Monday, May 24, 2004

Celluloid Pleasures

My husband and I went to the movies yesterday to see "Troy".  We were looking for some lively entertainment; nothing more.  That is exactly what we got and that's okay.  This was hardly some stupendous epic destined to become a classic.  There were lots of clang-clashing, sword wielding battle scenes (found myself turning away from the screen a lot) and it's always pleasant to gaze upon some good looking people for an hour or three.  Heavy duty deep drama, it ain't!

I love movies.  If I had my way, I'd go out to the movies at least once a week.  If I had pots of money, I'd spend some of it on a huge TV screen with an excellent sound system and a copy of every film I ever wanted stored neatly within my grasp.  I love going to the movies with a small group or with just one other person with whom to share the experience.  I love taking myself to the movies, to sit there in the dark theater and lose myself in the big screen. 

I don't like scary, graphic slasher-type movies (isn't the real world scary enough?), I pass on most comedies and I dislike intensely films such as "The Matrix" that, to me, are just a lot of computer-generated gobbledygook  I'm usually clueless as to what's going on and they make me feel incredibly stupid; this I can do on my own for free with no outside help!

Movies are the ultimate escape.  There's a film to suit every mood.  Somehow, it's very comforting to me to have at my disposal films to laugh with, think deep thoughts with or cry with.  The latter option is strictly a "woman thing", I believe.  If I really love a movie, I can watch it again and again and yet again.  Most really good films require at least two viewings because there are always things you missed the first time around.

When I was a little girl, there used to be this wonderful program called The Million Dollar Movie which would broadcast the same movie at the same time of day for one week.  Oh bliss, oh rapture if they happened to show one of my personal favorites.  I distinctly remember settling down in front of a small screen that projected a grainy black and white image to watch "Moby Dick" (the original with Richard Basehart and Gregory Peck) for five days in a row.  I loved that movie; still do.  Back then, we weren't allowed to spend endless hours in front of the tube but I remember being granted special permission to indulge in this film.

Just off the top of my head, here are some of my favorites, not listed in any particular order:

Tombstone/ How The West Was Won/ Rob Roy/ Coal Miner's Daughter (funny choice because I'm not a Loretta Lynn fan)/ Carrie/  Full Metal Jacket/  Rocky/  Vertigo/  The African Queen/  The Maltese Falcon/  The Best Years of Our Lives/  The Wizard of Oz/  Now, Voyager/  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir/  Dances with Wolves/  Midnight Cowboy/  Dr. Zhivago/  Gone With the Wind/  Somewhere in Time/  Raiders of the Lost Ark/  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/  Allegro Non Troppo/  Fantasia/  Gladiator/  A Hard Day's Night/  The Bride of Frankenstein (original with Karloff)/  Young Frankenstein/  LOTR Trilogy/  Star Wars/  Empire Strikes Back/  Return of the Jedi/  A Christmas Story/  A Christmas Carol (the Alistair Sim version)/  Cabaret/  Platoon/  Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp/  Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty

And that's a beginning list without even thinking too deeply.  As you can see, I'd have a dreadful time if ever I had to choose my top three or even five favorite movies. 

 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visiting the BRAIN BATHTUB.  I went to TROY yesterday.  The movie was good to me because of the hard bodies.  My son loved it because of the battles.  I hated it when HECTOR was killed.  I wanted HECTOR to win!!!!!!   I agree,  movies are fun to go to.  The only thing that gets me is the price of the FOOD!!!!!  UGH...  
Regards,
TJ

Anonymous said...

RE your list:  Lots of similarities, but you lost me around Dr. Zhivago.  I just HATED that movie.  Or maybe the guy I went to see it with...?  Lisa  :-]

Anonymous said...

I've gotten especially addicted to the extras that come with Dvds. I like to watch the movie once, virginally, then watch the deleted scenes, and then watch it with subtitles...often I pick up a lot of dialog I'd missed previously....