Romancing the Stone

On Friday I found myself at Dubai airport having missed my connecting flight home (thanks for nothing BA) and had to spend five hours there. There are worse places to be stranded that Dubai airport but I was exhausted and for once, didn't want to shop. So I waited patiently and finally boarded my Emirates flight feeling very jaded with life.

I perked up because Emirates business class is delightful. Properly decadent, you get your own little bar! I sipped some champagne and casually looked at the in-flight entertainment. New films are a given on all flights, I judge an airline on the classic films. BA is woeful at this (of course). American Airlines had Gone With The Wind which made up for the fact I had to ask for my glass of champagne. Emirates had dozens and dozens of classics and I may have actually squealed when I saw it had Romancing the Stone. When you are travel-weary and your eyes hurt because you are so tired, you don't want anything worthy or new. You want your old friends to soothe you. I settled down with my lunch and wine and revisited this absolute classic.

It's never going to win any awards and it's super-cheesy but I have always loved this film because of the two leads. Kathleen Turner is quite simply, wonderful and gorgeous. Michael Douglas is sexy, funny and divine. They cavort round the Colombian jungle, running into trouble and Joan is a timid romance writer sexually awakened by Jack. Danny DeVito is after them as well as other baddies. It's all most pleasing and charming. It rattles along at a fair old pace and it still makes me laugh. The Jewel Of The Nile, its sequel was nowhere near as good but I would still happily watch it.

Michael Douglas is a bit weird these days (he is 70 which is a bit freaky to think about) but for me, this is his best film. He is charming and sexy. Watch it if you don't believe me. And Kathleen Turner is always wonderful. God bless the 80s.

ETA: I'd already blogged about this, I thought I had, I did a search and it didn't come up. Anyway, it's so good, I've talked about it twice.

ET, phone home

I recently watched Super 8, JJ Abrams homage to ET and Spielberg generally. It's quite a good film, the first hour is very good and then it gets stupid. Is it anywhere nearly as good as ET? Of course not! Nothing is as good as ET, a film to soften the hardest of hearts. How can you not cry when watching this? I start welling up when ET first lifts the bikes up into the air and I don't really stop until the closing credits. And I am not someone who cries much when watching films. I've been called Stoney Heart by some of my closest friends. Like I say, ET will touch cynics.

What I love about ET is that it is told completely from a child's point of view, the camera angle is famously at a child's height. The children aren't made to seem ridiculous nor are they precocious. Well, Elliot is kind of annoying actually but the old brother Greg is great. The actor who plays Greg has done no acting work since 1992. I call that a crying shame. Gertie is of course played by Drew Barrymore and I don't think there is a cuter kid in film history.

She's adorable. And she's great in this. Everyone is great in this. The slightly harassed mother, the policeman who hints at romance towards her, Erika Eleniak, the boys who help them rescue ET. It's simply a wonderful film, directed by Spielberg at the top of his game and was a mega-hit. I can remember being taken to see this by my dad at Leicester Square and being so excited. And if I recall, he was a little damp about the eyes afterwards.

Thank goodness a sequel was never made. It stays perfect and a masterpiece.

A Chorus Line

I adore A Chorus Line. I think it's one of the best musicals there is and I am very fussy about my musicals as I may have mentioned. Back in April, I went to see it on stage (with my sister of course, who else?) and I wasn't expecting anything particularly amazing yet it blew me away. I love that it starts with a great number. No waiting about for 10 minutes before you get a song, this gets right into it with 'I Hope I Get It'. From the top, 5, 6, 7, 8... and I just want to get up and dance baby. 

I love how it tells the story of the backing dancers and singers. I've often wondered how people end up doing that for a living. It just looks so hard and they don't get paid much. But this show tells us! They do it for the love. The love of dancing, of being on the stage, of performing! 

I often listen to the soundtrack from the original Broadway show on my way home from work and it makes me want to skip along the pavement and burst into song. So far I have restrained myself. My friend from New York says she loves this show so much that she wells up just hearing the opening notes. I am not quite that emotional about it but I understand where she's coming from. After all, everything is beautiful at the ballet.

The worst thing about this show is that they can't all make the final line-up. By the end of the two hours, you want them all to be stars. There are a couple of stand out songs for me, first up is Dance Ten, Looks Three. Here's Cliff Barnes' girlfriend singing it. The lyrics are fabulous.

I also love One of course. It's really best not to judge A Chorus Line on the film. Much as it's a bad film we love, this is a show made for the stage. You need to sit and transport yourself to Broadway. God, I hope I get it...

Gone with the Wind gifs

I was going to do a proper post today but it's my sister's birthday and this is her favourite film. So, Happy Birthday and away we go.

Michael Douglas

It's with trepidation I write this after the infamous Robin Gibb post however I think it's time to take a look at the career of Michael Douglas. I have always had a deep affection for Michael Douglas, he's been around making film after film all my life and there is something very likeable about him. I was trying to think of a film where I don't like him and I came up with nothing. I think he makes a film better by turning up. Which isn't to say he hasn't made some tripe. Black Rain anyone? And I'm not sure we needed a Wall Street sequel.

He was, of course, in The Streets of San Francisco which I am too young to properly remember but we've discussed the credits before. I've not seen The Coma for years but it properly freaked me out when I saw it as an impressionable youngster. I don't think I've ever seen The China Syndrome which is odd, I must rectify that.

My first real Michael Douglas awakening came with Romancing The Stone. I still love it, he had such chemistry with Kathleen Turner. I had a crush on him, I still have a crush on him when I watch it again. Jewel of the Nile is terrible but I'll still watch it for these two. I also like War of the Roses, it makes me laugh whenever I watch it. The line about wanting to smash his face in is hilarious.

Fatal Attraction. I can't actually believe I've not written about this, it's such a seminal 80s film. I've not seen it for years, I really must spend more time rewatching bad 80s movies. He is good in this, I can't believe how sorry for him you feel.

Let's not forget A Chorus Line! A Bad Movie We Love! Again, he is better than the film as a whole.

Wall Street.  You are not meant to like Gordon Gekko. I think he's great. Greed is good! Only Michael could have played him with such relish. The rest of the film is forgettable, not least because Charlie Sheen is so rubbish.

Basic Instinct! This was massive and why? It's a horrible film and I don't really want to include it but I can't resist showing a picture of Mr Douglas in his v-neck sweater.

On to much better fare with The American President, one of my favourite films which I never tire of. Aaron Sorkin warming up for The West Wing, what's not to love? Everyone in this is great and again, Michael shines as the saintly president.

Basically if he is in a film, I will give it a go. He's an excellent actor who doesn't always get the credit he deserves. And so I close this post with a very cheesy picture and no mention of his wife. At all. No. By the way, I think most of these films are Films I First Saw With My Sister. Ahhh, the 80s, we spent most of them in the local cinema.

Happy 2013

Well dear readers, another year draws to a close. It's been a ball reminiscing with you all. I am closing the year with a viewing of Top Gun with my husband and sister after I've taken money off them in poker. If you have better plans, I can't imagine what they are.

I look forward to another year debating top songs by bands and who annoys me most on television. I just don't think we can discuss this enough. Please do comment, I love reading what you have to say. Have a very happy new year and thanks for reading. I leave you with Maverick and Goose (RIP). From the sublime Mr Scott (RIP).

Top Ten male film characters

I've done the women, it's time to look at the men. This list was a bit harder to make.  However, after much deep reflection, here we go.

We start where all good lists should start, with Rhett Butler. Of all the male characters written, none are sexier, cooler or downright dashing as Mr Butler from Charleston. He is swoonsome in the book with his clean hankerchief, his hidden devotion to Scarlett and his ability to find all the latest French fashion. Clark Gable does a fine job of bringing him to the screen and from the moment you see him gazing up the stairs at Scarlett at Twelve Oaks to his final devastating walk down the drive at the end, we are enthralled.

Billy Crystal has never been better than when he played Harry Burns. He starts the film as an obnoxious, sexist oaf and ends up running the streets of Manhattan so he can declare his love for Sally. Billy is no sex symbol but somehow, as Harry, he plays the romantic lead beautifully giving hope to all short, bearded men.

Does one go for Dexter or Mike in High Society? I've gone for Mike because he is played by Frank Sinatra and you would never turn down Frank. He is divine in this, making all the right decisions, serenading Samantha/Tracy, dancing with her, diving in the pool after her and carrying her home but taking it no further "as there are rules about such things". Oh, what a gentlemanly time it was back in the 50s!

Johnny Castle. It's hard to believe an explanation is required but here goes. It's Patrick Swayze, dancing. He wears a leather jacket. He gets into fights. He's a teenage dream.

Ferris Bueller may have been the cocksure lead but my heart will always lie with Cameron. The unsure best friend who lounges around in bed waiting for his friend to make the fun happen. The guy who frets about his father's car and then pushes it spectacularly into the trees. Cameron is wonderful.

Danny or Kenickie? It has to be Kenickie because Jeff made him sexy. Paired with Rizzo, they are one of the finest couples preserved on film.

Buddy Elf! He smiles because smiling is his favourite thing! He knows Santa! I can watch Elf again and again based on Will Ferrell's delivery of some of the funniest lines. 

Bill and Ted who I am counting as one, after all what is Bill without Ted? And vice versa. They play Battleships with Death, they sing Poison to God. Bill and Ted are my heroes.

Life of Brian is hilarious and much of this is due to all the Pythons but can you imagine anyone playing Brian as well as Chapman? He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!

Billy in St Elmo's Fire. No contest, Rob Lowe as Billy is the best thing in St Elmo's Fire, and yes, I include Demi Moore's wardrobe and all the dancing. The one and only Billy the Kid is my desert island choice of male film characters.

Tell me yours.

Gremlins

Gremlins has been rereleased! Much jubilation at Teen Towers. This is a great film and one that I feel never gets quite enough attention. It's delightfully dark and really quite nasty but done with humour. The story of how Kate learns there is no Father Christmas is horrifying yet funny.

In 1984, this was the film to go and see. Everyone knew the three rules to gremlins: no sunlight, no food after midnight and no water! Of course, our hero manages to screw this up and unleashes gremlin hell on the little town. The scene I always remember is the mother liquidising a gremlin in the kitchen. Like I say, it's a gruesome film but so much fun. My favourite scene is when they are watching Snow White and The Seven Dwarves. Here it is:

If you've never seen Gremlins, then get yourself to the cinema soon before it leaves town. You won't regret it.

Top Ten Female Film Characters

Sisters unite! It's time to celebrate our favourite celluloid women. This list was, naturally enough, difficult. There are plenty of female characters I enjoy but who are, well, a bit wet when it comes down to it. Tracy Lord in High Society is a good example. Grace Kelly is at her most glorious, has some wonderful lines and she's a likeable character but she's all about the men in her life. I wanted my list to be a bit more kick-ass, a bit more feminist, a bit more fierce if you will. There is no order to this list and so we start with the fiercest of them all.

Sarah Connor: Terminator 2

This changed everything. I remember everyone in the cinema gasping when she came on screen; pretty little Linda got some muscles! And she got hard because she had to. Her breaking out of the mental institution is one of my all-time favourite scenes in cinema. Nobody understands that we're all about to die! Looking at a list of some of my favourite films, it's depressing to realise there are few female characters to emulate. Women are usually there to simper, look pretty and be rescued. Sarah Connor was a breath of fresh air. She strides around this film like she owns it.

Susan: Desperately Seeking Susan

Played to perfection by Madonna, every teenage girl of the 80s wanted to be Susan. She was so cool. Her clothes, her attitude, her living out of that suitcase, her swapping her jacket for the rhinestone boots, her wit: "this has to be a cover-up, nobody's life could be this boring!" She didn't need men, she knew what to do with them but she didn't need them. Sometimes I still wish I could dress like Susan.

Marie: When Harry Met Sally

Rob Reiner hit gold with this casting, who wouldn't want Carrie Fisher in their rom com? I adore Carrie Fisher, I want to be friends with her, I know we'd get on just darlin'. As Marie, she gets all the truly great lines in this movie. My favourite is "somebody is staring at you in Personal Growth!" The best scene is the lunch with the girls when Marie goes through her cards of men for Sally and folds one over saying 'married!" I am breaking my own rules a little here as she is a bit desperate for a man but only because of the stupid married man she's been having an affair with, "he's never going to leave her!" However, I am going to make an exception because once she meets Bruno Kirby, it's all wonderful.

Baby: Dirty Dancing

Baby was an activist, a detective (she worked out who was stealing the money!) and she stood up for her beliefs. Most of all Baby learned how to dance and deep down I believe if Patrick Swayze was teaching me, I could dance like that too. She gives as good as she gets with Johnny ("spaghetti arms!") and Jennifer Grey has never been better. I like to imagine that Baby would have married a human rights lawyer and lived in Greenwich Village. No, I don't think her and Johnny would have lasted, it's a classic summer romance!

Mia: Pulp Fiction

It's fair to say that Mia is no role model but man alive, is she cool. From the moment she talks into that microphone and Dusty Springfield is playing, you know she's going to be awesome. Uma Thurman oozes sex appeal in this and just looks so classy. No plunging short dresses for her, just a simple white shirt and black trousers but has anyone ever worn an outfit so well? She has some wonderful lines: "why do we feel it necessary to yak about bullshit in order to feel comfortable?" and she dances a dream. Ok, ok, she overdoses on drugs but I am willing to overlook that. She isn't afraid to stand up to Vincent and therefore she makes my list.

Rizzo: Grease

I am not sure an explanation is even necessary however to avoid any doubt, here goes. She dates Keneckie, she rules the school, she wears tight black clothes to school and a crazy red dress to the prom, she chucks milkshakes around, she thinks Sandy's summer romance sounds like a drag, she feels like a defective typewriter, she knows there are worst things she could do than go with a boy or two and she sings Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee with gusto. No character in a high school film has ever been better than Rizzo. And nobody could have played her better than Stockard.

Vickie: Reality Bites

While Lelaina drips around the movie being angsty about her work, her love life, Troy etc, Vickie works at The Gap and steals all the good lines. She's hilarious, just looking at her face makes me giggle. "He's so cheesy, I can't watch him without crackers" "I'm late for a jean-folding seminar, let's locomote!" Because of this movie, I will watch anything Janeane Garofalo is in. She's fabulous and so is Vickie.

Trinity: The Matrix and Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix is just a fabulous film from start to finish. Everyone in it is on top form but nobody is quite as cool as Trinity. She is icily efficient and totally on top of everything. She's also good in the sequel but gets a teeny bit drippy however she is with Keanu so she's forgiven.

Thelma: Thelma and Louise

It's very hard to pick Thelma over Louise. Obviously both of them are great but for me, Thelma's journey is more interesting. She starts as a rather pathetic, downtrodden housewife and ends up robbing a store at gunpoint. "My husband wasn't nice to me and look what happened!" She discovers that actually she's hot, she's funny and she's got a talent for being on the run. And she gets to have sex with Brad Pitt.

Scarlett: Gone with the Wind

If I had to pick one favourite from this list, it would be Scarlett O'Hara. Scarlett isn't always very nice, in fact often she's downright mean and nasty but she's such a survivor. She keeps her promises, she loves her mother and she provides for her pretty hopeless family after the war and yes, she has to make some tough decisions to do it but it's do or die in this land. She marries a man she doesn't love to ensure she has a roof over her head and that Tara can survive. She delivers Melanie's baby with a war raging around her. So I won't hear a word against Miss Katie Scarlett. She is the original feisty woman and much as we love Melanie, we'd all rather be Scarlett surely?

Who have I missed? Tell me.