I went to this movie expecting to hate it. It’s been getting bad reviews, and I can understand why. It’s a religious movie, more specifically Christian, and it’s not trying to pretend it isn’t.

I am not Christian, and I do not believe in the Christian God. I don’t believe in vampires or elves either, but I still like movies about them.

I didn’t hate “Eli”. It’s religious without being preachy. I actually liked it, and let me tell you why.

I watch movies for many reasons. I’m no longer watching them purely for entertainment. If I see a trailer for a movie and it sparks my interest, I’ll go see it or rent it. I want to know how the story will unfold. I want to see how the actors performances compare to previous movies or T.V. shows I may have seen them in. But most of all, I watch them with the hope that I’ll be surprised.

I’ve seen so many movies that I can generally tell you what’s going to happen next and how it will end. Most of them run on a formula based on a genre.

This movie surprised me at the end. It has the “twist” ending it claims to have. The hints are there throughout the movie, but until you get to the end and realize how the whole thing was possible, you’re just not sure.

Eli (Denzel Washington) is the hero of the movie, he’s a walker who travels alone in a post-war world where civilization has ceased to exist and people are starting over with the bare essentials. Either you fend for yourself, or you get a group together and take advantage of weaker travelers.

Eli is on his way west when a stop in Carnegie’s (Gary Oldman) town brings him trouble he just can’t shake off. Eli is in possession of the book Carnegie has been searching for, and he wants it. Eli does not want to part with it, and so the story unfolds.

The book in question is the King James Bible. Where Eli would use the book for the good in was intended for, Carnegie wants to use it for the bad it’s been banned for. He wants to use it to control people and profit from their fear and faith.

There’s action, which kind of surprised me. Denzel kicks some ass in this. A lot of it is slow going, and there are moments of scripture dictation. I could’ve lived without some of the slow motion walking. There were however some comic relief, which for a movie like this is very much needed.

I wouldn’t recommend this movie to any of my friends. It’s not for everyone. I don’t plan on seeing it again, but I appreciated it for what it was. Some people will be so annoyed and  against the religious undertones that they will not be able to appreciate the movie itself for what it is: FICTION.

For me,  picking 10 favorite movies out of a countless number of films out there is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child.

It’s not quite “Sophie’s Choice”, but it’s difficult for me. There are so many great movies out there. I thought I’d make up a list of my favorites, and see what makes the cut. I just couldn’t pick 10. Not possible. So I picked 13. So I picked some of them based on my favorites of a certain categorie. Like my favorite Disney, my favorite Hitchcock etc…

So here they are. So far. In no particular order….

1. The Goodbye Girl (1979) (This is my favorite movie, hands down. It’s smart, funny and it didn’t need sex, violence or cursing to pull it off. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against all that stuff. Pulp Fiction and Big Lebowski wouldn’t work as well without the “F” word  and guns, and how provocative would The Reader have been if all they’d done was kiss and hold hands.)

2. Beauty And The Beast (It’s my favorite Disney movie, but still one of my favorites.

3. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (My favorite Newman film. He was so beautiful and tortured. And Elizabeth Taylor. Whew! Incredible. )

4. All About Eve

5. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. (So original, this movie was refreshing.)

6. American Beauty

7. Seven (Morgan Freeman. Kevin Spacey. Need I say more?)

8. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (These movies made me love fantasy.)

9. The Green Mile (Favorite King movie. It was hard to pick it over Shawshank, but the Mile made me cry twice reading it, and every time I watch it. And I’m not a movie crier.)

10. Singing In The Rain (Favorite musical, and favorite Gene Kelly)

11. The Sixth Sense (Back when “a twist ending” meant the ending was surprising. Now it’s used as a marketing ploy to get people to watch their movies).

12. Vertigo (Favorite Hitchcock)

13. Edward Scissorhands (Favorite Tim Burton Flick)

So there they are. I mourn the ones I had to omit. Like Fight Club and American History X (basically anything that involves Ed Norton with no shirt….)

For a few weeks, in lieu of posting boring updates on my facebook profile, I’d been posting some of my favorite movie quotes from the ‘AFI top 100 of all time’.

Here are some of my own personal favorite movie quotes from some of my favorite movies. Some are really more than quotes. I have a full paragraph speech in here.

WARNING: Some of these aren’t clean. I don’t just watch Disney movies, so if you get offended by the “F” word, and I don’t mean food, then you probably shouldn’t read this.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND:
-(Clementine) I’m just a fucked up girl looking for her own peace of mind. Don’t assign me yours.

BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY:
-(Mark Darcy)I like you very much, just as you are

SAY ANYTHING:
-(Lloyd) I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.

THE GOODBYE GIRL:
-(Eliott) I’m not crazy about the rules
(Paula) You’re not?
(Eliott) Definitely not. I am paying the rent; I will make-a-da rules. I like to take showers every morning and I don’t like the panties drying on the rod. I like to cook so I will use the kitchen whenever I damn well please and I am very particular about my condiments so, keep your salt and pepper to yourself. I also play the guitar in the middle of the night whenever I cannot sleep and I meditate every morning complete with chanting and burning incense so if you’ve got to walk around I’d appreciate a little tip-toeing. Also, I sleep in the nude. Au buffo. Winter and summer rain or snow with the window open and because I may have to go to the potty or to the fridge in the middle of the night and because I don’t want to put on jammies which I do not own in the first place… unless you’re looking for a quick thrill or your daughter an advanced education I would keep my door closed. Thems my rules and regulations how does that grab you?

-(Eliott) Do me the courtesy of hearing me out. Please? You are not the only one who can scream rape, you know?

-(Eliott) You really ought to try some of this, you know? It’s got whole bran in it. My feeling is that your whole problem stems from irregularity.

-(Eliott) Miss McFadden, this morning I start rehearsals for my very first New York play. Probably the most important day of my life. Am I nervous? No, I am not nervous. Because I have meditated I am relaxed, I am calm, I am confident. You, on the other hand, have not meditated. Therefore you are a pain in the ass.

AMERICAN BEAUTY:
-(Lester) Her husband. We’ve met before, but something tells me you’re going to remember me this time.

-(Lester) This isn’t life, it’s just stuff. And it’s become more important to you than living. Well, honey, that’s just nuts.

(more…)

Anyone who knows me is aware that I’m a pretty big movie fan. That may be an understatement. Movies and Books are the only forms of pass time I’ve never tired from. Ever since I was 5 years old and watched “The Goonies” for the first time, and picked up my first young adult romance novel (I’ve since broadened my literary horizons) I’ve been hooked to these mediums of entertainment.

I love them all. I have no special genre that I prefer or dislike. So don’t take this rant to mean I didn’t appreciate the movie “Avatar”. I really liked it. I’m just annoyed at the constant update on how close it is to win the top spot as the most successful (financially speaking of course) of all time.

Nowadays, it’s easy for a popular movie to make a lot of money when the ticket prices are not only inflated, but only offered in a 3D format, which is 15.50$ a pop Or 17.50$ for IMAX.

Avatar is not available in regular format. The whole selling point of the movie is how ground breaking the 3D animation is. If the same movie had been made with a bunch of tall actors painted blue, we wouldn’t still be hearing about it. It’s a great story, but hardly original as it has stolen from many stories, ranging from “Pocahontas” to “Fern Gully”. As good as the movie was, take away the special effects, and the movie isn’t so special anymore.

Of course Avatar will beat out Titanic to take the top spot. However, if you adjust for inflation (let’s be honest, money and popularity aren’t the same thing) nothing is going to touch “Gone With The Wind”, which has held the top spot for 70 years. Titanic is #6 on the list.

In case you’re interested, here are the top 10 Domestic grossing movies (adjusted for inflation) of all time.

1. GONE WITH THE WIND
2. STAR WARS
3. THE SOUND OF MUSIC
4. E.T.
5. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
6. TITANIC
7. JAWS
8. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
9. THE EXORCIST
10. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

Avatar is currently at number 25 on the list.

Sure it’s ground breaking. Sure it’s cool and the message in it is great. But it hardly compares to other movies out there where not only were they visually stunning, but had characters you could relate to and actors who could, you know, act.