Thursday Movie Picks: Teen Comedies

Another week, another entry in Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks Meme. This is a good one...The Teen Comedy.

This category lends itself to bad movies. There are just so many that miss the mark. Thankfully, there has already been one this year that totally works on all the levels we teen comedy fans desire. That being "The Duff," starring Mae Whitman. (Read my review of that one here.)

I went with three of the best. Two of which were movies I actually saw when I was already in my twenties. That says a lot about them, that they work for people not in their targeted demographic. Of course, I had to pick an 80s gem as well. But no John Hughes here. Not this time.

Blind Spot 2015: Bonnie and Clyde

Created and Hosted by Ryan McNeil at The Matinee. 

There's a three word sentence in this film that seems to get all the credit:  "We rob banks." By the time Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) repeats this line upon meeting gas station attendant C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard), I was already enraptured in another three word sentence uttered early on by the second of the titular characters, Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty):  "You're a knockout."

And it is. And she is. And he is. And everything about this movie is a knockout. From the French New Wave inspired cinematography and editing to the classically Americana repetition of Flatt and Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" to the sheer "babe" (as a friend of mine put it in an Instagram conversation yesterday) quality of Dunaway and Beatty, this movie is visually unforgettable. A knockout.

Thursday Movie Picks: Mother-Daugher Relationships

Mid-week has come and gone, and it's time for another entry in Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. This week we're talking Mother-Daughter Relationships.

Man, did I get to know that relationship growing up!

I never got to meet my mother's mother. She died about four years before I was born. But the sweet and bitter of her relationship to my mother and all my mother's five sisters is ingrained in me. I know the mother-daughter relationship from a past perspective just as I know it through movies. To know my own mother is to know mothers and daughters. To have a younger sister and to see her relationship with our mother is to know mothers and daughters on yet another level.

Many movies portray the mother-daughter relationship. I have focused on the first three that came to me. These are movies driven pretty much entirely by the mother-daughter relationship.

Thursday Movie Picks: Movies Adapted from a Young Adult Novel

Now, this week's category in Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks Meme is right in my wheelhouse.

I teach this stuff. Well, that it to say that I teach kids who read this stuff. So, in turn, I read it as well. I have to. I have to stay connected with the YA goods.

There are so many good movies to pick from here. Some I've used before (I'm trying not to repeat any picks). I focused on screen adaptations of works I've actually read. I came up with, in the end, three movies that I will love forever, no matter how many times I've seen them.

Thursday Movie Picks: Live Action Fairy Tale Adaptations

This week on Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks Meme, I'm at a bit of a loss.

Here's the thing: I've never seen a live action fairy tale adaptation. By that I mean, I have never seen a live action adaptation of a traditional fairy tale in the Grimm sense of the genre. It's just not my bag. I have seen quite a few great ones in the realm of fantasy that I think could work here, including Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride" (1987) and Ron Howard's "Willow" (1988). And I'm sure I saw several "fairy tale"-type movies growing up that I just don't have enough memory of, or love for, to offer as recommendations.

Saturday Speaks (and Links): Cabin Fever Edition

On Saturday Morning

I'm getting out of the house today. That's for sure. I haven't worked in two weeks. Here in my little section of East Tennessee, snow has accumulated on five separate occasions in the past 13 days. Yesterday, the sun came out. We broke 45 degrees. The melt began.

But I'm getting out of the house to see my first movie released in 2015, though I'm not sure what yet. Don't worry, you'll know soon enough.

Blind Spot 2015: Fitzcarraldo

Created and hosted by Ryan McNeil at The Matinee

A little less than a third of the way into Werner Herzog's 1982 epic "Fitzcarraldo," our hero, played by the fierce Klaus Kinski, answers a question posed to him by a land surveyor from whom he is purchasing a large parcel of Peruvian jungle. The man asks him, "Do you really know what you're doing?" Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, or as the natives call him, 'Fitzcarraldo', answers, "We're going to do what nobody's ever done."

I would imagine that if that same question was asked to German auteur Werner Herzog upon pitching the idea to make this film, he would've said the exact same thing.

Most filmmakers simply make films. They tell stories with lights and cameras and sound stages and backlots and actors in secure, protected environments. They do a great job. We love these movies.

Werner Herzog creates experiences grounded in danger and mystery, true adventures complete with unexpected elements and settings and untrained actors. Then, he films them. We can't fathom how this sort of thing is even possible. And we love these too.

Twenty Years of Oscar: Achievement in Directing

At some point in the late 1990s, probably around '97/'98, I began to realize that there was this job called film director and that it was these creative geniuses that drove the storytelling aspect of movies. Steven Spielberg was my first love. I wanted so much to see all of his movies. I began to learn about filmmaking through him and his love of it. I read about him constantly. "Saving Private Ryan" came to theaters. I went...twice. I was blown away by its power, its greatness.

I got into some Scorsese, "Goodfellas and "Casino." Then, I saw Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia." I became obsessed with the camera. I began to see the differences in directors' various styles.

I began to understand what made a "Best Director" for the first time.

All of the movies mentioned below are Oscar choices that I just fully agree with. Most of these are for "groundbreaking," even controversial films. All of them are visually masterful pieces of cinema from truly visionary filmmakers.

Twenty Years of Oscar: Actor in a Leading Role

I want to go ahead and get something out of the way: I love Tom Hanks. Now, he didn't make this list because I'm in constant struggle about "Forrest Gump" and whether it's actually a great movie or not. I haven't seen it in years, and I fear it may not be as powerful as I once considered it to be. Also, while his win as Gump was deserved, I am still bitter about his loss in 1998 to that Italian Jumping Bean guy. If Hanks had won for "Saving Private Ryan," he would be on this list.

Anyway, we've reached Day Three in my "Twenty Years of Oscar" extravaganza. Best Actor...it's a biggie. And it is so often one of the tightest races each year. Some are runaways, including most of the picks you'll find below, but it always finds itself a hot topic this time a year. This year, especially. Can't wait 'til Sunday.

Thursday Movie Picks: Oscar Winning Movies

Oscar is in the air. "The mood is tense!"...sort of. This week's edition of the Wandering through the Shelves Thursay Movie Picks Meme is all about "the big enchilada, ya dig?" You know, Best Picture, the last one of the night. But Oscar gives out more than one "Best Picture." Yeah, to spread it around, there's a category for Best Foreign Language Film and one for Best Animated Feature. Since it's an option and I'm doing another Best Picture post this weekend, I've decided to go ahead and spread it around myself. I'm giving you a favorite from each of the aforementioned Oscar categories, in order.

Twenty Years of Oscar: Screenplay

So, OK. Anyone who knows Oscar knows about "The Big Five," which are Writing, Directing, Actress, Actor, and Picture. Only a few films have won them all in the same year: "It Happened One Night" (1934), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), and "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991). Most recently, "American Beauty" (1999) got close, winning four of the five. Annette Bening got beat out for Best Actress.

Anyway, this is the first in a series of posts that will contain "Top Five" lists on the "Big Five Academy Awards" categories. We start...with writing.

The Academy Award for Writing...there are two. One for an Original work, conceived for the screen alone. The second for an Adaptation, something not initially thought of as a movie.

Since 1994, there have been some absolutely groundbreaking scripts written, several of which have actually changed movies for the better forever. Those are the ones I tried to capture here. Surely, there are many more than ten great scripts in the past twenty years, but these are the ones that meant something to me, and, from my perspective, movies, in general.

Twenty Years of Oscar: If Speaks Picked Best Picture, Part II

I left the last post with a question: What does that say about me? The fact that I only agree with two of the ten Best Picture winners from 1994-2003. I think that's about like everybody else. The movie Oscar picks is not always the one that stands the test of time.

So, we continue...

Speaks' Predictions: The 87th Academy Awards

With the 87th Academy Awards telecast just one week away, I thought I'd go ahead and get out my rundown of most of the categories.

This year marks my twentieth go round with the Oscars. The first one I remember aired in 1995, for the year in movies, 1994. "Pulp Fiction" and "Forrest Gump," two movies that I still cherish to this day. Of course, I never saw "Pulp Fiction" until years later. At ten, my Mom wasn't ready to let me watch something quite that violent. But, man, do I remember that show. David Letterman hosted. The famous "Uma"/"Oprah" bit and whatnot. Tom Hanks won the Best Actor Oscar for the second time in two years.

I became obsessed with movie montages. In fact, when I think about the Academy Awards telecast, that's what I see. A movie montage of movie montages, laughs, nice dresses and tuxes, good times. This year's ceremony is poised to be a winner with Neil Patrick Harris at the helm.

I feel like, really there's not a lot missing here. I think Ava DuVernay could easily have been nominated for Best Director in the place of Bennett Miller, and, having recently re-watched "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which leads (tied with "Birdman") the pack with 9 nominations, I have just one question: Where is Ralph Fiennes? Anyway, I'm excited to see who ends up winning big.

Thursday Movie Picks: Unrequited Love

I'm going with flights of whimsy this week, peeps. Fun and happy stuff, for the most part.

Unrequited love, as a topic, is near and dear to me. I'm pretty sure we've all felt it. I certainly have. It hurts, but it doesn't have to be a sad and sappy thing. Since I equate this topic with youth, that's where I'm going with it.

I feel I'm sensing a trend with the topics over at Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks here in the last few weeks. Oh, yes. Valentine's Day is nigh.

Thursday Movie Picks: Romantic Comedies

Love is in the air again for this week's installment of Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks.

The "Romantic Comedies" -- When done right, they can become your favorite movies. The sad thing is that so many aren't done right. It's a genre that can easily become cheesy and predictable. The best ones have to find the right blend of truth, charm, a touch of drama, and real human comedy. Care must be given to how a romantic comedy ends. Too much perfection is cheap. Too little is devastating.

I feel I've picked a few this week that find the right blend of those aspects. They are true and charming, dramatic and comedic. They are perfect movies.

Thursday Movie Picks: Married Couples Movies

"Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva... So tweasure your wuv."
- The Impressive Clergyman, The Princess Bride

I have been married now for fifteen months. It still amazes me sometimes. I mean, I've been with my now wife, Amanda, for almost five years total, but I look at her sometimes, and I'm like I can't believe I'm somebody's husband.

I love the theme this week. Suggested by Wendell from Dell on Movies for Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks Meme, this is an exciting one to tackle. And a bit troubling. I couldn't decide how to mix-up my nearly ten original ideas. Which three should I go with? I decided on three vastly different movies that all feature a marriage as their driving force. All three of these marriages range from rocky, to say the least, all the way to downright scary.

Blind Spot 2015: It's a Wonderful Life

 
Things to happily check off my list: Watch It's a Wonderful Life. Check. Watch a Frank Capra movie. Check.

I am patting myself on the back for putting this up first on my 2015 Blind Spot list, a genius idea for a blog feature created by Ryan McNeil at The Matinee. I loved every minute of it.

I was a stubborn young man. My Mom constantly tried to get me to watch "old" movies. I always acted like a little punk about it. I don't know why. I wish my Mom had kept trying when I really started loving movies, began actively watching anything I possibly could at around the age of 17.

You hear some people scoff at the idea of watching a black-and-white film. I read that, this one, after making it's way into public domain territory was "colorized." How sad. This is a beautiful film, a portrait of a lovely small town, shot in glorious black and white. I'm glad I'm seeing it now. And this way. 

For some reason, It's a Wonderful Life eluded me...until now. My Dad recently asked me if I'd ever seen this movie. He couldn't believe I hadn't. It made this choice even sweeter that I got a random recommendation after I'd already made this my first Blind Spot. How happy I am to have seen it.

Thursday Movie Picks: Movies with Color in the Title

All I could think about was the word blue when this category came up. That's all you're getting. Nothing old, everything new, all blue. 

So glad to be a part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks once again. 

Cynicism Aside: More Thoughts on American Sniper

I'm having trouble deciding how I should feel right now. Today is one year to the day since I began really taking my blogging and movie reviews seriously. Today is the first time I've felt truly upset by some of the movie talk out there right now.

To begin, I recently watched two American films about American men, who made choices to believe in something greater than themselves and to fight for that belief. To fight for those who needed fighting for. The gossip surrounding these two films I'm sure you know. I'm talking about Ava DuVernay's story of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march for voting rights called Selma and Clint Eastwood's adaptation of a best-selling memoir by U.S. Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle, a man who did kill many men in a devastating travesty of a war, called American Sniper. Both of these men are heroes, and nothing is gonna stop me from knowing that to be true. For me, American Sniper was the better movie and deserves what praise it is getting. It doesn't deserve to be slandered before being seen.

When I Was Thirty: The Ocean's Trilogy

Steven Soderbergh baffles me. He's one of those filmmakers who just doesn't seem to stick with anything. And most of his work has just seemed off-putting to me. I've just never seeked his work out. Of his roughly 25 feature films, starting with 1989's Sex, Lies, and Videotape, I've only seen 7, including the only thing he ever truly stuck with in the comedy-caper colossus of cool known as Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen.

What's funny is that the other four of his films I have seen (Behind the Candelabra, The Informant!, Traffic, and Out of Sight) are all what I would consider favorite movies. So, if you are a Soderbergh fan and are reading this, please recommend some sort of place to start with the rest of his films. I can't seem to figure the guy out, but I am willing to see all of his movies.

If my last entry in this series (for those of you who aren't familiar with this series, click here) on The Bourne Trilogy was all about badassness, then this entry on Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Trilogy is all about cool. Just straight up good-looking, sexy, funny, entertaining, COOL.