Movie Trivia Game #1- WINNER!!!

The first Movie Trivia Game was a success! With 22 points, we have a winner... [drumroll]

Congratulations to

Kristie Casey!

She walks away with a $10 movie gift card. Great job, Kristie! Everyone who participated did extremely well. (Does this mean I have to make it harder next time? hehe)


Thank you to everyone who played- we had a few people participate, hopefully next time I'll see a few more of you putting in submissions. :-D

New things to come in February!

Hey everyone!

I'm working on "spicing" up things a bit starting in February. Posting only twice a week doesn't seem to offer many opportunities for discussions or thoughts. Doing two movies a week is great, but I want to add more to the project and make it more interesting.

So here's some of my ideas. I don't know yet which ones I'll do, but any feedback, ideas, or comments from you are always welcome.

1) Interviews. What I'm thinking is trying to get interviews from people who are inside the movie business, getting some "Insider Info" about their job, but also their personal opinions and preferences on movies. I'm also thinking about doing interviews with people like YOU- people who are movie fanatics, movie buffs, or just movie watchers. It would be a great way for everyone who wants a more personal involvement in the project to get that. (I'd take volunteers if anyone is interested!)

2) Off-List Movies/2017 List Movies. The former would basically be what I do with the movies on the list, but it would be on movies that are not on the list. It would be both new and old movies, such as Edward Scissorhands and/or Avatar. The latter would be doing movies that would potentially be on AFI's "2017" list (supposing that they continue with the tradition of republishing a list every ten years). If people have a particular movie that they think would end up on the "2017" list, they could send me a message or post a comment with that movie suggestion and I could take it into consideration and possibly post about it here. (All suggestions would be given credit unless the suggester requested to remain anonymous.)

3) Movie Trivia Game. If I add on this one, I would do it once or twice a month and give away a movie-related prize. (Off the top of my head, I'm thinking either movie tickets, DVDs, Blockbuster gift card, or Best Buy gift card as possibilities. I don't have a ton of money to spend, and the cost would be out-of-pocket, but I would be willing to do this if enough people wanted to participate.)

4) Video Posts. This one would depend on how well my computer wanted to comply. What I am picturing for this would be videos of a variety of movie-related things- this idea is still in development, so I don't have anything pin-pointed for this. Perhaps some spoofs of movies in less than a couple of minutes (it would be the ultimate definition of low-budget), maybe some video-interviews with people (as per idea #1), or something with a bit of movie-history. (Again, this idea is still a bit raw, so it'll get a little cleaner later if this is one I decide to go with.)

I am very interested in reader-feedback, if any one is indeed reading this. ;) Any suggestions, preferences on which of my ideas you'd like to see me do, or anything! It is all greatly appreciated.

To make it easier, on the right side of the blog is a poll, and the current poll is about which of these suggestions you would like to see happen. Thank you for reading!

Take A Moment

Most all of us have busy lives, and we all have our own hardships and nuisances. There was terrible traffic. The boss asked you to stay an hour overtime. You missed an episode of your favorite show. Someone cut you off on the drive home. But how big are these things, really? How much trouble do they actually cause in your life?

Right now, there are thousands of people in Haiti who are without food, water, shelter, or clean clothes. There are people who are stuck in the rubble left by the earthquake, uncertain if they will survive another night lost in the remains of what once was their own home. Many people are still missing their loved ones- missing sisters, husbands, mothers, sons, and friends, hoping that fate will show them mercy and they will see those loved ones again. Bodies lay strewn in the streets, some covered in whatever piece of cloth may have been lying around, some just basking in the sun.

Now, traffic doesn't seem so bad, does it? Tuesday I was having a bad day at work- I had a couple of rude callers, and someone insulted me. I came home feeling down, as though it was just so unfair. Then I turned on the news and saw the state of things in Haiti and realized- so what if someone called me a name? Big deal. So what if someone was rude to me? It doesn't make a bit of difference in my life. I'm blessed- I know where my loved ones are, I have a place to sleep, I have food to eat. Sometimes we may take these things for granted, but really we very fortunate to have the things we do.

When it comes down to it, all we truly have is each other. Sometimes we need to reach out and lend a hand, a happy thought, a prayer or whatever we can to help another human being in need. In fifty years, what are you going to remember more about January 2010- it's not going to be the plot of that show you just have to see, it's not going to be how much traffic there was, or how much overtime you had to work, but you will remember that you reached out to help someone, and I assure you that even if they don't know who you are, they will remember it the rest of their life as well. It is a special kindness, a unique love that can be passed. The thing about kindness, generosity, and love is that the more you give them away, the more you will receive.

If you can spare a few dollars, make a donation to the Red Cross by clicking here. If you can't spare any money, then take a moment- Take a moment to reflect on your life, all of the "hardships" that you deal with, and see if they really are as bad as they could be. Say a prayer for Haiti, send them some hopeful vibes, or just think happy thoughts for them- whatever you believe in. Remember what is important in life, remember about love.

Donate to the Red Cross

Deciphering my Labels...

Just wanted to write a quick note and explain my labels in case you wanted to look through them later on down the line.

All of the movies I talk about will be labeled with "Movie: _____" (the blank being the movie title itself of course).

All of the directors I mention will be labeled with "D: ______" ('D' for 'Director' and the blank being the director's name).

All of the stars mentioned in the posts will be labeled with "A: ______" ('A' for 'Actor/Actress' and the blank, once again, being the person's name).

I will also have it labeled with a few descriptive words about the movie and the decade in which it was made.

Thanks for reading! :-D

Movies Needed

I went through and put all of the movies from AFI's list that I don't own in my queue on Blockbuster.com. They are in a random order, some are listed as "Very Long Wait" so when those reach the top and I'm waiting for them, I'm going to do one of the movies I own on DVD.

The only problem is that there are three movies that are not in Blockbuster's inventory: Duck Soup (1933), Sunrise (1927) and The African Queen (1951). I do have time to find these movies, but I have no idea how tough it is going to be to find them. Perhaps a trip to eBay will be required.

First Movie Selected and Ready to Go!

Thanks to a suggestion from my dear husband, I have decided upon the first and second films I will be watching for my "100 movies in 365 days" project. I won't start until after midnight on January 1st, though, otherwise it would be cheating! I intend to watch the first one on Friday and the second one probably on Sunday or Monday. I'm excited!

The Mandatory Indroduction

Well, here it is. The year 2009 is coming to a close, and 2010 is just a few days away. Since it is the beginning of the new year (and new decade, nonetheless) I have decided to take on a project that will no doubt be close to my heart.

What, exactly, am I doing? Well, to put it simply I am going to watch 100 movies this year. That's 100 movies in 52 weeks, or about 2 movies per week. (This is, of course, in addition to a full-time job, family, life, and taking classes starting in February.) Why? There are a few reasons:
1) I love movies. Movies have always been a passion of mine. I love to watch them, to emotionally digest them, to pick apart what makes them so amazing, and learn about the behind-the-scenes work that it takes to make them. I have a degree in film production, so I do have an understanding of what it takes to make a movie, but I am always thirsting to learn more and more about it.
2) I am fascinated by people. What makes people do what they do (whatever that may be) has interested me for the longest time. If it wouldn't be so creepy, I'd love to just sit on a bench all day and watch people just being people. (But doing that probably doesn't pay much, and I need to pay my bills.) Watching movies is essentially watching people, because movies are made about people's lives, their fantasies, their fears, and everything else that makes us human. Which leads into reason number three:
3) Movies speak to people, movies are all about communication. All movies, even the most silly and seemingly pointless ones, have a message and/or a moral. If someone has taken the time (and money, and resources, and all the headaches and other things it takes to make a movie), then the story was important enough to them to make the effort to do so. Maybe it was something simple or maybe it was something deep and emotional, but they wanted to share the story with the world. This also ties in to number four:
4) Inspiration. Think about the movies you have seen. Have any of them inspired you? Made you think? Enlivened you to change your life? For me, the answer is yes. How many times have you heard people quote movies? It is because those quotes and that movie has stuck with them. It doesn't have to be a dramatic feature to inspire, it can be comedic, and I know there have been comedic films that have inspired me in one way or another.

Bottom line, movies are a form of art. Art reflects life. Therefore, movies reflect life, and life is beautiful, and sometimes complicated. I love that- I love life, and all the possibilities it has to offer, and all the lessons it has to teach.

I was actually inspired to do this because of a movie. Recently, I watched the film Julie & Julia and as Julie Powell went through her experience cooking all of Julia Childs' recipes in a year, it changed her. Through a seemingly insignificant project, Julie found so much about herself and grew so much. I am hoping, through a similar-yet-customized project, that I will gain the same.

So here's the basic breakdown of what is yet to come: I'm going to watch 100 movies in 365 days and blog about each one after I watch it. I will be using the American Film Institute's "100 Years 100 Movies" 10th anniversary list. (If you want to see the list, you can download it from their site.) I won't be going in order, it will be seemingly random, and this is because I am using an online movie rental system in which they send me a movie through the mail based on availability. I hope to have the first of the films on January 1st or 2nd and blog about it on January 3rd.

I don't know if I will have many (or even any) followers, but if you do choose to follow along on this little "adventure," I'm glad to have you here. :-)