Tag Archives: Movies

Reckless

Posted on by

Reckless is one of my favorite underrated movies. Starred a young Daryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn just before they both made it big the next year in 1985: he broke through with Desperately Seeking Susan and she made a big SPLASH with Tom Hanks.
He was like a James Dean in this role… Written by Chris Columbus who wrote Gremlins that same year. James Foley Directed (he later did Glengarry Glen Ross)

The beginning

This scene is so cool as he hates the music they’re playing at the dance and changes it to fit his style.

The swimming pool scene with great song, Kim Wilde’s Kids in America

Here’s the ending. I love the use of “Roll me away” by Bob Segar as they ride away…. chilling..

Share

Tales from the Script

Posted on by

I loved this documentary about screenwriting. You will learn a ton of things you never knew before about the craft of writing for the big screen. There are tons of behind the scenes stuff that keep you thoroughly enthralled, if you’re a big film buff as I am anyway. If you’re a screenwriter (as I am) then you’ll truly love this entertaining and informative film.

It’s currently streaming on NetFlix right now!

Share

Netflix Nirvana

Posted on by

netflix_4c_white_logo

I love movies and the internet so of course I’m going to be a big fan of Netflix. I love that its popularity continues to grow as more people learn how great it is. I had the same feeling or Tivo when I discovered it and was blown away by how fantastic and life changing it was. The fact that they eventually became partners is just incredible. You’ll see why later.

Here are some little known things about your netflix account as well as some excellent websites and apps that can add tremendous value to the experience.

Netflix RSS feeds displays all kinds of useful RSS feeds about your Netflix account as well as all of the useful RSS feeds that Netflix provides.

Netflix Facebook Connection makes it easy for you to share your Netflix and movie activities with your friends on Facebook with the click of a button.

The Netflix community is an ever growing online social network for Netflix and movie lovers. It’s built within the Ning network so if you already have a ning account you can just sign in to join the Netflix community. Once you’re in, you can add friends, chat, share thoughts, etc.

Twitter for Netflix allows you to manage your Netflix account via Twitter.

Netflix App Gallery

Netflix has an excellent App Gallery of websites and applications for desktops and mobile devices that work with their service. Here are just some of my favorites.

Feedfliks provides tremendous amounts of information and statistics about your Netflix account.

InstantWatcher is one of my favorite sites, period. It gives a wonderful at-a-glance view of all the movies you can watch instantly on Netflix. No muss, no fuss, bada bing, bada boom!

DVD Corral is a fantastic visual way to catalog the movie collection as well as the movies you want to own online.
It connects to Netflix wonderfully so you can actually watch it online if it’s available or you can add it to your queue to be delivered. You can import/export lists which is excellent.
dvdcorral

I like that it provides a couple of handy URLs that you can share with friends such as your movie collection:

http://www.dvdcorral.com/users/paisano

as well as the movies you want to watch or own:

http://www.dvdcorral.com/users/paisano/wish

Qflip is just a silly way to let others movies for you.

iPhone apps for Netflix

Phoneflicks
phoneflicks1 phoneflicks2

Now Playing 2 is an amazing app that does to much to cover here really. In short, it not only tells you which movies are playing near you and when but it also lets you buy the tickets and pops the popcorn (OK I added that last part but you get the gist). They’re included here because they also work with Netflix! You can access your account from your iPhone and manage you queue and other things. Best of all, it’s totally FREE!
now playing movie now playing map

i.TV does a great job working with your local TV channel guides. It also has a Netflix connection allowing you to manage your DVD and instant watch queues.
itv

Mobi iNet and Mobi iNet Lite offer access to a boatload of services including Netflix but truth be told, the interface for Netflix isn’t nearly as good as the other apps here. Still, it appears to be a worthy app for all that it offers.

Netflix on Tivo

The ultimate one-two punch has to be Netflix on Tivo which allows you to watch any streaming movie from Netflix on your big screen TV thanks to the Tivo box. Here’s the Tivo HD device with Netflix access.
tivo

Final Thoughts

Netflix continues to grow in popularity as it forms new partnerships with other services such as Tivo which only adds value to its service and members. Another trend that I like seeing is the Add to Netflix button popping on in movie reviews such as this one on the New York Times for Little Miss Sunshine. If you love movies then Netflix appears to be a must have service, especially with all of these apps and services that work with your account.
add to netflix

Share

Galway Girl

Posted on by
I’m still thinking about that wonderful movie “P.S. I Love You”.  Here’s a fantastic scene when the widow watches a performer singing a song and then suddenly realizes that it’s the same song that her late husband sang when they first met. Amazing acting by Hilary Swank as her face tells the whole story in seconds. By the way, her husband was played by the brilliant Gerard Butler who was the Phantom of the Opera in 2004 and also the beefcake in the epic “300″. Versatile actor indeed!

Share

The Man Who Can’t Be Moved

Posted on by

I can’t stop listening to “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” by The Script. It was featured in the original motion picture soundtrack for “P.S. I Love You” which I also loved. They’re an Irish band that were called MyTown before. Great song, video and band!


The Man Who Can’t Be Moved by THE SCRIPT

Going back to the corner where I first saw you,
Gonna camp in my sleeping bag not I’m not gonna move,
Got some words on cardboard got your picture in my hand,
Saying if you see this girl can you tell her where I am,
Some try to hand me money they don’t understand,
I’m not… broke I’m just a broken hearted man,
I know it makes no sense, but what else can I do,
How can i move on when im still in love with you…
Cos if one day you wake up and find that your missing me,
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
Thinking maybe you’d come back here to the place that we’d meet,
And you’d see me waiting for you on the corner of the street.
So I’m not moving…
I’m not moving.
Policeman says son you can’t sit her,
I said there’s someone I’m waiting for if it’s a day, a month, a year,
Gotta stand my ground even if it rains or snows,
If she changes her mind this is the first place she will go.
Cos if one day you wake up and find that your missing me,
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
Thinking maybe you’d come back here to the place that we’d meet,
And you’d see me waiting for you on the corner of the street.
So I’m not moving…
I’m not moving.
I’m not moving…
I’m not moving.
People talk about the guy
Whos waiting on a girl…
Oohoohwoo
There on no hole in his shoes
But a big hole in his world…
Hmmmm
Maybe I’ll get famous as man who can’t be moved,
And maybe you won’t mean to but you’ll see me on the news,
And you’ll come running to the corner…
Cos you’ll know it’s just for you
I’m the man who can’t be moved
I’m the man who can’t be moved…
Cos if one day you wake up and find that your missing me,
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
Thinking maybe you’d come back here to the place that we’d meet,
And you’d see me waiting for you on the corner of the street.
[Repeat in backgroung]
So I’m not moving…
I’m not moving.
I’m not moving…
I’m not moving.
Going back to the corner where I first saw you,
Gonna camp in my sleeping bag not I’m not gonna move.

Share

P.S. I Love You

Posted on by

pslloveyou

I watched “P.S. I Love You” (2007) recently but waited a while before writing about it in order to let it sink in to see how it really affected me. I have to say that my opinion of the movie only gets better as the days go by. I seem to love the story more with time as I think about it.

The two stars were wonderful, Hilary Swank (Oscar-winner from Boys Don’t Cry & Million Doller Baby) & Gerard Butler, whom I just realized was the new Phantom in the 2004 remake of “The Phantom of the Opera” by Joel Schumacher (which I loved!).

In a nutshell, the story is about a husband who dies but leaves a series of letters and surprises for his wife. They are touching, funny and memorable experiences. The best thing about this whole thing is that it never gets too maudlin or depressing despite the subject matter, which is an incredibly difficult thing to pull off. Also, the late husband doesn’t do this to prolong her grieving but to help her get through it and actually go on with her life and actually helps her rediscover her true self and her dreams of youth. Amazing experience you won’t ever forget.

Here’s the Galway Girl scene where a potential new man in her life starts singing a song that her late husband sang to her. Needless to say it brings back a flood of memories. The song is fantastic all on its own but especially magical in this scene. Hilary Swank’s expression is chilling as you can see the memories of her beloved husband hitting her like a ton of bricks.

Here’s a beautiful song “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” by the Script.

A series of scenes set to “No Other Love” from the film soundtrack

Wonderful scene when they first meet


P.S. I Love You – More free videos are here

Gerard Butler interview

Gerard Butler Interview of P.S. I love you

Share

The Family Man

Posted on by

familyman I think I love the “The Family Man” (2000) because it reminds me so much of my all-time favorite movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946). Instead of the main character wishing he’d never been born at all like George Bailey, Nicholas Cage’s Jack gets a glimpse at what his life would have been like had he chosen a different path 13 years earlier. What would life be like had he chosen love over money and his career?

Well, through the magic of Christmas he gets that chance to find out and it’s a real treat for us all. He gets to experience his life with Kate, played delightfully by Tea Leoni. He goes from being a filthy rich womanizing bachelor to a barely-getting-by but happy family man with two kids. It’s a shocking change to say the least.

All of the characters in the movie ring true which is a key ingredient to a great movie. Once again, Jeremy Priven does a superb job as the best friend just as he did in another one of my favorites, “Serendipity”. Don Cheadle is excellent as well as the rest of the cast.

Here’s the trailer

Sweet scene where Jack sees home movie of himself singing to his wife (something he never did in his other life)

One of the most romantic scenes ever! It ranks up there with the phone scene between George and Mary Hatch.
The way Jack tells her how she’s grown into a beautiful woman and when she asks “How can you do that? Look at me as if you haven’t done it for the last 13 years”

Here’s the beginning which is important and especially poignant when you see the ending. This is the moment that changes the rest of their lives, the proverbial fork in the road.

Here’s the wonderful ending. Don’t watch it if you plan to see it for the first time. Gets me every time!

Here’s the entire movie

Share

Validation

Posted on by

I am obsessed with this short 16-minute film short called “VALIDATION”.  At first, I thought it was funny but a little over the top as many indy shorts tend to be but then it just kept getting better and better until the wonderful finale!

There are so many lessons in this gem of a tale. I won’t spoil it in case you haven’t experienced yet. Suffice it to say that the lessons can apply to whatever we do in life. I can’t stop smiling just thinking of this movie. Hope you love it as much as I do. I know you will because you’re just awesome! (Inside joke you’ll get once you watch it).

Share

Serendipity

Posted on by

Serendipity is one of my favorite movies, especially this time of year. John Cusak and Kate Beckinsale are wonderful in the leads as the star-crossed lovers. There are plenty of excellent performances including John Corbett as the famous Zamfir-like musician boyfriend and Jeremy Piven as Cusak’s bestfriend and Molly Shannon as Kate’s best friend.

It’s set in New York City during the Holidays so it has a special vibe for me. I always miss NYC the most during this time of year, mostly the lighting of the tree at Rock Center, the big salty pretzels and all the people watching. This is the perfect time to watch this movie, whether for the first time or to experience it all over again.

As in all great movies, music itself plays an integral role in the experience. Perfect songs are used to accentuate every pivotal scene and highlight key points in the story. Here are some of the best ones.

Waiting in Vain by Annie Lennox is a heart-wrenching tune that captures the anguish that lovers endure while waiting and hoping for their beloveds to come back to them.

The other beautiful track that is used wonderfully is “January Rain” by David Gray.

Northern Sky by Nick Drake is used at the very end of the movie during the snowfall scene.


Nick Drake – Northern Sky – Click here for more amazing videos

Share

25th Anniversary of A Christmas Story

Posted on by

christmas_story It’s been 25 years since “A Christmas Story” was released in 1983. Based on writing from the narrator, Jean Sheppard and directed by Bob Clark (from Porky’s fame!), it’s become a national Christmas classic. Much like “It’s a Wonderful Life” became a Christmas tradition thanks to reruns on television, A Christmas Story followed the same path to the hearts of American families.

Though it was set in a long ago era, every generation can appreciate its sentiment. Who doesn’t remember the extreme joy of Christmas as a kid and the anguish of longing for a gift that you knew you wouldn’t ever get. This is a timeless classic that people will watch every holiday season.

This anniversary will be sad because the director Bob Clark (67) was tragically killed in a head on automobile accident in 2007 along with his 22-year old son by a drunk driver. Jean Sheppard passed away at 78 in 1999 of natural causes. Darren McGavin who played the dad passed away in 2006 at 83.

Here are some clips from the movie including the first 10 minutes of the movie, the original trailer, movie review from Roger Ebert * Gene Siskel and a reunion of all the kids from the movie.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_en_mo/christmas_story_celebration

Share