Friday, November 09, 2018

The 10-Day Movie Challenge

Ten days ago, a friend nominated me for the 10-day Movie Challenge on Facebook. Every day, I had to select an image from a film that has impacted me in some way, present it without a single explanation, and nominate somebody else to take the challenge.

I finished the challenge today, but it was HARD!!!  Why?  Because I couldn't talk about the images!  When I share about movies that have affected me in some way, I want to use words.  I want to explain.  And I couldn't.

Well, ha ha ha, this right here is MY blog where I make the rules, and so I'm going to share all ten pictures here too and talk about WHY I chose them and HOW these movies have impacted me.  SO THERE.
Day One


That's Richard Burton in Hamlet (1964).  It's a little bit of a cheat because that wasn't technically a movie, it was a stage performance in NYC that got recorded and broadcast to theaters, but... I really love it, so I included it.  It's the first stage performance of Hamlet I ever saw, albeit on film and not live, and it made such an impact on me!  (I'll be reviewing this for a blogathon next month, btw.)

Day Two


It's the schwarma stinger at the end of The Avengers (2012).  Which still doesn't fail to crack me up.  I've seen The Avengers in the theater more times than any other  movie -- I'm up to seven viewings now, and I still adore it.  Three of those were in its initial run, one was when they brought it back for Labor Day weekend that year, one was for a Thorsday Marathon, one was when it was paired with Age of Ultron for a double feature, and one was when they brought it back earlier this year for the ten-year anniversary of the MCU.  Would go again in a heartbeat if it showed up at some theater nearby this evening.  Man, this movie taught me so much about how to weave a story together!  Plus, of course, it introduced me to Thor.  In fact, it was my introduction to the MCU as a whole!

Day Three


This is Alan Ladd in Whispering Smith (1948), aka the movie that made me start falling for Ladd.  Look at those beautiful, soulful eyes!  His character in it, Luke Smith, is proooooobably my favorite Ladd character, even though this is not my favorite of his movies.  He's so honorable, loyal, brave, and kind.  Everything I look for in a character, really.

Day Four


Slow West (2015) is one of those movies that gets inside you, and the more you think about it, the better you like it.  It's a phenomenal bit of modern western filmmaking, and Michael Fassbender's performance in it is one of his finest.  Weird, quirky movie that has been inspiring me in so many ways since the first time I saw it.

Day Five


Ahhhhhhhhhh, 3:10 to Yuma (1957).  It's one of those movies I didn't like at all when I saw it as a teen, and now I adore it.  I'm running into more and more of those lately.  It's a fabulous bit of cowboy noir, lean and strong, and so achingly beautiful with its deep shadows everywhere.

Day Six


The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) gave me Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans), my Middle-earth ME character.  I shall love it forever.  I once drove through an ice storm to get one last viewing of it onscreen, it's that important to me.

Day Seven


I bought Blackboard Jungle (1955) on VHS when I was a teen because it was Vic Morrow's first film.  Surprise, surprise, I fell in love with Sidney Poitier and Glenn Ford in it instead.  Though I AM blown away by Vic's performance as well -- but he's playing the Bad Guy, and I just have a really hard time liking Bad Guys.

Day Eight


The Greatest Showman (2017) filled my winter with joy.  My kids love it, I love it, we sing the songs constantly -- it's just such an uplifting, inspiring film! 

Day Nine


The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) gave me Dana Andrews.  And, more importantly, gave Dana Andrews to my best friend.  Together, we fangirled over him for years and years.  And this movie is just one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen.  Of all the movies in this post, this is the only one I would label a MUST WATCH.  Everyone should watch it.

Day Ten


Emma (1996) convinced me that I liked Jane Austen's stories when I was a teen.  I have watched it countless times, I listen to the soundtrack frequently, and it's one of the few movies that I actually like better than the book that inspired it.  (GASP!  It's true, though.)  Also, this was the first movie I saw Gwyneth Paltrow in, and the first one I saw Ewan McGregor in!  I've become such a fan of both of them.

THERE.  Now I've gotten to say my words about these ten movies.  I feel better now.

19 comments:

  1. It was grand to hear you explain your choices. The initial run may have been difficult, but I'll bet you had fun with it as well.

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    1. Caftan Woman, so glad you enjoyed this! Yes, I did have fun choosing movies (and trying not to just go with ones everyone knows are my favorites) :-)

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  2. Awww, BYoOL is on both our lists. And Slow West, of course. I'm glad you broke the supposed rules and wrote about each one here. I should have as well, when I did it, cuz it feels so weird to post pictures and not explain *why* a movie was so impactful.

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    1. DKoren, I deliberately did NOT look back at your blog to see what movies you used. But I knew Slow West was on yours. BYOOL too, huh? OF COURSE.

      Yes, it just felt WEIRD not to talk about them. Wrong. Now, it's funny, but I did a similar FB challenge a couple months ago, only it was book covers, and I had zero trouble not talking about those. Funny, huh?

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  3. Have to remember to do that when I wrap up mine.

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    1. BTW< I don't consider you broke the rules. It was just on Facebook you couldn't comment, at least that's the way I read it.

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    2. Quiggy, yeah, definitely do this! Cuz you've been doing some VERY obscure movies.

      I'm glad you don't think I broke the rules, cuz we can't have people thinking I'm a rulebreaker or anything. Egad.

      ;-)

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  4. It's always better with an explanation. ;)

    I love Emma. I watched it every Christmas while putting up my tree for well over a decade, and then... a few times more than that. Or a lot. It was my first Jane Austen movie. We paid for it on Pay Per View (might have been my first PPV too) and I just adored everything about it. It was also one of my first VHS movies that I owned. And now I wait endlessly for an American version of the BluRay, since my DVD is starting to look awful. :P

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    1. Charity, explanations are a good thing. For writers, maybe even a necessity?

      I bought a VHS copy so I could take it to college with me. Wore it out, and have the DVD now. You could get a new DVD, they're only like $6 right now on Amazon...

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  5. So neat! It's so cool how different movies touch different people in different ways.

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    1. Thanks, Olivia! Possibly my favorite thing about stories in general is how they're different for every single person.

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  6. I need to watch about six of these!

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    1. Skye, you've got some fun times ahead of you, then!

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  7. Aw yes!!!! More talk about movies! I'm definitely going to talk about my own ten movies once I finish up the challenge :D

    Greatest Showman makes me so very very happy too *grins* I love "Rewrite the Stars" and I listen to it over and over.

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    1. Jessica, oh good! Glad you're going to do this too.

      We were listening to the Greatest Showman soundtrack in the car today. For the gazillionth time. LOVE IT.

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  8. What!? I've only seen three of these. I need to fix this.

    I am going to steal this.....

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    1. 6 (I was very confused at the time because I hadn't seen the other 2), 8 (so great!), and 10 (I agree! I might like it better than the book.).

      Thanks! :-)

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    2. MC, yeah, I can't imagine seeing TBOTFA without having seen the other two movies. Ouch.

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