Top 10 Thursday: Weekend Edition

It is proving hard to post our Top 10 lists on Thursdays.

Top 10 bits of trivia from imdb (a website I visit at least once a day. You can find trivia by searching for a movie, then scrolling all the way to the bottom and clicking on "trivia" under "Did you know?")

Adapted from my personal blog October 2008

10. Anne of Green Gables: Katharine Hepburn was originally approached to play Marilla Cuthbert. She declined, but suggested her relative (great-niece), 'Schuyler Grant' for the part of Anne. Schuyler was cast as Diana Barry.

9. The Dark Knight: Michael Caine had never met Heath Ledger prior to filming. During the scene when the joker pays a visit to Bruce Wayne's penthouse, when Ledger arrived and performed he gave Michael Caine such a fright he forgot his lines.

8. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone: Richard Harris only agreed to taking the part of Albus Dumbledore after his eleven year old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again.
*Rosie O'Donnell and Robin Williams were two of the celebrities who had asked for a role in the movie without pay. However they did not film any scenes for the movie.
*Alan Rickman received special instruction from J.K. Rowling as to his character. Rowling even provided the actor with vital details of Snape's back story not revealed until the final novel.

7. The Notebook: Ryan Gosling prepared for his role by living in Charleston, South Carolina before filming began. For two months, he rowed the Ashley River in the morning and built furniture during the day.

6. Clue: Three endings were shot, and a different one shown at each theater. All three are included on video. The DVD, however, aside from all three endings, also offers the option to play the movie with one randomly selected ending. In some cities, the newspaper print ads indicated which version ("Ending A", "Ending B" or "Ending C") was being shown at each theater.

5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1: Having Bellatrix carve "mudblood" into Hermione's arm during the torture scene was not in the original script, but it was an idea that both Emma Watson (Hermione) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix) came up with together on the spur of the moment during filming.

4. The Sound of Music: Christopher Plummer (Captain Von Trapp) intensely disliked working on the film. He's been known to refer to it as "The Sound of Mucus" and likened working with Julie Andrews to "being hit over the head with a big Valentine's Day card, every day." Nonetheless, he and Andrews have remained close friends ever since.
*Christopher Plummer's singing voice was dubbed in the film. (I can't believe it's not really him singing!)

3. It's a Wonderful Life: While filming the scene where George prays in the bar, James Stewart has said that he was so overcome that he began to sob right then and there. Later, Frank Capra reframed the shot so it looked like a much closer shot than was actually filmed because he wanted to catch that expression on Stewart's face.

2. The Princess Bride: While rehearsing for the film, Andre the Giant's thick accent prevented many of his lines from being understood. To remedy this, actor Mandy Patinkin slapped André in the face to get him to concentrate harder.

1. Sleepless in Seattle: The scene between Tom Hanks and Victor Garber crying over the movie The Dirty Dozen (1967) was completely improvised during the take.

Confused

Oscar Noms came out today. They rarely mean anything to me, seeing as how I don't watch Rated-R movies, which means I haven't seen 90% of the movies nominated. I have seen True Grit, however, which is an excellent movie. Crisp, clever, straightaway, and suspenseful, with superb acting. Hailee Steinfeld, a newbie, was amazing, and she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. What I don't get is, how is it Best Supporting Actress when she was the main part of the movie? She was in every scene (almost). Jeff Bridges was also nominated, for Best Actor. Which I can see- I love him- but he was less of a part than Hailee Steinfeld was! So he should've been nominated for the supporting role, not her. It doesn't make sense.

Had to get that out there.

Top 10 Thursday: Friday Edition

Last week Mindy discussed how romantic comedies have been reusing their plots and characters for years. In that same vein, here is this week's list:

The Top 10 Love Story Cliches and Annoying Habits:

10. Girl wakes up with a face full of make-up.

9. Sex ruining the characters' chemistry and making an awkward moment for everyone in the audience.

8. Uptight person loosens up/ Workaholic finds meaning outside of work: Along Came Polly, A Good Year, Raising Helen, 13 Going on 30, Sweet Home Alabama

7. The great partner switch: people swap partners and everyone's okay with it.

6. Chase scene ending: other person is leaving town/moving and the lover needs to catch them or all is lost: every Matthew McConaughey movie

5. No chemistry! It's supposed to be a love story. Legally Blonde, Maid in Manhattan, The Back-up Plan

4. The Drunken Turning Point (I really hate this one): The Wedding Planner, Sweet Home Alabama, Two Weeks Notice

3. The girl is really mean and then the guy magically falls in love with her: 27 Dresses, Sweet Home Alabama, Leap Year, Just Like Heaven

2. The guy is attracted to the girl because she is "different": Ever After, Becoming Jane, Pride and Prejudice

And now for #1. The most commonly seen, overdone, hugely unrealistic plot cliche that I can't stand yet is present in every other movie I see:

1. The male protagonist used to be a bad boy but changes his ways due to true love: A Walk to Remember, Tangled, The Prince and Me, The Princess and the Frog, 10 Things I Hate About You

Some movies listed here are favorites of mine. Using these devices doesn't mean the movie has to be bad, but usually that is exactly what it means. My favorite love stories out there don't use any of these plot devices (or use it very subtly and tastefully). More on that in another list.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Normally I begin Harry Potter reviews with stipulations to prepare the reader for why I've formed the opinions that I have and to offer an explanation as to why I am being so critical.

I have no such stipulations for this post because, well, I really really liked this movie.

There are many reasons why. A big reason that I think I enjoyed it so much is that I only read book 7 once when it first came out and had a hard time remembering the plot and what was going to happen next.

But I think the main reason why I enjoyed this installment so much was because they really honestly did such a great job! So let's break it down, in the typical fashion: the good, the great, and the ugly.

The Good: Let's start off by saying what a good call it was to do this last book in two installments. I remember being slightly skeptical at first, but I don't see how they could have done it any other way. The acting just gets better with every movie. I particularly loved the newest addition to the cast, Rhys Ifans, as Xenophilius Lovegood. The perfect actor to play that part, I just love that Lovegood family.

I also thought it was good that we saw very little of Ginny in this movie, seeing as I don't like her.

The Great: One of the greatest things about this movie to me was how visually stunning it was. I loved how so many of the scenes looked like they were taken right out of the book, Hermione and Harry traveling over the moors, Bill and Fleur's wedding at the Weasley's, and the most loved by me- when they visited the Lovegood's house to learn about the Deathly Hallows. As soon as they showed that house I just had to smile, it was shown perfectly and just as charming as in the book. Coming as a close second to my favorite locations was Malfoy Manor. I loved Malfoy Manor and everything that happened there! As soon as it showed Snape approaching it in the very beginning I was hooked. It was just as dark and sinister and foreboding as it should have been.

Another delightful surprise to this installment was how funny it was. It wasn't just like Harry Potter funny when you laugh when someone messes up on a spell. It was really funny. When they visit the Ministry of Magic and become those adults, it was excellent! I want to go watch it again just imagining that part.

The Ugly: I would have really liked to at least have it mentioned that Professor Snape became the headmaster of Hogwarts during the last book.

I also would have really appreciated not having the terrifying "dancing" scene in the tent where Harry and Hermione cut loose for a few minutes. I was so uncomfortable I couldn't move to even cover my eyes. It was worse than American Idol auditions.

Other then that I had a really hard time thinking of things I didn't like.

But then I remembered.

I remembered like one remembers a dream they hoped would never resurface from their memory.

Harry. Hermione. Naked. Silvery. Lockety. Computery.

If something this atrocious had happened in one of the earlier movies I don't want to even imagine how enraged I would have been. By now its apparent to me that each director has its own vision as to the books and they'll take it in whatever direction they feel compelled to. This is both good and bad. In this situation, bad. It offended me that it wasn't part of the books, and it offended me because it was gross.

Having said that I'm completely prepared to pretend like it never happened. It was so awful, but the rest of the movie was so delightfully entertaining that I don't even usually think of it when I recap the movie. The scene leading up to it was a beautiful one. Harry quietly being led by the patronus through the woods, finding the sword, Ron and Harry being reunited. Let's just brush it off and tamper with our memories like Slughorn and call it a day.

It will be really interesting to see what they decide to bring in for the finale and what they leave out. It makes me very nervous at the thought of everything coming down to this final installment but after seeing Part 1, I'm starting to believe it can be done.

Brace yourselves Potter fans, this ride will be ending all too soon. July 15th will be here before you know it!

Top Ten Thursday: The Romantic Comedy

I've decided to contribute a little more to this blog by doing a weekly top ten list. The themes of the list will vary every week so stay tuned!
This weeks Top Ten: Romantic Comedies. I am a firm believer that the romantic comedy genre has almost run it's course and instead we are just paying to watch the same movie over and over again. The names are changed, the plots are cut and pasted, and two actors are on the cover looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

Having said that, I've compiled this top ten list to show some good all around newer and older movies to remind us what used to be good and that although they're fewer and far between, there are still some good ones being made.


1. Penelope- I am a sucker for fairy tales, especially pretty ones like this. Great cast, old idea, new twist.

2. Strictly Ballroom- What does this movie teach us? Australia is a funny country, and I don't just mean the accents. Brought to you by the same director as Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom is a great choice if you're in the mood for something a little different and fun.

3. (500) Days of Summer- Complete with a killer soundtrack this is definitely a refreshing spin on a movie about finding love.

4. When Harry Met Sally- I don't think there is a list of romantic comedies in existence with this movie not on it.

5. The Philadelphia Story- This might not be some peoples type of movie being black and white, but if the mood strikes give it a chance! It doesn't get any better then Cary Grant, James Stewart and Katherine Hepburn.

6. Return to Me- This one definitely puts the comedy in romantic comedy. As touching as it is, it never fails to make me laugh.

7. What's Up Doc?- The epitome of a screwball comedy. Barbara Streisand is as funny as she is beautiful in it. Don't be afraid of 70's movies people. They're our friends.

8. Sleepless in Seattle- I think I could watch this movie back to back with no problem. So quote able, so charming. Mmmmmagic.

9. Notting Hill- I mean, need I say more? Such a classic. This movie wrapped up the golden age of rom com's.

10. The Holiday- Probably one of my favorite romantic comedies to emerge from this past decade. Kate Winslet is always a favorite.

Unfortunately nothing really recent made the list because in 2010 we were dealing with movies like The Bounty Hunter, When in Rome, and (cough) The Back Up Plan.
Let's hope things start looking up for 2011.