If there's a meme going around, I'll do it. I caught this one at my Twitter-mate's blog, FrontRoomCinema. I'm a shameless follower and of trends, and of my own favourite movies. I think I'll have to do a separate list for horror movies and independent films. Some of the letters were a little tricky, e.g. O and Y, but here we go.
A is for Aliens AND Avatar.
Okay right off the bat I'm cheating with two movies in a 'letter', but there are so many similarities between these two that they're almost in the same universe. I'd like an Avatar vs Alien movie - AvA: Black vs. Blue. A Na'vi Xenomorph hybrid would be interesting.
Get the Mech outta here!
It was an epic movie like no other. All other big battle scenes would be measured by those in this movie, but it was there first, and it found the sweet spot. Cheering and crying for William Wallace was all made easier by a beautiful and haunting soundtrack. Now, you can dance to it... check out the techno mix below. Love it!
Can I borrow a hair tie?
For me, this was the ultimate popcorn action flick. This was when Nicholas Cage was gold and John Cusack was cool. Big action scenes. Big bad guys. Quotable quotes and Steve Buscemi as Garland Greene. I'm still a little pissed he survived to wear more people's heads as hats though (no, the caravan park girl didn't reform him).
This is Nicholas Cage's hair done right.
Spielberg performed magic in the cinemas; absolute freaking magic. Who knew one day he'd go on to make Indy 4: KOCS? Sad. But, back then, he simply blew our minds with the sort of stuff we daydreamed about, and to see it on the screen and make it believable was a truly astonishing thing. This is me at Universal Studios, 1984. This was the same year m&m's were introduced into Australia. Good times. I don't know how E.T. contorted himself to fit in that basket.
How did E.T.'s body fit in that basket?
...because they're quite similar when you think about it.
They're just guys trying to... umm... I'm really reaching for any similarity here. They both start with the letter F, and Rambo gets wet at one point. Okay, from here on in, only one movie per letter.
Did I just say only one movie per letter? I guess I did, however, this is the exception that makes or breaks the rule (whatever that means). Both happen to star Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. 'Stripes' could almost be thrown in to complete this trilogy of hilarity. Bill Murray was the king of laconic sarcasm and god I wished he'd made more movies with Harold that didn't include the lackluster Ghostbusters 2. Still, better than no sequel at all, in my opinion. Rumour is now that he's signed on to a third and fourth... we'll see. Oh, and check this link for 101 reasons to love Groundhog Day.
Because the only other film I could think of off-hand was Home Alone, which was freaking funny. I remember the fun of being in the cinema and just hearing non-stop laughter from everyone in the theatre. It was fun and funny. Harry Potter is good too, 'spose.
Brad Bird and Pixar did a superhero ensemble completely right, and it was funny and amazing to look at. Personally, I like my supers to wear capes, but I can see how annoying it would be on a super speedster, or a stretchy woman. I'd like to see these guys go head to head with the FF (I'm not going to say who the FF are... you should know). They were no ordinary family.
Btw, the redhead is a bad guy because they ARE evil.
Okay, this meme is NOW the 'One or Two' movies per alphabet letter. Both of these 'J' movies are Spielberg directed and feature ancient creatures with really big teeth. Jaws made it so that no other movie maker could ever make a decent shark movie compared to the perfection of this one. I think the same can be said for Jurassic Park. The wonder and terror from seeing all these creatures come to life is what movies are all about. We don't even need a rebooted Jaws with a CG shark, because we're happy enough with Roboshark himself.
In all the history of movie 'money-shots' this was the one that stretched VHS tapes and filled the screen with fuzzy bits. How many times did I rewind that final Crane Technique kick? A lot of times. I loved the whole trilogy, even the final Bonsai Buddy film where he had lost the girls he fought for in the previous two. Let's not speak of the Next Karate Kid, or the rebooted Kung-fu Karate kid... I just couldn't care about Will Smith's preteen kid finding balance in his life. Danielson, I cared about.
There was something about this movie that I couldn't put my finger on, but loved nevertheless. In 2003 I identified with the emptiness Bill's character had. To be in a strange land, then to meet somebody and make a connection. It was a real movie, and had a real ending. I could identify with the characters and the idea of finding a soul mate. Soon after this movie I did find my soul mate, then lost her in translation, then found her again. Love you Joey.
Hey this is my list, and I've got to keep the S category free for Superman, and being my list I have to include the favourite movie of my childhood: The Sound of Music. Every sound and sight is ingrained into my head, and the soundtrack to it was the first CD I ever bought.
It would wait every year for network TV to play it and then try to stay up and watch the whole movie. It then took me longer to work out what the nun had in her hands and how the Von Trapp family got away. No apologies for my love of Maria and the captain.
Goodbye and farewell, until I get time to do the second half of the alphabet.
you took toomany liberties... too many double deals!!! and too many twist of names!!! (m for sound of music??? WTF???) you are fired!!!
call for a world consensus on this one!
Batman and Joker on side of building - McClane and Hans building side finale.
Die Hard rocked my world, but then so did Dark Knight.
Yeah, I get that the meme police will be onto me.