Get a Clue

The other night in my apartment, my roommate and I realized that we had finished with our homework before midnight (quite the feat for the two of us). Since we had this unexpected free time, my roommate suggested we watch a little movie called Clue, my roommate's personal favorites. I didn't have super high expectations for the movie, especially since it was a movie based off of the popular board game that the movie was named after. The movie was directed by Jonathan Lynn and it stars a great cast with one of my personal favorites, Tim Curry. In the movie, six strangers are invited to a dinner party by a mysterious guest. Each of the characters, although strangers, share a common link that they are all being blackmailed by a mysterious person. To keep with their anonymity, each person is assigned a code name and that is where the viewer are "clued" into (pun intended) the idea that it is based off of the board game. This part of it was fun because I got to see the interpretation of each of the characters that I grew up playing as. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what the characters were like and I was quite satisfied by the movie adaptation of the characters. The characters and the actors that they chose just made me laugh! They were great, especially the butler, played by Curry. They were simply witty. Another different aspect of this movie was that it had 3 different endings. This played with the concept that the movie was based off of the game because in the game there could always be different endings. I thought that this was a clever feature of the movie that I had never seen before.

The movie was not the best by any means, but it did have some very memorable lines that cracked me up. I did some research on the movie after I watched it and I found out that Clue is also a cult classic movie. Even though it flopped in theaters when it was released, it is still very much present in pop and cult culture. It still has showings at midnight at select theaters around the country. I would definitely recommend watching this movie, especially if you just want a lighthearted little comedy. It's easy to watch and it's fun (quite the difference from Se7en, which I watched the day earlier). Great movie that'll leave you laughing.

Annie Inspired

As I got thinking about the project Haley, Hannah and I are working on, I got thinking to what other stories are similar so I could get some inspiration.  Thinking about the two characters that we have envisioned (a couple in the Prohibition Era getting themselves into trouble for selling alcohol, and stupidly turning in themselves for reward money), I immediately thought of a funny couple from the childhood classic Annie.  

Rooster Hannigan and Lily St. Regis from Annie are a conniving, ridiculous couple who are trying to help Mrs.Hannigan get reward money.   (Gee, sound familiar?).  I just couldn't believe how similar these two characters are to the characters that Haley, Hannah and I have envisioned in our heads for this project.  They're silly and try to plot ridiculous schemes.  I think that we should definitely use Tim Curry and Bernadette Peter's interpretation of these characters to our advantage when we think about putting this project together.  Not to mention we could probably get a few costume ideas from this film as well.

Our project and Annie also take place around the same time period, the 1930's and Prohibition Era.  Again, I think watching this 1982 version of Annie will help us encompass a comedic interpretation of this era.  Annie is a movie that focuses on the light side of the Great Depression and 1930's, and puts a comedic twist to a time that wasn't so bright and happy.   Since that is the approach our group is going for, I think it would be a smart idea to study this movie.

So I think I'm going to pop in this version of Annie, as well as the 1999 television remake of Annie directed by Rob Marshall to help come up with a more solid idea for this project while I'm home on break.

It's That Time of Year Again...

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. The Halloween cult classic movies that surround this time are the movies I look forward to all year. One of the first Halloween movies I remember falling in love with was Hocus Pocus.

This movie has everything, a girl named Dani, who I just wanted to be, a creepy fairytale come true, and and adorable cat, Thackery Binx...you can't get much better than that. Bette Midler plays the crazy, evil, Winnie Sanderson, with Sarah Jessica Parker playing the almost loveable Sarah Sanderson. The sisters are insane, as is the story line in general, but you can't help but love the movie. It doesn't hurt that every viewing is a teaspoon full of nostalgia.

As I got a bit older I discovered the terrifically crappy Halloweentown movies that would air on the Disney Channel every year.

The original movie spawned equally crappy sequels, but every one has some quality of catchyness you can't ignore. Even still, I get some strange pleasure out of watching the reruns when it airs. The theme song is catchy as hell as well, and will no doubt be stuck in your head for a few weeks afterwards, easily carrying you into christmastime jingles.

The final Halloween movie that's made its way into my yearly Halloween line-up is Rocky Horror Picture Show.

For the few of you who don't know, the movie was made in '75 and has become one of the largest cult movies to date, with one of the biggest followings. The movie itself is nearly impossible to describe, and the live-action showings that surround it are even harder to describe, but I can definitely say I anxiously await the showings every year.

Obviously this isn't a complete list of all the great Halloween movies that have ever been made, nor is it even close, but these three are a few that I grew up with and remind me of cozy nights and warm apple cider...and those are the best nights.