Java's 100 Classic Movie Blog Post Ideas

Are you a classic movie blogger caught in a dry spell? If so, get some inspiration today from the list at Java's Journey, featuring 100 ideas for your blog. It's part of Java's series, Classic Movie Blog Tips. designed to help classic movie bloggers become the best they can be.

I think all of us have our slumps and writer's blocks. That's why I love this list of 100 ideas, which I find so inspiring.  Idea #58 is particularly intriguing - "Discuss the cover art of a classic movie DVD or VHS tape". Believe it or not I still have a bunch of VHS tapes and I might pull a few out and do this one.

Here are a few more ideas I will be incorporating on my own blog in the coming weeks/months:

• Stay tuned for my reviews of seeing Ben-Hur, The Untouchables, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on the big screen (#33)!
• I'm planning to have special "themes" this summer with several posts covering one theme (#7, #14)
• I also have a post in the works that discuss a few film stars's last movies (#86)
• In a few week's I'll be sharing for the first time about my love for my favorite movie (#13, #19, #81), It's a Wonderful Life, and why it has become my favorite.

The Age of Adaline (2015)

Blake Lively impressed me in Age of Adeline.
I have not seen any of her films or TV shows except
for Green Lantern, where she was outshown by the
superheros and visual effects.

Blake Lively plays a 100+ year old woman, Adaline, "trapped" in a young woman's body. But this is not a vampire film. The opening scenes attempt to explain it all with a dramatic voice narrator (sounding like a Bill Kurtis documentary) detailing her plight with enough scientific lexicon to confuse me into suspending my disbelief. If I can believe people survive near-fatal car crashes in Furious Seven, then I can bend a little on this premise too.

And I like the premise, the stuff of novels. But this is an original screenplay. Ellen Burstyn plays her daughter. Yes her daughter! And to great effect - when they talk to each other it really feels like it. Blake dresses, talks, and thinks like an "old soul". Her apartment has a vintage flair, and would likely be a person who loves the classic movies that we all enjoy and love so much.

I like how the film explores memories and aging, as well as having to conceal your true identity and be on the move.  The film Benjamin Button explored some similar ideas, but I found that film to be depressing and ultimately unsatisfying. This movie is much better.

I also like how the movie deals with her having to hide from the world. Only her daughter knows her secret. She can't tell anyone - or can she? Can she really trust another soul? Can she be herself? Will she ever stop hiding?

Harrison Ford is excellent as a man who thinks he remembers meeting Adaline years ago. I love this part of the film, but it comes near the end. Don't go to the movie expecting to see Ford right away.
Kudos to Blake Lively for pulling off this role. Also with Kathy Baker and and actor I'm not familiar with, Michiel Huisman.

Motion Enhanced seating experience for Furious Seven

So last night I went to see Furious Seven again for a record-breaking sixth time. 

This time, I had a truly unique experience---I bought a ticket for a D-BOX motion enhanced seat.

I never bothered to try it out until Furious Seven....and all I can say is.... WOW.

I literally felt like I was at a theme park ride (at Universal Studios perhaps?).  But while those rides last only a few minutes, this experience went for the whole 2+ hours.

The seat rocked, swayed and vibrated in sync with every action scene.

True, the enhanced seat did cost a little more, but luckily I had a Fandango gift card to use it on!

There was a pretty full audience at the showing...which is the 4th weekend the movie is out....the audience was lively and into the movie. Roman's antics always get the biggest laughs. I can't get enough of that ambush sequence with the bus drop and the "demon love child". And I can't get enough of that entire Abu Dhabi sequence with the car jump from the building.

I need to see this movie at minimum of one more time in IMAX at some point!

Reflections on Furious 7 - after 5th viewing

This past Monday night I went to see Furious 7 for the fifth time. That might sound crazy, but I know some of you have seen certain movies a lot more than that.

This movie is one to experience on the big screen. Thankfully it's still in theaters...I have not seen it in IMAX yet so there may be a SIXTH viewing, which would break my all time record.

So after five viewings, what were my takeaways this time?

• There was a smaller crowd, not as many people as previous showings. Didn't hear people laugh, gasp, or clap this time. There was applause, though.

• The movie's main song (currently #1 on the Billboard charts) could be nominated for the Best Song Oscar. It would be great it was nominated, and won, even! Imagine - a Fast and Furious movie winning an Oscar! It should be nominated for Sound, Sound Effects Editing, and even Visual Effects...I mean, what they did with the Paul Walker CGI is amazing.

• The race between Sean Boswell and Dom --- they don't show it (brilliance) and they don't tell you who wins---again, brilliance.

• This movie is almost 2-1/2 hours---but I'm sure the final cut was MUCH LONGER....So everything in the current cut is there for a reason - every shot, every line, everything. Nothing on screen was worthy of being cut. Applause!

• One thing that keeps bugging me is the scene where we first see Mia and Jack in the Dominican in the safe house. There is a character talking on his phone to Dom and I feel I should know him but I don't think he's ever explained in a previous movie...he has some dialogue that is hard to make out with his accent...I have to listen again next time carefully because I think he explains why he's sheltering Mia...something about returning a favor to Dom...but I'm not sure.....
• I love the three simultaneous action sequences at the end. Was listening to a podcast this week and they compared it to Return of the Jedi's climax where they have three sets of action sequences going on. And in this film Dom and Deckard Shaw fight each other with wrenches which reminds me of the Darth-Luke fight in the end of Jedi! 

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Fourth time's a charm for Furious Seven!

Tonight I saw Furious Seven again for the fourth time!

Rarely have I seen a film so many times in the theater - a few I can think of: Batman (1989), Titanic (1997), and Skyfall (2012), which I saw 5 times! (The Fugitive in 1993 comes close at 3 times!)

 But Furious Seven. WOW.

This movie is a roller coaster ride - some of the best stunts and action scenes I've ever seen. Trust me, some of those stunts you might have seen on TV or in the trailer are NOTHING compared to seeing them on the big screen.

Sure, yeah, I'll buy the Blu-Ray and watch it any time after that, but my TV screen is NO MATCH for seeing this on the big screen in theaters, filled with an audience laughing, cheering, applauding, gasping, and tearing up. There is something thrilling about it all.

At tonight's screening, and at every screening I've been to so far, the audience applauded! And laughed at every scene I laughed at too.

My favorite quotes so far:

"Time to Unleash the Beast!"

"Daddy's Got to Go to Work"

"I Don't have friends - I got family!"

"Cars Don't Fly!"

"Double Alpha!"

Mister Buddwing (1966) starring James Garner

The movie begins with James Garner's character waking up on a park bench in New York with a serious case of amnesia. He has no identification other than a strange phone number and a ring with initials.

I loved the movie's mystery that slowly unfolds over the course of the film; the Garner character slowly remembers his past which is revealed via flashback sequences. The movie was shot on location in New York and I loved seeing all the scenes on the street. 

The film has a good supporting cast:  Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Angela Lasbury, Katherine Ross, Jack Gilford, Nichelle Nichols.

They all play interesting characters that Garner meets along the way who may or may not be truly related to his character.

One of my favorite scenes occurs when a man in a park may or may not have discovered that Garner's character is a escaped mental patient. A cop comes up to Garner and questions him intensely, only to be sidetracked by a bunch of young college kids who stage a faux protest. 

It is directed by Delbert Mann (Marty), and features a cameo by Joe Mantell who played Marty's best friend Angelo. 

Interesting bit of trivia: It was nominated for Best Costume (B/W) and Best Art Direction (BW) for the year of 1966. It lost to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?   

If you are a longtime reader of my blog, you will remember that I think Virginia Woolf's Oscar win for Costume is one of the most bizarre wins in the history of the Oscars.

Believe it or not, the Oscar nominations for Mister Buddwing are almost as bewildering. For example, James Garner wears the same suit and tie throughout the entire film, which takes place over the course of a couple days. I don't ever remember seeing the suit spotted in any way. As far as art direction, much of the film showed Garner on the streets of New York: in a park, on a bridge, on the streets, in a taxicab. Oscar-worthy technical achievement?  Sigh! No wonder 1966 was the last year Black-And-White Oscars were presented.

Nonetheless, the movie is enjoyable with bouts of humor, but it is not a comedy. Overall the tone is somewhat somber.  I recommend the movie if you are fan of James Garner or anyone in the cast, or want to see New York City in the mid-1960s.

Additional Reviews:  Filmsnoir.net | Original New York Times review

The Magnificent 60s

Furious Seven - the best Furious yet

So at the time of this writing, I have seen Furious Seven three times in the theaters!

Yes, I LOVED it that much.  Some of the best action sequences and stunts of the series. Some of the best quotes.

I loved the new characters, and seeing the older characters come back and make surprise cameos. It may be my favorite of all the Fast & Furious movies so far.  One day I may do a special series of posts on these movies.

And the scenes with Paul Walker that are supposed to be CGI? I never noticed them.

Behind the scenes of this film was a team of creative geniuses - the director, writer, the editor, the special effects team---EVERYONE. What they created was pure cinema splendor. With a movie like this, it's so much fun to be in a theater to hear everyone's reactions - when they laugh, applaud, gasp, etc. Seriously, I want to see this movie at least one more time in the theaters.

If you saw it, what did you think?

Cool Links:
15 Times “Furious 7” Calls Back To The Earlier “Fast And Furious” Movies (BuzzFeed.com)

Stan Freberg (1926-2015)

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Stan Freberg, from Leonard Maltin's blog.

Also reported on  New York Times |  CNN.com |  NPR.org |  Splitsider.com

You might not know his face but you know his voice from countless radio programs, commercials, TV shows (Beany and Cecil), movies (Lady and the Tramp) and cartoons (Tex Avery, Looney Tunes) for over 60 years. He was a Radio Hall of Famer, a legend of advertising and satire, a Grammy winning recording artist, and a man of 1,000 voices.  One of my favorite of his satires is "Green Christmas" which he recorded some 50 years ago.

If you have never heard it, have a listen here.



May his voice and his recordings live on forever.