10 Times Movies/TV Have Made Me Grateful to be a Film Fan

*This is the final entry in my 10 Series. Click the label to see my previous posts*

Well, this is the end of my 10 Series! Thanks for reading and sticking with me. I hope this all doesn't feel too redundant. These movies/TV shows spoke to me in different ways, it was hard to narrow it down. There's so many more. You don't necessarily have to be a huge movie fan to enjoy certain things, but sometimes I wonder if I would've noticed them had I not been obsessed with movies.

10 Times Movies/TV Have Made Me Grateful to be a Film Fan

1) All of American Beauty
Of course I had to start my list with my all time favorite movie. There is so much about American Beauty I love. "Its a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself." Is my all time favorite quote, and it comes from this film.

2) Adrien Brody carrying The Pianist
It's really a testimony for an actor to carry an entire film, and that's what Brody did here. The funny thing is, I wouldn't list him as one of my favorite actors, but the power he showed here was phenomenal. The scene of him walking down the street, crying after he's just escaped going to the camps is absolutely devastating.

3) The animation in WALL-E
WALL-E was the first animated film I ever looked at and admired just how far we've come in the field of animation. To think that we started off with Black and White Mickey Mouse cartoons and now have WALL-E and Eve floating through space with a fire extinguisher, and having it look so beautiful is amazing. My hat goes off to those artists. They do a great job.

4) The brutal honesty of Precious
Some may think I'm crazy for thinking of Precious as a movie I could watch more than once. Yes, it's hard to sit through, but it gets in your face with it's raw, brutal honesty.

5) Epic books becoming epic movies/TV shows.
Whenever a book gets adapted into a film, there's always going to be gripes, and the books are always going to be better. That being said, It's still cool to see someone's version of what went on in the books play across the screen. The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones specifically come to mind when I write this. I loved the books and the movies. I'm grateful for both.

6) Breaking Bad's season 2 opener.
Seven Thirty-Seven has to be the best hour of television I've ever seen in my life. Other shows can take note from this. Season one ended on a bit of a cliff hanger. Season 2 dove right in, had an explosive finale to season 1's conflict, and easily set up the conflict for season 2. This is the episode where I stopped just enjoying Breaking Bad and started LOVING it.

7) The opening credits of Game of Thrones
This is clever. Having the opening credits view all of the cities on the map that we will be in each episode. It really is an amazing sequence to watch, and it never gets old.

8) Merlotte's in True Blood
Merlotte's means a lot more to me than just a fictional diner in True Blood. It represents going back to the basics. Merlotte's was the first place we saw our characters in True Blood, and it's the one place they all feel at home. I never get sick of scenes in Merlotte's. In fact, after season 5 I kind of longed for more scenes there. It just shows that sometimes the best things are from the simplest set up. There's a lot of nostalgia factor here.

9) Heath Ledger's Joker
The late Heath Ledger brought to life one of the most iconic villains of all time. It's a performance that I don't think will ever be topped villain-wise. He was erratic, insane, and everything I could've wanted from The Joker. Even when he wasn't on screen, I thought about him the whole time.

10) Art Direction/Cinematography
There are so many things to appreciate when watching a film. Art Direction/Production Design and Cinematography are two of them. Pan's Labyrinth comes to mind. That film was absolutely mind blowing. Everything in it was so surreal. Many of Tim Burton's films always have a unique look to them. (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd) Sometimes even modern movies can be shot in a way that makes them extraordinary. (Inception) Or even a certain city can account for all of the beauty in a film. (Midnight in Paris) With There Will be Blood, they made the regular open plains actually look stunning.

10 Times I Looked Back on Animated Movies/TV I Loved as a Child

*This is my 9th entry in my 10 series. Click the label to view my previous posts*

It's hard to explain this particular post. I wanted to talk about animated shows I watched as a kid and how differently I see them as an adult. In some cases, I still see them the same way.

10 Times I Looked Back on Animated Movies/TV I Loved as a Child

1)David The Gnome
This was seriously "my show" as a kid. I watched it all the time. Looking back, it was only on for two seasons, but I swear I watched it for years. I must have been watching a lot of re-runs. I actually still remember a preview for an episode I never saw. It had David pulling a bullet (or something like it) out of a hurt deer. There was a little blood, and I always saw the preview but never the actual episode. I think I'll be heading over to Youtube after I'm done here..

2) Sleeping Beauty
Aurora was and still is my favorite Disney princess to this day. Which is kind of funny considering she doesn't even talk for the 2nd half of the movie

3) The Littl' Bits
This was another TV show I watched all of the time as a kid. I thought I had gone crazy for awhile because NO ONE seemed to remember this show. Eventually I got fed up and searched it online and found out it was actually a dub of a Japanese cartoon. This WAS on Nick Jr! I swear!

4) The Secret of NIMH
I always enjoyed this film as a child because it felt different than all of the other cartoons I watched. It's a darker cartoon, and that's probably why I still enjoy it today. I remember getting the sequel for Christmas - Timmy to the Rescue, and they turned it into a musical. When my family and I watched it together we were all pretty appalled. That was horrible.

5) Rocko's Modern Life
I thought this show was hilarious when I was a kid. I think it's hilarious for a lot of different reasons now. This show is so dirty! How did they get away with this on Nickelodeon? The Big Heads? The restaurant they go to is the Chokey Chicken? Rocko works as a phone sex operator in one episode? This shit is crazy. In retrospect, my parent's wouldn't let me watch Ren and Stimpy because it was "too dirty." I'm glad they weren't really paying attention to this one.

6) Fantasia
Fantasia is a movie that I really wish I owned on DVD. My kid would love this. Looking back, I always watched this movie in steps. The last part of it scared me when I was young, and I slowly started watching more and more of it as I grew older. Eventually, it didn't freak me out at all. It's funny to think of that now. Watching the movie in baby steps because the demons were frightening.

7) The Hunchback of Notre Dame
This movie has a silly place in my heart. I remember when I saw it in theaters, I had won a free "Kiddie Combo." You see them everywhere now, but they didn't really have them at my theater back then. So to get a little Hunchback box with popcorn, candy, and a soda in it was just really cool to me. It was the first time I had one. That makes me sound really old - I'm only 25. My theater just sucked.

8) Hercules
I actually have a CD with some of the songs that the Muses' sang in this movie. I loved them so much. This was really cool for me, because it got me really interested in Greek Mythology. When it came time for me to actually learn about that in class, I essentially schooled everyone in trivia because I had read so many stories about it. All because of Hercules

9) BeBe's Kids
I swear this movie was on TV EVERY TIME I stayed home sick from school. No matter what the year. This movie is so freaking ridiculous, but I still kept watching it whenever it was on. I remember being bummed about HBO being taken off our cable network because that was the channel that always played it.

10) The Lion King
When I talk about watching a movie and feeling the same way I did as a child, The Lion King always comes to mind. This is just a great movie, no matter what age. The songs were perfect and catchy, the characters were funny, it actually showed us a death on screen. (a first that I can remember at the time it came out, anyways) It really was just an envelope pushing feature for Disney at the time. I even enjoyed the sequel. Even though Simba had a daughter and I remember having a Lion King Book that specifically said Simba had a son. Continuity? Whatever.

10 Times I Gave Into The Hype and Was Let Down

*This is the 8th entry in my 10 series. Click the label to view my previous posts.*

My last post in the 10 Series was about movies/TV that I watched after having them recommended to me, and I ended up loving them. Sadly, love can't always be the case. Sometimes, they are just not for me.

10 Times I Gave Into the Hype, And Was Let Down

1) Grave of the Fireflies
I had actually never heard of this until I participated in a tournemant over at The LAMB It was on IMDB's top 200, and everyone said it was devestatingly beautiful. Well, it's devestating all right. But I just could not get over the decisions Seita makes throughout. He seems like he's old enough to grasp the reality that is going on, yet he does. Yes, I know the movie was based on the author's real life experience that he regretted, I get that. I just couldn't enjoy this.

2) The Boondock Saints
This one is a little different. I saw this on my own, and thought it was just okay. Years later, I ran into so many people that were like "THIS IS THE BEST FUCKING MOVIE EVER MADE! OMG!!" So I watched it again because clearly I had missed something. Nope. This is one of the most overrated movies of all time. Is it bad? No. Is it the best? Not even close. Norman Reedus is awesome though. I'll give you that.

3) Mad Men
Made Men is a good show. The acting is good, the costumes are beautiful, it was just not my thing. I couldn't get into it. I think it deserves all of the great praise it gets, but I just find it a little boring.

4) Tree of Life
Much of the blogosphere was a buzz about this film in 2011. And I hated it. At first, I felt bad for not liking it as much as everyone else did, but then I just reminded myself that this movie was shitty editing 101. Way to ruin what sounded like an interesting script, Terrance Malik.

5) Antichrist
I made a few rules after seeing this awful film. 1) I will never watch a movie on the basis that "it pissed people off at Cannes." 2) I will never watch another Lars Von Trier film.

6) Melancholia
I broke my Lars Von Trier rule with this, because he casted so many people I love. I even gave some of this other movies a shot just to make sure. I've come to the conclusion that I will never enjoy anything he does because it just comes off as insanely pretencious and slow. Seriously, I was happy I watched this OnDemand because I could fast forward through that God awful opening.

7) How I Met Your Mother
This was a show that was recommended to me from someone who knew I liked The Big Bang Theory. They are nothing alike, so the comparision was weird to start with, but this show would be better without Josh Radnor. He's just not engaging on screen and I have trouble liking anything he does. Colbie Smulders doesn't do much either. It's a shame Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segal. They are all wonderful.

8) The Amazing Spiderman
At first I was like "NO they can't remake Spiderman!" Then they started casting all of these people I loved, so I gave it a shot. I was right the first time. No, they should've had remade Spiderman. Raimi's verison was fine.

9) Mama
Oooh! A creepy looking movie produced by Gulliermo del Toro staring Nikolaj Caster-Waldau AND Jessica Chastain? I'm in!! Oh wait, someone took an interesting concept of a thriller and turned it into a PG-13 horror movie. Wah-waaaaahh.

10) Friday Night Lights
This has to be one of the worst shows I've ever seen. Maybe it's because I'm from a small town that I hated. Maybe it's because this show is far too melodramatic for me. I don't see the appeal. Speaking of not seeing the appeal, this photo set really speaks to me:

10 Times I Gave Into The Hype, And Was Left Satisfied.

*This is the 7th entry in my 10 Series. Click the label to see previous posts.*

One of the best things about the movie blogging community is that you get a lot of great recommendations. In fact, I've gotten so many that it's almost hard to keep track. So, for this particular post, I tried to mix films/TV saw before I got in to blogging and some that started after.

10 Times I Gave Into The Hype, And Was Left Satisfied

1) Breaking Bad
I often say that this is the best TV decision I've ever made, because Breaking Bad is hands down the best show I've ever seen. I didn't have too many friends that watched it at the time. I just saw all the acclaim over the internet. But I have to say, it was worth waiting for Netflix to deliver the DVDs one by one. This show is fantastic. It has some of the best writing and acting I've ever seen and I swear some episodes give me anxiety issues. I just care about these characters so much.

2) True Blood
This one I have to blame on my co-workers. They are rabid book and TV show fans. I initially brushed them off. I'm not into the vampire fad. I can't stand Twilight and Vampire Diaries is far too soapy. But when I was graciously lent seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, I watched them (and the entire half of season 3 that was available OnDemand) in one weekend. I couldn't help it. This show is like crack. Even though season 5 really sucked compared to the rest, I will never quit this show.

3) Drive
This one was definitely because of the blogging community. I really had no intentions of seeing this, despite liking the lead actors enough. But then the reviews started pouring in, and I had to check it out. It was nothing like I expected it to be, and all in a good way.

4) Role Models
I'm fairly quick when it comes to judging comedies. I can usually tell by the trailer if I'll like something or not. When this hit theaters, I thought it looked insanely stupid. When I went to the theater to see Zack and Miri Make a Porno, that was sold out, so I went to this instead. My friend swore I would be pleased. He was right. This movie was hysterical and Zack and Miri was a let down.

5) Pulp Fiction
I know. It's almost embarrassing to admit that I originally had no intention to see Quentin Tarantino's past work. But friends kept pushing, and now I'm a Tarantino fanatic. I can't believe I was going to blow this movie off! Seriously, I suck sometimes.

6) Fight Club
This was another movie that was just kind of "there" to me. Eventually, I sat down to watch it, and even though the two people I was watching it with spoiled the ending about 5 minutes into the movie, I still liked it.

7) Skyfall
I have zero interest in Bond movies. In fact, Skyfall was the first one I actually sat through from start to finish. (Although I'm sure I've seen all of Casino Royale, just not at once) I'm so glad I went to this because Skyfall was awesome. I may not be fully sold on Bond as a whole, but I have no problem saying this was one of the better films of 2012.

8) Key and Peele
I can thank Twitter for getting me into Key and Peele. When I first saw the show myself, I thought "meh." But people kept retweeting their sketches, and I would occasionally check them out. It was worth it, because this show is hilarious. It reminds me a lot of Chapelle's Show, which I greatly miss. I didn't catch these two during their MADTV days, but I'm happy to watch them now. Check out their college football sketch. That's my favorite.

9) The Machinist
After Batman Begins came out. I was told that anyone that is a fan of Christian Bale's needs to see his work in this extremely underrated film. It's true, it's one of his best. And how the fuck did he not get an Oscar nomination for this?

10) Sherlock Miniseries
Another one, thanks to the blogging community. Benedict Cumberbatch is the best Sherlock I've ever seen. Same with Martin Freeman as Watson. I wasn't sure if a modern day Sherlock would work, but it's easily become my favorite adaptation of it. Cumberbatch and Freeman have AMAZING chemistry and I cannot wait for the next season. It's streaming instant on Netflix now, check it out. Seriously.

10 Times Movies/TV Made Me Search Out Actors

*This is the 6th entry in my 10 Series. Click the label to view my previous posts.*

Ever have those "Aha!" moments when watching a film? When an actor's performance moves you so much or catches your eye that you immediately jump online and start looking for other movies they've been in? I have.

1) Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Mysterious Skin
I knew who my now favorite actor was when I saw Mysterious Skin for the first time. But I had only known him from 10 Things I Hate About You and Third Rock from the Sun. When I saw how he owned this performance I immediately sought out other films. Brick, Manic, etc. This film is still one of his best.

2) Evan Rachel Wood - Thirteen
When I saw Thirteen, I immediately knew that this is a film that every teenager should watch at some point or another. I was really drawn into Wood's performance and she's become one of my favorite actresses ever since.

3) Ellen Page - Hard Candy
I came across Hard Candy in a magazine, and when I rented it, it blew me away. I immediately had to see more of Ellen Page. Why was her hair cut so short? That led me to Mouth to Mouth, a film in which she shaved her head for. Luckily for me, she had a bunch of stuff in the works at that point, so I didn't have to wait long to see what else she had to offer.

4) James McAvoy - The Last King of Scotland
I totally swooned for James McAvoy when I first saw him in The Last King of Scotland. I watched every single episode of Shameless he was in on youtube. Actually, I had to watch a LOT of his stuff on youtube because it wasn't widely available in the States at that time.

5) Cillian Murphy - Red Eye
Those eyes! I had a hard time hating his character in Red Eye when he was supposed to be the villain. He was just so sexy! I was surprised to find out he was Irish when I looked him up later and caught myself up on his filmography.

6) Juno Temple - Notes on a Scandal
It's strange, she had such a small part in this, but I knew she was going to be great one day. She didn't really have any other films before this. Then Atonement came out and I spotted her again. Now she's had quite the list of roles, and I'm happy to say she's been awesome every time. She's a very fearless actress.

7) Tom Hiddleston - The Avengers
You would think I would've noticed him in Thor. Nope, Thor didn't get better to be until AFTER I saw the Avengers. Tom was awesome as Loki. His performance is only second to Heath Ledger's Joker when it comes to comic book villains. It was actually nearly impossible to find some of the other stuff Tom did before 2011. Luckily Tumblr is obsessed with him and provided me with enough interviews an gifs to last me.

8) Alexander Skarsgard - True Blood
Ahh, Viking Vampire Eric Northman. This man is SO sexy and he plays Northman to perfection. He's my favorite character on the show. (When he's not with Nora, who's ruining the chemistry he and Pam had by the way) On the side - Allan Hyde as Eric's Maker, Godric. He's another actor I had to know more about after seeing him on True Blood.

9) Nikolaj Caster-Waldau - Game of Thrones
It's very easy to hate Jaime Lannister when you watch Game of Thrones. But if you follow the books, you know that Jaime instantly becomes a fan favorite. His journey is one of the best in that story, and Nikolaj is perfect to play him. I've come across qutie a few good foreign films that I may not have seen because of Nikolaj.

10) Charlie Cox - Boardwalk Empire

As terrible as this sounds, I was actually really disappointed when I found out Charlie Cox wasn't actually Irish. He does the accent so well! To be perfectly honest, Boardwalk Empire is the only good thing I've seen him in, everything else has been mediocre to bad. But it's not because of him, and I look forward to the new show he was just recently casted in.