Mindi's Blog

i like movies, but i’m picky about what i see. i tend to stick to the stereo-typical chick flicks–romantic comedies and period films in particular. i never go see anything horror, and action-adventure or sci-fi films are unlikely to interest me (notable exception this year was the star trek movie. i actually really liked it.). i typically see about 8 movies a year, but this has been a banner year.

but this has been a banner year for movies and me. i’ve already seen 14 films and the holiday movie season has 7 movies i’m excited about seeing. and i can’t think of time that i’ve been excited about that many movies in a year, much less a few weeks! here’s the list that has captured my attention:

• did you hear about the morgan’s? (love hugh grant, love sarah jessica parker)
• invictus (fascinated by nelson mandela)
• the princess & the frog (promised a couple of my goddaughters to take them plus i’m pretty stoked about it!)
• a single man (colin firth, enough said.)
• the blind side (love sandra bullock, amazing true story)
• it’s complicated (love steve martin!)
• nine (looks amazing and i’m a fan of musicals. i think there should be more bursting into song in real life.)

actually, it’s been quite a year of movies for me. so far this year i’ve seen:

• last chance harvey (completely delightful-i highly recommend it-and not just because a lot of it was filmed on location in london)
• doubt (depressing, hated the ending)
• the reader (depressing)
• star trek (so much better than i would have thought)
• julie & julia (love it. want it on dvd. want the cookbook and the le creuset stockpot)
• harry potter & the half-blood prince
• up (so, so good. it’s a must see for anyone)
• the proposal (very cute)
• he’s just not that into you (total disappointment)
• ghosts of girlfriends past (cute, but it could have waited for dvd)
• hotel for dogs (cute…i took my niece and her cousin)
• all about steve (i need to write a post on this sometime)
• old dogs
• the boat that rocked (saw it in london; released here as pirate radio)

and since i’m listing these, i may as well mention the ones that i missed in theatres, but am catching on dvd:

• the accidental husband
• the ugly truth
• confessions of a shopaholic
• the soloist
• bride wars
• the invention of lying
• the young victoria
• amelia
• duplicity
• new in town

anything you’ve seen this year you’d add?

from the holiday:

iris: “you’re right. you should be the leading lady in your own life for god’s sakes!”

sweet home alabama: earl smooter to melanie: “you cain’t ride two horses with one a** sugar bee.”

as a chick flick aficionado, i frequently encounter great lines that i’ve decided to start blogging in an ongoing series. to start, here are two from today:

the wedding date: nick to kat “i think i’d miss you even if i’d never met you.”

elizabethtown: claire to drew: “don’t call me before you get home. i want you to get in the deep beautiful melancholy of everything that’s happened.”

over my vacation, i watched 4 movies:

• juno (i know, way overdue)
• penelope (fab chick flick to share with girls of all ages)
• miss pettigrew lives for a day (favorite of the week-a must have dvd when it releases)
• death at a funeral (i laughed a lot but i don’t recommended for those who don’t like british humor, can’t laugh at dysfunctional families or are easily offended)

tonite in catching up on my blog reading i saw this post from my friend josh. he posted the american film institutes top 100 films for 2007 and noted in bold the ones he’d seen. i’ve done the same here:

The American Film Institute’s 2007 list of the top-100 American movies

1. Citizen Kane, 1941.

2. The Godfather, 1972.

3. Casablanca, 1942.

4. Raging Bull, 1980.

5. Singin’ in the Rain, 1952.

6. Gone With the Wind, 1939.

7. Lawrence of Arabia, 1962.

8. Schindler’s List, 1993.

9. Vertigo, 1958.

10. The Wizard of Oz, 1939.

11. City Lights, 1931.

12. The Searchers, 1956.

13. Star Wars, 1977.

14. Psycho, 1960.

15. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968.

16. Sunset Blvd., 1950.

17. The Graduate, 1967.

18. The General, 1927.

19. On the Waterfront, 1954.

20. It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946.

21. Chinatown, 1974.

22. Some Like It Hot, 1959.

23. The Grapes of Wrath, 1940.

24. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982.

25. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962.

26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939.

27. High Noon, 1952.

28. All About Eve, 1950.

29. Double Indemnity, 1944.

30. Apocalypse Now, 1979.

31. The Maltese Falcon, 1941.

32. The Godfather Part II, 1974.

33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975.

34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937.

35. Annie Hall, 1977.

36. The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957.

37. The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946.

38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948.

39. Dr. Strangelove, 1964.

40. The Sound of Music, 1965.

41. King Kong, 1933.

42. Bonnie and Clyde, 1967.

43. Midnight Cowboy, 1969.

44. The Philadelphia Story, 1940.

45. Shane, 1953.

46. It Happened One Night, 1934.

47. A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951.

48. Rear Window, 1954.

49. Intolerance, 1916.

50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001.

51. West Side Story, 1961.

52. Taxi Driver, 1976.

53. The Deer Hunter, 1978.

54. M-A-S-H, 1970.

55. North by Northwest, 1959.

56. Jaws, 1975.

57. Rocky, 1976.

58. The Gold Rush, 1925.

59. Nashville, 1975.

60. Duck Soup, 1933.

61. Sullivan’s Travels, 1941.

62. American Graffiti, 1973.

63. Cabaret, 1972.

64. Network, 1976.

65. The African Queen, 1951.

66. Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981.

67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966.

68. Unforgiven, 1992.

69. Tootsie, 1982.

70. A Clockwork Orange, 1971.

71. Saving Private Ryan, 1998.

72. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994.

73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969.

74. The Silence of the Lambs, 1991.

75. In the Heat of the Night, 1967.

76. Forrest Gump, 1994.

77. All the President’s Men, 1976.

78. Modern Times, 1936.

79. The Wild Bunch, 1969.

80. The Apartment, 1960.

81. Spartacus, 1960.

82. Sunrise, 1927.

83. Titanic, 1997.

84. Easy Rider, 1969.

85. A Night at the Opera, 1935.

86. Platoon, 1986.

87. 12 Angry Men, 1957.

88. Bringing Up Baby, 1938.

89. The Sixth Sense, 1999.

90. Swing Time, 1936.

91. Sophie’s Choice, 1982.

92. Goodfellas, 1990.

93. The French Connection, 1971.

94. Pulp Fiction, 1994.

95. The Last Picture Show, 1971.

96. Do the Right Thing, 1989.

97. Blade Runner, 1982.

98. Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1942.

99. Toy Story, 1995.

100. Ben-Hur, 1959.

never been kissed has been playing on amc tonite. so with that and the fact that new year’s eve is only a couple days away, i started thinking about perfect kisses.

it’s been ages since i’ve kissed someone romantically–more than a decade in fact. it just hasn’t worked out that there’s been someone in my life to kiss. i’m okay with that. as i recall, kissing was fun, but i’m okay with not wasting perfectly good kisses on mr. not-so-right, but i digress. there’s nothing like a great perfect kiss in the movies.

the one that ends never been kissed is one of my favorites. but my all time favorite movie kiss is from gone with the wind. it’s the scene where rhett tells scarlett she should be “kissed and often and by someone who knows how”.

so, what’s your favorite movie kiss? post it in the comments and if i get enough responses, i’ll post a top ten list of movie kisses.

so, i’ve recently seen two romantic comedies, prime and the break-up. i was so disappointed. while they had funny moments, they just weren’t that romantic or really funny. they were more funny because it’s that painful irony you recognize from stuff in your own life and it’s easier to laugh than cry.

but this afternoon turner classic movies is making up for it showing how to marry a millionaire and pillow talk. they are two of my all-time favorites. i’m spending my afternoon vegging on the couch watching these classics.

i wonder if hollywood has forgotten what makes a truly great romantic comedy, a light-hearted script and a happy ending with everyone living happily ever after. we already get the irony, the pain and a lack of happily ever after in real life, why pay for it at the movies?