Film Series- Harry Potter

      I really don't think I can fully express my love and adoration for Harry Potter on this blog without it at least 5,000 words, so i'm just going to say this. These films and of course the books are such a big part of me, as sad or weird as that sounds. I can remember seeing Sorcerers or Philosophers Stone for the first time. I was dreading as I walked into the theater for my friends birthday. A movie about a boy wizard just didn't sound appealing to me for some strange reason. By the end I was a converted Potterhead. I feel truly lucky that I have been able to be apart of this phenomenon that people will look back on wishing they were apart of it. There are seven books and eight movies that have given me enough joy and happiness to last a lifetime. Thank you J.K Rowling!

By the way for all the Potter fans out there, check out Mugglecast. The best Potter podcast around since 2005.

Film Series - Titanic

    It seems like the appropriate timing to write about this film, since has been re-released in (gasp) 3D. Now, I am not ashamed to admit that I adore this movie. I think like most girls my age, I fell madly in love with a younger Leonardo Dicaprio. I mean, how could you not? I now feel comfortable enough to admit that I carried around a picture of Mr. Dicaprio for a couple of months after watching this film.  I must have been 6 or 7 the first time I saw it and I actually had nightmares about sinking ships for 2 months. But what captivated me was the intense and beautiful love story between Jack and Rose, it really is the stuff that fairy tales are made of.
      Watching now however I find myself screaming at the screen, " you idiot! did you really have to jump back onto the sinking ship!" or " Just get on the damn piece of wood Jack! Have you ever heard of balancing?" But nevertheless I still find myself tearing up as she pulls their frozen hands apart and watches him slowly sink to the bottom of the sea. Sorry for the spoiler. No matter what people say about it being a sappy, over exaggerated love story that glorifies the death of thousands, it's still a classic.

Community

     If your not watching this show then you are missing out the on an amazing comedy experience! This show may just be the new Arrested Development. By that I mean that this show is critically acclaimed yet has low ratings. In the world of show biz it is definitely less about substance and material and more about money and sponsorship. Despite having a smaller fanbase than the Jersey Shore and Glee, one thing is for sure, the fans are dedicated and passionate about this show, I should know being one of them myself. It is so refreshing to watch a comedy like this on TV. It is incredibly witty, intelligent, self- deprecating, sentimental, and socially aware. Most importantly it doesn't treat the audience like idiot, unfortunately that seems to be rare in TV today.   Hopefully it won't be joining Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development and Undeclared on the cancelled before it's time list. I mean how can someone not like a show that has an episode based on Modern Warfare? Really?

Film Series- Stand by Me

     The first time that I watched this film I was at summer camp. I can remember being really excited about watching it because I knew that it was rated R. It had an immediate affect on me as i'm sure it has had on may others. It is very much the epitome of what a timeless film should be in my opinion. I think that it is a story that any person can relate to. Growing up some of my fondest memories are going on little adventures with my friends. There was actually one time that we went looking for a witches house deep in the woods. We did find the house eventually but it turned out that it had been abandoned for quite a long time.
      I decided to watch Stand by Me recently and it brought me right back to my childhood. It evoked those fond feelings and memories of growing up and trying to figure out who you are or what you want to be when you grow up. It is such an innocent and crucial time that goes by so quickly. I often wish that I could turn back the clock sometimes just so I could be that carefree girl again. The one who wanted to go on every adventure and complete any obstacle that came my way. Now it seems that responsibility and maturity stands in my way. But one of the messages that has stuck with me from the film is that if I don't go for "it" then i'm pretty much an asshole.

Film Series- Hitchcock

      The first Alfred Hitchcock film I ever saw was The Birds. I can remember walking into the living room and staring at the television as I watched a swarm of birds attacking school children, I must have been around eight years old. I was so terrified I had to remove myself from the situation. It wasn't until many years later that I saw the film Rebecca and I fell deeply in love with the master of suspense. I started to look for more of his films and began my own collection. It really amazed me that a person can make a film with a certain formula but also have each film be unique in its own way.
     I think that most of the great filmmakers cite Hitchcock as a hero or inspiration. He has certainly become one of my all time favorite directors. With each scene in his films he draws me in slowly until I feel like i'm going to break with the tension and suspense. I don't really now what else to say about the man that hasn't already been said so I will leave you with some of my favorite quotes of his.



"Give them pleasure - the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare."


"I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach."

"I have a perfect cure for a sore throat: cut it."

"Luck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film."

Film Series- White Christmas

       The music, dancing, scenery, the overall feeling of this film holds so many memories for me. It has been a family tradition for my family to watch this film whenever Christmas season starts. The love for this film all started with my grandmother. She absolutely adored the film and music. When my mother was younger she and her two sisters sang the song "Sister's, Sister's" at a talent show that my grandmother  had entered them in. At Christmas two years ago they recreated the moment in our family living room for the whole family to see, it was just a lovely and joyful moment.
     Like I said before it has become a tradition to watch the film whenever the Christmas season begins. I can remember the first time I saw it. We were at my grandparents house and we all gathering in front of the television with drinks and snacks and watched it together. I fell in love with the film at that moment. I think that because my grandmother is no longer with me it holds an even stronger feeling. Like I said with The Sound of Music I feel her presence in every scene of the film. I have real comfort in the fact that when I put a film on that she loved I sense the spirit and love that she had for it. It makes it feel like she still lives on in them.

Film Series- Classic Disney

 

   

       I'm sure like most kids Disney played a huge part in their childhood. I remember that every Saturday afternoon in my house my mom would make us some homemade popcorn and we would sit together and watch a movie. It was such a lovely tradition to have with her and one that I would love to replicate my future children.
    There is just something about classic animated Disney films that is nostalgic as well as timeless. The fact that I am now in my early twenties and still thoroughly enjoy watching any of the films must mean that Walt Disney knew what the hell he was doing. Of course is so hard to choose one as a particular favorite because they all mean something different to me but I would say that the two that stand out are The Aristocats and Sleeping Beauty. I really wish that Disney would make more films with the classic animation. Don't  get me wrong I absolutely adore Pixar films but there's just something extra special about the classics. 

Film Series- Jaws

     This film is the reason why I am still paranoid even when swimming in a pool filled with chlorinated water! I requested that my mother rent this movie for me when I was five years old. To this day I don't know why I wanted to see it so badly. I had probably heard about it from a classmate in my kindergarten class. The funny thing to me is that my mom actually rented for me. I can still remember the day clearly, it was a summer afternoon and I was with my older cousin Courtney.I have to say the opening credits with that now famous dada-dada-dada should have been enough of a warning that it wasn't exactly a Disney film. I sat there watching the opening scene where the girl gets drunk at a party and then decides it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping in the ocean with her drunk companion. What happened next has seriously effected me to this day
        I watched as the girl was seemingly eaten alive by Jaws and dragged under water while screaming for help. Now my reaction to that wasn't closing my eyes or hiding behind  the couch. I bolted for the door and did'nt just run out of the room I ran out of the house in horror. I went to find my mom who i'm sure regretted renting the movie for me. Since that first viewing this film has actually become one of my favorites. I must have seen it over twenty times now. It probably is also the reason why I love Shark Week on the Discovery Channel so much. But i'm sure that i'm not the only person this film has affected. Having a fear of being eaten alive by a giant shark seems rational to me. Like I said before, because of this film I still have moments of panic that Jaws is going to come up behind be and bite my leg off while i'm swimming in my pool. That's actually not very rational, oh well.

Film Series- Spice World

         Alright so this choice may seem a bit silly and frivolous but I can't help but love this movie. I think for many girls that are my age (21)  Spice Girls were pretty much "it". I can actually remember being six or seven years old and having a tribute band with my friends. We were each assigned a different member, I was posh. We would sing the songs and learn the choreography from the videos and then perform for our classmates. So of course when the movie came out we were all begging to see it! 

         I was actually watching HBO the other week late at night and saw that Spice World was coming on and sat there and watched the whole film, and thoroughly enjoyed. I should also add that while I am writing this I am listening to Spice Girls- Greatest Hits. It really is nostalgic for me, it brings me right back to being a kid and just having a fun and carefree time with my friends. We weren't bothered if it was cool or if we looked like idiots, we were having too much fun to care. But just to make it clear I know the movie does suck but I really couldn't give a shit.  Anyway that's enough delving into my past for one night. I think now i'm going to go embrace my inner "poshness" by throwing on a cute dress and dancing around my room to Wannabee. That's not sad is it? : )

                              

Film Series- Breakfast At Tiffany's

       I was sitting in my room thinking about films that mean something to me or that I have a special attachment to and for some reason I couldn't think of which film to choose. I then looked at my wall (covered in pictures) and there she was looking at me, Audrey Hepburn. I said out loud "of course I should write about Breakfast At Tiffany's". I first watched this film when I was twelve. My mother bought it for me to keep me entertained because we were going to drive from New York to Virginia for a reunion of my grandfathers side of the family. I can remember sitting in the car and falling in love with her as each scene progressed.
       It wasn't just that she was impeccably dressed, or a fabulous actress, or even incredibly beautiful. She exuded this aura that made me feel that while being incredibly witty and fearless she was also lonely and possibly desperate. Not that I could exactly relate to this at twelve I still felt the emotion.  Since then I have gone on to build a Audrey section in my DVD collection with My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday and two of my favorites Funny Face and Sabrina. I just can't help but adore her with every performance she gives. I also think that girls tend to be more in love with her then men do, not that she isn't attractive. She just doesn't seem overtly sexual like Marilyn Monroe or Sophia Loren did, both of whom I also love. She was very thin with short hair and liked to wear flats. Not exactly what was promoted as beautiful at the time. To me she proved that being different was the most beautiful thing of all.

Film Series- The Sound of Music

  

It's funny how films always hold certain memories throughout my life. One of my earliest is The Sound of Music. This was one of the favorite films of my grandmother, Marion Blaylock. My grandmother came from a German family who moved to America for a better life. I always remember her as such a strong women who loved her family so deeply. But the reason why this film holds such a strong memory for me is the music. Before I had seen the film I knew the songs from it. My Grandmother would always sing them to me when I was younger. One distinct memory I have is of me and some of my cousins sitting outside in the grass on a summer day. My Grandmother sitting with us was singing the song " Do-Re-Mi" from the film. She would sing a line then we would sing it back to her, exactly like the scene in the film. I remember having such a hard time remembering all the words, but she was so patient with me and would go through them over and over again. Now I am 21 and she is gone, but for some reason whenever I put this film on I feel her spirit in it. And now when I hear " Do-Re- Me" come on I can't help but see her smiling at me.