOVED IT, very depressing (and not just because Keira Knightly is SO skinny) but it is beautifully shot, every scene is visually stunning. i want to live in england (not during war times though) in a manor house (and not be a servant). loved the big surprise ending, hated the postmodern feel of the big surprise ending. want to be keira knightly or just look like her and star in pride and prejudice (a clue to my top re-readable books list) like her...
OK that is lea’s “movies to watch again” list, or lea’s “what the heck, she is really a funny person, why does she like all these depressing movies” list, or lea’s “totally rated R and not suitable for children, young adults, or anyone i know” list, take your pick....
and send me your top five list. they have gotten to be happier than my top 5 list.