Titanic

"Titanic", New/#83, 1997


Well hello there. To say it's been a while would be an extreme understatement. It's been over a year since I've posted. And, in 2012, I only managed to watch three of these movies. But, good news is I'm feeling a little fired up about it, so I'll start to watch them again. And I'll get the write-ups about those few done soon!
Also, I'm going to be using the public library to help me! Though, my discovery of the joys of the public library may have contributed to the lack of movie watching in general. But alas, now I'm going to use it help my movie watching endeavor. 

So Titanic, one of those movies I've seen a few times previously. In fact, I saw it in theaters when it was released. Little 8 year-old-Paula out for an evening with the family.
I'm sure I'm not the only one with some sentimental attachment to Titanic. It was a huge movie at it's release, and huge for years after that. Also, literally huge, as it took two VHS tapes to contain the awesomeness of the movie. Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" was played non-stop on the radio (every radio station) for an entire summer. And it continued on in my house for long after that once the piano sheet music was purchased (bless you Mom & Dad).

I will admit, that I usually would only watch the first tape. Right up to where they hit the iceberg. Because it just gets so sad. And it continually gets worse and worse. And I can't stand it.
But, it needed to be watched in its entirety! And, lucky me, I got to do that in a theater again. Since 3D is the big sweeping trend, Titanic in 3D was re-released. [[Side-note, I kind of hate this digital 3D thing, and it really needs to stop]]
But to the theater I went, to see Titanic in 3D for the first time ever, and for the first time in it's entirety for several years.
And guess what. It was spectacular. There's no denying that it is an awesome movie. In storyline, dialogue, cinematography, special effects... I really could go on. 

If you haven't seen it, please crawl out from under rock and get that taken care of ASAP. Just be aware you are in store for a long, emotional ride.
And I don't at all feel bad for any spoilers I've just given away, because you seriously had 16 years and two theatrical releases to get your act together.

For now, I leave you with a link for Titanic vs. Aladdin : http://themetapicture.com/aladdin-vs-titanic/ 
Click on it... it's funny.

The Shawshank Redemption

"The Shawshank Redemption", New/#72, 1994

This was an amazing movie!! I really, really liked it. This is a movie that was added to the anniversary list, and I fully support that. The movie takes place in Shawshank prison and focuses on a few of the prisoners that are serving long sentances. Morgan Freeman's character, Red, narrates the movie, and it is mostly about Tim Robbins' character, Andy. They are both serving life sentances for murder. I don't want to give away too much of the movie because I highly suggest watching it. This movie is a really good balance of drama, some humor, low points, high points, and things like that. So, this is another movie that I actually want to watch again, and would kind of consider buying. You should definitely watch it.

Update: Three days later I was shopping at Walmart, and I checked out the $5 movie section as I usually do (I mean, $5 movies, that's awesome), and Shawshank Redemption was there. I bought it. So, you can totally borrow it from me. :)

Pulp Fiction

"Pulp Fiction", #95/94, 1994
When I pulled this movie out of the Netflix envelope, there was a guy with shoulder-length hair, and after a moment of starring at it, my thought was, "Is that John Travolta?" Well, turns out it was. "Pulp Fiction" also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis as the main characters, and a whole slew of actors like Christopher Walkins, Steve Buscemi, & Kathy Griffin, who play these really minor roles like waiter or pedestrian. I think the main reason why I was so surprised by the actors is because I'm so used to these old movies from the 40's or so.
Okay, so the movie... The movie doesn't really follow any one storyline. It shows Samuel L, John Travolta, Uma, and Bruce in this kind of overlapping, connected storyline. The coolest part of the movie is that the audience doesn't see things in chronological order. And you also see the same event from different points of view. I just attempted to explain the order that it takes place... Like 3a, 2a, 4a, 5, 4b, 1, 2b... but, I got confused, so, I gave up on that. And, what I think was kind of sweet is that the movie does not tell you what order it is, the audience just has to figure it out. The only thing the movie tells the audience is the title of 'section' like "The Gold Watch" or "The Bonnie Situation", so you know it's kind of this contained storyline that fits into the whole picture.

I don't know... maybe that does make any sense. But, it was very cool, and that's probably the reason why this movie is on the Top 100 movie list, because the content is not really original. My favorite parts of this movie are the hair styles that Samuel L & Travolta had and the soundtrack. There is this scene where one of the characters is driving along, jamming out to "Flowers on the Wall". It just funny and rather realistic. I mean, if you heard "Flowers on the Wall" on the radio, wouldn't you just be jamming out as well? I know I would. There are other soundtrack moments that are just awesome. It's almost as if they just picked fun songs, and not necessarily ones that were specifically chosen to match the situation.
Oh, and the title of the movie... I don't know why it's called "Pulp Fiction". Pulp fiction points to a time in comic books when they printed on this old, recycled paper called pulp.
And other thing I forgot, there are a couple times in the movie where Samuel L quotes Ezekiel 25:17 as a passage from the Bible that he has memorized. He says: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you." Now, go look that up on biblegateway. ((Hint: Don't get your theology from pop culture))
So if you can look past the fact that is has bad theology, a lot of violence, drugs, sex, and the fact that it holds the record for most use of the "F" word in any movie (Netflix says 271, imdb.com says 265, I don't care to count) along with a huge slew of other swear words and derogatory terms, I think it is good movie, and you should consider watching it. Just make sure there are no kids around.

Fargo

"Fargo", #84/removed, 1996

There were a few things I knew about this movie before I watched it. Originally, I thought this movie was a comedy, because people always makes jokes about it. Turns out, it's a drama. The reason it's so funny, is because it takes place in Minnesota, and therefore the people in the movie have Minnesotan accents. And, they speak like Minnesotans in how they phrase things, and what they say. Based on people's reactions to my accent, I can understand why this movie is funny to other people. I'm not going to really recap it, because it would give too much away. You can gather a general idea since the tag line of the movie is a "a homespun murder story."
The only other thing I'm going to comment about this movie is the fact that people from Minnesota get upset because everyone makes fun of the Minnesotan accent in the movie Fargo, when Fargo is in fact in North Dakota. Well, these people are either idiots, or haven't actually watched the movie. The movie is called Fargo, and the opening scene takes place in (as displayed on the screen) "Fargo, North Dakota", but then the rest of the movie takes place in Minnesota, Brainerd, Minneapolis, and some in the more generic Twin Cities. However, that said, people who actually do live in the Twin Cities can get a little upset over the accents since these are the 'up nort' accents.
Along that line, there is a scene where two guys are traveling from Brainerd to Minneapolis, and they show a snapshot of the skyline and the highway signs. Sadly enough, I recognized this as a piece of 35W that you would see as you drive into the Cities from the south. And Brainerd is North of the Cities. So goof up on the part of the movie makers, but seriously, how on earth did I notice this?
The beginning on the movies says it's based on a true story, but after a little research from Wikipedia, it's not any one true story, but bits and pieces from many true stories strung into the one.
Overall, I actually liked this movie. I would probably suggest watching it, or at least chunks of it when it's on TV. And people who live in Minnesota, or Fargo, North Dakota should definitely watch it. However, it does get a little long, but, it's Minnesota after all, don't we move at a slower pace?