Welcome back to Thursday Thoughts!
Today I’ll be sharing my 10 favorite movies. If you’re not a movie lover, we can’t be friends. I’m kidding! Paul is not a movie lover at all, and I still keep him around. 🙂 For real though, I love movies. I love cartoons, dramas, comedies, romantic comedies, musicals, thrillers, old movies, new movies, kid movies, black and white movies…pretty much all movies except for horror movies. I’m too chicken to watch those. I used to, but like I mentioned about The Grudge in this post, I’m just not cut out for all that. Not to mention, who wants that bad juju in their house? Not me. Let’s get to it, shall we?
The Family Stone– I can’t say enough how much I love this movie. I absolutely love a story about a dysfunctional family. And the cast in this movie is just phenomenal. Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Rachel McAdams, Claire Danes, and Luke Wilson just to name a few. The eldest son, Everett (Dermot Mulroney), is bringing home his girlfriend, Meredith (SJP), for Christmas. His sister, Amy (Rachel McAdams), has already met her and hates her, so naturally, she’s already told everyone how awful she is. It turns out to be am awkward introduction to the family and an even more awkward few days as Christmas approaches. I kind of love the awkwardness about it, though. It surely makes for a very entertaining story. The house that the Stone family lives in is just gorgeous. Diane Keaton said in an interview that she hated the cluttered mess of the house and how lived-in it was, but it was such a great feature to the movie. It was totally believable that all of those kids grew up in that home and were coming back to a place of comfort and familiarity for a few days. It was superb acting for sure, and you should definitely check it out if you’ve never seen it. And here’s another fun fact, the music is AMAZING. In the scene when Diane Keaton’s character looks out the window while it’s snowing, there is orchestral music playing. That bit of music was playing as I walked down the aisle. So, yeah, it’s safe to say that I have a real love for many things about this movie. Go watch it!
A League of Their Own– Who doesn’t love this movie? “There’s no crying in baseball!” Don’t we all know that part? This is a movie I can pretty much quote from start to finish. I watched it so many times as a kid. I could sing “It Had to be You” just like Marla did when she was drunk at the bar. I can still sing “We’re the members of the All-American League. We come from cities near and far. We’ve got Canadians, Irish ones, and Swedes. We’re all for one. We’re one for all. We’re all American.” I could go on, but I won’t. Gena Davis and Tom Hanks are obviously the stars of the movie, but the whole cast was just incredible. Despite how things have progressed for Rosie O’Donnell, and despite what your current opinion of her may be, I still would want to go up to her and ask to go have a “steak dinnah” with her just so we could talk about her experience filming that movie. I may have never giggled so hard on a film before than when Jimmy Dougan goes into the bathroom before their first game and pees for forever in front of all the girls. I remember being embarrassed to watch that with my mom and dad because I didn’t want to laugh too hard and them think badly of me. But it was so dang funny!
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes– It’s no secret to people who know me that I’m a Marilyn Monroe fan. I used to be quite obsessed and had two posters of her hanging in my bedroom, a purse with her pictures on it, a book chronicling her life in pictures (I probably still have this), and several of her movies. She was so beautiful and sexy and blonde, and I just wanted to be her. The movie is a musical, which is maybe my favorite genre of film, and I don’t care what people say about her not having a good voice. I loved it. “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” is an iconic song and has never been covered as well as she sang it in my opinion. She is known for being irresponsible and some might have said a pain to work with, but the end result was always amazing. She was a great talent gone too soon.
Funny Girl– Another musical to add to the list. Barbra Streisand. Need I say more? The woman is other-worldly talented. Fanny Brice is a wonderfully complicated, quirky, strong, funny girl. She goes after what she wants and holds on for dear life until she gets it. And she sings one of the greatest love songs of all time, “My Man”. I cry and cry every single time. It’s a long one with an actual intermission in the film but please do yourself a favor and watch it.
Â
 Elf– Okay, I love me some Christmas movies. But who doesn’t love this? This is such a funny movie with so many great quotes. Every year during the Christmas season two of my friends from Louisiana, Tina and Rochelle, and I get our group text going when one of us is currently watching Elf and we all proceed to text quotes back and forth to each other. We are grown women, but we always laugh about this movie, and quite frankly, I hope we never stop doing that.
When Harry Met Sally– I just love this movie. I think that Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan were so great together. I know Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are another great pairing, but this movie was my favorite of the Meg Ryan trio (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail). I love that Harry and Sally are practically enemies when they meet and drive to NYC and then come together as friends later in their lives. It’s was a unique take on how two people fell in love. One of the greats.
The Way We Were– More Barbra. Katie and Hubbell, the song, the fashion, her hair, heck his hair, Robert Redford. Watch it. That is all. (Seriously, y’all…look at these pictures. They are two of the most beautiful people ever. So many heart eyes for their gorgeousness, their work, and this movie.)
Singing in the Rain– I love this movie so much. I think Gene Kelly was one of the most handsome men there ever was. And what a talent? He could sing and dance and act-total triple threat. Also, the late Debbie Reynolds was perfect as Cathy. I thought she was so pretty and “Good Morning” is one of my favorite numbers from the movie. (The girl can dance!) I always play the clips of “Make ‘Em Laugh”, “Good Morning”, and “Singing in the Rain” for my students every year as a get-to-know-me exercise. At the beginning of the year we are learning a lot about each other and I let them know that I like movies, especially musicals, through this movie. “Make ‘Em Laugh” is always their favorite. 🙂
The Harry Potter Franchise– I know this is technically more than one movie, but I am a fan of the whole franchise, so I had to include them. Paul and I watched the movies when we first got married (up through The Deathly Hallows Part 1). We were able to go see The Deathly Hallows Part 2 in theaters, and I was so excited to be an actual HP fan going to the movies to see it. I don’t know why I never jumped on the bandwagon when I was a kid and the books were coming out, but I just didn’t. After watching all the movies I decided to get all the books and spent a year or so reading all of them. To say I loved them is an understatement. I think that I really enjoy the fact that you become so invested in the characters and the story line when you’re reading the books or watching the movies for that matter. And once you get into it, everything and everyone becomes familiar. The movies were so well made and the actors were just expertly cast. I don’t have to tell you this. If you’re a Potter fan, you already know.
The Holiday– Nancy Meyers is a fabulous film maker and has a fun Instagram account with behind-the-scenes looks from the movies she is currently filming. I believe she’s just wrapped one called Home Again that stars Reese Witherspoon. Can’t wait to see more about that one. And let’s not forget Something’s Got to Give and It’s Complicated. Both hilarious! This movie was just fun for me. I love a good romantic comedy, and Cameron Diaz and Jack Black in the same movie? Comedy gold. Let’s not forget how gorgeous Jude Law is and how stupidly talented Kate Winslet is. Everything she does is phenomenal to me, and she didn’t win that Oscar for nothing. I enjoyed the interesting concept of switching houses with someone half way around the world. I would have definitely reacted the same way Iris did when she got to Amanda’s house in L.A. It was incredible. However, I totally loved the English cottage. It’s pretty adorable. The soundtrack is fantastic too. I considered a song from this movie to be played at my wedding as well. And I may have (more than once) taken a picture of Cameron Diaz from that movie into the salon to get her haircut. Most people have seen this, but if you’ve been living under a rock for the last, oh 10 years, watch it when it comes on TBS or Freeform at Christmas.
BONUS: I’m a huge Adam Sandler fan. So just about any of his movies are ones that I’m almost always going to sit and watch. I did it today when Blended was on tv. There’s another great movie pairing: Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. I didn’t so much care for You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and never saw Little Nicky or Anger Management. But I feel like those weren’t his best anyway. Give me Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, Grown Ups, or Just Go With It any day. He’s hilarious. I even loved him in Spanglish.
I hope you’ve seen some of these movies already or maybe now you’ll add a few to your To-Be-Watched list. These aren’t all the movies I’ve enjoyed. I quite enjoyed the new Beauty and the Beast, and I really love Annie, and I kind of like The Blind Side (okay, not kind of…I REALLY like that one). And let’s not forget The Help and The Sound of Music and Trolls  and Sweet Home Alabama and Mrs. Doubtfire. I could go on and on and on. Like the quote above by Laura Dern, I love movies. They have this ability to take you away to a completely different world (The Hunger Games) and inspire you (War Room) and make you sad (Steel Magnolias) or happy (The Little Rascals) or want to sing (Pitch Perfect 1 and 2) and some even make you feel alive (Life is Beautiful). Again, I love movies. I hope you do too.
I hope Friday treats you well (extra well if you get the day off) and that you have a great weekend! Happy Easter!
