Miss Barbara's Movie Adventures

[MissBarbara]

There's a pretty long list of famous movies that "everyone" has seen, but I haven't.

About a month ago, I embarked on a mission to watch as many of them as I can. There are many that I won't watch due to disnterest -- the first 3 and last 3 "Star Wars" movies, all 6 Tolkien movies, the 3 Matrix movies, the 2 "Avatar" movies, etc. (I suspect you can see a theme here) -- but I'm making an effort to see as many of the others as I can.

Thus far, I watched "From Here to Eternity," half of "Gone with the Wind" (and I stopped halfway not due to the many historical inaccuracies, but simply because it's so damn long), "Apocalypse Now," and "Titanic."

Last night I watched "Grease" (which I loved), and I had an unanticipated memory experience. I'd never seen the movie, but my mom had the soundtrack, and I heard it countless times when I was a kid. Fast forward about 30-35 years, and as I'm watching it, not only did I know every song, but I knew exactly when each song was about to appear. For example, I was watching the slumber party scene, and I though they're about to sing "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," and 30 seconds later, they did.

One thing about the movie puzzled me. I was able to get past the fact that the high school seniors (aged 17 or 18) were played by actors who were significantly older (Stockard Channing was 33!). But I couldn't figure out why -- in a movie clearly set in Los Angeles -- most of the characters spoke with New York accents, boys and girls alike. Granted, John Travolta was born and raised in New Jersey, and in his two famous roles before "Grease" came out, he played New Yorkers (Brooklyn boys, to be precise). But why everyone else?

[Pornhubby]

Supposedly a NYC high school was the inspiration for the original play, but the original musical was set in Chicago. Director Randal Kleiser took numerous liberties with the original source material, most notably moving the setting to a more suburban locale, reflecting his own teenage years at Radnor High School in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

No one has ever identified why the New York/New Jersey accents were employed in a movie set in Southern California. But there’s no doubt that they were.

[staci]

There's a pretty long list of famous movies that "everyone" has seen, but I haven't.

About a month ago, I embarked on a mission to watch as many of them as I can. There are many that I won't watch due to disnterest -- the first 3 and last 3 "Star Wars" movies, all 6 Tolkien movies, the 3 Matrix movies, the 2 "Avatar" movies, etc. (I suspect you can see a theme here) -- but I'm making an effort to see as many of the others as I can.

Thus far, I watched "From Here to Eternity," half of "Gone with the Wind" (and I stopped halfway not due to the many historical inaccuracies, but simply because it's so damn long), "Apocalypse Now," and "Titanic."

Last night I watched "Grease" (which I loved), and I had an unanticipated memory experience. I'd never seen the movie, but my mom had the soundtrack, and I heard it countless times when I was a kid. Fast forward about 30-35 years, and as I'm watching it, not only did I know every song, but I knew exactly when each song was about to appear. For example, I was watching the slumber party scene, and I though they're about to sing "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," and 30 seconds later, they did.

One thing about the movie puzzled me. I was able to get past the fact that the high school seniors (aged 17 or 18) were played by actors who were significantly older (Stockard Channing was 33!). But I couldn't figure out why -- in a movie clearly set in Los Angeles -- most of the characters spoke with New York accents, boys and girls alike. Granted, John Travolta was born and raised in New Jersey, and in his two famous roles before "Grease" came out, he played New Yorkers (Brooklyn boys, to be precise). But why everyone else?




[/quote

Don't forget the Alamo.

[Pornhubby]

Of all the movies listed on your adventure, I would recommend “Apocalypse Now” if you could only see one. Loosely based on Joseph Conrad‘s “The Heart of Darkness,“ it just has so many layers. Truly, a once in a generation masterpiece. I recently watched “Apocalypse Redux,” with almost three hours of additional footage rejoined. A different movie, but so much backstory revealed.   

[Writers Bloque]

Of all the movies listed on your adventure, I would recommend “Apocalypse Now” if you could only see one. Loosely based on Joseph Conrad‘s “The Heart of Darkness,“ it just has so many layers. Truly, a once in a generation masterpiece. I recently watched “Apocalypse Redux,” with almost three hours of additional footage rejoined. A different movie, but so much backstory revealed.

Good choice. I also recommend a Jaws watch through next or the first Alien movie. Mrs. Weaver in her underwear is a treat. There used to be a guy online who would skim movies for the sexy bits to display. I think his name was Mr. Skin. I would also recommend Fire and Ice. A great work, animated but wholly not for kids.