5 + 5 Movie Meme
A meme from Talmida ... here is a list of 5 of my favourite movies and 5 guilty pleasure movies. Wow - the winnowing process was tough! Here are my choices below ...
* favorites ...
1) Lord of the Rings trilogy .... what can I say - the beloved books first read when I was a teen (and many times since), brought to the screen in a really decent fashion! This high-fantasy story of courage, sacrifice, and love is timeless and never fails to touch me.
2) The Mission .... you must have seen this one coming :-) Listed at #23 on AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores (Ennio Morricone's Gabriel's Oboe), and starring Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro, with emerging roles for Liam Neeson and Aidan Quinn, the movie tells of the Jesuit missions (reductions) of the 1700s in South America, and of the political/religious struggles between Portugal and Spain. But it's also about the way a number of Jesuits live out, even unto death, their calling.
3) Open Range ... this is a 2003 western starring Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, and Annette Bening, which deals in part with the range wars of the 1880s. It features complex characters, a brutally honest shoot-out scene, and an unlikely romance ... freedom, justice, redemption, and love. (I posted about it here)
4) Sense and Sensibility ... this 1995 film was adapted from the Jane Austen novel by Emma Thompson, who also starred, along with Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, and Alan Rickman, and it was directed by Ang Lee. The story tells of two sisters who are very different in temperment, one passionate, one reserved, and is set against the backdrop of the double-binds of 19th century society. I liked it so much, I bought it, even though it's only in widescreen and hard for me to see.
5) The Mummy ... made in 1999, it stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz (and Oded Fehr :-) What's not to like ... Egypt, pyramids, an ancient curse, The Book of the Dead, mummys(!), and a courageous hero.
* guilty pleasures ...
1) John Carpenter's Vampires .... this 1998 film starring James Woods has got it all - vampires, Catholicism, and pathos (and mega-violence). Woods leads a Church sanctioned vampire-killing team, one of the members of which is a Catholic priest armed with holy water, crosses, and a dead language :-)
2) Rowing with the Wind .... a 1988 movie that tells about the friendship between Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, and shows how Mary Shelley came to write Frankenstein. What makes it "guilty" is that it's not so well written or acted (plus some nudity). But Hugh Grant does a very nice Byron, and really, how many movies do you get to see about Percy Bysshe Shelley?
3) Ever After .... a revisionist Cinderella story from 1998 starring Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott. It's really not bad ... nice scenery, has a mention of Utopia, and Leonardo da Vinci even puts in an appearance.
4) Galaxy Quest .... who could not like this science fiction parody starring Tim Allen, Alan Rickman and Tony Shalhoub? It's worth it just for the aliens.
5) Herculaes ... ok, not really a movie per se, but I couldn't leave out Hercules, played so very well by Kevin Sorbo. Set in a not quite accurate ancient Greece, the show tells the story of the half-divine son of Zeus who spends most of his time helping others ... fun for a Greek mythology fan like me.
- Hercules
* favorites ...
1) Lord of the Rings trilogy .... what can I say - the beloved books first read when I was a teen (and many times since), brought to the screen in a really decent fashion! This high-fantasy story of courage, sacrifice, and love is timeless and never fails to touch me.
2) The Mission .... you must have seen this one coming :-) Listed at #23 on AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores (Ennio Morricone's Gabriel's Oboe), and starring Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro, with emerging roles for Liam Neeson and Aidan Quinn, the movie tells of the Jesuit missions (reductions) of the 1700s in South America, and of the political/religious struggles between Portugal and Spain. But it's also about the way a number of Jesuits live out, even unto death, their calling.
3) Open Range ... this is a 2003 western starring Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, and Annette Bening, which deals in part with the range wars of the 1880s. It features complex characters, a brutally honest shoot-out scene, and an unlikely romance ... freedom, justice, redemption, and love. (I posted about it here)
4) Sense and Sensibility ... this 1995 film was adapted from the Jane Austen novel by Emma Thompson, who also starred, along with Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, and Alan Rickman, and it was directed by Ang Lee. The story tells of two sisters who are very different in temperment, one passionate, one reserved, and is set against the backdrop of the double-binds of 19th century society. I liked it so much, I bought it, even though it's only in widescreen and hard for me to see.
5) The Mummy ... made in 1999, it stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz (and Oded Fehr :-) What's not to like ... Egypt, pyramids, an ancient curse, The Book of the Dead, mummys(!), and a courageous hero.
* guilty pleasures ...
1) John Carpenter's Vampires .... this 1998 film starring James Woods has got it all - vampires, Catholicism, and pathos (and mega-violence). Woods leads a Church sanctioned vampire-killing team, one of the members of which is a Catholic priest armed with holy water, crosses, and a dead language :-)
2) Rowing with the Wind .... a 1988 movie that tells about the friendship between Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, and shows how Mary Shelley came to write Frankenstein. What makes it "guilty" is that it's not so well written or acted (plus some nudity). But Hugh Grant does a very nice Byron, and really, how many movies do you get to see about Percy Bysshe Shelley?
3) Ever After .... a revisionist Cinderella story from 1998 starring Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott. It's really not bad ... nice scenery, has a mention of Utopia, and Leonardo da Vinci even puts in an appearance.
4) Galaxy Quest .... who could not like this science fiction parody starring Tim Allen, Alan Rickman and Tony Shalhoub? It's worth it just for the aliens.
5) Herculaes ... ok, not really a movie per se, but I couldn't leave out Hercules, played so very well by Kevin Sorbo. Set in a not quite accurate ancient Greece, the show tells the story of the half-divine son of Zeus who spends most of his time helping others ... fun for a Greek mythology fan like me.
- Hercules
posted by crystal | 6:04 PM
8 Comments:
Love your first 5, especially S&S. Don't know any of the guilty pleasures except Galaxy Quest, about which I agree completely! If I'd thought of it it would have been in mine too.
Hi Talmida - thanks for being the inspiration of so many fun memes :-)
Hmm... I might put the Mummy in my guilty pleasures. It's great, but a bit on the light side. Galaxy Quest is another favorite.
You may be right about the Mummy ... I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about my choices. With hindsight, maybe I'd trade it for something else.
Haha. The Mummy. Yawning in scarabs. :-) That was a fun flick.
Wow. Narrowing down to 5 of each is very difficult. I'll take a stab at this, though. Maybe sometime next week.
The Mission. Excellent...
Hi Jeff - I look forward to seeing what you come up with :-)
I bought La Reina the DVD of Sense and Sensibility for Christmas. It's great. Each time I see it, I come to appreciate it even more. I especially like Alan Rickman and Emma in it. (Her exclamation of shock at the end, when talking to you know who - it gets me every time.)
You've got Alan Rickman in two of your 10 flicks. You gotta see some Harry Potter, then. He's one of the best parts of the series. Also, if you haven't seen it yet: Truly Madly Deeply.
I have to see Galaxy Quest. Several people have told me it's good.
The Mission was great, but I haven't seen it in a long time. Should watch it again. That's one of the few movies that left me in tears. A lot of tears.
The Mummy was fun. Didn't like the second one so much, though. Too frenetic!
I don't know about the "guilty pleasures" designation. Why feel guilty about liking something? If it's a favorite film, it's a favorite film. It's not like writing a dissertation on the political and cultural significance of Kevin Sorbo, how he brought about great change in the late part of the 20th century.
BTW, I notice your second reference to Kevin Sorbo got dropped. You're editing yourself again! I thought that was funny. Liam looked like Sorbo for a while. Then he cut his hair and everything went to pot.
Liam looked like Kevin Sorbo!? And now he's getting married ... sniffle :-(
I do really like Rikman. Do you remember him from the forst Diehard movie? He was also good at being bad in Quigley Down Under. I haven't seen Truly Nadly Deeply - I'll see if Neflix has it.
S ans S is really so good. I know the part you mean ... it gets me too :-)
Post a Comment
<< Home