Throwback Thursday: "The Princess Bride" and all its glory

The Princess Bride is a movie for the ages. This unconventional fairytale directed by Rob Reiner was released almost 30 years ago, but it will always be one of my favorite movies of all time. The film is based off of the novel of the same title by William Goldman, who also wrote the screen adaptation.



If you are reading this and haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you make it the next film you watch. It is well-written, witty, beautifully costumed & constructed, and just an all-around fun film. A fair warning, though, if you're someone that does not enjoy quirky/slapstick humor, this is probably not the film for you.

Buttercup & Westley

The Princess Bride is told as a Grandfather (Peter Falk) reading a fairytale book to his ill grandson (Fred Savage); is voiceover is heard throughout the film as a narration. The "classic" fairytale tells the love story of Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) and her love affair with Westley the farm boy (Cary Elwes). Westley is captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts so Buttercup must marry Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), but she is kidnapped by the annoying Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), swordsman Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) and the large and strong Fezzik (André the Giant). The remainder of the film follows Buttercup, Inigo Montoya, and Vizzini as they try to escape the grasps of the evil Prince Humperdinck while bringing Westley back from the "mostly" dead. (along the way we meet Miracle Max, an expert on the matter played by Billy Crystal--whom we can hardly recognize under all that costume & make-up.)

My initial reaction to The Princess Bride was that the pace moved way too slowly (but I was ten the first time I saw it). When I saw it again a few years later I understood and appreciated the humor such more. Now each time I watch it, I pick up on the nuances that I did not see in previous viewings.

Some of the special effects may seem a bit wonky nowadays, but considering the nature of the whole movie it fits in nicely. It simply adds to the effect of how ridiculous the subject matter is.

So if you like stories with swordplay, fun rhymes, and only a few ROUS'es (rodents of unusual size), then check out The Princess Bride, you won't regret it!

The living Wake

Over thanksgiving break I had the opportunity to watch to watch an indi-film starring Jesse Eisenberg. It was very witty and clever and made it to my favorites list at number 35. The story is about a man who is dying of an incurable name-less disease and and his doctor tells him the very specific time for him to die. The story is set on his last day on earth. He sets out to find the answer to why his father left him and his mother when he was very young and he later finds his father and he tells him all the resolving facts to the story and brings him to his death. The story certainly keeps you intrigued and interested while taking you on a journey to see the last day of his life and the sadness of his only friend as he carries him to his grave most literally. The story weighs heavily on its characters and their development.