New Job/Next Assignment

The last couple weeks have been pretty busy for me, as I have been in the process of starting at a new job. I'll get into the details of that later on today in a special Top Five List...

In other news, next weekend is the Vail Film Festival! Olympus is sponsoring a 48 hour film making contest in conjunction with the festival and I am happy to say I will be participating! We will be a very small team this time around, please wish us luck.




Anyway, back to business with a long forgotten feature, the Follower Suggestion Box. In honor of his birthday, this week I am featuring my friend Jeff's choice, American History X. Jeff cites the film's take on the negative aspects of racism and violence as his reason for the Ed Norton flick being his #1 favorite. A review will be posted shortly :)

Next viewing assignment...

I dug into my pile of surveys and picked out Meet the Fockers, which was selected by family friend Jaime. She writes that she loves this film "because it is sooo happy!"

Meet the Parents is one of my favorite recent comedies, and I watch it every year at least once. I have only seen it's sequel one time that I can remember, so it will be good to watch again in anticipation of the third movie in the series, Little Fockers, coming out this holiday season.

Next viewing assignment...

I haven't pulled a suggestion from the hat in a long time, sorry folks! To do a little catching up, I am going to pull a double feature this coming week!

I couldn't have selected more opposite films if I had tried...

First up will be It's a Wonderful Life, selected by Ben, the father of my friend Emily. On his survey he cites the film's central question, "what would this world be like without having you a part of it?", as his reason for loving it. This is my all time favorite Christmas movie, and also one of my top favorite overall movies, so I am looking forward to seeing it again.

Next will be Bachelor Party, a 1984 sleazy screwball comedy starring Tom Hanks. It was chosen by Eric, my cousin-in-law and resident goofball who only wrote "full frontal nudity" to explain his choice. So does Tom Hanks + breasts = awesome? I will let you know...

Next viewing assignment...

In honor of the 25th anniversary of its release, the next movie I am going to watch is Back to the Future, which came out in July of 1985.

This was selected by Marianne's (Steel Magnolias) husband Scott. On his survey he writes, "I loved the actors and the fun they had with time travel, and I loved the comedy". Great, Scott! (haha)

Back to the Future is an old favorite of mine but I don't mind re-watching it.

Next viewing assignment...

In the spirit of the summer mega-blockbuster, my next film to watch that has been chosen by one of you is Transformers, the 2007 spectacle with Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and a bunch of computer generated robots who are the real stars.

Transformers was selected by my friend from high school marching band Kyle, who wrote on his survey that this is his favorite movie because he likes robots.

I saw about a third of Transformers once and didn't get into it enough to see it through to the end, but this time I will, without fail.

Next viewing assignment...

Since the last two films I watched were either slanted towards the chicks (Steel Magnolias) or the dudes (Black Hawk Down), I searched through my pile of surveys to find a favorite movie that would have appeal to both genders.

I ended up going with my film school buddy Brian's suggestion of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a 2005 murder mystery starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer. I have seen this movie on TV, which we all know doesn't really count, so I am counting this as a first time viewing. Brian was mindful to point out that he doesn't have a true favorite movie- the "douche-bag cliche film student answer", he called it- but Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is "good shit" (I am quoting right off the survey). Thanks for the suggestion, Brian.

I will rent this post haste and get back to you all with my thoughts.

Next viewing assignment...

Ok, so the first viewing went much better than I had feared. However, after the chick-fest of Steel Magnolias, I decided I need to amp up the testosterone factor of this next assigned viewing. I dug through my pile of surveys, and one of you came through in a big way.

My next film is Black Hawk Down, starring Josh Hartnett and Tom Sizemore, a graphically violent war movie (basically, a 180 degree turn from the last film). This is a rewatch for me, as I have seen the film a couple times but not for about 5 years.

Black Hawk Down was recommended by my good friend from high school Aubrey. He says that it is his favorite movie because it is "bloody, awesome, realistic," and has "lots of helicopters". Interesting critique.

I will be watching Black Hawk Down in the next couple of nights so stay tuned for my response!

So it begins...

I am happy to announce the official kick off of this blog in all its glory. To get things started, I am going to watch Steel Magnolias, starring Sally Field and Dolly Parton.

This movie was recommended by my mom's very good friend since elementary school, Marianne. (I thought she liked me too but I guess not.) On her survey, she wrote that Magnolias "brings me from laughter to tears... all time chick flick." Gulp.

I am ashamed (ahem) to admit I have never seen this film, and I am excited to start this blog off with a bang by watching a popular flick that many of you have probably seen. Stay tuned in the coming days for my impression of Steel Magnolias.



Marianne won the honor of having her favorite movie featured first by being the first person who filled out a questionnaire to reply to my notification email for the founding of this blog. If you are a follower but did not attend my party, you can still participate! Just send me an email at captainflab@yahoo.com with your favorite film and a few lines explaining why. Its that simple. Your answer will be put in the hat and eligible to be randomly selected by me to watch and post on. So get involved and send me your choices!