31 Days of Film - Day 17: Best scene ever in a movie

The original prompt was "most beautiful" scene, but I can't think of one that stands out among all of them (now, TV that'd be easy ha ha). However, my all time favorite scene in any film is easy to choose. I've thought this scene was BRILLIANT since PotC came to theaters in the summer of 2003.

I went into the film thinking it wasn't going to be much of anything and was blown away. I hadn't had a high regard for Disney films in quite some time. Sure, PIXAR movies were good (great!) but they were just partnered with Disney - no run by them. Stories had been lacking for most off my teen years, I expected PotC to be another one of their lame attempts and revitalizing their franchise (I mean, they based a movie off of a theme park attraction).

It started off good enough with the whole crossing of the ocean, and then jumping to Lizzie and Will angst... but it wasn't until the scene that introduced Jack Sparrow that this film went from being another pirate movie to the most amazingly humorous adventure EVER. Curse of the Black Pearl is near movie perfection. Johnny Depp created a fantastic character, and Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, Geoffry Rush and Jack Davenport all committed so well to the story and their characters. It was casting made perfect.

I saw it four times in theaters, and this scene NEVER failed to crack me up!


4 weeks until we go searching for Captain Jack in Disneyland!

31 Days of Film - Day 16: Movie you totally didn't "get"

Everyone in my friends group (online and here at home) LOVE this trilogy. I am the odd man out. I read the books in Jr. High and didn't care for them, so when the movies came out I was less than interested. I never saw them in theaters, and didn't go to the viewing parties my friends held at their houses when they came to video. I knew I didn't like the story, so seeing it in film format wasn't going to be much better (movies are rarely if ever better than the book!)

I've since suffered through the trilogy (as well as the first Hobbit movie). I just don't get it. Granted, I know my likes aren't always mainstream, so I'm not judging! But the way people react when I say I don't like the movies (or books) you'd think I'd kicked their dog. For me they're long and tedious. They have a few moments here and there that are charming or funny, but for the most part it's just a significant waste of time. Which I don't normally mind wasting time (I'm blogging about movies here, obviously time wasting is something I know how to do) I just want to have a good time while wasting time. And this isn't a good time for me.

I lost friends - or nearly so - over this. (Seriously two guys I grew up with stopped talking to me for WEEKS after I said I didn't like the books/movies. High School, gotta love it.)

I just don't get it! LOL

Cats of the Kenai Animal Shelter

Like the dogs, I have enjoyed getting to know some of the kitties that have come through the Kenai Animal Shelter. They are incredibly cute - and I'm not normally a cat person, but I have a few that if I were I'd totally snatch them up.

So, enjoy these cute bundles of fluff.

Dogs of the Kenai Animal Shelter

I am not sure if I mentioned it on the blog that I am now one of the volunteer photographers at the Kenai Animal Shelter - I know I said something on Twitter and Instagram. I go in on Wednesdays with the help of my best friend Kassy and we photograph all the animals up for adoption. Mostly just kitties and the dogs, but first week I also got to take pics of a very timid Guinea Pig! Ha ha!

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites - some of the animals have already been adopted, but I wanted to share anyway because they're adorable.

31 Days of Film - Davy 15: Best Horror Film

No, now, hear me out. YOU may not see the horror of this film, but let me tell you this movie is CREEPY. Yes, I know, it's a Spielberg movie! It's one of his best movies. Well, let me tell you I can't watch it without hiding my eyes for most of it.

It's not even the alien part of the whole thing - I can handle aliens (for the most part). They don't bother me. The turd is halfway cute, actually, when I think about him. It's not the aliens, it's not the unknown... it's the government guys in the HazMat suits!

When they capture poor little ET and put him in the freezer (or whatever it is) and his tummy glows red, the five year old me that's still very much in my head wants to run for the other room. My dad finds it hilarious and makes sure to stop on the movie whenever it (rarely) plays on TV. Because he's evil like that.

And, yet, I love quoting this movie. And the music is - as John Williams' scores always are - incredible. So it has a lot of positives... which is why it's the best horror movie of all time.

31 Days of Film - Day 14: A film you used to love but now hate

It's not that I hate "All Dogs Go To Heaven", because I don't. It's a fun film... for the most part. It's just that after losing three of the very best dogs ever (Amiga in 1998, Jordy in 2002, and Yuka in 2013) I can't really handle watching it. So it was a film I loved to watch and now can't without big ugly crying. And I don't like to ugly cry.

I loved this movie as a kid. Wore out my VHS tape of it. Itchy was my favorite, and I adored Anne Marie. I was terrified of the alligator, and it bothered me that there was a pink dog in charge of Heaven. The demon that chases Charlie was scary, but it was a good scary... and who doesn't quote "you can never come back" in that creepy voice the pink dog had?

I had the movie memorized, but it's been so long that I don't think I could put two lines together. Though I'm always surprised when we pop a movie in I haven't seen in decades and I can quote it line by line, so who knows.

Playing around on imdb.com to see who voiced the characters (all I remember is Dom DeLuise as Itchy) I'm giggling because the voice of "Ducky" in The Land Before Time is the same as the voice of "Anne Marie". Never realized that. Gotta love random bits of trivia. Thanks, Internetz.

Michael Coleman is awesome (yes another OUAT cast gushfest)

So we all know I adore the cast of ABC/Disney's Once Upon A Time, and I have gushed about them before... the cast is freaking ADORABLE in every sense of the word and they are so awesome to their fans...

but Michael Coleman tweeting me (yet again) tonight takes the cake. I think he just trumped MRJ as being my favorite Michael on OUAT.

He had been sharing new versions of the #Selfie, and so I dared him to create a "Moosie"... and next thing I know I get this tweet.

Michael personifies his character (Happy the Dwarf). He really, really does. I'm forever a fangirl.

31 Days of Film - Day 13: Movie with your least favorite actor/actress

I've said it several times before - I don't like Leonardo DiCaprio's acting (he doesn't win me over in interviews either). I find him incredibly boring, put on, and just not that good. I'm in the minority, and Hollywood disagrees, so it is what it is... but I think he's more hype than actual product.

And I think his performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape is what people are really thinking about when they consider his acting chops. It's completely different from any of his major roles that he would later play (he's typically stuck in Jack Dawson type roles... which is predictable and stupid, but when that comes easy and the money's good...).

I've only watched the film a couple of times - it's one of those movies like "Dan In Real Life" or "Elizabethtown" that's well done but kinda depressing (even if there are happy moments). But, DiCaprio's performance has always stuck with me. That kind of acting I can get on board with. He was totally committed and transformed into the character, whereas these days he transforms all the characters into himself and it's just meh.

31 Days of Film - Day 12: Movie with your favorite actor/actress

I am going to cheat and do a film with both my favorite actress and actor. I adore Katherine Hepburn. Ever since high school I couldn't get enough of her. She was such an interesting persona. Equally high on my favorites list is Cary Grant. I've loved him since mom sat me down and made me watch Arsenic & Old Lace (while I was in high school). I was in drama club, and she wanted me to get an appreciation for great acting.

It worked.

I love all things 1940s and 50s, especially the glamorous Hollywood version of the times. It was the golden era of cinema. I love the architecture, the fashion, the simpler times (that really blazed the way for the convoluted ones we have today).

And I love their movies.

Especially The Philadelphia Story. It stars my three favorite actors of that era - Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart. It's witty, smart, and just a great time. It was originally written for Broadway - and for Hepburn. After her turn as Tracy on stage, she brought it to Hollywood where they cast Grant and Stewart to play opposite her. They could hold their own against such a powerhouse like Kate. The chemistry that the cast had was near perfection.

I kinda identify with Hepburn's characters in her films. Hepburn herself was a tomboy and so I think that's what always speaks to me - and her characters seem to be a lot like her. I may not be a divorcee looking at groom #2 all the while still feeling something for groom #1 and crushing hard on a journalist, but I do get the trying to stick to the picture everyone has of me and holding myself to impossible standards... and holding those around me to impossible standards.

Grant and Stewart created great moments as well on screen. Their humor and sarcasm were what they were known for, and the looks they gave spoke volumes. This film was the perfect vehicle to pit the two against each other, and all I can say is - it's a tie. I can't choose a winner in who was "better". It was like both characters were made for the actors who played them.

It's said that due to his bigger popularity, Grant got to choose which of the two roles he would play - the production company was hoping he'd play Macaulay Connor, but he chose CK Dexter Haven instead. It was the right move, though, because I honestly can't see the roles reversed. Besides, Grant should always get the girl.

Dang, if there's one thing that this daily challenge is doing, it's making me want to rewatch all of my favorite films!

Yes, I know, I've gushed about a certain other actor as of late on my blog... but he's not had a break out role in film yet (seriously, he dies or has a five second role in most everything... and the one film that he actually had a significant role in I haven't seen because he plays a really bad dude!). So Michael Raymond-James will just have to wait until I get to do another TV 30 day meme. lol

31 Days of Film - Day 11: Best Sports Film

Oooo this is hard. I love me some sports movies, but I think Disney's Remember The Titans wins out just because I can't find really a single thing wrong with it (except that they did change the story quite a bit judging by wikipedia).

I mean, it's got Denzel Washington playing a football coach, it's awesome for that alone. It also stars a young Ryan Gosling (you know, before he was a meme gone viral) and an even younger and adorable Hayden Pantierre (before she protested whale harvests and went country). The casting was perfect for the delivery of the storytelling.

We watch this movie a lot during the year. It's a favorite in my family. Just about everyone loves it, and it's one of many movies I have mostly memorized. There is so much that can be said about this movie, and honestly I don't know where to begin.

Probably my favorite part is how a sport brought two warring sides together through the youth and promise of the future. That they were forced to come and work together if they wanted to play the game was just the beginning to a lasting legacy for their area. They excelled where so many other integrated programs failed - because there were men brave enough to "suck it up" and make it work. Not just for their jobs, or their pride, or the team... but for the good of their fellow man.

It's something our country seems to have forgotten again as we see the divide grow exponentially once again.