It's that time of year again!

So... Halloween is coming up, and it's time for me to pick a scary movie to watch.

Now, I have to be careful. In the past, I've watched scary movies and did not sleep for a week. I've been scared so bad (even as an adult, lol) that I've had to sleep with the lights on AND with Sam in my room because I thought something was going to attack me in my sleep. I know, it's sounds like a lot, but it's actually true.

One year I watched Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, because I knew it was a horror/comedy and was relatively safe. That Halloween was a good one.

I know to stay away from movies like Hostel and anything by Sam Raimi (I had my fill on Drag Me to Hell and Army of Darkness) even though some of his films are funny. He makes great films, no doubt, but they can be a little much to watch.

Anyways... I'm on the lookout. In the meantime, I just bought a truckload of candy from Wegmans. Not sure if I'll be able to eat it all, so perhaps I'll bring it to work since I don't get many kids coming around my apartment building.

Trick or treat!

LMAO

Undercover Brother is one of my favorite movies! Here are some funny clips from the film with Dave Chappelle. He's too funny.

All Time Favorite Movies

If anyone knows me, they know that I am a HUGE movie nerd. I love films. I haven't been watching too many of them lately, due to being a little stressed out about life, but I can assure you... I really am a total movie nerd. It's crazy how much movie knowledge I have stored in my brain. I kid you not.

Anyhoo, since I love movies so much, I thought that I would blog about my top 5 favorite ones. I had been meaning to do a list like this for a while... well, no time like the present. Here we go:

1) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

This is my all time favorite film. It's been my favorite film since I was 12 years old. I even remember going to go see it in the theater in the summer of 1991. Now, I was a bit scared, since I had previously seen The Terminator when I was a little girl, and when Arnold popped out his eyeball and revealed that he was a machine underneath, I just about freaked out. I was scared that there was more of this in the film, but luckily to my surprise, Jim Cameron kept the scary robot stuff out of the film this time around (phew!).

Well, not exactly. Arnold did rip off his skin and showed the audience that robotic arm of his. But since I was a bit older, I ended up handling that scene pretty well.

This is my favorite film for a few reasons. a - Linda Hamilton kicked ASS in this film. Her character was the epitome of a strong woman looking after and trying to protect her child. I admired the way she cared for her son and was determined to try and prevent a nuclear war that would have destroyed the lives of millions (And those arms! I admired those too).

b - The special effects were AWESOME. I remember the the first time when the T-1000 pierced through that jail gate in the psychiatric ward with his liquid metal skin.... dude, I was like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix - "WHOA." The special effects for this film were revolutionary at this time, and no one had ever seen anything like this on camera. Truly magnificent.

c - And Eddie Furlong. Yes. Eddie Furlong. I remember taking one look at him, and thinking to myself "I will marry him!" Ah, to be 12 years old again. He was my biggest celebrity crush at the time. I liked him so much, that I used to buy BOP magazine and litter my bedroom wall with photos of him (if you need proof, just ask my sister). I couldn't get enough of him. I even made my mom take me to see Pet Sematary Two for my 13th birthday, just because I liked him so much. And that movie was scary (yipes). Ah, to be young again.

2) Tombstone (1993)

One. Of. The. Best. Westerns. EVER. 

I love this movie. I've seen it so many times, it's not even funny. Kurt Russell gives a great performance as Wyatt Earp, Bill Paxton is great as Morgan Earp and Michael Biehn turns in a good performance as Johnny Ringo.

But the star of this movie is my boy, Val Kilmer, as Doc Holliday. He was AWESOME in this movie. So many quotable lines, such a great performance... and he didn't even have to lose weight to do it. 

"I'll be your Huckleberry"... love it!

3) Clueless (1995)

Babydoll dresses and knee socks... memories. Clueless was my high school movie. I was 16 years old when it came out, and secretly longed to hang out with Cher, Dionne and Tai at Bronson Alcott High. I loved everything about this movie. The fashion, the catch phrases (As If!) and especially the performances by Stacey Dash, Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy (RIP, Tai).

4) Shakespeare In Love (1998)

I have a thing for love stories. And even though this one uses real life characters in a fictional universe (somewhat), I love this movie. I wanted Viola and William Shakespeare to get together in the end. And I cried when they didn't. WAAAAH.

I especially loved the script, Gwyneth Paltrow's and Joseph Fiennes' performances, and the cameo by Ben Affleck.

5) Casino Royale (2006) and Young Adult (2011)

I couldn't decide between these last two films for slot number 5, so it's a tie for me. I remember taking my mom to see Casino Royale, since there was so much buzz about Daniel Craig's performance. And he delivered. This is my favorite Bond movie of all time. The writing was great, the cast was great (especially Eva Green... love her) and the action scenes were off the chain.

And I very much enjoyed seeing Daniel Craig in a swim suit. Hee hee.

And last but not least... Young Adult. Seriously. If you have a sarcastic sense of humor, you will like this movie. Charlize Theron gives a great performance in this obsurdly funny film (she's so good in it, it was like the role was specifically written for her). The writing is great, the jokes are funny, and the supporting cast turns in great performances as well. 

I've seen all of Diablo Cody's films (Juno, Jennifer's Body and this one), and I swear, the woman gets more creative and more hilarious in her writing each time she writes a script. Kudos to her for making such a great film.

So, those are my favorite films of all time. I can say that there are plenty others that I really do like too, but these six are truly my favorites. And I've seen every last one of them at least 100 times a piece. 

Seriously. 100 times plus and counting. I have a lot of time on my hands.

What are some of your favorite films?

Summer Time!

YAY! Summer is almost here. It's my favorite time of year. Time to break out the bikinis, the flip flops and the shorts. Oh. So great.

Anyhoo... the arrival of summer time means that it's almost time for me to start my travels! Atlanta is first up on the itinerary. Even though I've been there many times before, I'm just excited to get out of Washington, DC. I feel like I've been cooped up in this city for too long, and I need to get out and see the world. Whoohoo!

Other than that, life is rolling along, as usual. Unfortunately, I've been lazy with my writing. I'm over 10,000 words, but I feel like I've had writer's block for the last few months. Colton has been taking a look back over his life for far too many pages now. I've got to get him up and running again.

One of the other things I like about summer time is the busy summer movie season. There aren't too too many films I'm looking forward to this summer, but I'm interested in seeing Maleficient, 22 Jump Street (can't wait), The Expendables 3 (yeah buddy) and Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson. That movie looks like it's going to be really cool.

One film that has been getting good buzz is Neighbors, starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. Zac Efron, while he isn't like, my crush (that would be my dear Cumby, for all of you that don't know), I actually like really like him. There's something about him that's pretty endearing and likeable. I highly recommend that if anyone is curious about his likeability, rent 17 Again. It's a good movie, and he does a good job being ever so cute in it.

Here's the trailer for Neighbors... anyone want to come see it with me???

PS - I finally applied for my passport! Four more months until I invade the U.K.!

12 Years a Slave and the "film bomb" that is The Fifth Estate

Everyone who reads my blog KNOWS that I love Benedict Cumberbatch.

With that said, as much as I love love love Cumberbatch, I absolutely had NO interest in seeing The Fifth Estate this weekend.

Why? Because I really didn't find the subject matter that interesting. And apparently, everyone in America didn't find it interesting either, because almost no one went to see the movie this weekend. I think it barely broke $1 million at the box office.

Honestly, I would pay to see a movie with Cumberbatch in it reading the damn phonebook. And I would drool over him while listening to him sound out people's names as he read them aloud. And totally love it. Why? Because it's him reading the phonebook in that wonderful voice of his. I would find that entertaining and interesting on top of that.

However, I didn't see The Fifth Estate mostly because I don't care about Julian Assange. Hell, I didn't even know what embassy he was being holed up in (read my post on S%$# I don't know if you like). I mean, I'm all for supporting my boy in whatever he does, but he really does have to make a film about a subject that I'm interested in, or make a film that gets really good reviews (if he reads the phonebook and it gets good reviews, I would go see that, lol). Which leads to my next talking point...

I went out with my friend Lisa and saw 12 Years a Slave today. It was good. Since some of my favorite people were in it (Pitt, Fassbender and of course, Cumberbatch) and it was generating a lot of Oscar buzz, I made my way to the theater, even though I'm no fan of watching minority groups get torchered on screen (especially my own group).

Chiwetel Ejiofor gave a strong performance, and so did Lupita Nyong'o, who is cute as a button. Fassbender's performance was good too (even though he was evil) and I was happy to see Brad Pitt in it as well (even though he is only in a few scenes).

Cumberbatch was not in the movie that much, but I thought that he did a good job in the few scenes that he was in. And his American southern accent was pretty good (love him!).

If you can handle the hard-to-watch scenes of slaves being beaten (I closed my eyes a lot), then I recommend seeing the film. It's quite good.

Anyhoo, Cumberbatch's failure to get people to the theater this weekend to see The Fifth Estate is quite the talk of the Internet. There is even an article in Variety on whether or not he is a leading man (click here to read).

My opinion? He's an A-lister for sure. Whether or not he can drive people to the theater remains to be seen.

I think he can, given the right role and given some critical buzz. The man is wonderfully talented, and regardless of him being able to open a film, he'll have a long career in Hollywood and in Britain. Could he be a movie star? Maybe. Even though he may be "unconventional" looking, he truly has a great on-screen presence and he's good in pretty much everything that he does. And he's got a crazy fanbase (me included, but I'm no Cumberbitch, or anyone's bitch, for that matter). I think that people who have heard of him and seen his work recognize his talent, but I don't think too many people really know who he is in the US for him to really be a star here at this point in time. That may happen after the rest of his movies come out this year.... we'll see.

He'll bounce back from this with no problem. Lots of stars make box office bombs, and they go on to have successful careers. I'm not worried about him.

Meanwhile, I'm just waiting for Sherlock season 3 (can't wait!!!) and for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (aka The Dragon Movie) to come out in theaters this fall.

Favorite Movie Clips

I can't tell you why I was randomly thinking about this clip from the movie "White Men Can't Jump" the other day, but I was. The clip is silly, but funny. I love it when Kadeem Hardison is saying "We Goin' Sizz-la"... lol.

Woody Harrelson was also at his cutest during this period of time in the 90's, too. I like watching this movie just so I can drool over how cute he was then, prior to me finding out about his crazy pot smoking, cannibis growing ways.

I also love love love this clip from "Pulp Fiction" when Sam Jackson and John Travolta are hanging out in the car right before they shoot Marvin in the head. Classic.