The Culture Enthusiast: lists

Movies that play with my emotions

lists 9:34 AM

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Bill Murray Paper Dolls + Top 5 List

lists 10:48 AM

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10 films game

Batman 8:30 AM

I found this great 10 films game on The Owl Club. The questions were very intriguing and thought provoking. Plus, I just love questionnaires. Here're my answers:

1. A film you saw as a child (if you never saw any one until the brink of adulthood leave this space blank): The Lion King.

I don't know how many times I've seen this movie. I knew, and maybe I still do, most dialogues by heart. I have goosebumps just by thinking in the stampede scene (or perhaps it's the strong air conditioning in this room). Then I grow up and it gets better: I realize it's based on Hamlet.

2. A film you haven't seen but anticipate very highly and positively: Why?

You guys so know my answer already: The Dark Knight Rises. Sorry if it's too predictable but I haven't been going to the movies, so this is the only movie I'm antecipating. (It opens today, let's all watch right now at 10 am!)

The reason I'm antecipating is that a) it's Batman, the only superhero I care about. Ok, that's a bit harsh. He's the one I most care about. Sure, I'd marry Captain America, but I'm not going to watch The Avengers for it, but I digress. b) the amazing sequel The Dark Knight c) Killer supporting cast.

3. A film a friend turned you onto or gave you as a blind gift not sure whether you would like it or not, or something you were invited to in a similar sense and felt gravely disappointed. What impression, if any, has it left?: To Kill a Mocking Bird.

I know, I know, it's such a huge classic but this movie was such a bad experience. There are some things that just didn't convince me, the story is long and seems to go nowhere. Plus, Peck's voice is so boring.

4. A film you stumbled onto without knowing what it was about and the impression it left on you: Stay

I caught this one day half way through on Tv and it blew my mind. It has everything I like disturbed painters, mysterious plots with a lot of elements to interpret and analyse and hotties like Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling.

5. The kind of film you would be willing to subject a child to, be it your own or somebody else’s, on the idea that they ought to be opened up to that kind of experience: Jumanji

I loved this movie as a child and even now. A lot of people take Jumanji for granted but they forget that their modern adaptation/sequel with Tim Robbins sucked. Moreover, many new children movies don’t keep you interested from beginning to end. I think this is a really successful movie because unlike other movies from my childhood (like Honey I shrunk the kids and Home Alone) I can still watch this today. On a different note, this movie also has a stampede.

6. The kind of film your father and/or mother would like. If they have separate tastes, feel free to put in two entries on this number.

My parents have more or less a similar taste. I guess the difference is that my dad likes 80’s comedies such as The Blues Brothers and my mother movies that make you think such as The Machinist. But one I believe they both would like is Appaloosa. It’s a modern western with a slow pace but amazing actors.

7. The kind of film you would fear may someday be banned in your own country. Why? For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada.

This movie is just an example of the type of movie that I fear it would be - not banned per se - but poorly advertised, you know? It's the type of movie it would go straight to Dvd if it ever came out at all.

8. A film that strikes you as honest and genuine, something that is at the top of its form or without comparison: Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood really thought of everything in this movie. There’s amazing characters, true and genuine drama without poser-type acting or politically correct agendas. There’s a bit of comedy sometimes, amazing commentary on current times and Christian symbolism. Oh yeah, and this greatsong by Jamie Cullum and…Clint Eastwood.

9. A film that has tried to strike the same chord in you as number 8 but ended up being something lowly and pathetically predictable by the end: Shutter Island.

Just like Stay, Shutter Island seems to demand a lot of the viewer but for nothing. It also deals with crazy people and you don’t really know what’s happening. The thing is in the end there’s no possible logical interpretation – Scorsese decided to pull a David Lynch and fool us.

10. If there’s one film that was to be sent off to a distant life-inhabited planet somewhere or perhaps to an uncharted and unexplored island or nation somewhere whose people never knew anything of film, what would you send them?
Oh my, that's such a big imaginary responsibility. I'd say Three Colors: Blue.

This movie has so much poetry in it and it's beautifully shot. (I didn't like the other movies of this trilogy though).

Images via 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10

I'd love to read your answers! Let me know if you participate. See you all on the Batman premiere!

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Top 10 Tuesday: Childhood Favorites

Books 7:47 AM

I'm posting one day in advance of my regular schedule in order to participate on the weekly meme Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is "freebie" so I chose childhood favorites.

As a matter of fact, I still own all of the books in the list so that means they are still interesting for adults. Here are my top 10 childhood (and current!) favorites:

Robin Hood by Louis Rhead: I can't remember how many times I've read this. I took out my old copy to see if I found any interesting notes on the margins, but I could only find passages underlined. Almost all of them are character descriptions. Maybe I had a bad memory as a child.

Alice's adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: I was a bit of an escapist as a child, so Alice's entrance in a misterious, scary and crazy world was right up little Paula's alley. The caterpillar was one of my favorite characters.

InkHeart by Cornelia Funke: the first book of this trilogy was released in 2003, so you can guess I discovered it as an adult. But I'm not ashamed of it. I mean, there's a book binder who can bring characters to life when he reads a book out loud, there's a story within a story, an incredibly smart villain and the movie adaptation has Brendan Fraser in it - how could I not like that? How could anyone not like that?

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: A must read. So many magic lines!

Marcovaldo or the seasons in the city by Italo Calvino: I had to read two of Italo Calvino's books for school, but they aren't exactly children's books. Somehow I've never read any books by this Italian author as an adult so his books are stuck as a part of my childhood.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson: I know these are comic strips and not a book per se, but boy was I crazy about Calvin. I used to cut the comic strips out of the Sunday newspaper and collect them. I thought I was really similar to Calvin which means I must have given my parents a lot of trouble.

Tistou of the green thumbs by Maurice Druon: Many people compare this book with The Little Prince and I agree that both are very poetical and delicate. It tells the story of a sensitive boy who could grow plants just by touching the ground with his finger. He will go on to try to help others live a more beautiful life.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter: I won't lie - I discovered Beatrix Potter's works as an adult through Renée Zellweger's movie. I became enchanted by her life, her books, her sweet characters and drawings.

The Yellow Bag by Lygia Bojunga: Unfortunately not even the Spanish translation of this book is available at Amazon. I hate recommending books people can get at, but I had to include at least one Brazilian book here! This book tells the story of Raquel, a girl who puts her unfulfilled wishes into a yellow bag: her desire of being born a boy, of being an adult and a writer. One day the novel she wrote becomes true and one of the characters of her story - a rooster - appears inside her bag. This book reflects so much of my childhood: I also had this bag where I kept a souvenir from each family member.

The Paul Street Boys by Ferenc Molnar: I read this book when I was in 6th grade and everybody in my class was crazy about the story. It's about a bunch of boys who need to defend their playground from another group of boys who want to take it from them.

It was a great experience remembering all these amazing stories while I wrote this post. I'd love to hear what your childhood favorites are!

Images via 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

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Movie lines at the dinner table

lists 9:00 AM

I’m very lucky to live in a house where I can use movie lines in a conversation. Sure, it would be nice if we quoted Shakespeare during dinner, but the reality is that we are a much more pop culture oriented family. Here are some of the movie quotes we use in our house:

1) “Put a hot towel over your head” from Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller’s father is a great character. When he calls Ferris to check if he’s feeling better, he advises him to “put a hot towel” over his head, much to Ferris’ amusement. Whenever we are feeling a little sick or complaining about something we give each other the same silly advice.

2) “Hello, McFly!” from Back to the Future

In Back to the Future, Biff bullies Marty McFly’s father, pretending to knock on his head to check if there’s anybody there. Even though this line is from the villain of “Back to the Future” we just say it in a funny way when a person is not paying attention or not thinking straight.

3) “That’s… evil.” from Scott Pilgrim vs the world

The most recent of our quotes here, only used between me and my sister – don’t know if it is going to last long though. Scott says that when he finds out his girlfriend’s ex has some sort of evil power over her. We’ve been using this one a lot, but I’d love to be able to use one of the funniest: “He punched the highlights out of her hair!”

4) “We are living in a society!” from Seinfeld

Ok, I know this is not from a movie but Seinfeld is huge in my house, I’m afraid. We actually use many other lines from it, depending on the situation like: “Good thinking, Kruger”, “I’ve gotta get out of this city” and my favorite “Gold, Jerry, gold!”

5) "Me-llon" from Lord of the Rings

This is probably the silliest. In the first part of the Lord of the rings trilogy, the fellowship can’t get in the mines of Moria because they don’t have the secret password. It turns out the password – "friend" in elvish – is “mellon”. So, whenever we are buying or eating melon we tend to pronounce it the way Gandalf does.

Are there any movie lines you use on a daily basis? Which ones would you like to use more?

Images via 2, 3, 5

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