Late February 2013

In no particular order I will list the rest of the favorite movies that were on my list.  Maybe it will bring a memory to you, maybe one you haven’t seen and my mentioning it is just the nudge you need to order it on Netflix.  Either way, it is out of the necessity to fill a page that I promised my mother I would put in the mail today that I list these.

WEDDING CRASHERS	SAVING PRIVATE RYAN		GLADIATOR
BRIDESMAIDS	GLORY		THE PARENT TRAP(original)
SUPERBAD	GANGS OF NEW YORK		THE SANDLOT
ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN	PURE COUNTRY		NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE
LITTLE MERMAID	GARDEN STATE		OCEAN’S 11 (12 & 13)
FRIDAY	KARATE KID		BATMAN&(BATMAN FOREVER)
FUNNY FARM	ROUNDERS		YOUNG GUNS (1&2)
GREAT OUTDOORS	WHAT DREAMS MAY COME		INDIANA JONES (1-3)
ANCHORMAN	INVENTING THE ABBOTTS		GODFATHER (1-3)
MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING	SEVEN		SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
PRINCESS BRIDE	A TIME TO KILL		OLD YELLER
PRIVATE EYES	WALK THE LINE		SCARFACE
THE NEVERENDING STORY	NEWTON BOYS		INDEPENDENCE DAY
CRAZY HEART	TRUE GRIT (old and new)		GOONIES
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS/HANNIBAL		LAST OF THE MOHICANS
NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION (& CHRISTMAS & EUROPEAN)

Some were must-sees of their day.  Some are just reminders of my childhood.  Some just have really good soundtracks (go figure right? If you’re interested in which, it’s Garden State, Forrest Gump, & Ray).  Comedies, cartoons, action, mobsters……. All things that are good movie topics.  Hope it has been interesting.  It’s been stressful here lately and I haven’t written as often as I should.  I strive to do better.  Thanks for reading.

Mid February 2013

It has taken me a while, but I have determined my top 20 favorite movies of all time.  The order was difficult to come up with.  I had over 60 movies on my list and it was hard to whittle down the favs.  That’s why I stopped at 20.  Also, I counted all 3 Lord of the Rings as 1.  It was only fair. 

1.DUMB AND DUMBER	11.CASINO
2. TOMBSTONE	12.LORD OF THE RINGS(all 3)
3.DANCES WITH WOLVES	13.GOOD OLE BOYS
4.GOOD FELLAS	14.MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER
5.FORREST GUMP	15.A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
6.RAY	16.STEEL MAGNOLIAS
7.BRAVEHEART	17.CASTAWAY
8.BOYZ N DA HOOD	18.BLOW
9.DEAD POETS SOCIETY	19.GOOD WILL HUNTING
10.ROBIN HOOD(cartoon)	20.THE BIG LOBOWSKI

If you are in favor of cookies-n-cream pudding, then you can consider yourself in good company with my good pal SeaBass and me.  He mentioned this to me recently and it really made my mouth water.  It would actually surprise me if it doesn’t already exist.  I know for me, at a buffet restaurant, I always get half chocolate pudding, half chocolate ice cream, and mix in peanuts & cooking crumbs.  Now if that don’t make you want to run to Ryan’s nothing will.  As a matter of fact that may be the only reason to run to Ryan’s.

Early February 2013

A few minutes to address a topic I’ve been pondering for a while now.  How is it that Saturday Night Live has gotten so unfunny?  And why do I still watch in hopes of getting some miniscule amount of laughter & joy?  It used to be sooo good.  I couldn’t wait to watch it every week.  I don’t know if it’s the actors they currently have, or the team of writers. But it is sub-par at best, from top to bottom.  Some of the skits are so bad that I almost wish I knew which ones didn’t make the cut.  Just terrible.  Definitely past its prime.  I think I’m sad now.

Ahhhh, the Grammys!  I love the sound of music!  Not the movie  song with which my mother used to rouse the Cole boys from their slumber, even in the summer time when there was no good reason to be awake by 8:00 a.m.  I can hear her singing it now.  But, I digress.  I love the new music.  Mumford & Sons, FUN, The Lumineers, Alabama Shakes (which by the way I did not know Madea was their lead singer).  I just love the direction music is going right now.  And on a non-Grammy side note, I have recently caught a few up & coming acts on late night talk shows that I will give a shout out for.  I caught Von Grey Sisters & they sound amazing.  Folksy, smooth, harmony.  Also check out Dirty Projectors, I think Will Calvert might enjoy them (he probably already does).  They have a very distinct sound, from vocals to beat to accompaniment it works.  And although they are probably already household names, I’ll still mention them because I just found out about them, Tegan and Sara.  Twin sisters who have just gone mainstream, but still have the Indie feel.  Enjoy.  

So, we were sitting here watching our afternoon Jeopardy, just like always.  Racing to see who can blurt out the answer the fastest, if we knew the answer.  Well on this particular day we were on fire.  I mean it was like somebody, at least, had a clue what the correct answer might be.  We weren’t getting every question, but more than usual.  Then it happened, coming back from one of the last commercial breaks we noticed the graphic looked different.  It was teen tournament week.  The questions designed to be slightly lower-level I suppose.  I guess my attention to detail needs to improve.