For anyone that worked at a video store each store had a return box. At West Coast Video we had two: an overnight box outside and a mail-like chute you could open the front door, drop-in, and leave. When I would work all day on Saturdays one of my jobs in the morning would be to unlock the outside box from the night before. You would open each box, check to see if you had to rewind the movie, and scanned the bar code for return.
Image courtesy of YouTube
One day I was opening boxes as usual and looked down to see snot, mucus, boogers, whatever you want to call it all over the video I was about to scan. I screamed, dropped the movie on the ground, showed my manager (we both laughed hysterically after the initial shock) and then grabbed some paper towels. I took a deep breath, picked up the movie, and scanned. That's right genius the scanner showed who last rented the video! And let me say the person in question was a young well dressed man in his early twenties that some girls in the store thought was cute! Well....not after this!
Caught booger-handed and what a disgusting story from a video store.
So for argument's sake let's assume on this island you had electricity, a tv, and dvd player! Just go with me, if you could only watch 5 movies for the rest of your life, what would they be? Here are my 5 in no particular order:
Dirty Dancing
This is the second ever movie I watched and have probably viewed more times than any movie ever. It's got a great soundtrack, the dancing is authentic, and is supposed to take place in the Catskills. I have vacationed every year of my life in the Adirondacks so that detail is especially endearing to me. I never really felt like the "pretty" girl in life so the fact that Baby is played by a normal looking girl hooked me from the start. Patrick Swayze as Johnny is great casting. He acts like a real man even though he could dance circles around most. And I have always wanted someone to say, "Nobody puts Abbie in the corner!" But don't watch it with me because I tend to recite my favorite lines out loud and will never get sick of this flick.
The Departed
What a great movie this is from start to finish. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio create a masterpiece. It has cops, secrets&lies, romance, blood&guts, twists&turns, the kind of movie you wished you hadn't seen so you could watch it for the first time again. It's too complicated to explain so just watch and enjoy.
The Little Princess
There will be a blog that I write at some point called Movies that Make You Cry No Matter How Many Times You've Seen them. This film definitely goes on the list. There is a certain magic to this film from the set design, to the costumes, to the story. Set during World War 1, a little girl gets taken to a boarding school when her father goes to war. Without giving too much away...she thinks he has died and is put into a life of servitude by the horrible head mistress, only to discover that her father is really alive! If you haven't seen this film get your tissues ready. I wanted to add the clip of the end because it's my favorite part but I won't because it would ruin the movie if you haven't seen it yet and it's just too good to ruin. And remember...all girls are princesses!
Sense and Sensibility
I love Jane Austen! This 1995 adaptation is definitely my favorite of this book. Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and many more stars take on this Ang Lee film. This was my first taste of Jane Austen. I saw the movie and then read the book. Then I read all the books and watched every adaptation of every book I could. This isn't my favorite Jane Austen book or movie, but I'm keeping that a secret for a future blog. I love epic British anything that takes you back to a different time where women had very different roles. I have to watch this movie every time it's on and I love reconnecting with the Dashwood girls anytime I can.
Superbad
Didn't see this coming did you? I would need to laugh on my deserted island wouldn't I? Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are so funny in this film. I can't even pick out my favorite part because I love them all. I think all teenagers have had a night, maybe not exactly like this, but close enough, to relate. Underage drinking and drugs, partying with scary older kids, dodgy cops, and a time you'll never forget and will try to recreate as long as you live. I would totally have been their friend in high school.
So I think I would be pretty entertained on my deserted island. Pop open a coconut and I'm set but how about you? What would your 5 movies be in this stranded story from a video store?
I fully admit it, I love romantic comedies. I'm a girl, what can I say! But sometimes I just want to see a movie where shit blows up and a man acts like a man. Here are some of my fave dude flicks:
Shawshank Redemption
What is it about a prison movie and the emotional well-being of these inmates that makes this one of every man's favorite movies? I guess even in the lowest of lows you can find hope and friendship.
Die Hard
What man do you know that has never said "Yipee Kay-Yay Mother-F*#%er." This film established Bruce Willis as an action star that with whom the regular man can relate to. Trying to reconcile with his wife, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, really discovering the stuff your made of. What a cliche, but a very entertaining one!
Rocky
Sylvester Stallone won an Oscar for this film. When you visit Philly you run the "Rocky" steps, of course with the soundtrack playing in your head, and relive this movie's epic scene. The story of an underdog, got to love it. Plus there is a little romance for the ladies.
Bad Boys
A comedian and rapper turned actors? Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were starring in their own hit tv shows at the time and what a great piece of casting. This Miami back-dropped cop movie is funny and engaging and who doesn't know and want to sing the song. "Bad boys, bad boys, what-cha gonna do, what-cha gonna do, when they come for you?"
Crocodile Dundee
Australian Outback meets NYC! A taste of a man's man living and fending for himself in the "bush", coming to NYC, and being so out of place, but learning how to fit in better than any real New Yorker. My favorite scene and I quote, "That's not a knife, this is a knife!"
So come on ladies, rent a dude flick, and discover your own manly stories from a video store.
When I would work the opening shift at West Coast Video on Saturday mornings I would get to choose the first movie that would play for day. It would set my mood for the rest of the day, like a good cup of coffee! As you have read in previous blogs, I love a good musical Some of the best musicals you have probably never seen and I also love movies that have good soundtracks. There is one Adam Sandler movie that fits both, The Wedding Singer.
This was a first pairing for Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. A heartwarming romantic comedy with some hit tunes of the 80's as it's backdrop! So there is this scene where Adam Sandler's character Robbie is trying out to be Julia's (Played by Drew Barrrymore) singer at her wedding. Robbie has just been dumped and has written an original tune for the audition. I would time this part of the movie perfectly. It has a pg-13 rating, I think, because of the expletive in this one scene alone. So I would wait for the moment, run over to the sound system, and turn it off until this song was over. Well this Saturday morning in question was a particularly busy one. Rainy days at a video store were usually a very popular time for renting videos. I was busy helping multiple customers and I just couldn't get there in time to turn the sound off.
Imagine having to apologize to a woman and her 3 kids under the age of 9 why this was blasted at 11:30 am for all ears to hear. Oops! However, I still love this movie and many other Adam Sandler flicks!
So watch the clip above, in all of it's 1 min and 54 seconds of the song entitled Someone Kill Me Please, which was the reason I got my first employee counseling session and how Adam Sandler almost got me fired in this story from a video store.
For a movie-holic a video store could be a virtual candyland of what life is like elsewhere, everywhere. It was here that I realized some girls can have everything....or everyone. Is it possible to be jealous of someone you will never meet? Like really jealous to the point of writing a blog about it...I guess my answer is yes. So here it is:
How Anne Hathaway has become my Samantha Mathis:
Let's start with Samantha. Pump up the Volume with Christian Slater, sigh...There was a time when Christian Slater ruled the box office. He had this twinkle in his eye that said I'm a bit of a bad boy. The crooked smile, the hair, the Jack Nicholson-esque voice. I fell for him first in The Legend of Billy Jean. Then desired him in Heathers where he was a psychopathic bad boy. Didn't love Gleaming the Cube, but loved his hair. He was the little brother you rooted for in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Then came Untamed Heart...romance at it's finest. Critical acclaim in True Romance another love story in Bed of Roses (Mary Stuart Masterson gets special mention, can anyone say Benny and Joon). But Samantha got him first.
The Thing Called Love with River Phoenix and Dermot Mulroney. It hurts that there will generations of girls who won't know who River Phoenix was. I also never knew that at the time of his death, Samantha was his real-life girlfriend too (20th Anniversay of River Phoenix's death) In his short time he starred in some pretty great movies. Obviously most people know him best from Stand By Me or even as Young Indy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I fell in love with him in this country-music fan's delight. It even stars a young Sandra Bullock, but Sandy is not Sam. Oh no, Samantha Mathis gets him to sing and fall in love with her all while Dermot Mulroney is silently lusting after her too. Seriously not fair.
Little Women came next with Christian Bale. Like right after Newsies Christian Bale, young and hot. Right before he hit it big and I don't care what Louisa May Alcott says, Laurie should have been with Jo, not Amy.
I lose touch with Samantha after that, then in 2007 she does a tv movie with A Stranger's Heart with Peter Dobson....who's he you ask? I have one word for you: Sing. The perfect 1989 musical about a Brooklyn school, good girl/bad boy, save the show spectacular. You know how I love musicals and this last number will give you the chills (fast forward to 1:50min) and can be seen in full on YouTube.
It just seemed that some girls get all the luck. I thought I was done with the jealousy thing. I grew up, became a woman, got married, but then came Anne Hathaway, oh Anne...you get to sing, kiss, and get naked with just about one of every girl's fantasy and I'm sure she isn't done.
It first starts with Nicholas Nickleby with Charlie Hunnam and Jamie Bell, Ella Enchanted with Hugh Dancy, Princess Diaries sequel with Chris Pine, Brokeback Mountain with Jake Gyllenhaal, Devil Wears Prada with Adrien Grenier and Simon Baker, Becoming Jane with James McAvoy (the look he gives her when they dance makes my heart beat faster as I write this) Passengers with Patrick Wilson, Bride Wars with the adorable Bryan Greenberg, Valentine's Day with Topher Grace, Love & Other Drugs with Jake Gyllenhaal again, One Day with Jim Sturgess, Dark Knight Rises with Christian Bale and this where it hits me. Anne Hathaway is my new Samantha Mathis. The girl that gets all the guys. My sworn film-watching enemy.
But this isn't real life it's stories from a video store.
