Thursday Movie Picks-Cults/Secret Societies

I can't believe it is the end of September but I am so happy that the hot weather has gone. October always brings out the bogedy bogedy ( pronounced boo-gedy...it may be my own invention...or not) and it is a fun month because we also celebrate Thanksgiving here.  This week was a tough one for me because most of these types of films I have not seen because they are too scary. There is one film, which I think was a TV movie, that, to this day, freaks me out even remembering it. All I recall is a family who come up to a town. It all seems nice but something sinister is about and one finds out that a Satanic cult rules this town. What bothered me is the family didn't make it out plus I recall goats. If anyone knows about this film, let me know. I always say to head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the other movie bloggers have chosen. So my 3 films are....

1. LIVE AND LET DIE-1973

James Bond?? Cult images? You bet! This is the first outing with Roger Moore as James Bond and this is a great Bond film. It takes place, mainly in the States and Haiti where Bond is investigating the deaths of agents who were investigating drug trafficking. There is quite a bit centered on the voodoo culture that, I feel, is a cult which many still practice and believe in. Bond finds out that the main evil genius hides behind the voodoo rituals (lead by crazy nut Geoffrey Holder with the funky laugh) so he can run his drug empire. This film contains a real alligator farm that they used for the film, a young and beautiful Jane Seymour who can read the future and one killer ass boat chase that is one of the best chase scenes I have ever seen. Oh and the title song, performed by Paul McCartney & Wings is a killer!

2. BOWFINGER-1999

This is one of my favourite comedies  with Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy and a great cast of character actors that just make me laugh each time I see it. It is set in Hollywood and Martin plays a pseudo Ed Wood  who owns a very sad Hollywood studio that basically is his house. He wants that, one day, the Federal Express truck will stop at his door. He has his entourage who want to make movies but are ready to leave until Martin says he has the biggest star working on his new film. This star is played by Eddie Murphy, an over the top obnoxious , arrogant nut job who belongs to this religious cult to keep him safe. This cult definitely bears a strong resemblance to Scientology and is a great parody of this despicable cult saying they are a religion. Martin hires a woman who is sleeping her way to the top, a nerdy, mentally challenged man who looks like the big star (also played by Eddie Murphy), Mexicans who become the camera crew and his pet dog. I love this under-rated satiric comedy. It pays homage and makes fun of Hollywood all at once.

3. THE DA VINCI CODE-2006

I'm expecting this to be popular today. A museum curator is killed in a ritualistic manner in the Louvre and Tom Hanks, a professor, is the main suspect. He, along with a female police cryptologist are hot on the trail of who did this and realize it is much bigger than any of them realize. a secret sect wants to keep secret  that Jesus really was a man who was married to Mary Magdelene and had kids. No surprise to me as I thought she was his wife/mistress when I was a kid and argued that point with the priests in High School during religion class. I was laughed at and told that I was wrong but I asked for proof and they couldn't produce one. Anyhoo....it's a good movie filled with twists and turns and it created quite a stir when the book and then, the film, came out.

Can you think of any movies that fit this bill??

Let's talk family

I'm not talking about the nuts in my family and there are a few but I think we all have them. Some are just peanuts, bland and not roasted and some are the cashews, salted, roasted and have a bit of a curve to them. In the end, they're all nuts and we are glad we see them on certain events and glad when we can say, " Adios!" and travel home to our other family.....the furry kind.

This is a story of a wacky lady who had no girls with golden curls and was so happy to have dodged that bullet. One day this whack-a-doodle met this ADHD fella and they knew it was much more than a hunch. So when they got together, they ended up being the wack-a-doodle  family with some fur nuts.

The first one came with the hubby. He( the cat not the hubby) was a tiny thing who fit in the palm of my hubby's hand and he named the cat, Maddie, after his niece who pleaded with him to take the cat. Hubby took the cat that grew into a huge male cat so the name changed to Naddie.  Naddie likes to hang out and not be bothered much and especially loves the outdoors. He loves it so much that, when he has to come inside, hubby has to throw a blanket on him to make sure his blood stays inside his body. This cat has a big red sticker beside his name at the vet because Naddie likes a pound of flesh.

Now you think he is all male, but I think he has a little Bruce Jenner, er, Caitlyn Jenner in him because he is the biggest whiner I have ever heard. He whines for his food and can't even give a good hearty meow. He does more a "Meh" sound...constantly! I wish that cat would meow like he's supposed to but nope, he just "mehs"  unless he is sleeping. He lets us know when his kitty litter needs changing because he decides to crap outside  the box...anywhere he feels like it. In fact, he will do this if there is  just one crap in his huge litter box. The litter box was built by my hubby who never thinks small.....it's the size of a small football field.  Anyway, gender-bender Naddie  is a big softie who can tear a strip off you if he so chooses but is often just laying around looking bored.

Name: Naddie
Age: 11 years
Nickname: Naddiekins, Whiner, Faggy-Waggy
Loves: Sleeping, The outside on a leash), Hanging around, Being petted by your foot, Whining, ignoring you
Favourite friend: Lucy
Favourite Food: Eating his and then trying to have the other cats' food

I have made cards but I haven't downloaded them besides, I haven't written about whatever for a while and so I thought I would start off with my family. Yes, they purr and bark but I like that more than crying and, (Blecchhh) a face full of cake. Ick... So who is going to watch the comedy special starring the Pantsuit and Orange nut??

Thursday Movie Picks-Teen Angst.

We were all teens once and many people couldn't wait to grow out the teen years and I was one of them. I find that the teen years were one of the most difficult  because we are dealing with so many things from cliques to bullying, having fun to having melt downs. Our minds and bodies are undergoing huge changes and we want our independence but we still cry for our moms when we have a boo boo.  So this week, it is all about teen angst and teens are full of it....in so many ways. Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the other film nuts have chosen.  Here are my 3....

1. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE-1955

I mean this is the teen angst film of all teen angst films. You have devil may care James Dean brooding, moody and so hubba hubba who is angry at his parents who just don't understand who he is. You have a young, beautiful Natalie Wood who is the gal of the resident  hunk but is drawn to Mr. Moody and you have a very young Sal Mineo as the geek who is picked on but is taken under the wing by Mr. Moody. These kids all like to live on the edge by drag racing and playing a game of  chicken( deadly chicken and no it isn't a cheesy radioactive chicken from the 50's).  Brilliant film about misunderstood youth.

2. MY BODYGUARD-1980

I love this film and watched many times and would love to see it again. It is all about a young  teen who is constantly bullied by kids  at his school. He decides to hire a bodyguard, a fellow student that everyone is scared of.  You get to see who these kids truly are with the help of the bullied kid's grandmom played by the wonderful Ruth Gordon. This is a gem of a film about bullying, strength, fear and friendship.  This film really resonated with me and one I could relate to.

3. SIXTEEN CANDLES-1985

One has to have a John Hughes film in here somewhere and I chose this one which stars Molly Ringworm..um, I mean Ringwald who plays the girl turning 16 but her family not noticing. Her bigger sister is getting married, all the relatives are coming in and staying over kicking her out of her bedroom and this poor gal just wants someone to realize she is turning the big 1-6. On top of it all, her parents have a foreign exchange student living with them who ends up wrecking their car and passed out on the front lawn. She has a dorky nerd who thinks sex 24/7 and she has a huge crush on the most popular guy. When this movie came out, I couldn't stand it, wait, I couldn't stand Ringworm, and she is still not my favourite, but this film is now quite engaging. You want one member of her family to notice that she is turning 16 and you can relate to the idiotic relatives who still think it appropriate to talk about things you never want to hear them talk about. It's a sweet film and worth seeing.

Who had a great teen life? Was anyone a cheerleader or a football jock? Was anyone bullied like moi? What films did you think of?

PS-One morning my mom woke up and saw my brother asleep..on the front lawn...and yes, we had my prudish uncle and my aunt visiting.....I loved it!

Thursday Movie Picks-sororities/fraternities

Another week and I must apologize for not replying to many comments since I was not feeling well plus a lot of stuff happening which just tired me out. All is good  so hopefully I will not fall behind again. This week it's all about sororities and fraternities which makes me wonder why anyone would ever want to be part of this crap. I already talked a little about Animal House so I couldn't use that one again so my three are 2 comedies and a cheesy horror flick from TV. Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the other film nuts have picked.

1. THE INITIATION OF SARAH-1978

Yes, this is a TV movie starring the legendary Kay Lenz(who??) who was once married to the legendary David Cassidy(lesser who??). This was a movie to rip off, I mean, pay homage to the film Carrie. Kay Lenz plays a shy, quiet girl who has a popular, pretty sister whom she loves and vice versa. They both enter university and want to enter a sorority with the leader being snot nosed Morgan Fairchild. A classic, campy tv flick with pretty, but nasty gals who bully poor Kay Lenz and won't let her in to their stupid sorority. Of course  Kay Lenz  does get back at them in the most delightful way. High camp at its finest. Don't you just love seeing the 6 Million Dollar man too:)

2. LEGALLY BLONDE-2001

This is Valley Girl meets snot nosed academics when she somehow gets into Harvard just to win back her loser boyfriend who dumped her for being pretty but not much else. Well, she proves him and everyone else wrong when she decides to study and becomes quite good at law despite loving pink. It's a la-la-la comedy meaning it's nice to watch  but don't think there is any depth to it. I wonder why they always must show people with brains can only wear brown, black and navy blue while air heads wear bright colours. My favourite is Jennifer Coolidge who plays the beautician.

3. OLD SCHOOL-2003

Now this is one dumb ass of a comedy but I love it. No thought here either but the ballsy comedy (pun intended) appeals to my non sophisticated self. So the plot revolves around a guy who, after breaking up with his girlfriend, buys a home near University fraternities. a tight-assed man (you know the one where you stick a coal up their ass and it comes out a diamond) informs the guy that he can't live there because his home is not a fraternity. What's the guy to do but make his house a fraternity and it is open to middle aged men (plus one very old geezer), geeks and others which just sends the tight-assed man around the bend. This new fraternity seems to have the best parties on the block plus we get to see how all these men are initiated into the club. I love it when Will Ferrell gets a tranquilizer dart into his neck.

What films can you think up?? This week was a tough one for me

Armchair Squid Film Society- My Pick

Every month our small group meets and we either choose a film, after giving 3 clues or we choose another person's pick and talk about that film. Head on over to The Armchair Squid to see what the others have chosen. My pick was one that Toi Thomas reviewed a while back.

EX MACHINA-2015

I was not gun ho to watch this film even though it got rave reviews but I'm glad I did even though I would call the characters mostly dis likeable. The film stars  the new It gal, Alicia Vikander as a new and improved robot created by freaky mad genius Nathan, played by Oscar Isaac.  Domhnall Gleeson is the sad sack who won a trip to his employer's compound and eventually finds out that he is a mere pawn. Now Ava is one sexy robot even with her robot parts showing and Caleb (Domhnall) is forming a friendship if not love for this nicely built machine.

The film is stark in its cinematography but done in a brilliant way. I would never want to live in a place like this but it shows how devoid of feeling this place has which seems to go with the man who owns the home and created life. I found this film uncomfortable yet brilliant although my hubby just thought it was weird and would not watch it again. It seems the only one who does not seem to be a narcissist is Caleb and you hope he just decides to say "FU" and leave. You will just have to see this film to find out what happens.

Thursday Movie Picks-College Movies

This is the season of all the kids going back to school including all the ruffians going to college or university. I was never a ruffian.....and I have some swamp land to sell you:) I loved my university years even though I never want to relive them since my liver couldn't handle it. I almost went with Animal House which is iconic. I have yet to see Dead Poet's society..I know, me bad girl and I almost went with Good Will Hunting but, I didn't. So these are my 3 that I picked for this week that I think you may enjoy. Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the others have chosen.

1. GIRL CRAZY-1943

Don't we all decide to sing and dance in the halls of our college with a huge famous band to raise money for the college they love. This is essentially the plot but the plot is not the point when you have the great Judy Garland, the ADD Mickey Rooney and the Tommy Dorsey orchestra with Busby Berkley directing the finale (Garland hated Berkley so he was replaced). The singing is great and the dance sequences are precise and very Busby since he made the overhead shots famous and still used today in homage to his musicals. He was in the military so he used his expertise  to choreograph a large amount of dancers into precise dance movements which are mesmerizing.

2. WHERE THE BOYS ARE-1960

What is college without spring break? 3 gals, one serious and sweet, the other sweet but weird and the third blonde and slutty, venture off to Florida for spring break where their main goal is to meet the man of their dreams. Believe it or not one of the men is permanently tanned George Hamilton where future nun, Dolores Hart becomes involved with. The fun and frolic actually takes a serious turn when slutty gal is beaten up by a jerk and then gets hit by a car. The gals come to her aid and one finds out what love truly means. I believe this film, where the movie, and the song (sung by Connie Francis who also co-starred) became a hit, started the college crowd to venture to Florida every spring break.

3. A BEAUTIFUL MIND-2001

This movie may also be a popular choice this week but I had to pick it because I love Russell Crowe who brilliantly acted the part of the off the wall real life professor...John Nash. You see the young, brilliant man enter Princeton with his friend, played by Paul Bettany( actually Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly met and fell in love on set and have been married several years now) and struggle with his fellow classmates, teachers and his own peculiarity. You see him fall in love and marry and finally end up teaching at the college. It's a shame that the real Nash's died in a car accident a couple of years ago. Jennifer Connelly won an Oscar for her role (not sure if she should have but that's another story). If you have not seen it, I don't want to say anything more but it does have its surprises. Also note that this is a Hollywood biography so they left out some major facts (adultery, divorce) but just enjoy the film for its telling of a man with some serious issues.

What films can you think of?

OK I do love Animal House...

Have you ever been in a food fight?

Labour Day then Thanksgiving and then Christmas!

Did I freak you out?? I am thinking about the holidays we get before Christmas and, in Canada, We had Labour Day and then we have Thanksgiving. After that, it is Christmas as the final statutory holiday which I think is a crime since I believe Remembrance Day should be a holiday in honour of our brave men and women who fought during all the wars. Anyhoo, I made 2 more Christmas cards and would have made more but I got sick once again and have been ill for the past week. I am hoping that I am getting better now. So on with the show....

Sparkles Christmas-Angels or Fairies

Christmas Cards All Year Long-Shabby Chic or Monochromatic

Happy Little Stampers-Christmas-A Song (I chose, "Angels we have Heard on High")

Dream Valley Challenges-Monochrome

Simon Says-Anything Goes

This looks better in person than in the photo. I love angels and fairies, hell, some of my best friends are fairies....to Politically incorrect?? They don't mind when I joke so I hope you don't:) OK I chose blue....big surprise since that is my favourite colour. I took my cuddle bug to the dark blueish-purple cardstock and embossed it and then used my perfect pearls to highlight the area. I stamped and embossed the angel in blue and coloured her with my tombow markers. I took a bright Caribbean blue cardstock as the base but to soften the tone, I took some vellum that I embossed with my dots and glued it to the bright blue. The problem is the glue showed through so I added some stickers that I coloured in blue to try to mask my boo-boo. I adhered it all together and used pop up dots for the angel.

CNCH-Anything Goes Christmas

Retro Rubber Challenges-Critter Time-RRCB46

Animal Friends-Animals with Fur

Craft Your Passion-Always Anything Goes

Fairy Tale Stampers-Anything Goes

Oh dear, oh dear, this could be a monochrome as well but when I did one similar quite a while ago someone, at one of the challenges, didn't think it was monochrome...oh well. I stamped these deers in a brown and sponged on distress inks to age the paper a bit. Now my deer stamp is about 1 1/2 years old..I believe...it could be 2 years. I took some kraft paper and then brown paper and placed them all on top I added the stickers and coloured them in brown as well. For a finishing touch, I added some copper stickles as a slight edging.

Thursday Movie Picks- World War 2

This week is another favourite of mine which is World War 2 probably because both my parents were in the war-my dad was part of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Regiment of Canada and took part in the liberation of Holland. My mom, as some of you know, grew up in Wittenberg, Germany and lived through the war having lost 2 brothers ( a 1 yr old and  a 19 yr old) , survived the bombings of Hamburg and Dresden and met Hitler!  2 years ago I found out my mom and her brother were part of the German Resistance fighting against their own countrymen. My mom would place the dynamite under the bridges to blow them up so the Germans could not advance. Anyway, there are so many themes within this theme that I could choose but I went with a docudrama style. Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to check out the other picks.

1. THE LONGEST DAY-1962

I like this version better than Saving Ryan's Privates. Sorry but I do, even though Saving Private Ryan is a good movie, I felt the rah rah American saving the day kind of got to me especially when one of the characters stated  they were stuck because the soldiers at Caens  were holding them back. The soldiers in Caens were Canadians and had advanced farther in that first day than the other beaches because we had learned from Dieppe. When our military suggested  vehicles etc.. to the American Generals for D-Day, they were turned down! Those poor men on the beach would have had another Dieppe if not for us and the Brits! Sorry, but I had to say something and this does not mean any slight to the brave men who had to endure something horrendous on Omaha and Utah. I have a huge respect for any soldier because they had to deal with things I pray I never have to.  Ok so this film has an all star cast and showcases the Americans, British, French and Germans in a step by step style to showcase what went into D Day from not only the beaches but from the air. Many of the actual soldiers and military were advisers on this film and I find it just as accurate as Saving Private Ryan.

2. BATTLE OF BRITAIN-1969

This film documents the battle in the sky that changed the course of the war preventing the German Luftwaffe from taking over Britain. This also has a major all star cast headed by Christopher Plummer that shows how fleeting the life of a pilot is. Again, you have the Germans speaking German and showing a step by step play on this battle. I love the aerial footage and that the director was able to find many word war 2 vintage planes although,  in some scenes, he had to use American planes and made them look like the Spitfire.

3. TORA, TORA, TORA-1970

This docudrama is a step by step play, before, during and after, the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Again the players all speak their own language and never miss a beat how everything came about. It is interesting how some were not to be believed that all these Japanese planes were heading towards the harbour.  When the Japanese Admiral Yamamoto says that he fears they woke up a sleeping Giant and filled him with a terrible resolve( which this general actually did say) you know that they did and the States would never be caught off guard again.

What films come to mind for you? Did your parents live through the war? What experience did they have?