Friday, March 9, 2012

Movie Five

A list of my favourite movies (in no particular order). If you haven't seen them...well, obviously I recommend that you do.

1. RENT - There's nothing I love more than a musical. Since seeing this movie when it first came out in the theatre, I've bought the DVD and the soundtrack and I play them both often. It's about some artists living in New York and the bad guy is Taye Diggs, but he's not a bad guy, he's just a guy that "sold-out." And some of the characters have AIDS but they're living with it. There's only one part of this movie I don't like. I'd tell you about it, but then I'd spoil the whole movie for you. Suffice to say that the singing and dancing makes up for that one part that's so horribly cheezy that you are forced to roll your eyes and snort in derision.

2. White Christmas - Oh Bing, what would Christmas eve be like without your beautiful bass-baritone. Have I already mentioned my love of musicals? OK, so there's these guys in the army and one guy (Danny Kaye) saves the other guy's (Bing Crosby) life. And then they become this really famous singing duo and they meet this sister act (not nuns) and they all end up in Vermont together, but it's the Christmas season and there's no snow, and one of the lodges there is owned by the two famous singers' general from the army and they want to help him out. And then, *Spoiler alert* it snows on Christmas eve. I watch this every single Christmas eve since I discovered it when I was about 15 and I cry at the same parts every single year.

3. Imitation of Life - I'm honestly not a cryer. There is little in real life that can get me to shed tears (unless it involves my kids), but this movie (and the preceding two) make me bawl. Like the kind of crying where your skin gets blotchy and your nose runs and you have to nap after because you're so exhausted from all the crying. Anyway, this is an old movie (1959) about a white mother and her young daughter who befriend a black woman and her young daughter. The black mom becomes the white mom's maid and the daughters grow up together. The black daughter can pass for white and succeeds every time right up until her mom shows up and then everyone finds out she's black and starts treating her badly. Yes, society is horrible, but the main focus of this movie is the relationship between the black mom and daughter and the heartbreak of them having so little control over the emotions of the other.

4. Finding Nemo - This one barely makes me cry at all. Everyone has a favourite Disney animated movie. It's a tough choice to make because so many of them are so good. But this is my favourite because of Dory.

5. Heart & Souls - I don't think this movie is very well known. I found it in a bin at WalMart many years ago and bought it because it has Robert Downey Jr. in it. He's born at the same time as these other four people die, and their ghosts become attached to him and then they find out that they're supposed to be achieving something that they didn't achieve in life and Robert Downey Jr. falls in love with Elizabeth Shue but he's a commitment phobe. It's a cute movie; you should watch it.

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3 comments:

  1. I've only seen one of your faves. Probably not to hard to figure out which..... The last one sounds up my alley. I love ghosts and commitment phobes.

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  2. You should come over one day and watch the others. We can bawl and sniffle all night then go out for breakfast.

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    1. A good ol fashioned slumber party. We could paint each others toes. I'll eat those tiny tostitoes, you can have popcorn, oh my goodness I miss you

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