Young Frankenstein

Two of my favorite moments from Young Frankenstein:

1.  Igor saying "Blucher" to the horses to frighten them, and which even now I cannot say without neighing.

2.  Blucher's statement, "Your fiancee is here, I suggest you put on a tie."

What is/are your favorite YF movie moment(s)?

Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest

Here are my top ten movies, in no particular order:

1.  Henry V (Brannagh version)

2.  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

3.  Star Trek 2009

4.  Red

5.  Roman Holiday

6.  Galaxy Quest

7.  So I Married an Axe Murderer

8.  Stargate

9.   Lethal Weapon IV

10.  Miss Potter

What movies are on YOUR list?

Monday Movies - LOCAL HERO

Imagine the scene: a remote ocean village in northern Scotland.

A Texas billionaire (Happer) wants to buy up all the land of the village so that his corporation can build an oil refinery complex. He sends "Mac", an employee with a last name that sounds Scottish, to negotiate the various purchases from the townspeople. On the way to the village, he and his driver have to stop in the middle of the road because the fog is impenetrable. They also hit a rabbit along the way (don't worry, it's only injured) and carry it along with them on the rest of their trip to the village.

The small hotel where they stay is run by "Urquhart" (ur-cut), who is to negotiate with the townspeople. "Mac" would prefer a package deal, which would be cheaper for his employer, while the townspeople would rather have many small purchases, to increase their bottom line.

Then Urquhart discovers a problem. One of the most important pieces of real estate in the deal is the local beach, which is owned by Ben, and old-timer who lives in something that is a cross between a shack and a lean-to ... by his choice. He's not interested in selling, nor in the fortune he could make. He's happy with his life. Mac and Urquhart begin to worry for Ben's safety, because without the beach, the deal is basically off ... and the town is more than a little irritated with Ben because he is standing in the way of their millions.

There is a very funny scene where has been to a town celebration and has indulged in the local liquor supply. He goes out to the phone booth - apparently one of the few telephones in the village - to call his employer. The townsfolk have made the rounds to get him enough coins so he can make the call. (I love small towns!) His employer Happer is also an avid astronomer and that for north in Scotland, the Northern Lights are visible. Mac is trying to describe them to his boss and says, "The colors are AMAZING - red, green, white ... no, that's the phone booth!"

Happer ends up coming to the village and decides still to purchase the land ... but for a sea wildlife sanctuary, not an oil refinery. The townspeople still get their money, the environment is protected and Ben doesn't have to sell up.

In the last scene, you see Mac back in his Texas condo, looking at all this things and then he sees something that reminds him of the village that "took him in" (as in into their hearts). The last shot is of the village at night ... and the phone in the booth is ringing.

I hope he makes it back.

Monday Movies - Dead Again

Dead Again is on my top ten favorite movies list.

I'm sad to see there is no site for the movie itself, but considering it was made back in the days when the internet was not such a spiffy place to be, maybe that is not too surprising after all. Maybe I'll have to do a fan site for it. Yeah! Like I have time for that!

PLOT

Detective Mike Church (Kenneth Brannagh) is called by the administrator of the orphanage where he grew up for a "favor". A woman (Emma Thompson) has shown up with no memory and no voice and the padre wants Church to find out who she is. The detective really doesn't want to do this; his idea is to drop her off at the county hospital ... but it is *ahem* crazy there, and he winds up not leaving her there.

After putting her photo in the newspaper, Church is contacted by an antiques dealer (Sir Derek Jacobi) who says he can hypnotize the woman and help figure out what is wrong. So they go and under hypnosis, the woman describes the life of a woman who lived some 40 odd years before and was believed to have been murdered by her husband. She bears a striking resemblance to this woman. The house where the murder took place? *drum roll please* The orphanage.

Robin Williams does a funny (in a serious kind of way) turn as a psychiatrist turned grocery stockboy who provides the couple (Brannagh and Thompson's characters) some psychological insight.

Grace (Thompson) , after several sessions of hypnosis comes to believe that she was the wife (Margaret Strauss) and Mike was the murdering husband (Roman).

And those are not the only parallels to the past. It turns out the antiques dealer was the son of the Strauss's years before.

There is a GREAT twist at the end, but I won't tell you about it here. If you haven't rented this movie or seen it in the theatre, I would highly recommend it!

Monday Movies - MISS POTTER

The first time I saw this movie was at work. Someone had brought in the DVD and we watched it with the ladies who live in the home. I fell in love with it. We watched it a total of two times there, and due to breaks and dinners and bathing, etc, I still didn't get to see the whole thing, so when I found in on satellite tv at home, I was THRILLED!

I'm sure most of you haven't seen this movie, so let me 'splain:

Renee Zellweger plays Beatrix Potter, the author of the Peter Rabbit books. Ewan McGregor plays her publisher turned fiance. Maybe because I like period movies, maybe because I like it when pretty actresses go out of their way to portray people who are not necessarily pretty, and maybe because McGregor was just so darned cute in this movie, it's making my Top 20 list of favorite movies...maybe even my top 10.

Beatrix is a 30 something unmarried woman living at home in late-Victorian England. Her parents "trotted out countless suitable suitors", all of which she turned down. She paints wonderful watercolors of rabbits and other little animals doing things like you and I would do, and writes stories to go along with it.

After being turned away by many publishing houses, she finally finds a family firm who agrees to take her, not so much, as it turns out for the worth of her stories, but to "fob off" on a younger brother (McGregor) who wants to work with them. I guess the older brothers think that the book(s) will fail miserably and then see that he does not need to bother them in the family business any more.

Well, surprise, surprise, the books are a huge success. Norman (McGregor) takes Beatrix to see the printing of the book, which for Victorian England , to have a woman visit a place like that was almost unheard of ... but she goes, elderly female chaperone in tow.

So the two fall in love. He proposes at her parents' Christmas party. When the parents learn about it, they oppose the union because Norman is a 'tradesman'. Shouting and arguments ensue. The parents come up with a deal. Beatrix may accept Norman's proposal but she cannot tell anyone yet - not even his family. The parents will take her to summer in the Lake District, and if they still are so "in love" at the end of the summer, the parents will give them their blessing.

Personally, I would rate their kiss on the train platform in the top 10 movie kisses of all time. There is a poignancy and yearning that goes so far beyond any lusty kiss you see these days.

I'll stop there in case you now want to see the movie so you can find out what happens there.

Some source material for the above was taken from the site, The Hollywood Reporter.

*****

Now, a friend of mine is having a movie giveaway!

Remember the movie, "The Jungle Book"? Well, there is a 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition going, so be sure to check out her blog here!

Thanks to a soundtrack album (I know, that dates me) of Disney movie songs, I think I can still sing most of "The Bare Necessities" by heart!