Well, I've hit a pretty significant milestone. I have officially watched 100 of the 1001 movies!! It took a while to get there, but I'm confident I will be a little better at watching movies from the book, now that I've added my own Netflix account.
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
I could not have picked a more perfect movie to watch as my 100th! This movie had a little bit of everything I love about film.
First of all, I love movies set in this time period. It was a different age. Women were so much classier, even when they were trashy. Secondly, it was a musical!!! Oh, how I love musicals. OK - maybe it wasn't a full fledged musical, but there was some singing and a lot of dancing. Finally, it starred the late, great, Lucille Ball - one of my all-time favorite actresses.
Dance is about a troupe of dancers who are struggling to find jobs. Their best dancer, Bubbles (Ball) quits the troupe when she gets a solo offer and the other girls continue to look for employment elsewhere. The main character, Judy O'Brien (Maureen O'Hara), is an aspiring ballerina. Bubbles comes back and hires Judy to dance in her new Burlesque show, and that's when things start to get pretty crazy. Love triangles, rowdy men, and some risque dancing ensue.
I loved the movie. I think the story was well-written. There were a few plot points I thought were going to be left unanswered, but everything wraps up in the end. It was just the right mix of drama, music, romance, and comedy. Go watch this film, I'm giving it four stars.
Until the next movie!
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Goodbye Summer!
Well it looks like my summer is officially over. In approximately 11 1/2 hours I will begin my senior year at Texas A&M and it is bittersweet. The last three years have gone by in the blink of an eye. I'm hoping for an incredible last year at A&M and plan on savoring every moment I have left.
Since today was my last day of "freedom," so to speak, I celebrated in true form - watching a movie from The Book. This was #99, folks. That means the next movie is going to be EPIC because its a big milestone!!
Milestone, or not, each movie I cross off the list is equally significant as its predecessor and what comes after. As you all know, some of these movies I enjoy thoroughly, while others I can barely make it through. Tonight, I'm pleased to say, was the latter. I really liked this one!!
Patton (1970)
I'm a sucker for war movies, what can I say. Especially if they revolve around WWII. I've never understood my fascination with WWII, but it completely entices me. I'm not a history person... I find it interesting, but not memorization and all that. I can tell you some trivial facts, but not many. But there are certain era's (WWII era included) that I just can't get enough of. This is probably one of the reasons I enjoyed this movie.
George C. Scott plays the infamous General Patton. In my opinion, Scott did a wonderful job portraying this controversial general. He was hot-headed, outspoken, but a mighty fine general. Scott echoed all of these traits and more impeccably.
The movie mainly follows Patton in the short period before he takes command of the 3rd Army, and then the time he holds as commander. Patton shows a different side to the general than most people are used to seeing, but it is a nice insight - one Francis Ford Coppola was hoping to show through his script.
If you like war movies, this should be a must see on your list. If you have three hours to kill, this would be an entertaining and informative way to spend it. Overall, I'm giving it 3 1/2 stars.
Until the next movie!
Since today was my last day of "freedom," so to speak, I celebrated in true form - watching a movie from The Book. This was #99, folks. That means the next movie is going to be EPIC because its a big milestone!!
Milestone, or not, each movie I cross off the list is equally significant as its predecessor and what comes after. As you all know, some of these movies I enjoy thoroughly, while others I can barely make it through. Tonight, I'm pleased to say, was the latter. I really liked this one!!
Patton (1970)
I'm a sucker for war movies, what can I say. Especially if they revolve around WWII. I've never understood my fascination with WWII, but it completely entices me. I'm not a history person... I find it interesting, but not memorization and all that. I can tell you some trivial facts, but not many. But there are certain era's (WWII era included) that I just can't get enough of. This is probably one of the reasons I enjoyed this movie.
George C. Scott plays the infamous General Patton. In my opinion, Scott did a wonderful job portraying this controversial general. He was hot-headed, outspoken, but a mighty fine general. Scott echoed all of these traits and more impeccably.
The movie mainly follows Patton in the short period before he takes command of the 3rd Army, and then the time he holds as commander. Patton shows a different side to the general than most people are used to seeing, but it is a nice insight - one Francis Ford Coppola was hoping to show through his script.
If you like war movies, this should be a must see on your list. If you have three hours to kill, this would be an entertaining and informative way to spend it. Overall, I'm giving it 3 1/2 stars.
Until the next movie!
Thursday, August 27, 2015
The Greatest Invention of the 21st Century
Let's talk a little bit about something I like to call Netflix.
Netflix has easily become a large part of popular culture in the last 5 or 6 years. Netflixing is a verb used by many. Staying in to watch Netflix is often preferred to a night out on the town. I has become the ultimate distraction for students of all ages. Date nights tend to revolve around what will be watched. Watching TV and Movies can never be the same. In fact, other companies have had to change the was they let people access their content because of Netflix.
Hulu not only offers a small selection of movies and full TV series, but they allow you to watch current seasons of TV, something Netflix does not. But Hulu doesn't have the rights to some networks. So those networks have created a subscription process too for those that would like to stream current episodes. Technology is emerging, and I love it.
But back to Netflix...
Did you know Netflix started it's subscription-based service in 1999? Impossible right??? These days, it seems like most people didn't get an account until the last few years, or they just bum off of a friend (or parent). But today, when people say they have a Netflix account, they usually are referring to their streaming account. Nobody gets Netflix on DVD anymore.
My family first got a Netflix account when me and my sister were in elementary school. As a kid, it was the coolest thing ever. Most of our friends had never even heard of Netflix. At the time, we would get three DVD's sent to our house at a time. This was before BluRay was the more popular choice, and streaming was pretty far out of the picture. My parents managed the account, of course. My mom would add some movies intended just for her and my dad, a few movies for the whole family, and then movies for me and my sister. She tried to keep it balanced so there was always something for everyone to watch. Most of the movies I remember watching in the beginning were classic Disney movies that my parents grew up with, old cartoons, and every Don Knotts film imaginable.
Somewhere down the road in junior high, I discovered the Netflix password, and nothing stayed the same after that. I completely took over the account. There were so many movies I wanted to see!! I would add all of the movies from my favorite actors and actresses. I would rate movies to get suggestions. I would spend hours, yes hours, leafing through the endless collection of potential movies to consume. Pretty quickly, the DVD's coming to the house became all of my picks, and very few for anyone else. Luckily, the streaming service was introduced shortly after.
Once the streaming service found its way into our household, it didn't matter who controlled the Netflix account. The world was my oyster. I could watch whatever I wanted (that was available of course) whenever I wanted. I all but forgot about the DVD side of things. My senior year of high school, a majority of my free time was spent in my room watching Charmed or Cheers, because I finally got my own TV. Then, I went to college and continued to use my parents account for all of my streaming pleasure, and the DVD side of Netflix was completely dead to me.
When I moved to college, my sister sat down and looked at our DVD queue. It had close to 400 movies sitting in it. At this point, we only got one DVD at a time, and we didn't watch it nearly as quickly as we used to. I usually added more to the queue than I would watch. So, my sister deleted most of the movies waiting in the queue and now, they keep it at a modest 50 or so movies.
It wasn't until recently that I realized how much I missed getting DVD's in the mail. I love the streaming services, but honestly, I mostly use it to watch TV shows. I'll watch a movie every now and then, but not nearly as often as I would when they were sent to us. So I sat down, thought about it, and realized, getting my own Netflix account would be a really good investment.
Here's how I see it. I try to go to the movies at least once a week, if I have time/money. Movies in College Station, with a student discount, are $4.50. A Netflix Account (DVD services only) is $7.99/month. That's like going to the movie theater twice! I will get to see way more movies for less money with a DVD account. So I did it. I got my own account. I'm still using my parents for the streaming services, but I get one DVD sent to my house at a time and I love it.
The day I signed up, I spent 6 hours, yes 6, adding movies to my queue. But not just any movies... Only movies from The Book. Remember that 'ole thing? The elusive 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book. I sat there and added every movie Netflix had to my account. Until I hit a speed bump. I found out you can only have 500 movies in your DVD queue at a time... So for now, I'm off to a great start.
So, in conclusion, I love Netflix and it is going to be a wonderful aide in my quest to watch all 1001 movies. I'm nearing the 100th movie, and there will be a big celebration when it happens. Also, be ready for more frequent posts, now that I'm practically forcing myself to watch more movies from the book. Right now, the plan is not to use my Netflix account for any movies that are not in the book, until I've watched all the ones Netflix has to offer. This may take a while, but I WILL CONQUER THIS QUEST.
Thank you for reading all the way down to this point after my long rant about how much I love Netflix. (Maybe they will give me a free month of something for raving about them??? Doubt it)
Until the next movie!
Netflix has easily become a large part of popular culture in the last 5 or 6 years. Netflixing is a verb used by many. Staying in to watch Netflix is often preferred to a night out on the town. I has become the ultimate distraction for students of all ages. Date nights tend to revolve around what will be watched. Watching TV and Movies can never be the same. In fact, other companies have had to change the was they let people access their content because of Netflix.
Hulu not only offers a small selection of movies and full TV series, but they allow you to watch current seasons of TV, something Netflix does not. But Hulu doesn't have the rights to some networks. So those networks have created a subscription process too for those that would like to stream current episodes. Technology is emerging, and I love it.
But back to Netflix...
Did you know Netflix started it's subscription-based service in 1999? Impossible right??? These days, it seems like most people didn't get an account until the last few years, or they just bum off of a friend (or parent). But today, when people say they have a Netflix account, they usually are referring to their streaming account. Nobody gets Netflix on DVD anymore.
My family first got a Netflix account when me and my sister were in elementary school. As a kid, it was the coolest thing ever. Most of our friends had never even heard of Netflix. At the time, we would get three DVD's sent to our house at a time. This was before BluRay was the more popular choice, and streaming was pretty far out of the picture. My parents managed the account, of course. My mom would add some movies intended just for her and my dad, a few movies for the whole family, and then movies for me and my sister. She tried to keep it balanced so there was always something for everyone to watch. Most of the movies I remember watching in the beginning were classic Disney movies that my parents grew up with, old cartoons, and every Don Knotts film imaginable.
Somewhere down the road in junior high, I discovered the Netflix password, and nothing stayed the same after that. I completely took over the account. There were so many movies I wanted to see!! I would add all of the movies from my favorite actors and actresses. I would rate movies to get suggestions. I would spend hours, yes hours, leafing through the endless collection of potential movies to consume. Pretty quickly, the DVD's coming to the house became all of my picks, and very few for anyone else. Luckily, the streaming service was introduced shortly after.
Once the streaming service found its way into our household, it didn't matter who controlled the Netflix account. The world was my oyster. I could watch whatever I wanted (that was available of course) whenever I wanted. I all but forgot about the DVD side of things. My senior year of high school, a majority of my free time was spent in my room watching Charmed or Cheers, because I finally got my own TV. Then, I went to college and continued to use my parents account for all of my streaming pleasure, and the DVD side of Netflix was completely dead to me.
When I moved to college, my sister sat down and looked at our DVD queue. It had close to 400 movies sitting in it. At this point, we only got one DVD at a time, and we didn't watch it nearly as quickly as we used to. I usually added more to the queue than I would watch. So, my sister deleted most of the movies waiting in the queue and now, they keep it at a modest 50 or so movies.
It wasn't until recently that I realized how much I missed getting DVD's in the mail. I love the streaming services, but honestly, I mostly use it to watch TV shows. I'll watch a movie every now and then, but not nearly as often as I would when they were sent to us. So I sat down, thought about it, and realized, getting my own Netflix account would be a really good investment.
Here's how I see it. I try to go to the movies at least once a week, if I have time/money. Movies in College Station, with a student discount, are $4.50. A Netflix Account (DVD services only) is $7.99/month. That's like going to the movie theater twice! I will get to see way more movies for less money with a DVD account. So I did it. I got my own account. I'm still using my parents for the streaming services, but I get one DVD sent to my house at a time and I love it.
The day I signed up, I spent 6 hours, yes 6, adding movies to my queue. But not just any movies... Only movies from The Book. Remember that 'ole thing? The elusive 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book. I sat there and added every movie Netflix had to my account. Until I hit a speed bump. I found out you can only have 500 movies in your DVD queue at a time... So for now, I'm off to a great start.
So, in conclusion, I love Netflix and it is going to be a wonderful aide in my quest to watch all 1001 movies. I'm nearing the 100th movie, and there will be a big celebration when it happens. Also, be ready for more frequent posts, now that I'm practically forcing myself to watch more movies from the book. Right now, the plan is not to use my Netflix account for any movies that are not in the book, until I've watched all the ones Netflix has to offer. This may take a while, but I WILL CONQUER THIS QUEST.
Thank you for reading all the way down to this point after my long rant about how much I love Netflix. (Maybe they will give me a free month of something for raving about them??? Doubt it)
Until the next movie!
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