Another Movie Year (for real this time) in Review

Total Movies Watched: 97 (with rewatches)

Month with the most watched movies:
July (24)

Month with the least watched movies:
November (2)

Month with the least rewatches:
November (0)

Month with the most rewatches:
August (5)

Most watched actress:
Bonita Granville (8)

Most watched actor:
Jimmy Stewart (2)

Favorite new actress:
Bonita Granville

Favorite new actor:
Andrew Garfield

Oldest film:
Thirteen Women (1932, June), The Mummy (1932, July)

Newest film:
We're the Millers (2013, October), The Sound of Music Live! (2013, December)

Funniest film:
Easy A (2010, April)

Saddest film:
These Three (1936, July)

Favorite film overall:
Storm Warning (1951, July)

Least favorite film overall:
Spring 1941 (2008, September)

Ratings:
0/5..................................0
0.5/5...............................0
1/5..................................2
1.5/5...............................0
2/5..................................2
2.5/5...............................1
3/5..................................8
3.5/5..............................17
4/5.................................32
4.5/5..............................11
5/5.................................22

The Old Man

So...yeah...remember me?  No?  I was afraid of that...
Hi!  My name's Bailey!  I...yeah.  Hi.
So I've been gone.  Not that anyone noticed.  At all.  Maybe it's a good thing I haven't been here.  But Junior year is not fun.  ACT prep, advanced classes, ACT prep, college prep, theatre, and ACT don't allow much room for sleep.  Or movies.  Or fun.  Or anything, really.  But while I'm procrastinating, I thought I'd pop on and share a short story I wrote for my creative writing class last month.  I wrote it while out-of-state for my Pap's funeral, and I honestly hated the finished project.  (And I think you could tell that because I had SOOO many grammatical mistakes.)  But I read it again today, and I realized it wasn't all that bad, yada, yada, yada.  So I thought I'd fill this blog with something, and here we are...
I don't know why any of you would do this if any of you will read this, but obviously please don't post this anywhere else or copy it/take credit for it.  I work pretty hard on my stories (after all, they're homework/grades) and yeah...
Sorry I suck.  

The Old Man

The gravestone was a simple one, bearing only the necessities: name, date, and the symbol that indicated his service.  The symbol surprised him: never had they known of his service.  Except for the small bouquet of violets and lilies placed on the side of the tombstone, one would be led to believe that the man had always been alone.  They’d always wondered that, if he had anyone.  Of course, no one had cared enough to ask, fearing what might happen if they became too attached.  Now Matthew regretted it.  Did he have anyone to mourn him?  To tend his plot?  To think about him?  He looked down at the grave and back up, searching for his wife and daughter standing a few tombstones away.  He knew they were watching him, and so indicated to them it would be a while.  Once they turned around and started walking away, Matthew bent down and began pulling up the weeds that threatened to engulf the small gravestone, completely forgetting the dampness of the grass or the fact that his suit was new.

            “I spoke about it today.”  Matthew was surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth but found he couldn’t stop the flow of words.  “It was…well, it was difficult, to say the least.  I’ve been putting it off for a while, actually.”  He imagined the old man nodding slightly, seemingly not listening.  But Matt new better.  The old man always listened, whether you were looking for someone to or not.  That was one of the many aspects Matt had secretly admired him for. 

A 3 AM Update

Just to let you all know I have not completely abandoned you, I have a review discussion in the works for you on 1951's Storm Warning.  Hopefully I can finish it tomorrow and post it.  But since it's nearly 3 AM and I have to fit the shell of a life and the plans that go along with it in tomorrow, I should get to bed so I'm not tired.

So, no.  I'm not dead.

Now I need to go sort out all the movies I've seen in the last 5 months of whatever.  Le sigh.  Stupid sister.

"You Belong to Me" 1941: Reviewed

A sick day home from school today resulted in Wicked, and, in search of something just as I awesome, I then decided to watch You Belong to Me.  This marks my fifteenth Barbara Stanwyck film and the official addition of Henry Fonda to my Favorite Actors list.  Directed by Wesley Ruggles and released in 1941, this romantic comedy marked the third and final installment of Stanwyck/Fonda movie pairings.  This movie includes everything a romantic comedy from the Golden Age should: lots of kissing, lots of humor, some pain, some jealousy, and a happy ending (with a nicely covered suggestive last line). 

The movie has a simple plot:

On a ski trip, rich, idle Peter Kirk pursues and falls (literally) for Helen Hunt, M.D. After a courtship of hypochondria, she agrees to marry him on the condition that she continue to practice medicine. But will jealous Peter be able to reconcile himself to his wife's seeing male patients?-(IMDb)

Missy plays Dr. Helen Hunt, and Fonda plays Peter Kirk.  This being my first oldies romantic comedy in a while, I forgot how fast couples fall in love.  Before the first thirty minutes have gone by, the two have met, fallen in love, and married.  I quickly got over it, though, because this was just an adorable, OTP worthy pairing.  The predictable happens: Dr. Hunt is constantly being called to take care of her patients, and this especially annoys her new husband when the calls start not even a day after being married.  He grows even more hurt and annoyed when he discovers a vast majority of her patients are male.  The rest of the movie basically consists of Helen being called away to work, Peter getting jealous and worried about all of her male patients and interfering with her work, Helen getting mad at Peter for embarrassing her and her patients, the two making up, Peter promising he trusts her, but then breaking that promise and the whole cycle starting over again.

Eventually, Peter and Helen have a huge fight after Peter pulling a particularly embarrassing stunt.  She storms off to bed and, when she wakes up, he is missing from the guest bedroom (where he was forced to sleep) and the rest of the house.  Helen goes to work completely distressed over the whole matter, and it is then that her secretary declares she has become a real wife.  It turns out Peter went out and found a job working at a clothing store selling ties after finally listening to Helen and realizing he needed a job to make his life worth living, even though he already had millions.

At this point, it’s important to reveal that throughout the whole film up until now, Helen has been adamant about continuing her practice.  She refuses to give up her job even though she is now married.  However, once she hears Peter has finally gotten himself a job, she immediately decides she can settle with him earning the money and closes down her office.  This really kind of enraged me.  What a great way to show a wife’s place versus her husband’s.  Now, I know that ‘these were the times,’ and it was only 1941, but really?  The movie started out portraying a head-strong woman just by the fact that she was a female doctor when it wasn’t a popular occupation for said sex.  The dialogue made its fair share of jabs by pointing out that the only reason Peter wanted her to be his doctor (He had a small skiing accident while trying to show off for her on the ski slopes, causing him to land on his head.) was because she was a good-looking woman.  That’s easier to deal with, though, because Missy did her fair share of yelling and arguing with that point.  But to see her then give up what she had been calling her ‘life’s purpose’ throughout the movie all because her husband now has a job is absurd and really an insult to the female race.

Back to the plot, Peter quickly loses his job because the vast majority of the employees are mad that a millionaire is given a job he clearly doesn’t need when others who do need it are not given the chance to earn this money.  After ranting to the gardener, who suggests that Peter should become an employer instead of an employee, Peter disappears yet again, worrying Helen all the more.  Eventually, she gets a call saying he is at a local hospital.  (At least, I assume a local hospital.  That would be the small-town-America in me talking.)  It is revealed that he is buying the place and this is where Helen’s earlier action of quitting her job for her marriage is sort of redeemed: Peter makes her Chief of Staff.  And that kicker last line?

“There’s a kid in 219 we ought to adopt.”

“You mean if we get too busy for—if we get too busy.”

All in all, not too shabby of a movie.  IMDb gives it 5.8/10 stars, and I gave it 3.5/5, mainly because I’m still not over the fact that Helen thought it was suddenly okay to give up her job for her husband like that.

Want the Wikipedia page?  Click here.

Want the full movie?  Click here.

~Until Later…B

January: Movies in Review

One month down, eleven to go!  This month I really didn't get as much movie time in as I wanted, but that never really happens until the summer when I don't do anything.  And seeing as I'll be on the road for a bunch of hours this summer, I could probably get two movies a day if I wanted.  For now, though, I'll just have to muddle through the business without movies.

Number of Movies Seen: 9

Number of Rewatches: 1 (The Lion King, 1994)

Highest Rating: 5/5 (Forrest Gump, 1994)

Lowest Rating: 3.5/5 (An American in Paris, 1951; Captain January, 1936)

Most Viewed Actor: --

Most Viewed Actress: --

Most Inspirational Movie: Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

A Movie I've Finally Gotten Around to Watching: Citizen Kane (1941)

A Movie "Year" in Review

Month with the most watched movies:
July (13)

Month with the least watched movies:
September (5)

Month with the least rewatches:
July (0)

Month with the most rewatches:
December (4)

Most watched actress:
Minnie/Myrna Loy (3), Deanna Durbin (3)

Most watched actor:
Cary Grant (5)

Favorite new actress:
Gene Tierney

Favorite new actor:
Donald O'Connor

Oldest film:
The Hands of Orlac (1924, September)

Newest film:
Lincoln (2012, November)

Funniest film:
Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010, October)

Saddest film:
The Lost Weekend (1945, November)

Favorite film overall:
The Lost Weekend

Least favorite film overall:
Bringing Up Baby (1938, July)

Ratings:
0/5..................................0
0.5/5...............................0
1/5..................................0
1.5/5...............................0
2/5..................................2
2.5/5...............................0
3/5................................10
3.5/5...............................3
4/5................................15
4.5/5...............................7
5/5................................14

Another Year and Still No Offer to Host 'The Essentials' on TCM

Another year of laziness, procrastination, tears, sweat, frustration, and anger has come and gone.  I've seen myself grow into a new person (though I can't say better), who has found out things about myself that I never realized before.  I've met quite a few inspiring and funny people, I've laughed so hard I've cried, I've torn my hair out in frustration, I've realized my dream career, and I've learned that I like to be right way too much.  But looking back, it's been a great year.  Sure, I didn't get half as much done as I wanted to, but that's not important.  What is, is that I've still managed to enjoy myself 67% of the time.  I sound so cheesy, I know.  (Lucky for me, no one reads these things.)  As is always the case, as the end of the year came closer, I started coming up with all these ideas to create a new me.  And that's not gonna happen; I'll decide it's lame or embarrassing before I even give it the chance.  One resolution I do plan to follow through on, however, is a little idea I stumbled across on Tumblr the other day.  It's really the easiest thing.  For all of 2013, I'm going to write a good memory on a sheet of paper everyday and stick it in a jar.  This time next year, I'll dump it all out and read it.  And I really want to just start this memory collection already.  (Also, looking back on all that I've written here, maybe I should work on refining my writing skills as well...)
So, anyway, happy New Year to you all.  Here, have a few images:

~B