Here’s Looking at You, Casablanca!

After realizing that I hadn’t watched Casablanca since I was in my early teens, I thought it might be nice to revisit the film again. Casablanca is number three on AFI’s top 100 list, and rightfully so as this film is truly a masterpiece. Casablanca has been featured on many of AFI’s lists, including “100 Years…100 Passions” (1), “100 Years…100 Cheers” (32), and “100 Years…100 Songs” (2). Six lines from the movie also appeared on AFI’s list for 100 quotes. With that said, I thought it would be fun to take those of you who haven’t watched Casablanca in a while down memory lane……

                                                                         

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine”

               

                   

 “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.'”

“We’ll always have Paris.”

“Round up the usual suspects.”                        

            

“Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”   

 “Here’s looking at you, kid”

Media and Social Change Project

For my Media and Social Change project I chose to make a video presentation during which I discuss how fans have been using a variety of social networking tools to ask celebrities to be their prom dates. Part of my presentation includes actually showing everyone the different sites that are used by the fans and how important it is to use the “word of mouth” process if fans are at all going to be able to get the attention of the celebrity.

The first step is to click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/319749811434380/

After that you may click on the the link to my twitter account, and then the tweet that I have for the video (Fans Ask Celebrities to the Prom).

If any of the links fail or if you simply do not have the time or patience to go through the process (my feelings won’t be hurt), you can click here and view the video immediately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OxXXMKHoRo

Thank-you and enjoy!

 

UPDATE: The above link is for a video that is different from the one that I posted last night. This was my first time making a video like this so I was very nervous and rambled a lot. Because I wasn’t completely satisfied I decided to try it again and see if I could manage to give a more satisfactory presentation of my material. My new production is shorter and significantly improved because I was more calm and better able to express my thoughts. 🙂

Tootsie is #69 on AFI’s Top 100 List–And I Almost Didn’t Watch It!

This week’s movie that I decided to watch from AFI’s Top 100 List is one that I originally had no intention of seeing– Tootsie. The reason why I did not want to watch Tootsie is because I felt like it was going to be another Mrs. Doubtfire movie. Even though I like Mrs. Doubtfire, I just did not feel like watching another repeat version of it. After my parents pointed out to me that Tootsie was released long before Mrs. Doubtfire  was (oops!) and told me how funny it was, I decided to give it a try.

I’m happy to say that  I ended up enjoying the movie. I found it to be funny, entertaining, and quite refreshing. I have to admit that a few of the scenes seemed a little familiar to me, indicating that I might have seen it before and just didn’t remember it. However, I didn’t really seem to remember the movie or the story, so it was all still pretty new to me. I’m glad that I took a chance on Tootsie, despite my hesitance to watch it!

Number 5 in the Top 100– What a Glorious Movie!

 

After first choosing to watch and review movies that came out while I was kid, this week I decided to be a little different and watch an old classic movie- “Singin’ in the Rain.” As someone who was actually raised on the classics– and also happens to love musicals– I was kind of surprised that I never happened to watch “Singing’ in the Rain”  while growing up. I have to admit that this made me slightly reluctant to check this film out. However, I was pleasantly surprised and glad that I took the time to see it.

 

“Singin’ in the Rain” is a cute movie that takes place during the rise in popularity of talking pictures. It depicts the challenges that a group of actors face as they work to release their first talking movie, and how they overcome the challenges of synching audio with film, bad dialog, and performers who don’t speak well.  After the recent release of “The Artist” (another film that will no doubt make it on an AFI list someday), I almost found it ironic that I ended up watching another older movie dealing with a similar subject matter.

While I always tend to enjoy watching movies about movies (I’m just silly that way, I guess), probably my favorite aspect of the picture was the musical numbers. Tunes like “The Broadway Ballet,” “Make ’em Laugh,” and the title track made the movie extra fun and enjoyable for me. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone loves musicals.

AFI’s #99 of 100: A Movie I Should Have Watched a Long Time Ago!

Last week I wrote about my experience with viewing Titanic for the first time after several years. This week I watched a movie that many of you will be surprised to learn that I have never seen– Toy Story! 

 When I was younger and Toy Story was newly released on VHS I actually did get to see the beginning of the movie while at a slumber party. Unfortunately, however, I fell asleep and never got to see the rest of it (I also caught a bug at that party and ended up missing school the following week). Until recently, I never bothered to try watching it again. 

 All I can say is that I am so glad that I took the time to watch Toy Story. This film has won and been nominated for countless awards and made it to number 99 on AFI’s top 100 list in 2007. Because of it’s phenomenal cinematography, freshness, and fun story I do believe this film should be held in high esteem. One of the things that I enjoyed the most about the film was it’s positive message– I loved how the two very different characters worked out their differences and became friends in the end. 

 I believe that Toy Story is a great film for anyone who can appreciate a light-hearted, animated family film. I am looking forward to seeing Toy Story 2 and 3 in the future.

On a side note: Part of my inspiration for watching this movie was because one of the kids from my church told our pastor that he looks like the character, Woody. I actually agree. 🙂