Monday, April 29, 2013

Midday Movie Mondays-50 First Dates

Okay, so today's movie, as you probably figured out from the title, was 50 First Dates!
Admittedly, I love that there are so many jokes about
Adam Sandler's head being shaped like an egg in this movie.

So, I actually had an ulterior motive for watching this movie today as I had to watch it for an assignment in my Abnormal Psychology class. Nonetheless, it's a movie that I have watched and enjoyed before so I was rather looking forward to seeing it again.

For those who haven't seen it, it's about Henry (Adam Sandler) who meets Lucy (Drew Berrymore) and becomes infatuated with her only to learn that she has Goldfield Syndrome (AKA Anterograde Amnesia, which is when someone can't remember any new memories that are created usually after a trauma to the brain). Henry works to explain her accident and make her fall in love with him everyday.

Personally, I rather enjoy this movie. I believe it gives a fairly accurate portrayal of a mental disorder such as Anterograde Amnesia, even if it renames it. It is lovely that he continues to win her affections every day, even knowing that she's going to forget him the next day. It has an extremely bittersweet ending, which my roommate actually cried at (and she didn't even see all of the movie). Overall, I think this movie is charming, funny and an enjoyable movie, though perhaps not my favorite of all time, even in the realm of rom-coms.
AKA, this is a movie that, while I enjoy watching, I'm probably not going to go out and purposefully rent, unless I need to for a class or I am just somehow really in the mood for it.
-Morgan

PS: Any suggestions for a future movie? I watched this one because I had to anyway for a class, but I'm completely undecided on what I'm going to watch next week, so I would love any requests you have to give!

Monday, April 22, 2013

The start of Midday Movie Mondays-Mulan

Hey, guys! I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long.  I've been getting caught up with school and stuff, but I promise I'm back! In fact, I'm beginning a new series of sorts to help keep me on track, so you should, at the very least, hear from me once a week!

So, if you didn't read the title, this new series is called Midday Movie Mondays! The idea was born last week on Wednesday when I watched 27 Dresses in the middle of the day to help me feel better. I realized that this was a thing that really helped to put me in a better mood and I realized that, out of all of the days of the week, Mondays are probably the days I'm most in need of a mood booster. So, I decided to start watching a movie every Monday in the middle of the day because I thought it would fun and help me be in a better mood. At which point I realized, hey, I could talk about this on my blog and people might like that and it would get me posting more often. So, here we are, at the beginning of a wonderful journey that I am thrilled to go on with you guys. Yes, I'm aware of how cheesy that was. Moving on.

To start of Midday Movie Mondays, today I watched......
*Cue dramatic music from when she cuts off her hair*
I'm pretty sure everybody and his/her mother has seen this movie, but if you've somehow been living under a rock for the last fifteen years, this 1998 Disney film shows the story of a young woman who decides to take her father's place in the army because she knows he'd die if he went off to fight.

I haven't seen this movie in awhile, so it was really nice to watch again. It was definitely a nostalgia trip for me and I absolutely loved it. Mulan has always been one of my favorite Disney movies, easily making the top 10, if not top 5. I love the story about a strong woman who defies societal norms and expectations to save her father. Later in the movie she says maybe she didn't even do it for her father, that maybe she did it to prove that she could do something right. Personally, I'm pretty sure it was a combination of both, that she was consciously thinking of her father while doing it, but subconsciously she was driven by the need to prove herself, which, personally, doesn't take away from what she did at all. I definitely think wanting to prove yourself in some way is a totally valid reason for doing what you do, whatever it is.

Admittedly one of my favorite parts is the fact that Mulan and Shang don't obviously end up together. There is no big scene where one of them confesses their undying love to the other and they share the most heartfelt of kisses. This isn't what the movie is about. And, yes, by the end of the film, you're aware that they both have feelings for each other, but, overall, the movie isn't about the romance, it's about Mulan making a difference and really becoming someone she can be proud to be. And I'm one of those people who loves a good love story, so if I'm saying one of my favorite parts is the lack of romance, you know this is a good movie.

Anyway, those are my main thoughts. Let me know what you guys think of the movie and make suggestions for any future Midday Movie Monday movies I should do. Honestly, I don't even know what I'm going to watch next week, so if you make a suggestion, there's probably a good chance I'll take it.

Thanks for reading,
-Morgan

P.S. I know that's not the most well-known or used movie poster, but of the ones I found it was by far my favorite  What do you guys think? Better or worse than the more well-known version?