Kelly's World

Number 12 on my list of 52 things to do in 52 weeks. This was a tough one for me, much more than most people would realise. I’m not the type of person that can stay at home all day on the couch, so that in itself was a challenge. In fact, today I’m suffering from a headache and neck strain, caused by sitting on the couch the wrong way for extended amounts of time. I’m not cut out for this couch potato thing.

The other reason I found this a challenge is because I couldn’t just select any 5 movies and be done with it. They had to be unique. As a result I struggled at first to cull the list to 5, but after finally deciding on which movies didn’t make the cut, I had my list. When making the decision, I didn’t consciously realise that 3 out of the 5 movies had nazi themes, and it came as quite the shock to me. My selection does indicate that I have a passion for comedy and action movies, along with deeply political and controversial movies.

This was the final list (please note all information has been obtained from IMDB):

IMDB link

Higher Learning

Youngsters from different countries, races, and social background are forced to integrate when they all enroll in Columbus University. They all have their own problems, such as finance, harrassment, personal safety, and self doubt. Additionally, campus life seems to be causing a problem for everyone: racism. Students, already under pressure to perform in the classroom, on the track, or in front of their friends, are strained to the breaking point by prejudice, inexperience, and misunderstanding.

Noteable scene – When the teacher, played by Lawrence Fishburn, asks the star athlete currently struggling with the uni/training workload what he would do if there was another faster/stronger athlete than him. He answers “run faster”, and suddenly realises what he needs to do to succeed at university.

Interesting trivia – Tupac Shakur was originally set to play the role of Malik but he was jailed shortly after getting the part and the role went instead to Omar Epps.

IMDB link

Wayne’s World

Wayne is still living at home. He has a world class collection of name tags from jobs he’s tried, but he does have his own public access TV show. A local station decides to hire him and his sidekick, Garth, to do their show professionally and Wayne & Garth find that it is no longer the same. Wayne falls for a bass guitarist and uses his and Garth’s Video contacts to help her career along, knowing that Ben Oliver, the sleazy advertising guy who is ruining their show will probably take her away from him if they fail.

Noteable scene - There are so many in this movie! When Wayne looks through the window at the guitar, and states “it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine”. Garth singing “Foxy Lady” in the cafe. Wayne saying “schwing!” over a girl. Garth getting his hair sucked up by the “suck cut” haircutting machine, and screaming “OH THE HUMANITY”. Such a funny, funny movie.

Interesting trivia – The movie was shot in 34 days.

IMDB link

Inglourious Basterds

In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the “Basterds”, a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl’s plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

Noteable scene - After the Basterds have killed and de-scalped a group of Nazis, with only 3 members of the group remaining the Bear Jew surfaces from a dark tunnel with a baseball bat and kills one of them using the bat. Very graphic, and incredibly powerful imagery (typical Tarantino).

Interesting trivia – Quentin Tarantino started writing this movie before Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) but could not decide on a good ending and decide to put it on hold to do Kill Bill with Uma Thurman, a project he had been mentally preparing since Pulp Fiction (1994).

IMDB link

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Ferris Bueller has played hooky numbers of times, and this time he’s got the entire school and more believing he is on the verge of death. On this special day off, Ferris invites his friend Cameron Fry and girlfriend Sloane Peterson to his day of fun, while taking Cameron’s father’s precious Ferrari for transportation. All the while, the principal Ed Rooney is determined to prove Ferris is faking his illness and Ferris’s agitated sister Jeanie also has a goal to catch Ferris off guard. Ferris enjoys his day with his friends, until the mileage of the Ferrari reads one too many miles driven and Cameron has a blow out.

Noteable scene – Ferris singing Twist & Shout from on top of a float in the middle of a street parade

Interesting trivia – To produce the desired drugged-out effect for his role as the drug addict in the police station, Charlie Sheen stayed awake for more than 48 hours before the scene was shot. He wouldn’t need this preparation in today’s day & age, given his drug history.

IMDB link

American History X

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard’s narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

Noteable scene – After shooting one of the robbers, Derek makes the other open his mouth on the kerb, then stomps on his head. When I first saw this movie as a kid, this particular scene remained in my mind for years to come.

Interesting trivia – The film uses the word “fuck” 205 times.

Well, I did it. I finally spent a day doing nothing…mostly. I did go out at one point to get some lunch, but that barely counts. Today I watched 5 movies within 24 hours as part of my 52 in 52 challenge (will blog it tomorrow), but now I have a shocking headache from slouching all day. You can’t watch a movie with perfect posture – it’s illegal surely.

Tomorrow I’m going to have to make up for it by either going for a nice long run or a bike ride, undecided which at this point. I’m tempted to get on my bike early and go get a Sunday breakfast somewhere, but it will have to be somewhere that I can have my bike beside me, since my bike lock is broken at the moment. My housemate had his bike stolen and had a bike lock similar to mine, so to test it I gave him my bike lock and told him to break it…he did it in in less than 2 seconds. All he did was simply pull it apart. Astonishing. Needless to say, I’m currently down one bike lock but I’m also not really that worried since the only type of security the bike lock offered was an optical illusion! Best finding that out at home and keeping my bike than discovering the fact once my bike has been taken.

I’m also going to get cracking on some more photo of the day updates. I’m just under two months behind, and should utilise the time off from uni to catch up on it. At this stage I’m seriously thinking of returning to uni next term since I feel like mentally I’m in a better place. I can already sense that I miss not learning something, and that’s a great sign. I just need to find out whether I passed chemistry or not yet, since that will be the deciding factor on whether I do the second chemistry unit or not. Hopefully I’ll find out in the next week.

And as for now, I’m going to go to bed and try to sleep off my headache (thank goodness for my proper chiropractic pillow). I also plan on doing some housework tomorrow and taking Missy for a wash, so I’ve got a busy day ahead. While the day of laziness was good, I much prefer doing things! Maybe I should try and cram in some more stuff to do as well! The possibilities…

One of my 52 in 52 items is to watch my 5 favourite movies within 24 hours, which basically means a movie marathon. Unlike my friend Jo, whose selection of movies I believe were chosen far too easily, I’m struggling with this decision. There’s many things that need to be considered when making the final decision:

1. All movies can’t be of the same genre, otherwise it will get boring fast.
2. There are classics, and then there are favourites. Classics do not make the list i.e. I love the movie Grease, and it’s a classic, but I don’t feel any particular excitement or longing to see it any time soon therefore it hasn’t made the cut.
3. No obvious choices. It’s easy to choose truly great movies like Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption. They’re brilliant movies and I love them, but they don’t feel like they’re quite unique enough to make my top 5. After all, everyone loves those movies and I don’t want my top 5 to just be anyone’s list.

Based on that, the following movies are currently floating around on my list:

• Wayne’s World – a classic and yet a favourite, I could watch this any day of the week and not get sick of it. This movie kickstarted my love for Mike Myers, but based on his recent efforts I’m struggling to enjoy any of his movies anymore.
• Ferris Beuller’s Day Off – I can’t believe that I was only 2 years old when this movie was released (1986). When I saw it for the first time it still felt so current.
• Inglourious Basterds - A Tarantino movie was always going to make the cut, but it was hard to choose between this and Kill Bill (Pulp Fiction isn’t as much as a cult classic for me compared to the other two, maybe an age thing…don’t know).
• Point Break – Dirty Dancing was the movie that started my love for Patrick Swayze (then I got turned off chick flicks so Ghost doesn’t do much for me – I like the movie but I won’t go out of my way to watch it). Point Break was the movie that cemented my respect and admiration for him, along with Keanu Reeves. As a young teen when I saw this movie, I thought they were gods.
• American History X – I am yet to find a movie where I don’t love Edward Norton, and this movie has always been a beloved favourite.
• Higher Learning – Also falls under the political genre for me, and an amazing movie (even with Tyra Banks in it)
• Gone in 60 seconds – Oh how I wish I could own Eleanor

I know there’s some other movies that I have mentioned recently when chatting to friends about my predicament, so this list isn’t anywhere near complete. I just know it’s going to be extremely tough to cull the list down to just 5 movies!

What other movies have I forgotten? What movies would you add to your top 5 if you had to make a list?

One of my 52 in 52 challenges (no. 42 in fact) is to go the movies alone 3 times by myself throughout the course of 2011. Last time Iwent to the movies by myself was on a whim, and meant to be as a bit of a “reward” for myself for studying so hard. Instead, I found I didn’t enjoy it much at all. I lacked that companionship after the movie where I like to chat about what I had seen, what I liked and didn’t like. This time I went to the movies because I needed some time alone; I was angry, confused, and just needed some time to chill.

What better time to go see a movie than that?

So after going down to the beach to do some photography and get my photo of the day (which turned out rather nicely in my opinion) I booked myself a ticket using my phone and headed over to the cinema. I chose to see The Social Network, primarily because I knew it was a movie that Mat wouldn’t have wanted to see, and it was something I had an interest in.

When I arrived, I was pleased to see the cinema was relatively empty so I was able to spread out a bit on the chairs and get comfortable. I had just started dieting again so I didn’t splurge on any snack bar treats, but I did buy a bottle of water (benefits paid off – I had a great weigh-in the following morning). I was also in the midst of having a cold, so I had stuffed my bag full of tissues and cough lollies, and prayed that I wouldn’t be coughing a lot during the movie.

At the conclusion of the movie I found I was feeling refreshed, calm, and I had enjoyed myself thoroughly. I finally understood – THIS was the benefit of going to a movie by yourself! It’s not about just going out for the sake of it. It’s spending that time by yourself when you need it most, when things are complicated and you need to get away from it all. I found I was able to go home with a clear mind, and get back on with life.

Perhaps I could get used to this…

Geezus, what a weekend that just passed by!

Friday night Mat and I decided to have a quiet one at home. I think the fact that we both fell asleep on the couch, waking up a few hours later and dragging ourselves to bed is clear evidence that it was a very quiet one. It was blissful.

Saturday morning after dropping Mat off at work (he works a half day on Saturday every now and then) at the ungodly time of 8am, I set off to do some errands. Before I knew it he had rung to say he was finished, thus I raced in immediately to pick him up. Where was my time to relax?

Continue reading