Year in Review – Stats and Figures!

Welcome to the final blog for 52 Films, 52 Portraits! At least for now and in its current form. Who knows what the future will bring. It has been such an incredible experience getting to share all of these films with the participants, as well as all of you. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed their time and energy to this blog. It has really meant a lot to me!

For this final blog, I am going to combine one of my other loves with my love of film: statistics! I have basically analyzed lots of different facts and figures from the past year and I’m going to summarize them here! I’m just gonna put it all out in sections without any real rhyme or reason as to the order. So buckle up! It’s time for some nerdy goodness!

1. The first thing that we will look at is the general genre breakdown of the films that were chosen by my participants. I basically split each film into either the Comedy camp, or the Drama camp. I do realize that not every film neatly fits into one or the other, but I just made the best choices I could. In the end, these were the results:

   It was interesting to see how evenly split the films were! Of the 52 films, 27 were Dramas, and 25 were Comedies.

2. The next thing I want to look at is film scores. I looked at IMDB ratings, as well as both the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and Rotten Tomatoes Audience Scores for all 52 films. I was going to just average the scores and post the top and bottom few from that, but the results ranged so much, I decided that I will post the results from each individual source as well.
   • IMDB Scores
     • Top  5:
       • 1) The Shawshank Redemption – 9.3
       • 2) The Dark Knight – 9
       • 3) Pulp Fiction – 8.9
       • 3) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 8.9
       • 5) Inception – 8.8
     • Bottom 5:
       • 1) Eat Pray Love – 5.7
       • 2) Legally Blonde – 6.2
       • 3) Sister Act – 6.3
       • 4) Mars Attacks! – 6.3
       • 5) You’ve Got Mail – 6.6
   • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer
     • Top 5:
       • 1) The Wizard of Oz – 99
       • 2) The Princess Bride – 97
       • 3) Monty Python and the Holy Grail – 97
       • 3) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 97
       • 5) Groundhog Day –-96
     • Bottom 5:
       • 1) I Am Sam – 34
       • 2) Eat Pray Love – 36
       • 3) Newsies – 39
       • 4) The Holiday – 47
       • 5) Mars Attacks!  – 52
   • Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
     • Top 5:
       • 1) The Shawshank Redemption – 98
       • 2) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 97
       • 3) Pulp Fiction – 96
       • 4) The Princess Bride – 95
       • 4) Monty Python and the Holy Grail – 95
     • Bottom 5:
       • 1) Eat Pray Love – 42
       • 2) Mars Attacks! – 53
       • 3) Sister Act – 65
       • 4) Love Actually – 72
       • 4) Legally Blonde – 72
   • Composite Score
     • Top 5:
       • 1) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 94.33
       • 2) The Shawshank Redemption – 94
       • 3) Pulp Fiction – 93
       • 4) The Dark Knight – 92.67
       • 5) Monty Python and the Holy Grail – 91.67
     • Bottom 5: 
       • 1) Eat Pray Love – 45
       • 2) Mars Attacks! – 56
       • 3) The Holiday – 65.33
       • 4) I Am Sam – 65.67
       • 4) Newsies – 65.67
   • I really found a lot of these scores to be surprising, especially some of the lower ones. The films that I enjoyed the least weren’t on these lists at all. Maybe I just have different tastes than others. Who knows.
3. Another thing that I really enjoyed studying about the films was how spread out they were in terms of initial release date. In looking at these, I tried to always use the US premiere date, just to keep it even. In some cases, other dates may have been used, but it should be fairly consistent. These are the results: I love the way the films are spread out. The 1950s is the only decade since the 1930s that I didn’t have a single film representing. It is also interesting to note that the vast majority of the films came from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. This makes a lot of sense, seeing as the majority of the participants were “90s Kids” who would have developed their tastes and chosen many of their favorite films during this time. Also of note: The oldest film on the list was The Wizard of Oz (8/25/1939) and the most recent film on the list (not counting my film from last week) was The Cabin in the Woods (4/13/2012). So, 72 years, 7 months, and 19 days passed between the release of the first film on the list and the last.
4. Now let’s look at film length! There was a wide range of run-times in this project, but many were on the long side.
   • Longest:
     • 1) Gone With the Wind  – 238 minutes
     • 2) The Green Mile – 189 minutes
     • 3) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 178 minutes
     • 4) Scarface – 170 minutes
     • 5) Pulp Fiction – 154 minutes
   • Shortest:
     • 1) Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein – 83 minutes
     • 2) The Muppet Christmas Carol – 85 minutes
     • 3) Mulan – 88 minutes
     • 3) The Lion King – 88 minutes
     • 5) Best in Show – 90 minutes
   • Stats!
     • Average Length: 117.8 minutes
     • Sum: 6,299 minutes
       • Or…
         • 104.98 Hours
         • 4.37 Days
         • ~1.2% of my entire year was spent watching films for this project!
5. Film ratings! I was also interested in looking at the distribution of ratings that all of the films received. Three of the films were not assigned ratings that we use in the modern era of film (instead, their ratings were things like “Passed” and “Not rated”). For these, I used an ‘Other’ category. Also, it’s important to note that the rating system has undergone a number of changes in the last century, so these films were not all graded on the same curve. Still, it’s fun to look at! Not surprisingly, a large number of people chose films that were rated R. Still, it’s not a bad distribution!
6. Next, let’s dig a little deeper into the films. I was very interested in seeing whether there were common threads in the movies chosen, so I looked at how many directors and actors were involved in multiple films on the list. I found that there were five directors that directed more than one film, and ten actors that appeared in three or more films.
   • Directors:
     • Rob Reiner (The only director with three films on the list!)
       • A Few Good Men, The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sally…
     • Frank Durabont
       • The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption (Both Stephen King adaptations!)
     • Baz Luhrman
       • Moulin Rouge! and Strictly Ballroom
     • Christopher Nolan
       • The Dark Knight and Inception
     • Harold Ramis
       • Caddyshack and Groundhog Day (Two of my first three films for the project!)
   • Actors:
     • Greg Bronson (The only actor with four films on the list! However, none of the roles were main characters)
       • Almost Famous, I Am Sam, Mars Attacks!, and Thirteen Days
     • Michael Caine
       • The Dark Knight, Inception, and The Muppet Christmas Carol
     • Billy Crudup
       • Almost Famous, Eat Pray Love, and Princess Mononoke (voice)
     • Jeffrey DeMunn
       • The Green Mile, Newsies, and The Shawshank Redemption
     • Christopher Guest
       • Best in Show, A Few Good Men, and The Princess Bride
     • Tim Kelleher
       • The Birdcage, Inception, and Thirteen Days
     • Frank Oz
       • The Blues Brothers, Labyrinth (voice), and The Muppet Christmas Carol (voice)
     • Meg Ryan
       • Top Gun, When Harry Met Sally…, and You’ve Got Mail
     • Tom Skerritt
       • A River Runs Through It, Steel Magnolias, and Top Gun
     • Frank Welker
       • The Lion King (voice), Mars Attacks! (voice), and Mulan (voice)
7. As readers of this blog know, when I spoke with each participant, I asked them whether they had considered choosing any other films before they settled on one. I ended up compiling all of their answers, and finding the films that were most often named as films that participants either chose, almost chose, or wanted to choose, but they were already taken. In the end, I found that there were five films that were named at least three times. Interestingly, one of the five was not ultimately chosen by anyone.
   • Named 3 times
     • Casablanca 
       • Named by: Carrie, Lacey, and Murray
       • Chosen by: None
     • Monty Python and the Holy Grail
       • Named by: Ashleigh, Brian, and Carrie
       • Chosen by: Carrie (First) and Brian (Had to go with second choice)
   • Named 4 times
     • The Dark Knight
       • Named by: Nia, Raph, Samuel, and Wil
       • Chosen by: Samuel
   • Named 5 times
     • The Shawshank Redemption
       • Named by: Bob, Dan, George, Lauren, and Marc
       • Chosen by: Dan (First), Bob, and George (Bob and George had to go with second choices)
   • Named 6 times
     • The Princess Bride
       • Named by: Amber, Ashley, Blair, Drew, John, and Lacey
       • Chosen by: Ashley
8. I’d like to take this bullet to name the three participants who went the most above and beyond in answering all of my questions and engaging with this project. These three definitely deserve my thanks and major kudos:
   • Blair – Week 41 – To Kill a Mockingbird
   • Brian – Week 25 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
   • Nia – Week 34 – I Am Sam                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
9. Next, I decided that since so many people have asked me what movies I enjoyed the most, I would put some of them down here. I decided to make separate lists for films that I enjoyed seeing for the first time the most, and films that I enjoyed rewatching through the lens of this project the most. I really enjoyed so many films in this project, and it was hard to narrow them down, but here is what I was able to get it down to (in alphabetical order):
   • My Top 7 Rewatches
     • Elf – I just always loved this film, and I loved getting to watch it so close to Christmas and with Chris’s thoughts in mind.
     • The Holiday – I had only seen it once before, I believe, and I had forgotten how much I loved it. I just think it’s a great, feel-good film. Like a warm bowl of soup.
     • To Kill a Mockingbird – Obviously, being from Alabama, this one is gonna mean something to me. And I know how much it means to Blair, so it was great watching it with her (very comprehensive) notes in mind.
     • Little Miss Sunshine – I think that I just wasn’t old enough to really appreciate this one the first time around. I think I got a lot more out of it this time.
     • Moulin Rouge! – Another that has always been a favorite, but it had been years since I watched it. It definitely holds up.
     • Mulan – I am currently on a Disney kick, and I think watching this a little less than a year ago may have been one of the mitigating factors for that.
     • The Princess Bride – Another one that I think I was too young for the first times around. I always enjoyed it, but there was so much more to enjoy this time around.
   • My Top 7 First-Timers
     • Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein – I just loved that this was something so different than the films I usually watch. It was so much fun and I’m so glad it was chosen.
     • A Few Good Men – I had seen the play, but not the film. It was just so well done, from writing to direction to performances. And I loved watching it with Colleen.
     • The Green Mile – Actually, I watched this one with Colleen, too! I was worried about this one because it’s so long, but I ended up loving it. Such a great story and so well done.
     • Labyrinth – This one was just so fun. Of all the films, it might be the one that I want to rewatch the most.
     • The Shawshank Redemption – Awesome, awesome story. Definitely a similar feeling to The Green Mile, but also its own thing.
     • Steel Magnolias – I just liked this one, because I felt like I knew the characters. They were people I grew up with and went to church and school with. It was very relatable. But so sad!
     • You’ve Got Mail – What can I say? I’m a sucker for an old-fashioned rom-com, and this one just hit the spot perfectly. So 90s. So Awesome.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
10. Finally, for this last section I am just going to name the top 12 most-viewed blogs as of this posting. I think it’s pretty interesting to see which films attracted the most viewers.
    1. Cabin in the Woods
    2. To Kill a Mockingbird
    3. Steel Magnolias
    4. Almost Famous
    5. Pulp Fiction
    6. Best in Show
    7. A River Runs Through It
    8. A Clockwork Orange
    9. Newsies
    10. Eat Pray Love
    11. Gone With the Wind
    12. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

 

Okay! That’s it for 52 Films, 52 Portaits! Thanks again to everyone who participated and everyone who read along with me! I appreciate the support so much! Please leave any thoughts, comments, feelings, etc. below and let me know all about it! And please still follow the blog, because you never know what I’ll do next!

Thanks again,

Drew

My Film – Pitch Perfect (2012)

• Pitch Perfect
• Released: 10/5/2012
• Starring: Anna Kendrick, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Skylar Astin, Ben Platt, Ester Dean, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Kelley Jakle, Wanetah Walmsley, Shelley Regner, Adam Devine, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Freddie Stroma,  Jinhee Joung, John Benjamin Hickey, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins
• Director: Jason Moore
• IMDB Page

Hey everyone! It’s time for the first of the two bonus blogs that I promised! This week I watched a movie of MY choosing, and am gonna blog as if I was one of the participants of the project. While I have been working on this blog, a lot of people have asked me what I would choose as my favorite film. It really is a tough question, and I actually changed my answer mid-year, which I did not allow others to do, but… you know… favoritism. So, as most of you know, my name is Drew. I work as a consultant in Washington, DC and live with my boyfriend, Joe, in Arlington, VA. I’m obviously very into movies, and the entertainment world in general. Growing up, I actually always preferred TV to films (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is and will always be my favorite show of all time, in case you were curious and/or didn’t already know). This project, though, has really allowed me to see the benefits of film and what a movie can mean to a person.

Me being deep and introspective on a train in Europe earlier this year.

What’s kinda funny is that a couple of years ago, I probably would have said that I’m not a very big film fan. I like movies, but my main passion has always been television. I’ve always appreciated that a good show can dig into a character’s psyche and backstory and really create a much richer world overall. However, more recently, and especially as an effect of this project, I have found that I have become a much bigger fan of film than I realized. I love how quickly a well-made film can make you feel attached to a character or story and make you feel like you are a part of the adventure.

I have so many early memories of films. I definitely remember watching animated Disney films, like Aladdin, Peter Pan, The Great Mouse Detective, The Sword in the Stone, and so many more. But I also loved a lot of other films. Keeping with the Peter Pan theme, I loved Mary Martin’s Peter Pan, as well as the Robin Williams family classic, Hook. My brother and I were also always down for fun action movies. We watched the 3 Ninjas movies over and over again, as well as Batman movies, X-Men movies, and any other hero film we could get our parents to take us to see. We would then spend hours in our yard playing and pretending to be characters from the films. Good times.

I have so many favorite actors. I mentioned Robin Williams above, and he was definitely one of my favorites. So many of my favorite films both growing up and as an adult were films that he starred in. I’ve also always loved Jack Lemmon. I love him in every movie that I’ve seen him in. He’s just such a great “every man.” And so funny. Of course Tom Hanks has to make the list, and I was also a huge fan of Philip Seymour Hoffman. After I saw Titanic (much later than everyone else, mind you), I became obsessed with Kate Winslet. I think that right now, the two people that I am most likely to see a movie based solely on their attachment are Anna Kendrick and Emma Stone. I just love both of them and think that they both have such great instincts and natural senses of humor.

When I started this project, I didn’t really have any plans to choose a movie of my own. However, a lot of people did ask me what I would choose. In the beginning, I always named Aladdin, because it was my favorite growing up, and it has always stuck with me, so it was an easy answer. However, once I decided to do a week of my own, I began to think about it more. I guess it’s not really fair, since I didn’t let other people switch movies much once they were locked in, but I’m gonna allow it.

A couple of months ago, Joe’s mom, Chris, was visiting us, and we all watched both Pitch Perfect films. I believe that it was during this viewing that I realized that Pitch Perfect may actually be my favorite film. It has everything that I love. Singing, dancing, humor, sass, clever dialogue, great performances, and, of course, Anna Kendrick! It’s just such a fantastic movie, and I’ve loved it ever since the first time that I saw it. I love all of the songs and the character arcs are always fun to watch. Plus, Ben Platt! He has definitely become one of my favorite actors since seeing him (twice!) in the reigning Best Musical, “Dear Evan Hansen.” Definitely one of my favorite musicals of all time, and one of the most phenomenal performances I’ve ever seen. Just magic (which is funny, because his character is an aspiring close-up magician in Pitch Perfect! Funny, right? Get it? No? Okay…)! Anyway, back to Pitch Perfect. It was interesting to see what kinds of movies everyone picked for the project, and how they all sort of related to their personalities. I really feel like this film is a great indication of my personality. I feel like you can correctly assume a lot about me based on my telling you that this is my favorite movie. I also think it’s kind of funny that my film was released more recently than every film chosen by my 52 participants. I guess that says something about me too… Hmmm…

Okay! I am going to end this here. This week’s blog isn’t the longest ever, but the next (and final!) bonus post will probably be quite a bit longer! Let me know what you think! What is your favorite movie? What has was your favorite movie covered by my project? Please like, comment, follow, etc.!

See you next week for one last post! Thanks!

Week 52 – Strictly Ballroom (1992)

• Strictly Ballroom
• Released: 9/26/1992
• Starring: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson, Gia Carides, Peter Whitford, Barry Otto
• Director: Baz Luhrman
• IMDB Page

Welcome to the 52nd and final regular week of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! I can’t believe it’s the last one! I do have a couple more weeks of special blogs planned, but then the project is complete! So crazy!

This week’s film was chosen by my aunt, Mary Beth! Mary Beth is a graphic designer in Washington, DC, where she lives with her husband, Bob. She is actually the reason that I moved to DC in the first place, and they allowed me to live with them for a couple of years before I moved to Arlington. So, you know. Best aunt ever. She’s not just an aunt though, she is definitely one of my best friends, and we have been close my whole life. For nearly ten years, we would call each other and debrief after every episode of “American Idol,” and when I moved to DC, we got to watch the final (or so we thought) three seasons together.

Mary Beth and I back in the day. Mary Beth looks exactly the same. I look a little different.

Mary Beth was not only the final participant for my blog, she was also the only participant that I actually interviewed in person! When we sat down to talk, I asked her how she felt about films in general. She said that on a scale of 1-10, she would rate herself at a five. She enjoys watching films, but she doesn’t go out of her way to do so. She told me that, for her, film is more about the social aspect. It’s about watching a movie with people you love and sharing that moment together. It’s also about popcorn! (Side note: Mary Beth, like her brothers, cannot watch a film without popcorn. I’m not 100% sure on the origin of all this, but somewhere in their childhoods, they all became this way.)

Mary Beth told me that the first big film memory she has is watching The Wizard of Oz on Easter night with her older brother, Murray. She said that she can remember being terrified of the flying monkeys and the trees. There was actually an earlier moment that made a huge impression, but she couldn’t remember the name of it. Regardless, the film was something that she and Murray watched with their grandmother that was decidedly NOT age appropriate. She said that most of the films that made big impressions on her when she was growing up were the ones that she and her family went to see together, including The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins.

When I asked Mary Beth what her favorite genres were, she told me that she is definitely drawn to lighter films. She said that she loves comedies, because sometimes life gets stressful and you just need a break. Comedies can lift you out of dark times and take you to another place and make you laugh and forget about your worries, even if only for a couple of hours. She also said that she loves “dance” movies. She said that she loves them, because the whole time she’s watching them, she feels like her ‘inner self’ is dancing. She named Dirty Dancing as an example of a dance film that she loves. She also said that something that she loves about film is how cathartic the experience can be for the viewer. It can make you cry, laugh, and feel things that you’ve never felt before.

Mary Beth listed Audrey Hepburn and Doris Day as two of her favorite actresses. She said that she has always loved those early films from the 40s, 50s, and early 60s. However, she said that she does not feel incredibly strongly about any performers out there now. At least not enough to make her want to see a film just because they are in it.

When I asked Mary Beth whether she considered any other films for the project, she told me that it was a really ridiculous question in the first place, because there are so many films that she loves, and it’s impossible to truly say what her “favorite” is. She said that she considered, and almost changed to, the Dreamworks classic, Shrek. She also said that she loves Bob’s pick, My Cousin Vinny, and said that sometimes it’s just the silly films that really speak to her and make her want to dedicate the time to watch. She mentioned The Replacements as a film that she would not consider a ‘great’ film, but that she loves to watch.

Mary Beth said that she chose Strictly Ballroom because of how over-the-top it is. She said that she loves drama of the final moments and all the joy that comes with it. She loves the theme from the film: “A life lived in fear is a life half lived.” It makes her laugh and really speaks to her. She loves the whole scene when the main character shows up at the heroine’s door and he and her father have a dance-off, and ultimately bond over it. All of the drama and emotions in the film just hit home for her, and she loves the way the “highly satisfying” tone that Baz Luhrman created for the film.

I was really excited for this week for a number of reasons. First of all, it’s the final film! Ahhh! Second, I knew I was gonna get to watch it with Mary Beth and enjoy popcorn while we watched. Finally, I was just generally interested to see the film. I knew it was a Baz Luhrman film, but I didn’t know anything else about it. I actually thought it was going to be much more of a drama than it was. It was actually really funny! I loved the humor in the film, and the over-the-top quality about the whole thing.

I didn’t really know any of the actors in the film, which is pretty rare for me, so that was actually kind of fun. Mary Beth pointed out in her interview that she is drawn to dance movies in the same way that I am drawn to movies with singing. I can definitely see the comparison there, and I actually really enjoyed the dancing aspects of this film. Seeing the characters learn and grow through dance was such a fun way to show character development.

The film was made in the early 90s and you definitely get that vibe from the film, which I love. Even though the film was made in Australia, it gave me a lot of nostalgia from growing up in that era, which is something that I always enjoy in films from that time.

Overall, it was a great film and a great experience watching it with Mary Beth.

That’s it! The final (regular) post! I’ll be back next week with the first of two bonus posts, so still follow, like, comment, etc, with your thoughts! And what do you think I should do next?

 

Week 51 – A Few Good Men (1992)

• A Few Good Men
• Released: 12/11/1992
• Starring: Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollack, James Marshall, J.T. Walsh, Christopher Guest, J.A. Preston, Wolfgang Bodison
• Director: Rob Reiner
• IMDB Page

Welcome back to another week of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! We are getting so close to the end, it’s getting crazy! I know I always say that, but I mean. Really. It’s week 51! This week’s film was chosen by my wonderful friend, Colleen. Colleen and I met at a Haley Reinhart concert in DC last summer and have been great friends ever since! Colleen works in the DC area as a federal prosecutor.

Colleen and I at a local screening of Mad Max: Fury Road last month.

Colleen is a big film fan, which I’ve witnessed on many occasions. She loves to go see new movies in theaters and I’ve been able to go to a good handful of them with her in the past year, from dramas, to superhero epics, to raunchy comedies. She told me that loves that films “can be so relatable, stir emotions, and make you think/question” things.

Colleen told me that her biggest memories revolving around movies when she was younger usually involve Disney films. She said that she particularly loved the music in the films and gave Mulan a special shout-out. She also told me that a movie that made a big impression on her when she was younger was The Last of the Mohicans. She said that She saw it the first time when she was too young – 7 years old. It was a little graphic for her young eyes and it left a bad taste in her mouth. At the time, her mom had her watch it, because it mentions their ancestor, Eleazar Wheelock. However, Colleen said that she was forced to watch it again years later for American History in High School – and this time she loved it!

Nowadays, Colleen said her go-to genres include mystery/suspense, crime, and law. She said that she does enjoy lighter movies like comedies, but if she she is sitting down to devote the time, she is much more likely to want to invest that time in something that falls into one of those genres.

Colleen said that she loves Aaron Sorkin’s writing and is always drawn to his films. She loves how his dialogue elevates a film. She also mentioned that Quentin Tarantino is another filmmaker that always grabs her interest. She said that his films can be both beautiful and clever, and she loves that combination. She told me that there are too many great actors for her to pick any real favorites, but did say that she pretty much universally loves Tom Cruise’s early films.

When she was trying to decide on what film to choose for this project, Colleen said that there was really only one option. However, she did say that if anything could come anywhere close, it would be The Last of the Mohicans. Ever since seeing it again in High School, she has loved it. She told me that she believes that it “is a masterpiece of score and acting.” She even used one of the songs from the film as her alarm in college! She also has come to appreciate that it includes her ancestry. She also told me a really cute story about a memory around the film that makes it all the more important to her. When she was in High School (post-American History forced viewing), there was a night when she couldn’t sleep. So, she went to the family room and turned on the television. It turns out that her mom was also unable to sleep and came in and sat next to her. Without a word, they ended up on The Last of the Mohicans and watched the entire movie all the way through without speaking. When it was over, they each got up and “wordlessly shuffled off to [their] respective beds.” I have to say, I really love that story.

Anyway, as I mentioned above, Colleen told me that there was never really any doubt as to what film she would choose. It was always going to be A Few Good Men. She mentioned that this is a rare phenomenon for her, because if you were to ask her for her favorite just-about-anything-else, she would struggle to decide on an answer. But she immediately knew her favorite film. She said that she has often told people that A Few Good Men is the reason that she went to law school. Truly, though, the film represents the reasons that she went to law school. She said that she believes “in the importance of fairness, in defending what you believe, and in advocating for those who have been wronged.” Colleen also said that she is drawn to the film because of her “tremendous respect for the military.” She grew up in San Antonio, TX, which she told me has a large military presence, and she has a number of relatives who have served. She also went to a military school for her Master’s degree.

Of course, being a Sorkin film, Colleen said that the dialogue is fantastic. She also, however, is a huge fan of the character development in the film. She references all three of the main defense attorneys’ journeys throughout the film. They all change and grow as a result of working together and with the defendants, who have their own evolution throughout the film.

Colleen said that she originally saw the film fairly early in life, and has loved it ever since. She told me that she can’t count the number of times that she has seen it and that she can recite the big “You can’t handle the truth!” scene by heart. She has watched it many times over the years, including on nights before law school exams. Most recently, she finally saw it on Blu Ray, when she watched it with me for this project! She loved seeing it in “heightened quality,” and it just reiterated to her that she gains something new from it every time that she sits down to watch.

I was excited for this week’s film, because I, too, am a huge Aaron Sorkin fan. “The West Wing” and “The Newsroom” are two of my favorite shows of all time, and I’m a huge sucker for Sorkin’s writing style. I was also excited, because this was one of my few chances to watch the film of the week with the participant! So it was just an added bonus.

I had never seen A Few Good Men before this week, but I had seen the play that it is based on, performed by a local theater in DC a few years ago. It’s hard to compete with the feeling of live theater for me, but I actually think I preferred the film in this case. The performances were all so spot on, and the direction lent so much to the way that the feelings and emotions of the actors jumped off the screen. I miss young, charming Tom Cruise. He did an amazing job in the film. And Jack Nicholson was at his smarmy, easy-to-hate best. I laughed out loud when Cruise’s character mocked Nicholson’s and it was legit just Cruise doing a Nicholson impression. And a pretty decent one, too!

Something I’ve learned from this project that I never really realized is that I do love a good courtroom story. There have been a few in this project, and they are all so different from each other (with varying degrees of real world accuracy, I’m sure), and yet I’ve really enjoyed them all. From A Few Good Men to My Cousin Vinny, and even (yes), Legally Blonde. I appreciated A Few Good Men, because in addition to pulling you in to the drama, it also made me think about the case and characters. It felt like a puzzle, and I really enjoyed piecing it together as the plot moved along.

I was actually surprised to see that this film was directed by Rob Reiner. Not that I didn’t think he was a fantastic director already, but this was just such a different film than what I am used to seeing from him. The other films directed by him in this project, for instance, were The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally…. He definitely brought a light touch to the film, which was really nice, but wasn’t afraid to go dark when the story called for it.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the film, and I’m so glad that I got to watch it with Colleen!

Thanks for joining me, and be sure to come back next week for the final main installment of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! I am planning a couple of bonus posts for a couple of weeks after that, but we are still getting so close to the end!!!

Let me know what you thought and please like, follow, subscribe, etc. Is there anything you’d like me to do after this blog is over? Let me know!

Thanks!

Next week: Strictly Ballroom

Week 50 – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

• The Shawshank Redemption
• Released: 10/14/1994
• Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, James Whitmore
• Director: Frank Darabont
• IMDB Page

Welcome back! It’s time for another week of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! It’s hard to believe that we are getting so close to the end! This week’s film was chosen by my friend, Dan. Dan works on health insurance policy for a national trade association in Washington, D.C., and lives with his wife, Carrie, in Alexandria, VA.

Dan and I during a kayaking adventure last summer.

Like many of the participants on this this blog before him, Dan told me that he would not consider himself a huge fan of film. He said that he generally sees 3-5 films in theaters each year. He used to see more when he lived right by a theater, but now he gets most of his new movie fill from Netflix. He said that when looking for a new movie to watch, he usually prefers smaller independent releases, anyway. He added that when he’s looking to be entertained, he’s more likely to seek out something that is shown “in shorter bursts and more interactive than a 2+ hour movie allows.” He said that he appreciates films for being able to portray the story created by the writer. Providing visuals, audio, etc. He said that there is value, however, in the reader’s interpretation of these things in their mind when reading, but he finds that it is always interesting to see how filmmakers adapt things for the screen. One example of an adaptation that Dan enjoyed is Life of Pi. He said that the story is almost identical to that of the book on which it is based, but that the visuals of the film were even beyond what he had imagined.

Dan admitted that the earliest films he remembers seeing in theaters may not have been age appropriate. These included Jurassic Park (he would have been 5 years old), The Rock (8), and Independence Day (also 8). He can also remember going to the theaters at a pretty young age to watch the “Pierce Brosnan-era Bond films.” Really, though, most of his childhood memories involve watching films at home with his family. These films included Home Alone, Kindergarten Cop, Forrest Gump, and The Shawshank Redemption.

As the films listed in the previous paragraph show, Dan’s film preferences are represented by a wide range of genres. He told me that he would consider his favorites to be dramas, thrillers, action films, and comedies. He said that thrillers in particular have really grown in his list of favorites in recent years. He loves that they can pull you in from the beginning, and keep you their through the end. He said that one of the first thrillers he remembers being exposed to was Final Destination. He was not a fan of the sequels, but said that that first film had an unrelenting quality and was actually pretty original, especially when compared to “the teenage slasher films it competed against.” Similarly, he told me that he’s also become a fan of the horror/thriller genre, citing The Shining (another Stephen King film!) as the peak of that genre in his mind. Dan also said that he is not generally drawn to films based solely on who is in them or who made them, but that he has ” almost universally liked the works of Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, and Denzel Washington.”

Interestingly, the primary film that Dan considered choosing before making his decision is nothing like his final choice. Dan said that he very seriously and “(mostly) non-ironically” considered the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, Kindergarten Cop. He said that it’s just a film that he grew up watching many times, and that no matter how silly it may be, it will always have some sentimental value to him.

Dan told me that he ultimately chose The Shawshank Redemption, “because it tells a story from an unlikely perspective.” It tells the story of a wrongly convicted man serving a life sentence, and introduces us to a variety of other characters at the same time. The film manages to get us invested in the central convicts, showing us their humanity, and managing to get us to root for them. At the same time, it shows how the people that should be the good guys: the guards and warden, may actually be the most criminal characters in the film.

Dan said that his earliest memories around the film involve staying up late to watch it on cable TV in the late 90’s and early 00’s. He said that what he thinks has always spoken to him about the film is its message about “the power of hope.” He said that this is especially evident in Morgan Freeman’s character, Red. Red has already been in prison for many years when we are introduced to him via Tim Robbins’ Andy. He is jaded and has lost all hope of freedom. However, over the next 20 years spanned by the film, we watch the hope begin to grow within him. By the end of the film, he has even admitted to himself that he has allowed himself to hope.

Dad told me that for him, The Shawshank Redemption is a rare example of a film being superior to its source material. He said that the film format actually allowed the narrative within the original story to breathe and stretch in ways that it did not on the page. Because it was a short story, Dan said that he feels that the 20 year journey that the characters go through is actually portrayed more effectively by the film. We feel the years passing by with a greater weight in the film.

Dan said that the film continues to have a profound impact on his life. He said that he thinks that it shaped many of his social and political views. From an early age, it got him interested in the justice system. In High School, he participated in Youth and Government (with Joe!), and “wrote a bill to provide criminal justice reform so that public defenders would have more time and resources to advocate on behalf of their impoverished clients.” The film left a big impression on him in terms of how the criminal justice system can really fail people. He has continued to follow various media with similar themes, from the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer to the podcast series “Serial.” Dan said that perhaps the biggest thing that The Shawshank Redemption did for him was to remind him to always consider the other perspective and to never rush to judgment.

This was one of the weeks that I was the most excited about from this blog. So many different participants listed The Shawshank Redemption as one of their favorite films, and yet it was one that I had somehow never seen before. Also, since I really enjoyed The Green Mile earlier in the project, and I knew they were both Stephen King prison stories brought to the big screen by Frank Darabont, I felt like there was a good chance that I was going to enjoy this one as well.

And I did! There was so much to love about the film. Last week, Marc mentioned that what he loves so much about The Shawshank Redemption is the relationship between Andy and Red. After watching the film, I can definitely understand this sentiment. Their relationship is the heart of the film. I also loved the score to the film. From the first bars at the beginning of the film, I was hooked. It really helped to transport me into the world of the film. And, of course, the performances were outstanding. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, were phenomenal, but so were the supporting cast. There wasn’t a weak performance in the group. I also appreciated that we got to follow so many different stories through Andy and Red, despite the fact that they were usually heartbreaking (see: Brooks, Tommy).

I actually am interested in checking out the novella now and seeing what inspired the film in the first place. To be honest, I haven’t read much Stephen King, but I’m starting to think that I really should!

That’s all I have time for this week. This was definitely a good one! Let me know what you think in the comments, and don’t forget to like, follow, and share! See you next week!

Thanks!

Up next: A Few Good Men

Week 49 – Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

• Little Miss Sunshine
• Released: 8/18/2006
• Starring: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Steve Carrell
• Directors: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
• IMDB Page

Hi there! Welcome back to 52 Films, 52 Portraits! We are getting so close to the end that it’s a little scary! What am I going to do with my life when I don’t have a film to watch and talk about every week? I’m sure I’ll come up with something. This week’s film was chosen by my friend, Marc. Marc works as an analyst for Amtrak and lives in Washington, DC. Marc loves to travel and has a great appreciation of National Parks and Wawas.

Myself, Marc, Amanda, and Joe out on one of our many adventures. Milo’s FTW!

Marc told me that he thought that most people would not call him a huge fan of films in general. However, he does love a good movie, and spends a great deal of time watching them on Netflix. He told me that he “greatly benefited” from having a roommate in college that was a visual media major who would show him a lot of different films.

The first film that Marc remembers making a huge impression on him as a child was Newsies. He loved the setting and cities in general. He was pretty disappointed when he discovered that there weren’t really singing and dancing newsboys like in the film. Another film he remembers from when he was younger is Toy Story. This film made an impression on him more because of the huge “spectacle” of its release, and how he waited in line to see it at his small local theater.

Marc told me that his favorite genre is comedy. He said that he can definitely appreciate films of other genres, but it usually helps if they contain elements of comedy as well. He enjoys action movies that use humor (Die Hard, some of the James Bond films), as well as dramedies. He also is happy to take suggestions from friends. Generally, though, when he sits down to watch a movie, he really just wants  “to laugh or learn something.”

When it comes to specific filmmakers, Marc said that he has loved the films by the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson. He really appreciates that “they are able to weave drama and meaning into a movie that feels like more than entertainment.” A few of his favorite actors are Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, and Gene Hackman, but he said that he doesn’t necessarily choose films based on who is in them.

When I asked Marc whether he had considered any other films for this project, he named The Shawshank Redemption. He said that he loves that it portrays an example of a strong heterosexual male relationship that doesn’t have to do with sports. He feels like that is an area that is often overlooked in media and it was nice to see it in such a great film. Plus, he loves a good redemption arc in general.

When it came down to pick a film, however, Marc went with Little Miss Sunshine.  He said that he was in college the first time that he saw it, and it didn’t actually make a huge impression on him that first time. However, he’s seen it a number of times since, and he’s enjoyed it more and more over time. He told me that it has long been one of his go-to films when he needs a pick-me-up. It combines “drama, comedy, triumph, and most of all, very notable failures from the characters.” He said that one of the things that draws him most to a film is his ability to relate to the characters and put himself into the film. He thinks that that is the reason that he’s not a huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy films. He said that Little Miss Sunshine speaks to him, because it builds up each of the characters’ dreams, and one by one watches them fail for various reasons. This is just magnified by Greg Kinnear’s father character constantly telling them all what it means to be a winner and a loser. By the end, it becomes apparent to all of them that these guidelines were completely wrong. They find that “true success is not through one specific objective but rather the value they have as a family and love they share with each other as unique people.” The film helps him feel better when he’s down, because it doesn’t gloss over the bad parts of life. It helps him keep things in perspective and appreciate the important things in life.

Marc also said that he loves the soundtrack to the film. He said that it connects so well with the themes of “hope and despair” and really helps create the feeling of the film. He has even listened to it on road trips a few times. Finally, he said that he appreciated that the film was able to keep a sense of humor throughout, despite the relatively dark material.

I had seen Little Miss Sunshine before this project, but I’m not sure that I’ve seen it since soon after it was released. I do remember that I really enjoyed it. It’s one of those emotional, ultimately uplifting family independent films that I tend to really be drawn to, so it was right up my alley.

One thing that is really cool about the film is how amazing the cast is. Every actor playing a member of the family has such incredible careers, and a number of them were really just starting out when this film came out. It was a lot of fun to watch this film over a decade later and see all of these fantastic actors playing off of each other.

I also definitely agree with Marc that the music in the film was fantastic. It did such a great job of setting the tone of the film. It was melancholy, but hopeful and dramatic but catchy. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s the best I can come up with. It’s just really great, and I was a fan from the very first shots of the film.

I actually think the film is pretty sad, but I definitely understand what Marc means when he says that it helps him when he is feeling glum. So much of it is about overcoming those hard times in our lives.

Okay, I’m running late today, so I’m gonna cut if off there. Please let me know what you thought! Like, comment, share, follow, whatever!

See you next week!

Up next: The Shawshank Redemption

Week 48 – Thirteen Days (2001)

• Thirteen Days
• Released: 1/12/2001
• Starring: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Steven Culp, Dylan Baker, Stephanie Romanov, Frank Wood, Dakin Matthews, Lucinda Jenney
• Director: Roger Donaldson
• IMDB Page

Welcome back to 52 Films, 52 Portraits! This week’s film was chosen by my friend, Caitlin. Caitlin went to school with Joe, and we met through him a few years ago. She now works as a policy adviser for a member of Congress in Washington, DC.

Caitlin, myself, and Joe at Harpers Ferry last year.

Caitlin told me that she is the first to admit that she is not a huge fan of movies in general. She said that while she can definitely appreciate a well-made film, she tends to prefer to binge watch a great TV show. Despite the way it may appear, I am actually kind of the same way. As much as I love films, my first and primary love was always television.

Caitlin told me that even from an early age, she was drawn to politics, so she always found that she preferred films with a political tilt to them. She said that she also loved films like A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich, because she wanted to become a lawyer when she grew up, and those films spoke to that part of her. She loved that they were based on real people, and that they portrayed people who were smart and who were able to make a difference in the lives of others “through their commitment to their work.” She added that her young age probably contributed to her love for these films, because she may not have been old enough to get as much from books or written material on the subjects. It was easier for her to gain a real understanding of the people and story through the screen.

As she’s gotten older, Caitlin said that her love of politics has remained, but her list of preferred film genres has grown. She said that she really enjoys comedies, such as The Hangover and Wedding Crashers, because they provide a level of escapism that is seldom paralleled. She also said that she still loves historical, legal, and political films, because they can teach you new things and often are able to explore difficult topics from new and varied perspectives. Finally, she admitted that she just “wouldn’t be a 90’s girl” if she didn’t cop to “enjoying a good chick flick when the mood calls for it!” Her favorite actress is Reese Witherspoon, but otherwise is not generally drawn to films based solely on those involved. She is more the type to be drawn in by the trailer or ad campaign and want to see a movie based on that, although she did add that she would love to explore some of the great classic films “in more depth” at some point.

Caitlin said that something she likes about film as a story telling device is that it allows the characters to be developed in relatable ways that may not be possible on the page.

Caitlin told me that there were a couple of runner-ups on her short list for this project. Staying with the political theme, she said that she considered All the President’s Men, which she pointed out is very relevant to today’s political environment. She said that a more recent film that she considered was Wild, which she said she saw when she was going through a difficult time in her life. She said that the character’s journey really helped her and the film just made a personal impact on her.

As you can tell by the title of this week’s blog post, Caitlin’s final choice was the political thriller, Thirteen Days. Caitlin said that this film has just about always been her “go-to pick” when people ask her what her favorite film is. She said that she was only 13 years old when the film was released, and she was “fascinated with the Kennedy family and Democratic politics.” When it was released, she had already decided that she wanted to become President of the United States one day, and loved the fly-on-the-wall view of how the White House works in crisis. From the historical perspective, she also loved getting to see the “key players in politics in the 1960s” portrayed on screen, and getting a glimpse of the way they interacted and solved problems together.

She feels that Thirteen Days is an important film, because it tells a story from American history and helped to bring that story to the forefront of the public eye. It not only reminded those who lived through the situation, but it also brought the story to all of us who came after it.

Other than The Belly of an Architect, Thirteen Days is the film that I knew the least about going into this project. Honestly, I didn’t even know it was about the Cuban Missile Crisis until I watched the film, which is a little embarrassing. I’m not sure how I completely missed (or forgot?) ever seeing anything about this film when it came out. It had a pretty well known cast (I mean, Kevin Costner, come on), so it’s not like it was a small film. I guess the whole being like 11 years old thing probably factored into it. And unlike Caitlin, I wasn’t quite into the political films thing yet in my preteen years.

All that being said, I was excited for the unknown going into this film, and I ended up really enjoying it. It was definitely a great example of how films based on real political events can be very exciting.

I really enjoyed the performances from the film, although I still haven’t decided how I feel about Kevin Costner’s accent. I can’t say that I educated myself on what the real man’s voice sounded like, but there were times when I was not fully on board with the accent in general. Despite this, Costner gave a fantastic performance. I really liked that they made his character the center of the film, instead of just focusing on the Kennedy brothers. I felt like focusing on him really allowed the drama of the situation, and how it effected everyone, to take the main stage, instead of it just becoming a Kennedy biopic.

I’m gonna leave it here this week. Thanks to everyone for reading, and please feel free to like, comment, follow, etc. Only a handful of weeks left! So exciting!

Next up: Little Miss Sunshine

Week 47 – Labyrinth (1986)

• Labyrinth
• Released: 6/27/1986
• Starring: Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson, Christopher Malcolm, Brian Henson, Shari Weiser, Ron Mueck, Rob Mills, Dave Goelz
• Director: Jim Henson
• IMDB Page

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to 52 Films, 52 Portraits! It’s time for another week of film-y goodness! This week’s film was chosen by Adella, sister of former participants Ashley and Amber. Adella is currently preparing to being a two year commitment for Teach For America in Tchula, MS, where she will teach Social Studies to 6th and 7th graders.

Adella and I at a Holiday party thrown by her older sister, Ashley, a few years ago.

Adella told me that she is a HUGE film fan. She admitted that she doesn’t actually go to the movie theater all that often, but once a film speaks to her, she is likely to own it. And once she owns it, she will watch it over and over again, obsess over it, and share it with as many of her loved ones as she can. She said that she and her family own a huge number of films, and she alone probably owns somewhere in the realm of 140-160 films. She told me that she loves films, because they allow for a much more collaborative piece than most other forms of story-telling.

Adella shared with me that, growing up, she and her family would always watch movies at home together when her dad was in town from work. They had a very complex system in place for voting on which movie to watch. This vote could often take longer than they would spend watching the movie. She said that the vote was necessary, because if they just took turns, she was notorious for picking the same five movies over and over again. These five movies were: The Indian in the Cupboard, The NeverEnding Story, Once Upon a Forest, Ferngully, and The Dark Crystal.

Lately, Adella said that she is drawn to a variety of film genres. She loves comedies, cult classics, romantic comedies, cartoons, and, more recently, simpler independent films, such as Garden State, Laggies, and Before I Leave You. She said that Is Anybody There was great, but was really tough for her to get through. She also said that she loves films from the 80s and enjoys pretty much anything from John Hughes. Lately, she said that she is on a Keanu Reeves kick, but generally she doesn’t stick to one actor or director over another. She is, however, drawn to certain studios and styles. She loves anything and everything Disney, as well as Jim Henson and Lucas Films (which she concedes are all Disney now, but they weren’t always, and they deserve individual recognition). She loves how “homey” and “nostalgic” these films can be. She loves coming out of a film feeling happy, and that’s what draws her to the genres she loves, even the “slice-of-life” independent fare that she has been enjoying lately.

Adella told me that she would consider The Great Mouse Detective, Ever After, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame to be Honorable Mentions when it came to her choosing a movie for this project. She said that there were two films that she definitely in the running, however. The first, To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar, is a film that she loves because, in her words “who doesn’t love a movie starring Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, and pre-Blade Wesley Snipes as drag queens encountering Stockard Channing?” Truly a question for the ages. I have to agree that this is a great film. She also said that she loves the story and that it’s even more impressive considering when it was released. The second film that Adella seriously considered was Lilo & Stitch. She said that it is probably the film that she has seen the most times in her life (other than Labyrinth). She considers it to be Disney’s most perfect film, because it is a little quieter and deals with some very complex issues, but is still very focused on the characters and their family. It also focuses on “a marginalized culture” and actually deals with the sense of “otherness” that can result from “being in that margin group.”

Ultimately, of course, Adella chose Labyrinth as her film for this project. She said that she knew that if she hadn’t chosen it, her “family would call the most ultimate of shenanigans.” The first time that she actually sat down and paid attention to the film, she immediately became obsessed. She said that she basically watched it on a loop for a year straight. It was always on, whether she was doing chores, homework, falling asleep, or whatever. She also has a tendency to make everyone that she can watch it. At both her 17th and 21st Birthdays, she had everyone watch it, and is even trying to get everyone to watch it at the end of her training for Teach for America. She once made her family take a detour to the Unclaimed Baggage Store/Museum  in Scottsboro, AL for the sole reason that they have a restored original Hoggle costume on display.

Adella vividly recalls the first time she was exposed to the film. She was 15, and Ashley was watching it while eating pizza bagels. Adella kept getting distracted and then asking questions, so Ashley finally told her to stop because “I just want to eat my pizza rolls and see David Bowie’s codpiece in peace.” I would question how Adella remember’s Ashley’s quote after so much time, but I can verify that this is definitely something Ashley would say. Other than those very specific details about her interactions with her sister, Adella doesn’t actually remember much about seeing the movie that day. Luckily, Ashley was insistent that Adella would love it, so she got her to watch it again. But this time it stuck. Adella loved everything about it. The 80s music and fashion, the fairy tale quality, etc. And the rest was history!

Adella ended our conversation by telling me that one of the main reasons that she loves films so much is that they can connect people in ways that few things can. They can make you feel connected to the loved ones you share them with or make you feel at home or nostalgic for a place you once called home.

I have been excited for this week for a while, because Labyrinth is one of the films that were chosen for my blog that I have actually never seen (at least, not that I can really remember), but it was one that I had a lot of interest in seeing, and it did not disappoint.

From the very first scene of the film with Jennifer Connelly’s  Sarah outside with her dog, I knew that I was gonna love the film. It instantly captured that nostalgia that I love in certain films made in the 80s and 90s. There’s just a magical quality that some films were able to capture in that time, and Labyrinth had it from the very first frame.

It was also just fun to see Connelly when she was so young. She was already a great actress, and I loved her performance, even if she was a little dramatic and not so nice to her baby brother in the beginning.

Of course, seeing David Bowie in the film was an awesome treat, as well. I loved all of his musical numbers, and he really seemed to love throwing himself big hair first into the role. It was perfect for him.

Finally, all of the creatures were so perfectly done. I loved seeing that side of the Henson creations. They weren’t all cute and cuddly, but they were all so creative and masterfully brought to life.

I’d definitely say that I loved the film, and it’s one that I am very interested in watching again in the near future. It was just so much fun!

Thanks for reading! Have you seen Labyrinth? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to follow, share, like, etc. to your heart’s content.

See you next week!

Up next: Thirteen Days

Week 46 – The Way We Were (1973)

• The Way We Were
• Released: 10/19/1973
• Starring: Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O’Neal, Viveca Lindfors
• Director: Sydney Pollack
• IMDB Page

Welcome back to another week of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! This week’s film was chosen by my good family friend and former neighbor, Margaret! Margaret lives in Washington, DC and is the Director of Sales and Marketing for a locally based jewelry company.

Margaret, at the Women’s March in Washington, DC earlier this year.

Margaret told me that she loves movies, and if you asked her to rate her love for them on a scale of 1 to 10, she would put herself at an 8.5. She said that some of her favorite memories involve going to the old art deco-style movie theater in the small town where she grew up. She loved the feeling of being transported to another world through the screen. When she was very young, movies like Charlotte’s Web and The Wizard of Oz made huge impressions on her, and when she was a little older, Gone With the Wind became one of her favorites. As she’s gotten older, that genre has stuck with her, and she said that her favorite films tend to be dramas, romances, and biographical movies.

Margaret said that one of the things that she loves the most about movies is the escape that they can provide. They are, to her, the ultimate form of story-telling after books. She said that she fears that movie theaters will fall out of fashion in the way that many other forms of media have. She loves the feeling of sitting in a dark theater and letting the world fall away. She told me that she often retreats to that area of comfort during difficult times. She mentioned that she did just that on this last Inauguration Day to see La La Land as a means of getting away from the real world, if only for a few hours.

When I asked Margaret whether she had any favorite actors, she told me that Helen Mirren and Cate Blanchett are her faves. She said that she loves how they immerse themselves in their roles and simply become their characters. She added that she loves that they are “women of a certain age” but that they continue to do incredible work and generally “kick ass.” Margaret also told me that her favorite director is Sophia Coppola. She said that, in her opinion, every movie Coppola makes is perfection. She loves that she is able to bring a unique vision to her films that feels so modern and yet so timeless all at once. She also said that she feels like Coppola just understands how to tell a great story while also providing a visually captivating experience. She just delivers the whole package.

Margaret told me that there were a couple of films that she considered before settling on one for this project. First of all, she nearly chose Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This is definitely a movie that I associate with Margaret. She said that it is simply a classic and that she loves Audrey Hepburn’s performance. Fashion, jewelry, “Moon River.” She loves it all. The other movie that she considered was Out of Africa. She said that this film just spoke to her on more levels than she could imagine. Meryl Streep and Robert Redford delivered incredible performances, but it was more than that. It reached her soul and made her feel a connection with a place she had never even imagined she would visit. She told me that it was just an amazing story of love – “love of country, love of the land, romantic love, and ultimately the choices we make for love.”

In the end, of course, Margaret chose The Way We Were. She told me that there were many reasons that she decided that this was the film she should choose. Most importantly, it was a film that she first saw with her mother, and that the two of them watched together many times through the years until her mother’s passing. She said that they both loved Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, as well as the film’s score. She told me that her earliest memory of the film is how incredibly moved she was by the central love story. She said that the main characters shared an epic love, but one that was told in an intellectual way. She loved that the film was able to weave political, cultural, and social issues into the fabric of the love story as a way of enriching the both the characters and the film as a whole.

The Way We Were is one of the films chosen for this project that I had never seen before. Obviously, I knew the song, but I had never seen the movie. Actually, I’ve somehow missed most of Streisand’s filmography, which is actually kind of surprising. Anyway, besides the fact that the film was a love story, and a vague spoiler about the ending, I didn’t really have much of an idea about what the film would be like going in. I definitely wasn’t expecting the characters and setting to be so political, but that definitely added an interesting element that you don’t see in romantic films very often.

I really enjoyed the performances from the Streisand and Redford, and thought that they had an excellent chemistry together. It’s kind of funny, though, because they are really the only two actors who made any real impression on me in the film. I found myself confused numerous times over whether certain other characters were people characters that I was supposed to remember from earlier in the film, which probably isn’t the best sign for those characters/actors, but could also just be a result of my watching the film a little late in the evening.

I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I will say that I liked that this film didn’t follow the beaten path for most romances. It definitely had a unique tone, from the way the timeline of the film played out, to the ending itself, which I really appreciated and enjoyed. I thought that Sydney Pollack made a lot of interesting choices in those regards that really made a difference in the way the story was told and viewed.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the film, and love that it is so different from the last few films that I’ve watched for the project. So much variety! Case in point:

Next up: Labyrinth

Week 45 – Mars Attacks! (1996)

• Mars Attacks!
• Released: 12/13/1996
• Starring: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Short, Danny DeVito, Natalie Portman, Michael J. Fox, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas, Jim Brown, Jack Black, Sylvia Sidney, Lisa Marie, Pam Grier, Ray J
• Director: Tim Burton
• IMDB Page

Welcome back to 52 Films, 52 Portraits! This week’s film was chosen by my bonus aunt (no blood relation), Sondra, or as I like to call her, Onte Sondy. Sondra is my aunt Mary Beth’s best friend and I have grown up having her be a part of our family for as long as I can remember. Sondra is an artist and lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Ron.

Sondra and I escaping a torrential downpour during drag volleyball a few years ago.

Sondra told me that, while she is willing to watch just about anything, she would not consider herself to be a huge fan of film. She said that she used to be a bigger fan, but as the years have gone by, she’s found herself less and less enthralled by them. She used to enjoy film festivals and following her favorite directors, but she said that she generally chooses to take in other art forms when given the choice these days, especially books and live theater.

Sondra said that one of her earliest film memories was when her family got cable television, and she watched The Sting over and over again, which at the time was a pretty big deal. She also remembers going to the drive-in movie theater with her family to see a triple feature. Although she would have only been around 8 years old at the time, she was somehow usually the only family member who managed to stay awake all the way through the three films. She said that the third film was usual an odd film definitely not intended for children, like The Party or The Swimmer. Even then, she said that she was drawn to odder movies, something that has stuck with her ever since.

In addition to those kinds of off-beat films, Sondra said that she is also drawn to big tearjerkers, like Ordinary People and Interiors. She added that, although she is embarrassed to admit it, she loves disaster flicks and thrillers. She said that she likes movies that make her think, but not ones where the characters are “clueless.” She also “can’t stand stupid people movies, or too much sentimentality.”

Two of Sondra’s favorite filmmakers are Woody Allen and Tim Burton. She said that she loves their unique voices and the visions they bring to their films.

Sondra told me that when I asked her to pick her favorite film for this project, she initially drew a complete blank. She said that she is not a big fan of that type of question, where she has to choose her favorite anything right on the spot. So, naturally, she tried outsourcing the question. She asked Ron, who offered the previously mentioned Interiors, but she said that she didn’t feel that was the right choice for her, because she has not seen it in many, many years, despite the fact that she remembers loving it. She also said that she could have chosen Brazil, which she told me is one that means a lot to her, and she counts the director, Terry Gilliam, as another of her favorites.

In the end, Sondra said that she picked Mars Attacks! because it is one of the only films that she can remember watching many times and still really enjoying. She loves that it combines too of her favorite film genres: camp and disaster. She feels like every character in the film 100% believes what they are saying and what is going on, and that only adds to the fun, camp nature of the film. She also told me that she was actually initially disappointed in the film when she say it in the theater, but it has grown to be one of her favorites over time. She did say that she doesn’t really think that the martians are portrayed fairly. But she does love that (spoiler alert) Richie is able to break away from his family and save the day. Finally, she left me with one final piece of advice: “Never volunteer to meet the martians.”

Going into this week’s film, I was really excited. I loved Mars Attacks! when I was younger, and I hadn’t seen it in many years. And I have to say, it did not disappoint. It is such a quirky, fun film. I love that it came out around the same time that Independence Day was released, and is so similar and yet so, entirely, different. I also love that, in another funny coincidence, this blog is being published on the actual Independence Day, since I have always connected these two films in my head.

One thing that really sticks out to me about this film, is the unbelievable ensemble cast they were able to pull together. There are so many big names in this film, and they all completely throw themselves into the absurdity of the plot. Watching these stars face off against the martians is so fun, and some of the things that happen along the way are just so darkly hilarious. This was an aspect that I definitely enjoyed more this time around, since I knew so many more of the actors and their usual work. For instance, I didn’t remember at all that Natalie Portman or Jack Black were in the film. I also love that Tom Jones is playing himself in the film. So much fun.

Of course, the film has so many signature Tim Burton elements, but it also has a unique voice even within his list of films. It takes his usual aesthetic and twists it in new ways. I’m not sure that I would instantly recognize the martians as a Burton creation, for instance, but as soon as you told me, I wouldn’t be able to un-see it.

I definitely enjoyed getting to rewatch this film that I loved so much growing up, and I will probably watch it again before too long just to enjoy it again. It also really wants to make me rewatch more of my favorite Burton films (Big Fish and Edward Scissorhands come to mind).

That’s it for this week! Thanks so much for joining me and I hope you all have a great holiday!

Next week: The Way We Were