New Year's Resolution Week Thirty Three: Seven Samurai

So tonight is going to be...interesting.  A three and a half hour film in Japanese.  THREE AND A HALF HOURS!  IN JAPANESE!  I don't even want to do something I really like for three and a half hours.  And I'm not feeling too hot tonight.  Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do though, so we'll see.  I guess.

Since we're dealing with a Japanese film, well, we all know what that means!  Sushi!!!  I love sushi.  Plus I didn't have to cook.  Like I said, I'm not feeling so good, so that was a blessing.  I ordered some miso soup, a salad, some veggie sushi, veggie tempura, and almond cookies.  LOTS of food, and no, I didn't finish i all, I just like variety.  It makes me happy.

Japanese dinner.  No depression glass though, sorry.  I wasn't up to doing dishes anyway.

Now for the movie.  Did I make it through?  Yes, yes I did.  Was it as hard as I thought? No, no it wasn't.  It actually went pretty fast.  I was surprised.  It was a little hard to sit through.  I just can't sit still for that long, so I wandered a bit.  Not good, because you can't be distracted AND read subtitles, but it is what it is.  I watched for the most part.  Far more entertaining than I expected.  It was funny and dramatic.  You genuinely liked the characters.  There was a lot of warmth to this film, which I wasn't expecting from Japanese cinema.  There were also several story lines, so there was something in there for everyone.  I really liked it.  Could it have been done faster?  Absolutely!  I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary scenes.  I understand why there were there, but I just don't have patience for that stuff.  You can tell me you work hard without showing me.  But not everyone is me.  Thank goodness, right?

Here are The Boys in all their glory.  You'll like them.

If you've got THREE AND A HALF HOURS to kill, go for this movie.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll get to see Samurai butts, and learn how to say "shit" in Japanese.  A lot.  (Unko - FYI)

Next week might be late, maybe even really late, cause The Silent Summer Film Festival is going on, and that's gonna win.  I'll get to my resolution though.  I have so far!  

Love,

Olive

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty Two: Roman Holiday

I know nothing about this movie.  Nothing except that Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn are in it.  I guess I never really had any desire to see it.  Turns out, it's a princess movie.  I don't really like princess movies.  They just don't do much for me.  Too fake or something.  I just can't get into them.  They're pretty and everything, but they take too long.  They spend too much time showing just the pretty.  I always feel like they could be pretty and getting on with the story.  I do really like the two stars though, so I'm hoping they'll get me through this.  Although, Audrey couldn't get me through My Fair Lady. Gosh, I just don't like that movie or the live musical.  Ugh.  Maybe Gregory Peck can pull me through.  I hope.

So dinner.  When I was in Rome I lived off of two things, pasta and pizza.  So fresh and amazing there.  Contrary to what everyone told me, I didn't see too much of a difference between American pizza and Italian pizza.  At least not the margherita pizza.  They just used fresh mozzarella instead of the shredded mozzarella we use.  It was overall lighter, but that's about it.  Same thing with the pasta, everything was fresh and lighter.  They also had incredible table wine.  I'm not a big fan of wine, but this stuff was so good!  I drank so much one night my teeth and lips were stained purple.  It's cheap too.  So I picked pizza tonight.  I was in the mood, and I had some pizza dough and fresh mozzarella to use up.  I made a really simple margherita pizza.  Crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, pepper, oregano, garlic powder.  Nice and easy.  Since I can't have wine anymore, I opted for a nice big bowl of red grapes.  Hey, I take what I can get!  And I always like some sweet with my savory.

Red grapes and margherita pizza.  Not very pretty, but the depression glass is!

So onto the movie.  Weeeeell, it was kinda meh.  Predictable.  It's a princess movie.  I did love seeing so much of Rome.  It is such a beautiful city.  You get to see all of the tourist locations.  The Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum, the Mouth of Truth, the Trevi Fountain, etc....  Seeing so much of Rome was my favorite part of this movie.

I'm looking at The Spanish Steps...aaaaand maybe the gelato.....

Miss Audrey was her usual elegant, delicate, beautiful self.  No big surprise here.  She's lovely.  This wasn't a big challenging role.  She did fit it perfectly though.  I liked seeing her all drugged up, that was funny.  I also liked seeing her kick some ass.  Such a tiny little thing smacking some brutes around.  Pretty cool.  

I did like watching her fight.  

Now for Gregory Peck.  I do love this man.  He's always so stoic.  Reminds me of Gary Cooper, but with more emotion.  And I love his voice.  It's wonderful.  He was fun in this movie.  Different from other roles I've seen him in.  I liked him.  He played the role well. Even though you knew he was deceiving her, you didn't dislike him.  That's hard to do.

He's so purty.

The movie was nice.  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  Predictable yes, but light and enjoyable.  Not too much silly.  I expected a lot of silly.  Now that I think about it though, you can't do silly with Gregory Peck.  Just doesn't work.   Dinner was very good.  Too much food.  How I love fresh mozzarella and basil!  I had a much better night than expected!

Love,

Olive

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty One: Singin' In The Rain

So we all know that I hate musicals.  Right?  Well this is the exception.  Now, I don't love every second of this film.  Some scenes are just too damn long.  I fast forward though them to be honest.  So with my finger on the fast forward button, I was all ready for tonight!  ;-)

I wasn't hungry.  At.  All.  Even junk food didn't sound good to me.  So no dinner tonight.  Sorry.  I didn't have any ideas anyway.  Booooo.

This movie is just fun.  It makes you smile.  Makes you happy.  I even like some of the singing and dancing.  The songs get stuck in my head though.  I've got "Good Morning" on repeat right now.  It gets stuck in my head from that stupid orange juice commercial too though, so I can't blame the movie.  It just happens.  Speaking of songs, I think "All I Do Is Dream Of You" is in like every other movie Hollywood ever made.  Someone must have had stock in this song!  Or they got it cheap.  Really good song though.  My favorite is Ms Joan in Sadie McKee, of course!  Joan makes everything better.

Now Gene Kelly.  ::::sigh::::  Gene Kelly.  Is there anything better?  The man is just beautiful and charming.  Gorgeous Irish boy.  He's so funny in this.  I just love his voice in this as well, singing and talking.  There's something so warm and inviting about it.   It kinda hugs you.  This is not a deep role or anything, so he's not showing off any acting chops, but he is wonderful in it.  He does exactly what he is supposed to do....make you adore him.  And it doesn't hurt that he is so very very pretty.

I just love this man.

Then there is Debbie Reynolds.  She's just perfect in this role.  Strong, smart, adorable, beautiful.  That's really hard to pull off!  She's very much the girl next door and you root for her from the beginning.  She was only 19 years old when she did this.  Her talent is just amazing.  No wonder she became a legend.  We really lost something when she died.  I miss her.

Adorable and beautiful is really really hard to pull off!

Now for Jean Hagen.  My gosh is she unlikable.  From the start.  She's supposed to be, but ugh, does she do a good job.  She's so beautiful, but everything about this woman is irritating.  Even that stupid star they put on her face as a beauty mark.  I think I've said this before, but I always get her confused with Judy Holiday.  I think it's the voice.  I adore Judy Holiday though, so that makes me like Jean Hagen a bit.  Not much though.

Beautiful, but really obnoxious.  REALLY OBNOXIOUS.

I think you all know the scene that I don't like.  That completely explainable 17 minute dance scene. What is that?  I know most people love it.  I don't get it.  I'm just not that kind of a girl.  I've got too much to do.  Fast forward.....

There's lots of cool dance moves in this, but I just can't warm up to this stuff!

So in spite of the fact that I didn't get to have any delicious for a second week in a row, I did enjoy myself.  Good good movie night!

PS: Snub Pollard has a teeny part in this.  Could be part of the reason this is a musical I actually like!  I'm like that.

Can you find me?

Love,

Olive

 

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty: All About Eve

Everyone loves this film.  You have to love this film.  It's like a rule of classic film fans.  I do have to admit that I sometimes find the films that everyone loves kinda meh.  I think it's because of the buildup though.  Maybe it's the nonconforming rebel teenager that still lives somewhere deep down inside me.  Or maybe I'm just moody.  I am moody, I do admit it.  And I usually end up liking them on second viewing.  I liked this movie from the start though.  I've seen it many times and it's always good.  I never mind watching it again.

I woke up Sunday morning sick.   I ate some old Thai food the night before.  Tasted fine to me.  Did not taste fine to my stomach apparently.   So I was not up to eating dinner.  Not up to much of anything. Bleck.  My joints were aching and I had a headache and other nasty things.  I had to work the next day, so I couldn't really sleep it off because I knew I wouldn't sleep at night then.  You ever try and rest and feel better and not sleep??  It sucks.  Anyway, no food was to be had.  Pity because I had some wonderful appetizers planned for a fancy faux cocktail party.  Oh well, next time.

So this blog is late too.  I wasn't feeling good.  So not up for writing.  I did watch the movie on time though.  Promise.

Like everyone else in the world, I love Bette Davis in this movie.  Everything about her.  Her delivery is amazing.  I think it is the role that is probably closest to Davis as a person.  Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of Davis' acting. (Don't hit me)  I just find it unnatural.  Can't help it.  She did great in this film and of course, Baby Jane.  There are a few others as well, but overall, I never get lost in her roles.  Plus periodically, she seems to use this high pitched voice.  I can't figure out why other than her voice got deeper as she got older and she felt that it aged her.  Just my thoughts.  As Margo Channing though, wow.  Perfection!  Even the way she looked.  So perfect.  Her hair, her makeup, her wardrobe.  I even love her name in this!  I think this is her signature role.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Next Anne Baxter.  Ugh.  Ok, she does an amazing job in this film.  She's so good, I cannot stand her.  I'm not supposed to either.  She's a fake, phony, manipulative, butt kisser.  I find her so irritating.  Can't believe the other characters fall for her BS.  That's the one disappointing part of this film.  From the get go, I wasn't fooled.  I think I should have been!  Her true colors should have been a bit more of a surprise, don't you think?  Her awfulness makes me adore the ending even more.  Not many movies make me evil giggle, this one does.  

Get as naked as you want honey, I still don't buy your BS.

That touch of Marilyn in this film makes me love this film too.  She is stunning.  You can see her star power right away.  She just lights up the screen and she's so funny!  Her delivery is spot on.  To me, she steals every scene.  Can't help it.  I love her.

Sic 'em girl!!

So even though I was so so sick, I still had a pretty good night.  Wish I woulda had some delicious food.  Wish I wouldn't have felt like crap.  Other than that, a fine time was had by all.

Love,

Olive