Thursday Movie Picks-Meet The Parents

I'm back since last week was a total bust for me:) Do you remember meeting your future in-laws? I do and it took them a while to warm up to me since I  didn't like to cook, have been to Europe, love reading and love Classical music. They were campers who loved country music, thought it best to see the country here and found people who like classical music to be snobs. Mom in law could never understand that I did not like to cook so she just thought I could not cook. Oh well, they warmed up to me and I was enriched to have them in my life. Wandering Through The Shelves decided to have this week about meeting parents. I am avoiding the obvious-Meet the Parents with Ben Stiller and chose 3 I hope you like, heard about or actually have seen.  Here are my 3...

1. YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU-1938

I have to choose a Jimmy Stewart film, this being the Christmas season and all. This film actually won best picture although not sure it should have( I would have gone with Le Grande Illusion) but it is still a lot of fun and part of the screwball comedy club. James Stewart plays a rich man whose dad wants to buy up a row of houses to put a competitor out of business but there is one family who is a hold out. Enter the great Jean Arthur who comes from this poor but happy family who works for the rich family and who is in love with Stewart and vice versa. Mayhem ensues as each meet the other's parents and each must contend with the eccentricities of their respective in-laws. It is a funny, warm comedy that showcases the character actors as much as the stars.

2. THE SOUND OF MUSIC-1965

Let me ask you, when did this become a Christmas movie? Aside from the song "These are a Few of my Favourite Things", which only mentioned snowflakes and stockings, this film takes place in summer, has Nazis and a family leaving their home. It is NOT a Christmas movie! OK, now that I ranted, this is a very charming film starring Julie Andrews as a nun in training sent to Baron Von Trapp's home to deal with his 7 unruly kids. The Baron, played by Christopher Plummer, is cold and deals with his kids like a military..er...navy unit. The kids try to send the nun packing but she is on to them and shows them fun, happiness and how to sing through the city of Salzburg (I have been there and it is beautiful). The nun not only charms the kids but, soon, charms the Baron but it is the end of the 1930's and the Nazi's are afoot so you know the parents will need to help the kids and themselves escape. I love the fact that Christopher Plummer called this The Sound of Mucus even though I love this movie. I laughed when the Baron mentioned they must cross those mountains to escape but that would have sent them right into Germany. When Blake Edwards(famous director) saw Julie Andrews in this movie, he mentioned that her Va-jay-jay must be growing violets. Julie Andrews heard about this remark and sent him a bunch of violets. They met and remained married until he died just a few years ago.

3.  NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION-1989

The Griswolds are back and this is my favourite of the bunch of films about this nutty family.  Clark decides to have the entire clan come to his home to celebrate Christmas. You have the uptight snotty neighbours one played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the in-laws with Doris Roberts as one mom-in-law and E.G. Marshall as another in law and the hilarious William Hickey as a icky uncle. Speaking of icky, Randy Quaid is back as the cousin who comes in his run down trailer with his wife and kids to just make matters worse for the Griswold clan. Will Clark get his Christmas bonus so he can put in a swimming pool? Will the cat survive? Will his boss ever see the light? One just has to sit back, have fun and enjoy...and play ball!

Which 3 would you choose?

Thursday Movie Picks: TV Edition- Adapted From a Non-English Series

Yeah....I have dick-all for this week. If  Wandering Through The Shelves would have chosen something from England then I could have gone with All In The Family, Three's Company and even Dancing With The Stars or as my hubby says, "Dancing With The idiots." Considering Bobby Bones won who was horrible, I might agree with my hubby.

I laughed like hell yesterday, over at the wonderful Sandra Cox's blog, where she posted some funnies about cats. We have 4 cats and our wonderful, mentally unstable dog, Wallace. Poor Wallace must be suffering from PTSD since he is phobic of the outside (He's a rescue dog) which makes things a bit smelly when he decides to poop inside the house and then hide knowing he did wrong. He breaks out in itchy spots so he can only eat grain-free, expensive dog food and  suffers from itchy ears as well. I should have itchy ears and spots all over but, oh wait, I do have an itchy scalp. I know too much information.

We have 4 rescue cats as I have talked about before, Naddie..aka Poopsie because he decides to go outside the box. Lucy, the Diva, Jade, Ms. Lovey-Dovey and Kaspar the disaster who has decided to redecorate the house with his claws. OK so now it sounds like I live in some derelict house that you might see on Hoarders but, I swear to you, we do keep it as clean as we can hence why bleach is my best friend.

The cats do love to pounce on us, touch my face with their paws and, on occasion, make my hubby sing soprano when they pounce on his jewels. I ask my hubby to cuddle me at night and his response is that I am like an oven. This is true since I am in full swing menopause and, just yesterday, with snow blowing, I left my office and stood outside in the blowing snow for about 5 minutes. I still would love the cuddle (he does give in once in a while) and hugs and kisses..oops I went TMI again didn't I? I went a shade of green, one day, before work, because I came across this scene below....

My hubby and Kaspar-his little scrumptious of fun, AKA Hitler because of his mustache, whom he will often have his arm across (he does here but not sure you can tell) to cuddle with. My question is..., should I be jealous? I thought so and I have been looking up ways to make violin strings just so you all know:)

Have a great day of cuddling:)

As for films...Of course, next week will be back to norm plus it is the Christmas season so I plan on watching all my favourites including  the great cartoons.

Christmas cards

Cuddle bug, embossing folder, dye ink and embossing powder, fairy stamp, glitter pens, scissors, stickers, sizzex, poinsettia cutting thingy-shit...forgot the name, evergreen punch, crystals

Winter Wonderland-Xmas/Winter Characters-people only
Sparkles Christmas- Embossing
Cute Card Thursday-Festive Colours
ABC Christmas- W for wishes and X for Xmas

I bought this fairy stamp when I was in Vancouver and I love it. I took some scrap paper, of which I have tons, and embossed it with an Xmas folder through the cuddlebug. I stamped and embossed the fairy, coloured her with sparkle pens and fussy cut her out. I put all the papers together and added the Festive Wishes words. I also used thesizzex machine to cut the poinsettia. I hope I am right with the ABC Challenge because it is Christmassy..er...Xmassy. I decided to use a fairy instead of Santa because I thought of the Film "Fantasia" and the beautiful start with the fairies done to the Nutcracker suite.

Alcohol Inks, gold stickles, village stamp, blue embossing ink and powder, tombow markers, scissors, glue pen, lotsa glitter:)

CHNC- Make Your Own Background
Crafty Creations- Anything Goes

I was inspired by "A Starry Night", painted by Van Gogh, to create this scene which can also bring to mind Currier and Ives. I actually created 3 cards with great artists in mind because there was a challenge about this but I was too late in posting them. I will showcase my other 2 soon...I promise. I really enjoyed creating this card using alcohol inks to make the background. I took basic white cardstock and stamped and embossed the village scene with light blue and used tombow markers to colour it in. I added some sparkle(Hahhaa-some is an understatement) on the snowy parts and used the gold stickles to create the swirly background.

White pearly cardstock, red mirror cardstock, Mouse stamp and footprint stamp, letters, red sparkle embossing powder, dye ink, tombow markers, snowflake & border sticker, scissors, glitter

Penny Black-Make Someone Smile
Happy Little Stampers- Christmas-CAS

I made this card rather quickly by stamping the little mouse, that I think is yawning but I decided that he is singing. Elroy, the mouse, is loving Christmas so he is singing up a storm. I coloured him up with some tombow markers, stamped his footprints and added the writing using letters that I stamped in red and embossed in red tinsel. I finished it off with the snowflake stamp and border. Oh, I made the little hat for Elroy and glittered it up too.

Winter scene stamp, silver embossing pad, winter sparkle embossing powder, red tombow marker, various cardstock, ribbon, sizzex machine, cut out letters.

Simon Says- Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Christmas Crafts All Year Round- Gingerbread
Christmas Card Throwdown- Ribbon and Glitter
Animal Friends- Winter
Alphabet Challenge- Reindeer

I think this is a good card for a man as well as a woman with this wintry scene. This is a new stamp which I stamped in silver embossing ink and embossed with the glitter white powder. I took my red tombow marker and coloured in the cardinals and adhered it to the different papers. I finished it off with some ribbon and cut out the words using the sizzex machine.

I feel so much better since my infusion which is to treat my chronic pain. It doesn’t take it away but it really calms it down. To everyone, thank you always for visiting and commenting.

Thursday Movie Picks-Non-Linear films

I feel like my brain is non-linear because I seem to jump from one thought to another and still the brain cells seem to be dying and I can’t even blame good old booze. OK, that last sentence I blame on my Lydocaine infusion I had on Tuesday when i wrote this up:). I decided not to go the old movie route and went modern. It will be interesting to see what films are chosen this week and, I bet the last one I chose will be popular. To find out, check out Wandering Through The Shelves to see the others’ picks, here are my 3.

1. PULP FICTION-1994

I saw this film and instantly loved it even though it is not liked by some due to the profuse use of profanity but I didn’t mind it a bit in this film. Just warning you:) because, not only the language, but it is a violent comedy..from shootings to something very, very weird in a business basement. You have 2 hitmen, a mob boss, a gangster’s moll, a boxer, his nemesis and the list continues. This film resurrected John Travolta’s career, brought Quentin Tarantino to the forefront as a director and made Uma Thurman a household name. In fact, at that time, when I was younger and, ahem, thinner, many people thought I looked like her and I dressed up like Uma from this movie for Halloween that year. It’s violent, profane, funny, weird, well-acted and it has some great music, in fact, I own the CD. You know, if they find out that Quentin Tarantino is a serial killer, I would not be surprised.

2. MAGNOLIA-1999

This is one film I need to revisit because I was impressed when it came out. It has a huge cast that, somehow, all end up connected in some way. You have an old man dying from cancer(Jason Robard’s final film role as he was dying from cancer), a sweet-natured cop who wishes for love. You have a rich motivational speaker played by Tom Cruise and a, once famous kid who was on a game show, who is now washed up. I can’t tell you how many actors are in this but due to great writing, frogs and direction, it’s a film worth seeing.

3. MEMENTO-2000

Now this is a great film that is also one I must revisit. I would not be surprised if this will be the popular film this week. It stars Guy Pierce who has retained his long term memory but can no longer retain any short term memory. We know he lost his wife in a murder and he is trying to find out who killed her and the only way to retain his new findings is by tattooing what he has learned on his body. We watch this film “backwards” and with each part, we learn a little bit more. A very interesting and unique way of writing a movie that should have won the Oscar for best screenplay and it should have won for Editing plus be nominated for more in my humble opinion.

What are your 3?

Thursday Movie Picks-Museum

I love museums especially art museums...I know...yawn for many, but I think they are great and have had the privilege of seeing many great works of art. I have also been to Niagara Falls many times and Clifton Hill to be exact where the tacky museums are...overpriced and quite dumb but strangely fun. I have to say one of the better ones is Ripley’s Believe It or Not. I am picking no art museum movies even though I like The Da Vinci Code. Let’s see what the others have chosen so head over to Wandering Through The Shelves. So here are my 3...

1. BRINGING UP BABY-1938

This is a fun movie that I love watching and I am due to see it again. It stars the great Cary Grant as a nerdish(!) palaeontologist who is trying to gain funding for his museum. He meets up with the daffy Katherine Hepburn who is related to a very rich lady who could help Grant’s money woes. Unfortunately, the dog steels the dinosaur bone, the couple get arrested and baby goes missing...baby is a pet leopard who is quite tame but there is a wild leopard that escaped from a circus on the loose as well. One of the best screwball comedies ever made with brilliant performances by everyone involved. It showcases Cary Grant’s great comedic skills and how well he gets along with his frequent co-star, Katherine Hepburn...a must see.

2. HOUSE OF WAX-1953

I know October is over but this seems to fit for this week. It is a remake of an earlier film(1933) starring Fay Wray (which I will see one day) and I choose this fun flick with Vincent Price since I love this actor. This film was one of the first 3D films that tried to make it big in the 1950’s and was the first by a big studio and with Stereophonic sound. Price stars as a great sculptor who becomes insane after he is deceived by his partner who burns down the wax museum. Years later Price is back and decides to create his waxwork masterpieces using dead bodies. He becomes obsessed and you know things won’t go well. One of the first times we see Price as a horror star and a great campy film.

3. NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM-2006

I have a feeling this will be popular this week but I don’t care because I like this movie. Ben Stiller always looks like he has a boil up his ass making him look always confused and pained looking.  He plays a man who can’t seem to hold down a job and ends up as a night watchman at the New York natural history museum. Little does he know that all the artifacts come alive at night until he finds out the hard way and goes running for his life since he has a T-Rex after him, Attila the Hun and a nasty monkey. Soon, he becomes friends with some of the museum pieces like Teddy Roosevelt played with compassion and fun by the great Robin Williams. This is a feel good movie that brings out friendships, father/son relationships  and feelings of self worth. I  love the camaraderie between Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan as the tiny cowboy and Roman soldier and I love seeing Dick Van Dyke and even Mickey Rooney in this movie. Dick Van Dyke is still going strong with a cameo in the newest Mary Poppins film but, hopefully, without his bad cockney accent.

By the way that man is 92!

What films would you choose?

Thursday Movie Picks- Political Comedy

Considering what has been happening the last 2 years, it has been and still is, quite the comedy..how sad. Politics is usually quite comical from Khrushchev banging his shoe on the table to Orange Man and his tweets plus Ford falling, Bush Snr throwing up and Eisenhower needing to show his operation scar. It’s all a comedy so let’s get to it. I will be curious to see what the others have chosen this week so you can head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what other films have been picked. Here are my 3...

1. MEET JOHN DOE-1941

Frank Capra did love the common man but he also seemed to like politics and the corruption that ran through it. This film stars Gary Cooper as a baseball player down on his luck who accepts to be John Doe..a make believe man dreamed up by a reporter played by Barbara Stanwyck. At first, it’s just a story to drum up publications but soon Cooper believes in the values and slowly, so does Stanwyck, but the political bosses don’t like this so they set up a trap. Very well acted and directed about the ideals that we should never lose but is often lost by corruption and money. What is interesting is how the common man become a mob, easily swayed by words.

2. CANADIAN BACON-1995

The president of the United States has an all time low rating so what is he to do? He takes the advice of his numb-nut staff and creates a “war” with the peaceful neighbours to the north...me...well, us Canadians. Of course one goof takes it to a whole new level and this goof is played by the brilliant John Candy. Alan Alda plays the president and you have a number of stars in this funny comedy. It’s not brilliant but if you want a good laugh, watch this.

3. BULWORTH-1998

This is a brilliant comedy by Warren Beatty as a jaded Senator who is disliked by everyone including his wife so he decides to put a hit out..on himself. At that point, he says exactly what is on his mind angering, especially, the insurance companies and gun lobbyists...which I love! He finds an unexpected friend in Halle Berry and becomes quite adept at rapping which is a great scene that skewers the money men. This film is not well known which is a shame because I think it’s brilliant.

What films would you choose?

Thursday Movie Picks-Gangster

Welcome to November 1st, All Saints Day or The Day of the Dead or whatever....Last night was Halloween and I had so few kids. When I moved here, I had 140 kids at least and this time, I had....11. I will chock it up to the neighbourhood growing up, crappy weather and being in the middle of the week. When I was young, my mom took us to this little village that looked right out of a horror movie for kids, and it was so much fun. There is one big difference....all the leaves are still on the trees! I used to go through the leaf pile and see only bare trees which looked spooky. Now, most of the leaves are still on the trees! It’s just so weird....anyway back to the show. This new month starts off with Gangsters, I already had talked about my favourite, White Heat, a while back and I talked about Public Enemy and even Some Like It Hot, so I went a little different. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the others have chosen. Here are my 3...

1. ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES-1938

How can I not choose a James Cagney film especially since I did not pick an Edward G Robinson one. This is about 2 boys growing up in a rough part of town who steal but only one gets caught and is sent to juvenile hall. This kid turns out to be James Cagney who ends up a big time gangster while his best friend becomes a priest (of course). The priest, played by Cagney’s best friend, Pat O’Brien, tries to bring him over to the good side especially since this small gang of boys, the Dead  End Kids, admire the Cagney character. This film is better than the average because of the acting and the social commentary that could stand up even today. The ending of the film shocked me and kept me thinking which is a feat unto itself:).

2. A SONG IS BORN-1948

This is a remake of the brilliant comedy, Ball of Fire, that starred Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck and a film I talked about before too. This is a musical that stars Danny Kaye and his oft screen partner, Virginia Mayo. She plays the moll to a gangster who is wanted by the police and the police want to question her to implicate her boyfriend, played by the notorious Steve Cochran. She sings at a swinging nightclub where the innocent Danny Kaye goes to gain research on his book about music. The moll and the gangster hatch a plan for her to stay at Kaye’s place until the coast is clear.  She does not realize that older gents live in the same place nor does she think she will fall for the babbling, innocent Kaye but she does. This is not as good as the original but I still enjoyed it and it has some brilliant musical moments from jazz greats like Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong and Tommy Dorsey. Kaye was exceptional with tongue twisting singing which leaves me in a wonderment at how he could do this with such ease...I know it’s not easy but he makes it look like that.

3. ANALYZE THIS-1999

Oh wow! I chose a new film....well I think it’s new and it is funny even if you are not into gangsters. Robert DeNiro plays the head of the gangsters (big surprise) who becomes crippled with anxiety to the point where he can’t function. He decides to see a shrink, Billy Crystal, who is not happy being his psychiatrist for obvious reasons, namely being shot and that he is getting married in a week. I wasn’t sure if DeNiro could handle comedy but he does it well here and he has good chemistry with Billy Crystal who plays the very nervous, but not a pushover, shrink. Other characters in the film often play gangsters in other films or on tv especially The Sopranos which is where I feel the people, who created that show, must have seen this and used that idea of a gangster having anxiety.

These are my 3...which are yours?