Day 51: Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof

Whose Movie:  Steph's

Rating: Timeless

We finally watched Fiddler.  We've stalled on this one for almost 3 months because Matt, while he can agree that it's a good movie, he finds it really depressing.  Which I can see.  I mean the movie is about how the Jews of the city of Anatevka are persecuted and eventually kicked out of the country.  But in the three hours, it's mostly about Tevye and his relationship with his three oldest daughters as they prepare to get married.  I think that's why I love this movie/play so much, as it's about a father who loves his daughters so much he is willing to move away from the traditions of his religion in order to accommodate them  and their future husbands, but only up to an extent.  He does have his limits.  I'll imbed his limit below, so I don't spoil it, but you can watch if you want to see it.  It's a beautiful scene, and it makes me cry every time I see this movie.

What I also love about this movie/play is the symbolism of the Fiddler.  He represents the Jewish traditions that Tevye and the town of Anatevka follow, and if you watch closely through the movie, if he's not there, the theme song is there, and you can see when they follow traditions and when they have to choose between doing the traditional thing and when to follow a new idea.

One other thing about this movie.  Topol is the best Tevye ever, in my opinion.  He does an amazing job capturing all the emotions that Tevye is feeling. 

Next up: Fifth Element, 50 First Dates, Finding Neverland

Day 50: Fanboys and Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fanboys

Whose Movie: Mutual Buy

Rating: Must watch for a Star Wars nerd!

This movie is totally awesome.  If you love Star Wars, then you would love this movie.  I love that when we watch it, Matt answers all the Star Wars trivia questions before the characters do.   I think we love this movie because we are these characters.  We LOVE Star Wars.  We own the original trilogy 3 times over (4 if we decide to buy the Blu Ray edition), and if you've ever been over to our apartment, you know about our Star Wars lego collection.  The movie is hilarious, but if you're a fanboy, then you can totally relate.  The movie is also rife with cameos.  If you watch the movie, keep your eyes open for Shatner, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Seth Rogan and Jay and Silent Bob.  We also found it amusing when they paid a visit to Riverside, IA.  As someone who has visited there, we could recognize that they weren't really there, and that they have obviously never been there.  But it was fun to watch.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Whose Movie: Matt's

Rating: A Cuss good movie.

This is one of those movies that we can watch over and over and over again and it will never get old.  This is hilarious.  The plot is great, the dialogue is great, and the voice acting is great.   We love this movie so much that we could probably watch it fifty times in a row and never get tired of it.  

Next up: Fiddler on the Roof, The Fifth Element and 50 First Dates.

 

Day 49: Evil Dead and Evil Dead II

Evil Dead

Whose Movie:  Mutual Buy

Rating: Campy, but it's Sam Raimi :)

This movie is totally awesome.  It's supposed to be scary, but you end up laughing through the whole thing.  the effects are terrible, the plot is awful, but it all fits together to be so bad it's good.  The real star is Bruce Campbell, who totally rocks as the hero of this movie.  This movie is also very controversial because of a scene where **SPOILER ALERT** a tree rapes a woman.  All in all I can watch this movie over and over again, because it's very entertaining.

Evil Dead II

Whose Movie: Mutual Buy

Rating: Even campier than the first.

The best part about this movie is that it TOTALLY re-writes the first movie in the beginning.  Don't believe me? Watch both of them.  The next best part of this movie: 90% of it is Bruce Campbell vs. Bruce Campbell.  This movie has a lot more slapstick in it than the first.  It also has a pretty weak plot.  But again, this is a movie that is so bad, it's good.  And it totally sets up for the conclusion of the trilogy: Army of Darkness, which we don't own.

Next up: We begin the F's: Fan Boys, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Fiddler on the Roof.

 

Day 48: Escape from LA

Escape from LA

 Whose Movie: Matt's

Rating: Campy with a side of disbelief

Okay, so I think that Escape from New York is the better movie.  Matt thinks that this one has the better music.  I think Kurt Russell has a better costume in the other one.  I like this one because it takes place in LA, my home turf.  When they talk about things I know where they, so I could figure out that it's IMPOSSIBLE to hang glide from the QUEEN MARY to DISNEYLAND on the Santa Ana winds, in less than 10 minutes. *eye roll*  The movie was so campy, that it included Bruce Campbell, King of Campy movies in a bit part.  It was enjoyable, and if you have seen the first movie, it was incredibly predictable.  But, it's a bad Kurt Russell movie, what more could you want?

Next up: Evil Dead 1 & 2, Fan Boys, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

 

Day 47: Enemy at the Gates & Escape From New York

Enemy at the Gates

Whose Movie: Matt's

Rating: Better than I thought.

Typically, I'm not a big fan of "modern history" nor am I the biggest fan of war movies.  However, I found that I enjoyed this movie.  It helped that the main character was Jude Law and the secondary character was Joseph Fiennes.  The acting was really good, and the story was also really good.  It also made me really happy that the story was based on a true story.

Escape from New York

Whose Movie: Matt's

Rating: It's a bad Kurt Russell movie, so not very high expectations

And we're back at John Carpenter and Kurt Russell.  This movie isn't very good, but I have an emotional attachment to it because Matt and I watched it the night we got engaged.  I love the fact that it's a movie set in "the future" but everyone is dressed decidedly 80s.  I also love the fact that Kurt Russell is super hot and he took his shirt off a lot.

Next up: Escape from LA, Evil Dead I & II and Fanboys

Day 46: Edward Scissorhands & Emperor's New Groove

Edward Scissorhands

Whose Movie: Steph's

Rating: It's Tim Burton, of course it's awesome

This is my favorite Tim Burton movie.  Matt says it's the music, which I have to admit, is awesome.  It's my favorite composition from Danny Elfman.  Everything about this movie is wonderful.  Tim Burton is such an amazing director/writer.  And Johnny Depp was wonderful in the movie. And so was Winona Rider.  Matt loves the movie because of Vincent Price.  He loves Vincent Price.  He was confused with the cookies...did Vincent Price make cookies? Was that what his factory was?  I could watch that movie a thousand times over, and still cry on cue as the music swells up and Winona Rider utters the final line: "If he weren't up there now, I don't think it would be snowing."

Emperor's New Groove

Whose Movie: Steph's

Rating: It's about a LLAMA!!! A LLAMA!!!

Everyone who knows me, knows of my major love for Llamas.  My dream is to OWN my very own Llama.  This movie is HILARIOUS! I can quote this movie all the way through.  I have seen it a million times, but I still laugh hysterically  at all the jokes.  I guess I'm very easily amused.  But you can never go wrong with a good Disney cartoon!  Especially one about a Llama!!!

Next up: Enemy at the Gates, The Escape movies, & The Evil Dead Movies.

Day 45: Drag Me to Hell & Dune

Drag Me to Hell

 Whose Movie:  Mutual Buy

Rating:  Awesomely Great

Technically we didn't watch this tonight. We bought it recently and then watched it out of order.  we love this movie.  We love awesome Sam Raimi horror flicks, as you'll see when we get to the E's.  So, we watched this back when we were in the C's still, but didn't blog it because it was out of order.  Now that we've come across it again, we opted to just skip over it, and blog about it.

Dune

Whose Movie: Matt's

Rating: *sigh*

Okay, so Matt has seen this movie a million times.  He has read the book like 3 times.  He's a huge fan of Dune.  Me? I found this movie confusing, I found the pacing to be off and don't even get me started on the inner monologue!  At first Matt wanted me to watch the extended version, but when we were three minutes in and I was confused, he changed us back to the theatrical version.  This movie was paced badly.  It moved really slow and then crammed everything into the last 10 minutes.  What I liked most was Sting in his underwear.  Totally serious.  Oh, and there was a creepy weird kid. In all it's not a movie that would watch again.

Next up: We move to the E's. Edward Scissorhands and The Emperor's New Groove