This could take a while...You've been warned...Okay, moving on...
I love watching movies. If you have known me long enough, you just said, "That is a terrible understatement"! Okay, this one's for movie buffs like me...(looking at you, Nameeta!)
Watching movies is one of those things that I cannot resist. Every time I have to turn off the television mid-movie because Debbie wants me to color with her, or it's time to make dinner, it is gut-wrenching... I know...it's that bad.
So, I love watching anything that Star Movies has to offer, although I will never watch HBO unless I know specifically that they are showing something romantic or very highly acclaimed. I just cannot stand lame action movies ('lame action' is probably an oxymoron, but I don't care...besides, one half of 'oxymoron' precisely describes the characters of majority of action movies...just saying...)
Aaaaaanyway, some movies I watch, like, remember; some I want to watch again; some I learn up the dialogues of (!!); and some I forget almost as soon as I have watched them (but this is very, very rare...)
However, some... I don't know why, but they leave me speechless! Which is probably a good thing, because I can be a bore sometimes....and my speeches are nothing to die for!
So, here are some movies whose genius I can't believe, and I am so lucky I got to watch them...I feel lucky to be from the same planet that they originated from...anyway, I don't believe that there is life in other planets...and, Okay, I am getting to the point...
1. Shawshank Redemption - This has to be on the top of anybody's list of great movies. I love the characters, I love anything that has Morgan Freeman in it...seriously! He is 'God'! I love the fact that even though we know that Tim Robbins escaped from prison and there is nothing more to look forward to, we have little surprises at the very end...surprises for Morgan Freeman and for us! I loved the spirit of the movie, the inspiration, and the sheer genius of story-telling. Breathtakingly awesome!!!
2. Lord of the Rings (Trilogy) - The woods were anything but lovely, they were dank, dark, and deep. And most everyone in the movie is butt-ugly, except for Orlando Bloom (sigh!) and Liv Tyler! Okay, some were not that ugly, but seriously, if there really was such a time in the world, and everyone did look like that, I don't think I want to be part of any glorious past, no thanks! Ugly faces, lots of them...but heart-thumping action, style, grandeur? Unparalleled!
I Googled for images of LTR, and came up with millions...but this is the one I have chosen...case closed.
3. Sunshine - It is already melting hot where I live, and I had to go watch this movie... The sun, it's there, in every shot, in every scene, it stifles you, makes you sweat...pour, even...you squirm in your seat...At one point, I wished they would just explode or something...and spare themselves the misery of sitting so near the sun...When I watched this movie, I felt....really FELT.... the greatness of the Sun...I started wondering how can a God who made something so cool and refreshing as rain, something so soft as snow , make something so fierce and HUGE as the Sun??? I am struggling for breath even as I write this....Watch that movie, seriously.
If you are not hot under the collar now, you are probably seated in the fridge!!
4. Sound of Music - Well, this one left me speechless because all I could do is sing!! "THE HILLS ARE ALAAAAIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUUUUUUSIIICC!"
If that was annoying, you should hear me just after I watch the movie...and how many times have I watched it? That, my friend, is one of the many things I have totally lost track of in my entire life...!
Bet that song is ringing in your head right now, huh?!
5. Grumpy Old Men - HaHaHaHaHa!! That is all. How can you breathe, let along speak, when you are clutching your abdomen and rolling off your chair onto the floor?!?!?!? Sometimes, this movie also reminds me of my dad...we watched it together, and he laughed so much and so hard...My Dad loved a good comedy... I miss him, and that leaves me speechless too. Well, if there is something I want that reminds me of my Dad, this movie is the best thing ever!
HaHAHHAA! You guys crack me up!!
6. As Good As It Gets - Okay, I am not terribly impressed with Jack Nicholson (sorry Jack Nicholson fans..if there are any!). I mean, how much effort does it take to be rude and obnoxious all the time, and deliver some dialogue?!
Still, this movie is something that talks to my heart...because of the effort the character of Helen Hunt takes in understanding an obnoxious and rude person like Jack Nicholson (I mean his character in the movie... I think...). If I ever get to be like that (God Forbid!), I would like some one to take that effort for me...wouldn't you?
There is also Jack Nicholson's dialogue at the end of the movie...that obnoxious inability to give anyone a straight compliment...Get this:
Melvin Udall: I might be the only person on the face of the earth that knows you're the greatest woman on earth. I might be the only one who appreciates how amazing you are in every single thing that you do, and how you are with Spencer, "Spence," and in every single thought that you have, and how you say what you mean, and how you almost always mean something that's all about being straight and good. I think most people miss that about you, and I watch them, wondering how they can watch you bring their food, and clear their tables and never get that they just met the greatest woman alive. And the fact that I get it makes me feel good, about me.
HAHA! Awesomeness...that is genius dialogue-writing, I tell ya! Simply genius!
7. BraveHeart - This movie is violent, like absolutely inappropriate kind of violent...or that's what I thought when I first saw it! Part of the reason I was left speechless...It really brought home the point about how violent people were in those days. However, any one of those lame action movies made nowadays could totally pwn this one, as far as violence goes! And I mean this in the most irate sense possible...! Anyway, I was also totally taken with the sheer bravery and courage of men and women of those days. I lose my mind when I see a lizard on my kitchen wall!! These men and women walked around with daggers and swords on one hip, and an infant on the other! I cannot imagine a world like that...This all seems really awe-inspiring when you think the story narrated is actually real events! Are we even 1% as brave or passionate about anything?
This picture is funny and inspiring, all at the same time!
8. Music of the Heart...no, The Devil Wears Prada...actually, Marvin's Room...no, make that Mamma Mia! Okay, I can't decide...it's just that Meryl Streep leaves me speechless! What is with that woman, seriously?! Has she always been like this? Oh wait, just Googled her, and...yeah, pretty much, like from 1977...steady awesomeness!! All her movies are poignant and flawless. For discussion sake, let's compare Mamma Mia and The Devil Wears Prada - in the first, she is a scatterbrained, passionate, sometimes messy, 'breaks-into-song-at-any-moment', 'totally-driven-by-her-heart' woman who does not really know which one of her former boyfriends is the father of her daughter!! In the other, she is the epitome of 'stiff'! Never flinching at anything, never missing a beat in her back-breaking high heels, flicking people off like flies, and making the most sarcastic comments about a person's fashion sense without batting an eyelid. People run sobbing after having been in her office for a few moments! I sincerely think she should never be nominated for another academy award, or any other award for that matter. You know, just like we can't nominate God for 'Most Powerful Leader in the World', or give him a Nobel Prize for Science! This lady is way beyond awards. I think we should just watch her and learn...that is all I have to say about this.
9. The Shrek Series - Oh Donkey, Donkey...I think I'm falling in love with you...hahaha! "Choose me...choose me"! Get this: (pearls of wisdom from Donkey...)
Shrek: For your information, there's a lot more to ogres than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example. OK, er, ogres are like... onions!
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes. No! [...] Onions have layers! Ogres have layers. D'you get it? We both have layers!
Donkey: Oh, you both have layers. You know not everybody like onions! Eh, cakes! Everybody loves cakes! Cakes have layers!
Shrek: I don't care what everyone likes! Ogres are not like cakes.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example. OK, er, ogres are like... onions!
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes. No! [...] Onions have layers! Ogres have layers. D'you get it? We both have layers!
Donkey: Oh, you both have layers. You know not everybody like onions! Eh, cakes! Everybody loves cakes! Cakes have layers!
Shrek: I don't care what everyone likes! Ogres are not like cakes.
Later...
Donkey: Oh, it's another one of those onion things isn't it?
Shrek: No. This is one of those 'drop it and leave it alone!' things.
Shrek: No. This is one of those 'drop it and leave it alone!' things.
HaHaHa! You may want to kick his backside sometimes...but you can't help but love him!
Another one...
Donkey: I guess you don't entertain much, do you?
Shrek: I like my privacy.
Donkey: You know, I do too. That's another thing we have in common. Like I hate it when you've got somebody in your face, you trying to give them a hint, they won't leave, and there's that big awkward silence, you know...
[Awkward Silence....]
Picture says it all!!!10. Life Is Beautiful - I kept this for the very end, because this is the most poignant, beautiful, and tearful movie that I have seen...ever! It combines love in a marriage, love for a parent, love for a child, and so many different emotions in such a heart-wrenching way. I love the humor in the story, but when I think of this movie, the only scene that always comes to mind, is that of the father walking off with soldiers, to be shot. The only thing the little boy can see is the huge smile on the father's face and the mischievous wink he gives him, reassuring his son that he is definitely going to win this game... My heart skips a beat just thinking about the courage of that father...
...I am reminded again of my own father, and how he used to make everything a game so that we would be interested enough to do something that we would otherwise find unpleasant...like eating - he always did something creative with our food. My mom cooked it, and he turned it into something interesting, so that we would enjoy eating it!
Today would have been my Dad's 58th birthday. He loved movies, and he loved birthdays! He would remember every birthday of every member of the family, and I'm not just talking about my siblings and my mom! He would call up some uncle on his birthday, or some relative whom we have almost forgotten. This year, may of us did not receive a cheerful wish from him. It was odd, and painful...like the day was incomplete, or something...
We miss you Dad.
Okay, sorry for going into sad mode! So, what's your favorite movie? Which film left you speechless? Tell me about it in the comments...
...And go make your own top 10 list, and link up with Amanda at her Top Ten Tuesday post!
