Monthly Archives: October 2011

More butter on that popcorn! My husband’s movies!

  By Julia Barrett | October 31, 2011 - 8:19 pm | ,
8 Comments

1. The Exorcist- The one and only movie that moved me to return to the theater the next day to see it again.

 

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark- I was camping in Durango, CO when I caught this one. It totally mesmerized me.

 

 

3. Body Heat- William Hurt and Kathleen Turner had incredible chemistry. I was afraid that the theater might start on fire.

 

 

4. Von Ryan’s Express- The very first movie I ever attended on my own so very memorable. I knew that Frank Sinatra was in it but I wasn’t sure exactly
who he was.

5. The Little Mermaid- The best of the modern Disney movies for my money. My daughters and I watched it many, many times.

 

6. Avatar- We saw it at the Imax in SF and it was just fabulous. Yes I know the story was nothing special but those flying scenes….

 

 

7. Journey to the Center of the Earth- The one with Pat Boone. Not much to say other than as a kid I just loved it.

 

8. West Side Story- Fabulous movie. I had a simulated knife fight with my older brother in the parking lot of the theater afterward. We used our combs.

 

9. Romancing the Stone- Kathleen Turner was the best actress going for a while there and she and Michael Douglas really clicked. This is just a beautifully done romantic comedy.

 

10. Ghostbusters- So clever and entertaining with great special effects. I couldn’t wait until my son was old enough to watch it so I jumped the gun a bit. He was so scared afterward he couldn’t be left in a room alone for a month afterwards. Sorry Dan.

11. The Terminator- Simply the best SciFi movie of all time. Everything was perfect.

 

12. Z- The first foreign film that I ever attended on my own. Beautifully paced and staged.

 

13. Animal House- The original out of control college movie. John Belushi may you rest in peace.

 

 

14. Easy Rider- The theater was packed when I walked in. The only seats were in the front row. I didn’t care.

 

15. Jaws- This one is obvious.

 

 

 

16. The Godfather- So is this one.

 

 

 

17. To Sir with Love- I loved the song and I loved Sidney Poitier. What ever happened to Lulu?

 

 

18. An Officer and a Gentleman- Chemistry again, Debra Winger and Richard Gere. “I got nowhere else to go.” I believed him.

 

19. Before Sunrise- A very beautiful little film that reminded me a little bit of my youth.

 

 

20. Altered States- William Hurt’s coming out film. It hasn’t stood the test of time (watch it now and you will see) but at the time it was mindblowing.

 

21. My Cousin Vinny- I loved Marisa Tomei in this movie. Her testimony at the trial was fabulous.

 

 

22. Love and Death- I just remember laughing my ass off at this Woody Allen movie.

 

23. Speed- Great fun and Sandra Bullock was so appealing.

 

 

24. Aguirre- The Wrath of God- Werner Herzog attended the screening at my university. That alone made it memorable.

 

 

25. 2001 a Space Odyssey- Hard to believe this was set 10 years ago. Hal the computer stole the show. Visually stunning.

As a camera shy person…

  By Julia Barrett | October 30, 2011 - 8:51 pm | , , , , , , ,
16 Comments

I can’t believe I actually like these photos taken at the recent book signing - by a complete stranger. I’m floored. I usually look awful in photos. You know, like the relative you want to edit out of the picture. Seriously. I’m so excited I’m posting them…plus I’m waiting for my husband and father to complete their movie lists. That’s me in the maroon sweater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From left to right - Super hot author Dee Brice, super sweet author Mary Martinez, super unique author Regan Taylor, and moi. Check out the necklace, Secret Santa!

Thanks, Mary, for sending the photos.

Oh, I forgot one movie fave of mine - The Magnificent Seven, the American version of The Seven Samurai directed by Akira Kurosawa. I had a crush on bald Yul Brenner for years.

As soon as I have a link, author Luxie Ryder will be posting her top 25 movie picks too!

Talk about a challenge! Ack!

  By Julia Barrett | October 29, 2011 - 8:59 pm | ,
11 Comments

I posed myself the question - which 25 movies made the biggest impression on me, or influenced me and/or society - and the answer was way harder than I thought. Try as I might, I could not limit myself to 25 movies. I’m barely touching upon the greats. Hey, Tom Stronach, a new twitter peep from the UK, posted his list too! Click here to read it.

China Town - This may be the only movie starring Jack Nicholson I honestly enjoyed. His edgy acting makes me nervous. China Town is classic film noir at it’s best. Directed by Roman Polanski and also starring Faye Dunaway, aside from “I’ll be back”, the line - “My sister…my daughter…my sister…my daughter…” may go down in history as the most oft repeated bit of dialogue in film history.

The Terminator - Speaking of “I’ll be back,” the first Terminator movie hit me where I live. It was everything a great time travel/science fiction movie should be, bare bones, elegant, terrifying. It is not sentimental. In my opinion, this film is James Cameron’s best. Casting Arnold as the Terminator was a stroke of genius.

Take the Money and Run - As far as I know, this is the first movie Woody Allen wrote and directed all by himself. It’s possible this movie launched his incredible and very neurotic career as an actor/writer/director. Take the Money and Run has special meaning for me. My future husband and I went to see this movie on our first date. That we walked three miles in the middle of a Minneapolis winter to get to the theater was no big thing. I will forever remember the bank robbery scene.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller - The first movie I ever fell in love with. I mean, really fell in love with. In my opinion, Robert Altman’s one and only beautiful movie. He co-wrote this gorgeous, lonely, tragic story. Starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, and introducing Shelley Duvall and Keith Carradine.

A River Runs Through It - The movie that made Brad Pitt. Sure, Thelma and Louisa introduced him, but A River Runs Through It made him a star. No woman could resist that smile, and if she could, well, she must have been dead. A remarkably faithful rendering of my favorite short story by Norman McClean.

The Wizard of Oz - This movie gets a mention for two reasons, maybe three, maybe four - the glorious technicolor, the fact that we kids got to stay up late to watch it every year and eat TV dinners on TV trays no less (the one time during the year we were allowed TV dinners…ah Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, corn, apple crisp - it was a bigger event than Christmas), Judy Garland’s incomparable voice, and I can sing the Munchkin song in its entirety. I still perform it for my family, and dog, yearly.

Rear Window - Okay, so coming up with my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie was not easy, by any stretch of the imagination. This film, starring Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr at his most diabolical, had to compete with my other two favorites, North By Northwest and Dial M for Murder. Rear Window won out. What’s not to like about a photo-journalist voyeur, society dame Grace Kelly, a nosy visiting nurse and a murderer who thinks he’s committed the perfect crime???

Psycho - Yes, my next choice is also a Hitchcock classic. Psycho changed the way we take showers, that’s for damn sure. Don’t ask me why, but my father took me when I was just a kid and I’m scarred for life. You want to talk psychological thrillers? Well, as far as I’m concerned, Psycho is it.

Die Hard - Action, guns, bombs, missal launchers, smart ass one-liners, stupid FBI guys, Die Hard has it all. Bruce Willis pitted against Alan Rickman and Alexander Godunov? Makes for a yummy combination.

Gone With the Wind - I don’ know nuthin’ ’bout birthin’ no babies. This movie may have been before my time, but I adored Scarlet O’Hara. The costumes were brilliant, the sets beyond compare. Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) acted the perfect rake and Scarlet (Vivien Leigh) the perfect opportunist. Leslie Howard played the useless Ashley Wilkes, while Olivia de Havilland was the greatest long-suffering, self-sacrificing doormat ever to grace the big screen.

Last Tango in Paris - Marlon Brando’s swan song. Sure, we’ll always have The Godfather, but this movie was the last time he could pull off sexy. Risque, poignant, stark, cruel, ugly. Co-star Maria Schneider was both luminous and insane at the same time.

Risky Business - My introduction to Tom Cruise and quite frankly, the only movie he’s made I really and truly like. Contains scenes that will still be iconic generations from now.

Star Wars - Much as I hate to admit it, because like my son I believe George Lucas trashed his own creation, Star Wars changed movie-making forever. Of the original three, The Empire Strikes Back stood head and shoulders above the other two. That movie was grand.

Raiders of the Lost Ark - Another Harrison Ford gem, but this time from Steven Spielberg. A mix of my favorite subjects, history, fantasy, archeology and the lost Ark of the Covenant. A romping good time, especially because the good guys win in the end. The ideal blend of humor, adventure, romance and danger.

Witness - The ultimate chick flick. This movie stars Harrison Ford at his angsty, funny, heroic bad-boy best. Kelly McGillis is pure gold, Lukas Haas, a gem. How can you go wrong with an Amish love story combined with a big-city murder mystery and corrupt cops? My favorite scene? The ice cream cone. Oh yeah.

Bull Durham - I have to toss in what I consider to be the best sports movie ever made - cuz it’s for girls too. Sports and sex. Susan Sarandon and Kevin Costner are smokin’ hot in this flick about a catcher whose time has passed. Plus it’s all about baseball and in my mind, baseball is the ultimate in Zen. (A League of Their Own comes in a close second.)

Aliens - My son and I are in agreement. Yeah, sure, Alien was the film of my generation, but Aliens kicks ass. Sigourney Weaver shows that a woman can give as good as she gets. My son is right in his assessment. If anything, Aliens was more frightening than Alien because you knew what was gonna happen, but damn, you just had to watch anyway.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Nobody will ever make a guy movie as good as this. Paul Newman and Robert Redford were all that. ALL THAT. The film was tight, the acting perfection itself. This is one for the ages. A timeless film. Take that, hair-cutter’s sister!

Raising Arizona - While I both love and hate the Coen brothers, Raising Arizona will forever be the quirky and very much elevated standard to which I hold them. Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter in a crazier than shit movie about stealing a baby. This movie was but the beginning…

Terms of Endearment - The ultimate tear-jerker. I sobbed so hard while watching this movie the usher asked me to leave the theater. Ladies, you know what I’m talking about. Debra Winger has always been one of my very favorite actresses and this may be the one time Jack Nicholson got to play sweet. For making me cry my eyes out, Terms of Endearment makes the cut.

Urban Cowboy - Yeah, I can hear you say…What? You bet your ass this movie belongs here. This was Debra Winger’s first leading role. I took one look at her as Sissy and said, “Holy shit, is she going places.” She and John Travolta were dynamite in this film. Travolta never received the credit he deserved. The director, James Bridges, also directed Paper Chase and The China Syndrome.

The Big Chill - The classic ensemble piece of my generation…well, actually of my husband’s oldest brother’s generation, but I managed to sneak in on the flip side when things were going to hell in a hand basket. The cast, the music, the hook-ups, the drugs. What a great movie. Oh, and Kevin Costner, we hardly knew ye.

The Right Stuff - Directed by Phillip Kaufman, based on the book by Tom Wolfe, starring Sam Shepherd (oh sexy man of the crooked tooth), Scott Glen, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Barbara Hershey - a fabulous cast from top to bottom. This is the ultimate American hero movie. The movie definitely got it right - this is what heroes are made of.

Wait Until Dark - Audrey Hepburn plays blind woman, Susy Hendrix, terrorized by the evil Alan Arkin. This was another thriller my father took me to see - I think it’s because my mother didn’t like thrillers. I remember thinking that day, if a blind woman can outsmart murderers, there’s hope for me.

The Graduate and Midnight Cowboy - The only way I can fit both these Dustin Hoffman movies in is to count them as one. These are among the finest movies ever made. The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols, took a dark, humorous, cynical look at suburban life. I can’t imagine a better Benjamin Braddock than Dustin Hoffman. I swear he was born to play this part. Midnight Cowboy, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight is a thing of beauty. Before Brokeback Mountain, there was Midnight Cowboy.

The movies I could not include and really really wanted to:

Taxi Driver

Winter’s Bone

Brokeback Mountain

Stranger Than Fiction

The Matrix

Parenthood

Mash

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

My Fair Lady

The Maltese Falcon

Network

All the President’s Men

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Miracle Worker

The Hurt Locker

 

Get your popcorn - my son’s top 20 movies.

  By Julia Barrett | October 28, 2011 - 8:38 pm | , ,
13 Comments

Big- This was and is still the biggest child wish fulfillment movie ever made. Forget all those garbage tales where parents and their kids switch places because of a magic mirror or a coin in a wishing well or whatever nonsense the writers come up with, Big is it. Kid grows up to work at a toy company. What could be more magical to a boy like me who wasn’t much younger then the main character at the time?

Evil Dead- The evil dead series is a must for any lover of horror and camp (used in the cheesiness sense, not the tent and sleeping bag sense, though the movie sort of satisfies that as well). I put the first one in here not because it’s the best, or even necessarily the most influential, but as the one that opened the door it has seniority. Evil Dead introduced audiences of my generation to intelligent, relatively gore free horror.

Tron- When I was growing up computers were still a little mysterious, not to mention bulky and weak. But to us there was something magical about them. It’s incredible how entertained we were by little green lines rolling around black screens. Tron managed to be just realistic enough to us Neanderthals that we could kind of believe that that’s how computers worked.

Blade Runner- Some people, when they think of the first cerebral sci-fi they ever saw, the first one that posed real questions, that went far beyond firing rifles at invading aliens, they think of 2001. Well, they’re wrong. 2001 is a horrible movie that doesn’t pose any questions, it just meanders for, what, like six hours or something, or maybe the end just feels like six hours. Blade Runner was the first serious sci-fi movie that my generation had and it opened our minds to all kinds of classics in the past, as well as opened the door for thinking more sci-fi to come.

Jurassic Park- Looking back it wasn’t really that good. The kids were annoying as hell, the technology wasn’t even close to correct, and the entire series focused way too much on the raptors. But still, at the time, it was pretty much the most kick-ass thing anybody had ever seen.

Clerks- Kevin Smith’s first movie is amazing… if you are in high school. That’s sort of the problem with Kevin Smith, he’s really great until you grow up, but luckily I wasn’t grown up when I was introduced to him so I had a few years to enjoy his stuff. Clerks not only reflected what we all felt as angsty teenagers worried that we’d never amount to anything, it also showed us that you don’t have to go to Hollywood to get movies. In fact, it was these little auteurs who were really telling our stories.

Pulp Fiction- Sticking with directors who are only entertaining when you’re a kid… I hate Quentin Tarantino, I think his movies are shit, I’ve always thought they were shit, I’ll always think they were shit, but you can’t deny the influence that this movie has had on pretty much every aspect of the pop culture of my generation.

Aliens- My parent’s had Alien, we had Aliens, and we loved it. The movie took everything great about the first movie and made it better. Tighter corridors, more Aliens, more panic, a metric butt-load of bullets! I think a mass of marines with guns made the thing even more frightening over-all because even with all that firepower everyone knew they were all going to die.

The Royal Tenenbaums- This is not my favorite Wes Anderson movie, but I do believe it is the one when he finally got everyone else in the world who was not an outcast to notice him. It was also the movie where he cemented his personal style, taking all the best parts of Rushmore and refining them while adding a few more genius gimmicks that really made the movie stand out.

Fargo- Some of us had already been aware of the Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona has long been one of my favorite movies), but Fargo made EVERYONE aware of the Coens. Great story and the kind of violence that Tarantino wished he could direct. The success of Fargo led the Coens to make…

The Big Lebowski- Almost the exact opposite of Fargo, and much better even then Fargo. The Big Lebowski is almost the perfect movie, both in form and in timing. Jeff Bridges gets to basically play himself as the transcendent slacker, “The Dude” Lebowski, who helps redeem the rest of us slackers by being the hero in the end.

Toy Story- Much like The Simpsons taught us that television cartoons can be fun for the whole family, Toy Story taught us that feature length animations, and computer ones at that (it was pretty much the first decent fully computer animated feature) can be for adults as well as children too. Best of all, it was heartwarming, something Pixar always manages to do regardless of the subject matter.

Pi/Memento- I’ve lumped these two together because basically they are the same movie. Yes they each have their own significance, but their influence fits into the same slot. There was something dark about these movies, something primal and psychological that had never really been attempted before. Kind of like if Hitchcock wrote a movie that took place entirely in the head of a schizophrenic. The rest of Aronofsky’s stuff is shit (The Fountain was ok), but Nolan kept up the good work.

Spider-Man- Our entire nation had been waiting for a good superhero movie until Spider-Man came out. Let’s face it; the Superman movies were actually pretty bad. (Make the Earth spin the opposite direction to turn back time? C’mon!) The first Batman movies were sort of fun if you didn’t pay attention to them, and whoever cast Michael Keaton as Batman was high on something. And of course, any superhero movie made earlier than those can just be thrown away right off. Spider-Man was exactly what a superhero movie should be. It contained the entire gamut of emotions Peter Parker had in the comics, it had love for the story and the art of comic books, it had Stan Lee. Spider-Man was the first in the now long series of well done superhero movies, and for that, we thank you.

Edward Scissorhands- As much as I dislike Tim Burton and am tired of his sad-sack routine, I have to admit this was a beautiful movie to watch. Tim Burton proved he could be that line between sanity and lunacy that Cronenberg and Lynch never could quite walk. Edward Scissorhands made us feel it was ok to be sad, something that would be touched on in my sister’s generation with Donnie Darko, but frankly, I think Burton did it better.

Lord of the Rings- This series really transcends generations, it should be on everyone’s list. ‘Nuff said.

Showgirls- My generation’s movies could be really good, but they could be really really bad too. Showgirls is on this list because, if nothing else, people are still talking about it. There were probably a bunch of excellent films that came out at the same time that absolutely no one is talking about, but right now, somewhere, somebody is reminiscing about watching that completely filthy, awful movie.

Life is Beautiful- Life is Beautiful made it ok to enjoy a foreign film. For a lot of people, watching this movie was the first time they allowed themselves to watch a movie with subtitles. It’s a gorgeous movie that deserves to be watched by everyone, but for its role in opening up America’s large theatres, not just its art houses, to foreign films, it goes on this list.

The Matrix- I’ve saved the bottom two movies for the bottom two movies. We’ll start with The Matrix which everyone was sure, at the time, was the greatest movie ever produced. Of course now we know it was possibly the worst thing to star Keanu Reeves (and it’s got some competition people). Still, it introduced us to bullet time, awesome “kung-fu”, cool sunglasses, leather trench coats, big guns shooting many many many many many bullets, “There is no spoon”… I could make a huge list here. It’s too bad it couldn’t live up to its own expectations, but it was pretty cool while it lasted.

Star Wars- Though I am now loathe to admit it, Star Wars probably had more influence on my early adulthood than anything else, including my parents. The worst part is, if it wasn’t for George Lucas fucking around with the films and adding three new horrible ones I’d probably still be a huge Star Wars geek. Well, while it was still “cool” Star Wars was more important to my friends and me then getting laid, and this was well into our twenties. So, though it is with some trepidation that I say it, Star Wars is by far the most influential film of my generation.

Who is Robert Redford?

  By Julia Barrett | October 27, 2011 - 8:59 pm |
28 Comments

Robert Redford - actor, director, producer, musician. He’s starred in some of the most memorable movies of any actor in my lifetime - two words - Sundance Kid.

So the other day, my husband was getting his hair cut. The stylist’s 35 year old sister walked into the salon and the three of them began chatting, mostly about Robin Williams’ upcoming nuptials at a local resort. For some reason, Mr. Redford’s name came up and the stylist’s sister asked, “Who’s that?” Seriously, she was clueless.

When my husband told me this story, I began hyperventilating. “Who’s that? Who’s that? She actually asked ‘who’s that’? No way. No way. She doesn’t know who Robert Redford is? No fuckin’ way. Was she born in a barn? Does she live in a cave? Is she deaf, dumb and blind? Everybody in the whole fuckin’ world knows who Robert Redford is.” (When I travel to the dark side, I use the word fuck a lot.)

How can a thirty-five year old woman be unaware of Robert Redford and his movies? Good grief.

I decided to plan a series of posts on the twenty-five most influential movies in my lifetime - just my opinion, you understand. You’ll see my list. I’ve asked my dad for his list, my husband for his list and my son, a filmophile, for his list. There may be some overlap. I’m talking about movies that changed your life, impacted society, scared the ever-lovin’ shit out of you. These are the movies I want to hear about.

So…you with me? Should you decide to post your own list on your own site, please let me know so I can link ASAP. Or feel free to send me your list and I’ll give you a day to talk about movies that influenced you.

Doesn’t know who Robert Redford is my ass…

I’m a guest poster today at Secrets of 7 Scribes. Stop by!

***Super amazing thanks to MTNickerson who gave me a great shout out on his blog yesterday. He never fails to make me think. But man, I ain’t all that. Ask my mom.