This was so much harder than I thought it was going to me, I really thought it would be easy to cast the perfect Christmas movie but it really isn't. After hours of pondering, this is what I have come up with. Santa Claus - Hal from Malcolm in the Middle (Bryan Cranston)
In most Christmas movies, Santa is the boss. He works tirelessly to keep the helpers on track to make all the presents in time for Christmas. As far as the helpers are concerned xxx is the boss but behind the scenes, Santa is completely whipped by Mrs Claus, the real brains behind the operation. Scrooge/Grinch/Mrs Claus - Megan from Bridesmaids (Melissa McCarthy)
Megan was initially attracted to Hal's power as Santa but over time has taken over the North Pole and runs it her way. Hal doesn't have the balls to argue with her so just leaves her to it to live an easy life but Megan has no idea how to run the business and things start to go awry. Santa's Sidekick - Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones (Peter Dinklage)
Tyrion is completely aware of the control Mrs Claus has over Santa but no matter how much he tells Hal, he just wont listen. In the end, he has to recruit outside help to when Mrs Claus' interference threatens to destroy Christmas. Santa’s Helpers - Minions (Stuart, Bob, Kevin and friends) from Minions
Stuart, Bob and Kevin (as head helpers) ran the toy factory with perfect synchronicity making millions of toys for all the good children if the world, that is until Mrs Claus decided they weren't right for the job and brought in their replacements..... Mrs Claus' Helpers - Magic Mike (Channing Tatum), Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Ken (Matt Bomer) and Tito (Adam Rodriguez) from Magic Mike XXL
...Mrs Claus brings her new helpers for their 'talents' and 'assets' but spends all of her time making them dance for her and now it's 3 days until Christmas and there are no toys for all the good children. The Children - Mikey (Sean Astin), Mouth (Corey Feldman), Data (Jonathan Ke Quan) and Chunk (Jeff Cohen) from The Goonies
In the years following the saviour of their beloved town and the capture of notorious criminals, The Fratelli's, life is pretty quiet for the Goonies, that is until they are sought out by Tyrion to save Christmas and take down Mrs Claus before it's too late.... Can't wait to see everyone else's christmas cast-a-thon posts!
Another day another Blogathon, I am loving these so much right now. Not only do they encourage a sense of community in the movie blog world but they push us to write posts that might be a little out of our comfort zones and adds a bit of variety to the old blog post list! John from Hitchcock's World has started the Favourite movie scenes blogathon, here is the original post if you haven't already seen ithttp://hitchcocksworld.blogspot.ca/2014/05/favorite-movie-scenes-blogathon.html.
The rules are:
Each choice must be a specific moment from a film, not the film itself, even if it's a movie like My Dinner With Andre or Twelve Angry Men.
Since picking out scenes is hard, you can write about as many different moments from as many different films as you like. There are no specific restrictions in what types of films you can draw from, even if it's one of Godard's movies or Tarkovsky's Solaris or any other film I have criticized in this blog. I'll even try to control myself is you pick a scene from one of Connery's James Bond films (emphasis on the try).
I'd encourage you to try and diversify your range of choices as much as you can. In both my lists I cover movies in the science fiction, war, western, comedy, surrealist, and adventure genres with periods ranging from the 1950's to the present day.
For each film you refer to you can only discuss one scene. For instance if you decide on writing about 2001: A Space Odyssey, you can't do both the shuttle docking sequence and the scene where Dave disconnects HAL, you'd have to make a choice between one or the other.
For each scene, you should provide a reasonably clear description. I would advise some context regarding what is happening in the scene (though you are not required to do so depending on the circumstances, i.e. if you want to avoid spoiling a crucial twist that happens here), but the focus should be on what you like about that particular moment.
I would also recommend making sure your descriptions are not too long. I'm not going to give a precise maximum length but try to keep your explanations from being longer than necessary.
I have been pondering my response to this for a while as it's really tough for me, do I go with something that is classic and a lot of people would consider a fantastic scene or do I go with my sentiment and go with the scenes that I love for my own reasons. After much deliberation, I decided to go with my gut and I ended up with two scenes, both chosen for my love of these scenes not because they are well shot or visually epic but because I could watch them over and over again and never get bored.
My first choice is from The Goonies (surprise surprise I hear you say) this is my all time favourite film so why wouldn't my favourite scene come from it. It's The Wishing Well Scene:
This was an epic scene where they had to decide whether to carry on to find One Eyed Willy's treasure or go up the wishing well and back to their boring normal lives. There is no big set pieces or giant octopusses to distract you it's just Mouth (Corey Feldman) and Mikey (Sean Astin) making big speeches to their friends and I love it. In fact this came up in myTop 10 Film Quotesas well.
My second choice is from Toy Story 3, this scene had no words but I sobbed like a baby. Its the key scene in the movie where the toys are in the incinerator and have no way to escape so they just look at each other and hold hands, knowing what is about to happen. It seemed like such a grown up scene for a children's film but it made it for me.
I wanted to ask if it was wrong to love a movie scene even though it makes you cry every time, but I think Jenna's already answered this for me! I briefly studied animation in college and so animated films have always had a soft spot in my heart. One of my all-time favourite films (I don't have just one) is Monsters Inc, and although there are many funny scenes, this touching scene is the one that stuck with me.
I tend to sob quite often during films but what amazes me is how much you can fall in love with an animated character. It's easy to relate to a human actor, and sympathise with whatever they're feeling, but it's brilliant how animators can make us feel exactly what these cartoon-y monsters feel.
Have you ever watched Wallace and Gromit? Gromit, the dog, doesn't even talk and yet you know exactly what he would be saying just by his facial expression!
Confession time. Jenna chose her favourite scenes ages ago, and she's been patiently waiting for me to do mine. I've only recently widened the spectrum of films that I watch, and so most of my favourite films and scenes are from comedies. So with that in mind, you'll have to forgive me for now and ask me again in a years time, and then you might get a different answer!
Thanks again to John at Hitchcock's World for this Blogathon, it's been great fun to do and really made me think about why I love the films that I do.
This is by far my favourite film of all time, so I had to review it at some point. I have read numerous reviews on this film that have found reasons not to give it a full 10 stars!
I know this film isn't perfect and it's fair to say, it's hasn't aged particularly well but that doesn't take anything away from this film for me. It has the action, adventure, bad guys, good guys, a giant squid (if you watch the deleted scenes), water slides, skeletons, friendship and the good looking older brother. It feels to me like they are ordinary (ish) characters, in an extraordinary situation, similarly to the reasons why I love E.T: The Extra Terrestrial. These kids argue, fight, swear and pick on each other, like I did with my cousins and friends when I was a kid. The truffle shuffle scene is one of the key scenes that makes the characters seem so realistic:
Some of the lines throughout the film have stuck with me over the years and I still quote them on a regular basis. The action keeps the film on pace and the bond between the friends makes you want to see how it ends. Mikey's monologue at the bottom of the well is one of my favourite quotes of all time and as a child made me feel involved and like I was a Goonie myself and I could do anything.
This nostalgia has carried through the years with me, leaving me unable to criticise this film, there is too many memories and good feeling tied to it. You may way to read Allie's opinion on the film to get a slightly less biased review!
Yeah see I'm coming at this from a totally different angle, about 6 months ago I watched this for the very first time! Shocking, and totally unacceptable I know, but I was re-watching Jumanji too many times as a kid to even notice this film.
I did enjoy this film, honestly I did, but I have to agree with you when you say that it hasn't aged well. I watched this with friends and there were certain parts that people were quoting and really laughing at, that I just didn't get! Please don't hate me...
All in all a great action film with clever, comical dialogue by a great group of young actors that can be watched again and again.
Everything else aside, this was a really heart-warming film and I would definitely watch it again!
So following Allie's Top 10 quotes, I thought I would follow suit seen as I had already decided on mine. So here goes:
10. 'Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get' - Forrest Gump (1994)
This is a classic line, from one of my all time favourite films and said by one of my all time favourite actors, so how could it not be in my top 10. Tom Hanks is incredible as Forrest Gump and it was so difficult to choose just one quote, but this has to be it!
9. 'Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me... it brought me to you. And I'm thankful for that, Rose. I'm thankful. You must do me this honor. Promise me you'll survive. That you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise' - Titanic (1997)
I am a soppy bugger to say the least and I love a good romantic monologue and this has to be the best one (i.e. the one that made me cry the most!!) I could watch this scene over and over again and it would never get old.
8. 'I'm glad he's single, 'cause i'm gonna climb that like a tree'- Bridesmaids (2011) I love Melissa McCarthy, I think she could say anything and it would make me laugh! This line, literally made me howl with laughter.
7. 'If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball' - Dodgeball: A true underdog story (2004)
No explanation required!!
6. 'E.T Phone home'
- E.T The Extra-Terrestrial
One of my favourite films as a child and this was the moment in the film when you realised that ET was just a being that had been left behind and it humanised him, making you bond with the character so much more. I was heartbroken when I realised that ET didn't want to stay with Elliot but he was so alone on Earth. It's amazing have this one quote had such an impact on the whole film, it was the turning point from the children having their strange pet, to them needing to help him find his way home.
5. 'There's no crying in baseball!!!'
- A league of their own (1992)
My second quote from Tom Hanks. I love his character in this film and how he interacts with the girls on the team. This quote showed just how frustrating it was for Jimmy Dugan working with these girls but it comes across so hilarious to the viewer
4. 'You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off' - The Italian Job (1969)
Brilliant!
3. 'Just shut up.....you had me at hello' - Jerry Maguire (1996)
I loved this whole speech, but this line just made it. My heart just melted, I re-watched this scene over and over again, so romantic and heartfelt.
2. ‘What do tigers dream of when they take their little tiger snooze? Do they dream of mauling zebras, or Halle Berry in her Catwoman suit? Don't you worry your pretty striped head, we're gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed. And then we're gonna find our best friend Doug, and then we're gonna give him a best friend hug. Doug, Doug, oh, Doug, Dougie, Dougie, Doug, Doug! But if he's been murdered by crystal meth tweakers….well then we're shit out of luck.’ - The Hangover (2009)
Don't even read this quote, just watch...
1. 'Don't you realize? The next time you see sky, it'll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it'll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what's right for them. Because it's their time. Their time! Up there! Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here. That's all over the second we ride up Troy's bucket.’ - The Goonies (1985)
Without a doubt, my favourite film EVER! Had a tough choice to pick my favourite quote, there are funnier, sharper and wittier quotes in the film that I could have chosen, but this one holds a special place for me. As a kid, it made me feel like I could be a Goonie and I could have adventures like them.
However, I had to add these little gems in, I quote these in the office all the time to make my colleague laugh and they still have me in stitches after all these years:
