Thursday, January 18, 2007

Thursday 13 -- Movie Hits and Misses


Ugh, it is frickin' freezing here. And drizzly. The weather is miserable. It makes me wish our roads had iced up a little better so that I wouldn't have to be at work right now. Instead, I could be home, with some hot cocoa, eating popcorn, watching movies or TV...

Thirteen Movies/Shows I've Never Seen

Forgive me for not linking each of these! But if you want more info, you can just enter the titles into IMDB.

1. Citizen Kane (I fell asleep about 10 minutes in...what the hell is it about, anyway, with that whole "Rosebud" thing?? This movie looks stupid.)

2. Grey's Anatomy

3. Desperate Housewives

4. Lost

5. Dancing with the Stars

6. A Clockwork Orange

7. Reservoir Dogs

8. Annie Hall (or any Woody Allen movie, in that case)

9. Tootsie

10. Stand By Me

11. Pirates of the Caribbean (the 2nd one)

12. The West Wing

13. 24

Now that you are convinced I'm a complete freak and wholly culturally clueless, let me recommend some movies and shows you may have missed, which I have seen and really enjoyed. You too are missing out!

1. Crash -- one of those movies that makes you think

2. The Last Emperor (I really should buy this. Fantastic movie. FYI: If you don't brush up on your Chinese history a little beforehand, you will probably be lost.)

3. Bridge Over the River Kwai (I am not much on "guy movies", but this one really is good. It's about a POW camp in WWII)

4. Tom Jones -- A very goofy romantic comedy, set in 18th-century England. I think it could probably fall under "chick flick", but he does go on a lot of adventures, some of which involve sex. So it's a good date movie.

5.The Bad Seed -- A really creepy horror movie about an evil little girl.

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- Anyone who knows me in real life is probably really sick of me nagging them to see this movie. It makes you think about your love life. I love it.

7. Big Love -- I am telling you, this show is awesome. One man + 3 wives = drama!!

8. Rome -- Strictly for history buffs. If you don't know anything about ancient Rome, you will be lost, as far as the main plot is concerned. You could still watch for the hot sex scenes and the subplots, though. I majored in Ancient History and even I had a hard time following some of it. It's not one of those shows you can sort of half-watch. You have to pay attention or you'll miss stuff. But man-oh-man is it good.

9. Amadeus -- You haven't seen this yet? What is wrong with you? Rent it immediately! You don't need to know anything about classical music or history to get this. It's just a really friggin' great movie.

10. Donnie Darko -- One of the strangest movies I've ever seen. Just...bizarre. Don't watch it alone because it might give you nightmares. Also, you will want to talk about it when it's over, so it's best seen with someone else. But worth seeing, because it's another "makes you think" movie. (Can you tell I like those?)

11. Quo Vadis -- Ok, so I love really cheesy ancient history movies from the 1960s. If you liked The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, Spartacus or Cleopatra, you'll love this movie. My favorite part is when Nero sings these awful songs. He thinks he's this wonderful musician. He sucks. He annoys everyone with his "lambeth flame".

12. Fawlty Towers -- I also adore British humor. This show from the 70s stars John Cleese of Monty Python fame. He plays a hotel owner who is a complete ass. Most episodes leave me with tears of laughter streaming down my face.

13. The Office -- I am referring to the original British version, not the American one starring Steve Carell. (Actually, anything Ricky Gervais does is hysterical. So I'm going to lump HBO's Extras in here, too.) If you haven't seen the original version of this show, you must. There are only 2 seasons, so you could watch it over a weekend. If you have a binge. Which you will, because it's awesome.

Hope you found at least one good one to try out! Ok, off to catching up on some blogs...

5 comments:

Jamy said...

Citzen Kane uses innovative camera techniques and pacing plus there are some great performances. Unfortuantely, it's best seen in a theater.

A Clockwork Orange is a powerful and disturbing film. You can survive without seeing it, but I highly recommend the book.

Tootsie is entertaining schlock.

Annie Hall is brilliant. You HAVE to see it.

Most of the tv shows you list are pretty entertaining, but none are vital. TV shows I highly recommend: The Wire, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Sopranos and my new fav, Weeds.

Mrs. S. said...

Stand By Me is the only movie I've seen on that first list.. I want to see the second Pirate movie, but other than that I have absolutely zero interest in everything else you mentioned.

I loved Crash, The Bad Seed, and Sunshine..

Anonymous said...

I'm an absolute fan of greys anatomy and 24 but I think they are shows that you have to watch from the beginning.

Lady Wanderlust said...

I haven't seen any of those either, except for a few episodes of Lost because my husband loves that show. I spend most of my TV time watching shows about medical oddities. I love that stuff! Two-headed babies, two-headed twins, midgets, multiple births, LOVE.IT.ALL.

The Dummy said...

Wow, I'm almost 1-for-1 with you on the shows you've never watched! Good picks on your list to see. Amadeus was brilliant. Ever seen Gattaca? My all time favorite!