It’s getting close to Christmas, which means that I start thinking about all the Christmassy films that it feels wrong to watch over the rest of the year, like Home Alone and stuff. So here are some John Candy fillums because he was pretty cool.
1) Uncle Buck
2) Spaceballs
3) Blues Brothers
4) Home Alone
5) Little Shop of Horrors
6) Caddyshack
7) Canadian Bacon
8) Planes, Trains and Automobiles
9) The Great Outdoors
10) Cool Runnings
and also
11) Stripes
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I know. Appalling hypocrisy isn’t it? Less than two weeks after committing to never watching this film, I found myself cat-sitting for the parentals with slim pickings on Sky Movies, no energy to get myself off the sofa to the DVD rental place, and a copy of Mamma Mia! on the TV stand. What would you do? Admittedly I could have done any of the following:
a) had a nap,
b) read a book,
c) gouged my eyes out,
but I thought that as someone who aspires to being a bit of a fillum fan, I ought to open my mind, embrace different genres and styles and give it a go. So I did.
I don’t know whether it was because I had spent two days with just cats for company, or whether I was a bit fragile from a bottle of red to myself the night before, but I actually found myself crying. More than once, too. I can’t remember which specific bits I cried at, although I think the ‘Chiquitita’ scene was one, but I was pretty surprised that such a pile of schmaltz reduced me to tears. Actually, now I think of it, it was because the friendship between the three women played by Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski reminded me of my two best friends and made me miss them and want to go to a beautiful Greek island and frolick in the sun singing Abba songs.
Anyway. Some parts I loathed. Mostly any parts with Pierce Brosnan singing. He’s awful. Also Colin Firth is very hammy and far too heterosexual (thanks to his Mr Darcy phase I reckon) to be anything else. The ‘gay dad’ storyline completely passed me by until right near the end when he snogs the face off some poor young man.
The rest of the film, I’m ashamed to admit, I liked. Not to the point of wanting it on DVD for any birthdays or Christmases, but it was fun, silly and a welcome change to the film noirs I normally find myself watching. Don’t tell anyone I said so though.
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I went to the cinema on my own for the first time ever yesterday, and it was a mixture of sad (as in saddo) and liberating, and I think I might overcome the sad (as in saddo) element and do it again in future. I’m on this mailing list where I get an email every now and again asking me if I’d like to see a preview of a film for free, and if I’m quick enough in clicking the link, then I get tickets. Julie and Julia was on on Sunday at 11am, a time when most people are in bed, and rightly so. I, however, set my alarm, got up at 9, and was in Bradford for half ten so that I could get the best seat (like a saddo).
Anyway, the film. I loved it. As much as I’ve always rated Meryl Streep, her foray into camp musicals (I still haven’t seen Mamma Mia! and I refuse to) made me pull that face where you can taste a bit of sick in your mouth. Her portrayal of Julia Child worked like a good gargle with Listerine; the vomit taste has gone.
I have to admit to never having heard of Julia Child or Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but I’m officially a fan of both, the latter taking pride of place at the top of my Amazon wishlist with immediate effect. Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, a sort-of-failed writer fed up with her lot in life, who decides to cook all the recipes in Julia’s book over the course of a year – 524 dishes in 365 days. The film flits between both Julie and Julia’s lives, drawing parallels between the two nicely.
An excellent choice for fans of blogging, cooking, and above all, laughing.
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1) The Godfather
2) Scarface
3) Carlito’s Way
4) Ocean’s Thirteen
5) The Devil’s Advocate
6) Scent Of A Woman
7) Insomnia
8) Heat
9) The Recruit
10) Donnie Brasco
and
11) Righteous Kill
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1) Ghost World
2) The Island
3) Con Air
4) Airhead
5) Armageddon
6) Reservoir Dogs
7) Big Fish
8) The Wedding Singer
9) Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead
10) I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry
and
11) The Big Lebowski
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So it seems I am a Luc Besson fan. Which is no bad thing. He’s very cool. So is Taken. It singlehandedly reaffirmed that Liam Neeson is indeed kickass. He plays a retired CIA agent whose daughter gets kidnapped by some really mean lady traffickers. I put it like that because the actual reality of it all is pretty horrific and brutal, and I don’t think it needs a description really. See it for yourself. No, really. It’s very good. I think it’s an 18, on account of the violence and general adult themes. Mostly, though, Liam Neeson is a complete legend. He should have been Bond. Although I guess being Qui-Gon Jinn and Ra’s al Ghul makes up for it.
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