Movies | Amy C. Shaw

My Top 10 Light & Fun Movies

May 9, 2013 • 11 Comments

EDIT: I accidentally scheduled this post for 6 AM CST on May 9 instead of May 10 as I meant it, and it was not completed. Note that this post was edited to completion in the evening of May 9 a little after 6 PM CST. Thanks and my apologies!

The Top Ten Tuesday topic posed by The Broke and The Bookish was “Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light & Fun.” Well, apparently I don’t do light and fun much in books because when I tried to think of one book that fit into this category, my mind went blank. But when I started thinking about light and fun movies, it was a lot easier! I tend to spend less time reading something light than I do watching light-hearted movies. I love darker movies too (particularly of the Christopher Nolan variety), but here’s a list of 10 movies that are pick-me-ups for me, with very few serious undertones.

Note: I decided to leave out animated movies, because they would have dominated this list too much. I’ll do a Top 10 Animated Movies list sometime. Also, instead of ordering these, I am just clumping them into categories.

The Chick Flicks

OK, so there are a few serious undertones in these movies, but they sure do make you feel light after you finish watching them. While You Were Sleeping and Emma are delightfully fun with quirky characters and friendships that turn into romance. Little Women explores the changes of life and growing up, showing both its trials and joys. And of course, Pride and Prejudice is the classic romance that makes many of us enjoy.

Just Fun and Silly

These movies are not the best movies ever made, but they’re fun and I do enjoy them each in their own way. I remember when I went to the theater with a group of friends to see Napoleon Dynamite while I was in high school, and I had NO idea what I was getting myself into! Afterwards we all looked at each other and asked, “Was there a plot in there?” (According to a scriptwriting book I own, the answer is yes, it’s just cleverly disguised!) But it’s just funny. Daddy Day Care is just silliness, centered on three men who lose their jobs and decide to try to make ends meet by watching kids. Steve Zahn is particularly hilarious as a Trek enthusiast. And The Mighty Ducks… oh how I love these more than a lady in her mid-twenties should. The plots of the second and third are a little ridiculous when you think about them, but that’s OK. Because you love the Ducks, and you just can’t help but root for them.

A Little Magical

I love that these stories are set (mostly) in the real world but have just a touch of magic to make them more light and fun. Enchanted is a brilliant parody of every Disney animated princess movie ever, but still sticks close to its formula (complete with several songs) and make us all fall in love with Giselle and root for her and Robert. Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is an underrated gem, which features a very uncertain early-twenty being given the task of taking over her boss’ magical toy store. You seriously need to see this one if you haven’t already. August Rush is a beautiful story featuring amazing music that follows a boy looking for parents and looking for music. There’s no real magic involved, but there are definitely some miracles.

What are some of your go-to light, fun movies?

Review: Iron Man 3

May 6, 2013 • 5 Comments

I think expectations can have a great effect on how you ultimately feel about a movie (or book). Sometimes, when you set the bar low, you end up being blown away and loving something! Sometimes, you set the bar high, so when the plot or characters (or both) disappoint, you end up feeling underwhelmed. My expectations for Oblivion were super high, like, this-is-gonna-be-one-of-my-new-all-time-fave-movies high and I ended up a little bit disappointed. I was looking forward to Iron Man 3, but were my expectations for it were lower. What is actually happening in this movie? I’m sure it will be good but I have no idea what is going to happen. So of course, I ended up loving it.

Five words to describe Iron Man 3: Intense. Funny. No Nick Fury?!

Iron Man 3 is a little bit darker and more intense throughout the movie than its predecessors. Yes, that cave scene in the first Iron Man movie is a rough, and the first time we see Ivan Vanko on the racetrack in Monte Carlo it definitely got intense, but the danger always felt imminent in this installment. I found the movie well-paced, and it certainly included its fair share of wonderfully funny RDJ/Tony Stark moments and quips that help lighten the mood. We also see the aftermath of what Tony went through in The Avengers, which I liked a lot, and he takes a field trip to good ol’ Tennessee! (Since most of you are probably unaware, I live in Tennessee, so this was exciting. But boo on Shane Black for filming the TN parts in North Carolina! I mean, seriously? But I digress…) I absolutely love the kid he befriends there, Harley, and I think the child actor who played him did a great job (maybe we can recast him as Anakin in The Phantom Menance… and have someone, ANYONE rewrite the screenplay…).

Also, I feel this was Iron Man’s best foe; there’s even an interesting twist concerning the villain, but I won’t give it away! I thought Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley did a great job in their roles. Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also did great returning to their roles as Pepper Potts and Colonel Rhodes, respectively (Terrence Howard who?).

There are a few small problems with the movie. First off: it does not snow that much in December in TN. SERIOUSLY. OK, I’m being nit-picky, and it is possible, especially in the East, but still not very likely or common. Second, out of all the crazy things that happen in this movie that I totally have no problem believing, it bothered me so much that there was not a single conversation with Nick Fury or anyone else at SHIELD about Tony getting some reinforcements to help him out. I mean, seriously, what are Captain America and Black Widow and Hawkeye really up to? I’m hoping we find out they’re working on their own missions around this same time, like how Iron Man 2 and Thor took place right around the same time. But even a voice mail that said: “Sorry, we can’t help,” would have been nice. Of course, Tony Stark is presumed to be dead by the world for a good portion of this time, but I think someone would have checked up on that to be sure.

Also, I personally did not have a problem with this, but I know other people did/will, and that is that it can be easily perceived that Pepper is a “damsel in distress” towards the end of the movie. This is kind of true in a way, I suppose, but if you know Pepper, you know how strong she is. What happens is a by-product of her relationship with Tony and it makes sense in the context of the story, and it has nothing to do with her being weak or anything like that. And I think she handles herself pretty well. I mean, by all intents and purposes, President Ellis ends up being a “damsel in distress” too, but no one would say that because he’s a guy. But this does leave me with my last problem with the movie, which is I didn’t really think President Ellis was a well-developed character at all. He never seemed particularly strong, but I don’t think he was meant to come off as weak either. He just seemed kind of OK, and I believe William Sadler is capable of a lot more than the role offered him (just watch Season 7 of Deep Space Nine and you’ll see).

But overall, Iron Man had everything: action, fun, and good character moments, except of course, we sadly have no Agent Coulson, which just isn’t right. 🙁

whedonite problems — Curse you, Joss Whedon!

This was a great way to kick off the summer, but unfortunately, I’m afraid there really aren’t going to be a lot of truly great summer movies after May. Four out of five stars. And of course, stay until after the credits. 🙂

Have you seen Iron Man 3? What did you think?

Review: Red Dawn

April 7, 2013 • 0 Comments

My husband and I recently rented the remake Red Dawn from Redbox to watch. I had actually not really heard any of my friends say anything about the movie, either positive or negative, which usually deters me from checking a movie out (assuming it’s not something I was anticipating to see and see it the first night it’s in theaters), but I was curious. I have also never seen the original, so this review is based solely on what I thought about this story and movie as it stands alone.

For those who are unfamiliar, Red Dawn focuses on a group of ordinary teenagers who live in Spokane, Washington, when North Korean troops come in and take over. The movie starts with media footage (some of it definitely real, but I am unsure as to whether or not all of it is) about North Korea. It hits home with what we see in the news everyday, but also in clips where you see President Obama, VP Biden, and former Secretary of State Clinton discussing the matter. From the start, the movie feels like it could be real. Unfortunately, once I saw the vast number of N. Korean paratroopers in the sky over one neighborhood, it started to feel less real.

The whole takeover seemed a little too easy, but I allowed myself to believe it as I watched the film. Jed, one of the teenagers’ older brother is a Marine who takes charge of the group of frightened teenagers and trains them how to fight as warriors. He gives them a speech about how their job is to create chaos, and how to the people they will be fighting, they are just in some place, but their group is fighting at their home, for their home. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see much of the training, as it is pretty much reduced to a montage sequence. In the montage he also tells the group to find people in town they trust to get supplies from, and I wish we could have seen more about how they integrated into this new way of life, especially considering that just a minute before they were still hiding in the woods trying to stay out of sight.

After this, however, I felt the movie was paced better. There are several times that the Wolverines, as the group calls themselves, find ways to collect gun sand even bombs to help them create chaos. Along the way, they make mistakes at times that show that they are not trained military and that they are emotional teenagers. However, you can also seen a clear transformation in their characters as they accept who they are now. I feel this is especially true of the characters Robert and Daryl, who seem very apprehensive about fighting at first, but Daryl especially shows that he is willing to make sacrifices and tough choices for the cause. By the end, we also see a big change in Jed’s younger brother Matt, who harbored a lot of resentment towards his brother for leaving their family years before after their mom died, as rises up as a leader when needed.

I don’t want to give away too many details of the film, but I think it was pretty well done. I would have liked more development in the story itself, from how the North Koreans got such a foothold to more about the training of the Wolverines. The movie ends without a sure resolution, but you are left with a small sense of hope. I think it’s a movie people should see, despite a few flaws, and there are several poignant character moments. I would rate it 3 stars out of 5.

Has anyone else seen the remake of Red Dawn? What were your thoughts on it? If you’ve seen the original, how would you say it compares?

My Gateway Into Dystopia…

March 28, 2013 • 0 Comments

Since reading The Hunger Games, I have been seeking more of the dystopia genre, and have also been penning some of my own. However, I did not start writing these stories after The Hunger Games per say, as a hint of dystopian interest has been on my radar for years, startling subtly and growing bit by bit until I read those books and realized there was a name of a genre of this particular type of story I have long found interest in. Here’s the history of my growing interest in dystopia…

The Twilight Zone

I don’t remember particularly how or when I discovered The Twilight Zone, though I am almost positive that one of the marathons on the SciFi (or SyFy if you prefer the incorrect spelling) channel is responsible, and my dad was probably the one watching it first when I found it. All I know is that I quickly became hooked. One of the first episodes that really stuck out to me was “Number 12 Looks Just Like You,” where a young girl lives in a society where everyone goes through a “Transformation” process that makes them youthful and beautiful for the rest of their lives. I remember thinking, I can see this actually happening. That was definitely the first taste.

Another episode that really caught my attention and I would consider my favorite on the show is “The Obsolete Man,” where a man is ruled by his government to be obsolete because of his “outdated” career and religious beliefs. Since he is obsolete, he is to be executed. Again, it was another episode that struck the thought within me: This could actually happen.

Then came…

The Island

The Island is a movie that, in my opinion, is highly underrated. *SPOILERS AHEAD* It focuses on a man and a woman, Lincoln and Jordan, who live in a compound where they believe they are being sheltered from the contamination of the outside world, save for one island, where winners of a random lottery can win a chance to go to. Lincoln and Jordan come to find out, however, that they are actually clones of other people, and winners of the lottery are not going to an island, but being harvested for organs by those whose DNA they match. It is a big secret that the creator of the company (who is appropriately played by Sean Bean because he dies) has managed to keep… until the end of the movie of course. At this point, I already had a random interest in the ethics of cloning that arose from who-knows-where, so I was hooked once again.

Then along came…

Equilibrium

Another film that does not get as much love as it deserves. In this story, John Preston is essentially a cop for the feelings police, if you will, in a totalitarian society where emotions are suppressed by the required drug Prozium.

ClericJohnPrestonChristianBale — This is John Preston inserting Prozium. Or Christian Bale shirtless. No, it’s John Preston inserting Prozium, just trust me.

Two things shake his world: The first is uncovering a lair of the senses, where a woman is hiding books, music, and art. From this crime scene Preston’s partner Partridge ends up taking a book of poetry. And for his crime *SPOILERohwaitnotreallybecausethischaracterisplayedbySeanBean* he is shot by Preston himself.

This may or may not have rattled Preston initially, but what makes him confront it is when his last dosage of Prozium falls and the glass capsule breaks, causing the liquid inside to spill. With one missed dosage, Preston starts to see, and feel, everything in a whole new light. So he decides to fight against the very system he has been working to protect. Like “The Obsolete Man,” the focus of this movie is the totalitarian government, and about how we should all have the right to express ourselves and make our own choices.

Then my last “gateway” before The Hunger Games was…

Gattaca

Once upon a time my dad told me about this movie where there is a society in which people who aren’t genetically engineered are considered inferior. It sounded interesting to me, and the idea was planted, but I wasn’t quite ready for viewing it yet. But in college, I again got this crazy random interest in genetic engineering and wanted to write a movie script on the idea for my Scriptwriting class, so suddenly I was seeking out this movie my dad told me about. Vincent is considered “in-valid,” since he was born naturally, and at birth his death by heart failure is predicted to happen at an early age. Yet he surpasses his predicted expiration date and pursues his dream of flying to space by taking the identity of a “valid,” Jerome, who became disabled. I think the theme of the movie could be surmised in the Bible verse shown on the first title card of the movie: Consider God’s handiwork; who can straighten what He hath made crooked? – Ecclesiastes 7:13. Flawed human beings are still human beings. Think of all the flawed human beings who have contributed so much to our society.

All the movies have this in common: a setting of the future of our world should we choose certain routes that we have interest in. The concept of a “fountain of youth” is the world in The Twilight Zone episode “Number 12.” Totalitarian governments dictate lives in “The Obsolete Man” and Equilibrium. Human cloning and using those clones to save “real” humans is the subject matter of The Island. And cloning’s not-so-distant cousin eugenics and its potential effect on society is considered in Gattaca. I find these stories impactful. And I want to tell stories like those. I have to admit, in my own story writing I can get caught up in romances and other petty things that often happen in young adult novels, which is why I am really working to rewrite my first dystopia story. I like the romance, but I want the focus of the story to be the warning of what can happen. That’s what these movies do so well, that brought me into my interest int the genre. I hope I can do it justice.

What was your gateway to dystopia, or whatever your genre of choice may be? What stories make you think?

My Top 10 Anticipations for Catching Fire

March 20, 2013 • 4 Comments

Today, I randomly started thinking about the upcoming Catching Fire movie, and started really anticipating it. I decided to jot down some of the scenes and moments I am looking forward to the most (assuming they all make it in the movie), and was a little surprised by how long the list grew. It made me pretty excited about it all; is it November yet?! (Actually, I don’t want it to be November yet. I need the warmth of spring and summer first).

WARNING: Do not read this if you have not read Catching Fire. Seriously, DON’T.

#10: Katniss and Plutarch Interact

At a social event at the Capitol, Plutarch Heavensbee makes a point to show Katniss his custom-made watch. She doesn’t really seem to get it, but it will hit her later that he was, in fact, giving her a very important hint as to how he designed the arena. Once Katniss and the other tributes understanding the working of the arena, they are able to use this to their benefit to help them escape it. I think Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a great actor in that he always creeps me out, and I am hoping this time I will get the opposite vibe from him as he does his best to relay a message to Katniss that he is on her side.

“It starts at midnight.” – Plutarch

#9: Cinna

This is so low on my list mostly because it’s going to break my heart into a thousand pieces. Even when I saw the promotional picture for Cinna I immediately thought of his fate in this movie, and how much it is going to hurt. I love how much Cinna cares for Katniss and believes in her and in the revolution, and that he is willing to put his life on the line for it. I know watching him being taken away is going to be so haunting.

“I always channel my emotions into my work. That way I don’t hurt anyone but myself.” – Cinna

#8: Haymitch and Katniss

I looking forward to a few moments between Haymitch and Katniss, but I am particularly anticipating when they get drunk together, and they promise one another that they will do everything they can to bring Peeta out of the games alive. I also look forward to seeing how their relationship continues to grow after the first movie.

“You know, you could live a thousand lives and not deserve him.” – Haymitch

#7: The Quarter Quell

So obviously this is very broad, but I wanted to encompass everything with The Quarter Quell from the announcement of what the rules for the Quarter Quell will be, to the Reaping, to the actual games where Katniss has to learn which tributes to trust. Of course the announcement is a pivotal part of the story because when Katniss learns she is going back in the arena, she immediately goes to run and hide, which we see is a pattern she will continue as the story progresses, especially in Mockingjay. She suffers from PTSD and no one can help her (except Peeta, she’ll come to realize). It will also be interesting to see the new arena and new tributes, of course.

I am going back to the arena. (Katniss)

#6: Katniss’ Mockingjay Dress in Action

The white wedding version of the mockinjay dress looks pretty good, I hope the effects for the black mockingjay dress prove to be better than the terrible CGI flames we got for the last movie.

#5: Katniss’ Confrontation with President Snow

I expect the confrontation between President Snow, where he tells Katniss that he’s on to her, will be quite chilling. He starts the conversation by saying, “I think we’ll make this whole situation a lot simpler by agreeing not to lie to each other,” and ends with “By the way, I know about that kiss.” The whole time he has the stench of roses and Katniss wonders why… if only we could smell it with her. But still, I expect to feel a chill will go down my spine when Donald Sutherland utters…

“Convince me.” – President Snow

#4. Finnick and Katniss

What can be said about Finnick? It all begins when he seductively asks Katniss if she wants a sugar cube, and she has no idea how to respond. I definitely looking forward to this scene and their interaction in the arena.

Katniss: He offered me sugar and wanted to know all my secrets. / Peeta: Ugh. Not really. / Katniss: Really. I’ll tell you more when my skin stops crawling.

#3: The Staged Moments Between Katniss and Peeta

I had quite a list of Katniss/Peeta moments, some of which are completely staged as Katniss has to convince President Snow that she loves Peeta. Some of these moments include: their snow-tumbled kiss (I am sure this will change, especially since Peeta doesn’t have the bum leg in the movies), Peeta’s proposal (may or may not be shown since it was glossed over in the book as well, but I would love to see it!), and my favorite: Peeta announcing to everyone that he and Katniss are already married and that she is pregnant. I literally laughed out loud when I read this part of the book because I knew exactly what Peeta was up to. I really hope this part is kept in so I can see Caesar’s face. And though these moments seem fake to Katniss, she can’t deny there is a little something there…

“Maybe I’d think that too, Caesar, if it weren’t for the baby.” – Peeta

#2: The Sweet, Genuine Moments Between Katniss and Peeta

This list includes: the rooftop scene, how Peeta helps Katniss through her nightmares, and of course the beach scene, where Peeta gives Katniss his locket and she kisses him for real.

I wish that Peeta were here to hold me, until I remember I’m not supposed to wish that anymore. (Katniss)

#1: Gale tells Katniss About District 12

I’m hoping the movie ends just like the book, in its very haunting way…

“Katniss, there is no District Twelve.” – Gale

The perfect cliffhanger.

And that’s only some of what I’m anticipating! What are you looking forward to in the Catching Fire movie?

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