Take 3: The Sunshine Blogger Award X3 // Questions Courtesy of Hamlette

Happy bright and brilliant summer, friends!

My excuses for why I don't blog...

I'm here today to fill out the Sunshine Blogger Award! The story behind this tag is quite wild, but to summarize, I'm very late. Because the last time I filled out this award was 2020. Since, then, I've been nominated for it A LOT, which I'm very honored about! 

I will get to answering all of the questions one day, but today's edition is special because it features the three times that Hamlette of Hamlette's Soliloquy tagged me for the award. A huge thanks to Hamlette! Her movie-themed questions are perfect for this blog.

Rules:

List the award’s official rules

Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog

Thank the person who nominated you

Provide a link to your nominator’s blog

Answer your nominator’s questions

Nominate up to 11 bloggers

Ask your nominees 11 questions

Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts

Tagged by Hamlette on August 30th, 2021:

1. What was your favorite movie when you were 10 years old?

Even though I'd only seen the ending at that point, I think it was The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). There's another one that immediately comes to mind, but I first was obsessed with it while I was 9, and it also dates me because it came out that year...

2. What's your favorite movie now?

While It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is my favorite movie of all time, to focus on the "now" part of the question, let's talk about a movie that I'm currently enamored of, to mix it up.

It is in fact another Jimmy Stewart movie: Rope (1948). I should really do a whole post on this movie, but just know that I could talk about it all day. And I kind of did that, because for two weeks after I watched it when people would ask me "How are you?" I would launch into telling them about this movie. I'm in the process of convincing my parents to watch it.

3. What would be your dream cast for an adaptation of your favorite book?

The problem is that a lot of my favorite books either already have amazing adaptations (Pride and Prejudice), or the characters are young so I'd want a new face and therefore can't cast them from people who are already in the industry. 

One of my favorite books is Anna Karenina and I haven't seen the 2012 movie yet, but I was imagining their casting of Domnhall Gleeson as Levin the entire time I was reading it. But not with such a horrible beard. Get rid of that and you can see his despair and troubled soul through his entire face.

2012 version

My preference...

As for the rest of the cast, I'm pretty down with the 2012 choices from what I've seen! But that's still yet to be determined once I actually watch it.

4. What's your favorite movie soundtrack?

All time favorite: How to Train Your Dragon, composed by John Powell.

Current favorite/what I listen to the most: Knives Out, composed by Nathan Johnson.

5. Do you have a favorite movie-watching snack?

I am not a popcorn person. I think I would have to say a slushie of some kind? A favorite thing that my sisters and I would do in the summer is we'd have been out playing tennis or hiking or some kind of outdoorsy thing, then in the hot part of the day we would come inside, make ourselves "slushies" (crushed ice and juice) and watch a movie.

6. Who is your favorite person to watch movies with?

My younger sister, Fi. She has the biggest reactions to things which amuses me greatly. That's the whole point of watching a movie with another person, isn't it? To see what they think of it! She also doesn't remember movies if it's been more than five years since she watched it, so she'll gasp at all the plot twists of movies she's already seen.

Besides, she would help me make the aforementioned slushie.

7. Is there a hairstyle in a movie that you've always wished you could pull off?

I can't tell you guys how many times I've tried to do Leia's crown braid from The Empire Strikes Back (1980). On me it always just looks wrong and out of whack, whereas Leia looks so regal and commanding and powerful. I usually default to doing Rey's classic hair in that case. Just recently I chopped my hair short again so it may be a few months before I can attempt it again.

I think the problem is I'm always too close to my forehead...

8. What movie animal would you like as a pet?

I was watching something recently where I saw a pet and thought "If I'm ever asked to choose a movie pet, it's going to be you!" The only problem is that I don't remember what that was.

I'm going to go with the soot sprites from Spirited Away (2001). They would probably just copy whatever I was doing for work in such an exaggerated manner that I wouldn't be able to continue due to laughing.

9. What movie house would you like to stay in on vacation?

The house from Penelope. It's got a swing inside. And a cool one-way window to play chess with!

But I also just saw North by Northwest and was very impressed with that house. The trouble is I'm not interested in visiting Mount Rushmore. But that HOUSE. I don't know why I loved it so much. If only it was in a different location... 

10. What's the oldest movie you've watched?

...like, ever? I'm not sure! I only started keeping track of all the movies I watch in 2017, and it feels like I watched more silent movies before then. The oldest movies I've reviewed on this blog are The General (1927) and 7th Heaven (1927), so maybe one of them?

One of the reasons why I haven't been blogging recently is because I got a Letterboxd account and have been having a ton of fun filling out all of the movies I've watched. And it agrees that 1927 seems to be my oldest year.

11. What's the newest movie you've watched?

When I first started answering these questions the answer was a film from 2021. So even though I'm so late now, I really was trying to get these questions answered between homework! I decided that because I never posted it I should just start afresh.

I think the newest movie I've seen is Mufasa: The Lion King (2024). I saw it in theaters with some of my best friends. I do not like CGI-centric movies but they really wanted to go. It was fun enough! All spring I've been singing the song "We Go Together" to myself.

Tagged by Hamlette on August 8th, 2023:

1.  What's the last movie you watched?

My family has started declaring Sunday Night = Movie Night. On this most recent Movie Night, we watched Glass Onion (2022). It didn't quite have the same punch as Knives Out (2019), but the mystery still got me good. So well done, Mr. Rian Johnson.

2.  What's the next movie you plan to watch?

To go with our Sunday Night Movie Night, I started writing down our ideas that we have throughout the week so we don't spend so long trying to figure out what to watch. We just peruse the list. The next one on the list that I would really like to watch is It Happened One Night (1934).

3.  What new movie release are you looking forward to?

I'm not really looking forward to too many films, as shown on my Coming Soon page, but I am a sucker for Frankenstein. And the trailer for Guillermo del Toro's upcoming version looks solid. And now I'm curious about the next Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Men, because the cast is, again, BRILLIANT.

4.  What TV show(s) have you seen every episode of at least once?

I am not a fan of TV shows where the episodes aren't connected and you can just watch whichever one you want. It leads to me not being as connected to the characters where I want to watch TV shows because it has the opportunity of being a longer overall story than a movie, not for it being shorter bits than a movie. So when I start a TV show I plan to watch every episode, so saying I've seen all of the episodes is not a bragging right for me.

Source

5.  Pirates or vampires?

PIRATES.

Except I say this with a smile on my face.

I've never been a fan of vampires, but El conde (2023) absolutely ended me ever wanting to see vampires again.

6.  Do you own a camera?

I do, and it's a lovely purple. I just don't know where in this house it is, or if my sister has it...

7.  What's the last thing you did outside?

This question is making me realize I haven't actually spent time outside recently. Most of my work I do is outside so I associate being inside with resting. As far as doing things outside for fun, I went for a bike ride the other day which was short and sweet. I also weeded my greenhouse! 

They weren't successful in convincing me otherwise.

8.  How far do you live from where you were born?

From where I was born, it's about 90 minutes. Because that's where the big hospital is. I've just recently moved home again, though!

9.  Have you ever ridden a horse?

I have, most recently in 2019. I really enjoy it and I think that horses are beautiful animals. Not sure that I could ever ride like Jim Craig, but I can admire from afar.

10.  What ice cream flavor do you heartily dislike?

I kind of dislike ice cream as a general rule. I actually dislike anything sweet really as a common rule (except brownies...).

11.  What was the last thing you ate as a snack?

A piece of cheese, I think? Now that you mention it, I'm kind of hungry again so I should go find a cracker.

Tagged by Hamlette on March 30th, 2024:

1. What's the first movie you have a memory of watching?

This is different than the movies that I bet were my first movies because they've always been part of my life and I don't remember a time of not knowing what was happening. Those would be The Wizard of Oz (1939) and The Princess Bride (1987), among others. However, the first movie I remember watching for the first time (I'm probably confusing this question) is Sense and Sensibility (1995).

This shot in particular lives in my head.

2. Have you ever written a fan letter to a celebrity?  (If so, did you get a reply?)

I used to participate in the Letters About Literature contest which was writing to your favorite author and telling them why and how their books impacted you as a reader. Of course, you didn't send it to the author themselves but the people organizing the contest. I'm surprised at how I don't actually remember all of the people I "wrote" to. I know Jeanie Birdsall was the first, because I loved her book The Penderwicks.

3. What are the three funniest movies you have ever seen?

My type of humor is not what are typically put in the "comedy" genre. For example, I laugh at Nimona (2022) to the point of crying, but I'm also crying for other reasons, so it's not really a comedy.

Let's go with:

- Support Your Local Sheriff (1969): it's more clever than funny, but "have you been touching up your hair again, Pa?" "What do you mean again??" will always make me chuckles.

- Sense and Sensibility (1995): again, it's just so stinking clever. So much so that I gasp at all the little moments and spill my tea on myself.

- Bringing Up Baby (1938) always cracks me up with Susan yelling "DaViD!" at every conceivable moment.

4. What movie do you really want to change the ending of?

The Breakfast Club (1985). I want to take the whole "make-over" part out.

5. What movie do you wish had a sequel, but it doesn't?

The Adventures of Tin-Tin (2011). It's such a fun adventure and there are so many comics for a sequel to be based on!

6. Who were your favorite actor and actress when you were a teen?

I have a rule that a person can only be my favorite if I've seen them in at least five roles. When I was a teen that fell to:

Jimmy Stewart (believe me, well over five roles) and Emma Thompson.

Mwahaha, Rope being meta.

7. Who are your favorite actor and actress now?

Still Jimmy Stewart, of course. Annnnnnd, I think it's still Emma Thompson? I mean, she can pull off both the sparkling wit of Beatrice and the dramatic desperation of professor Trelawney.

8. Does anyone else in your family love movies?

Yes, we are all big movie lovers! However, we all like VERY different genres and appreciate different parts of movies, so it's hard to find one that we all like. Which has made Sunday Nights a fun challenge! My little sister is looking for films that are real, which I have encouraged to be called something else. We finally came up with the qualification of her preferring character-driven stories over plot-driven. If you have any recommendations, please let us know!

9. If you could pick an actor/actress to play you in a movie, who would you choose?

I mean, I aspire to be like Luna Lovegood, so having Evanna Lynch play me seems appropriate. But maybe it's too on the nose.

10. Do you ever watch a movie in the theater more than once?

I have done that once: Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker (2019)! I was a lot less worried the second time and could really enjoy it.

11. Are there any movies coming out in 2024 that you are looking forward to?

Seeing how we are now in 2025 due to my tardiness, I'm going to answer this question as a movie that was made in 2024 and I still haven't seen yet but I'm looking forward to it: Pedro Páramo (2024). I read a Juan Rulfo story for a Hispanic Literature class and am therefore interested in more of his work, and this film based off another story of his should do the trick!

My questions (feat. me also pilfering some of my favorite from the above lists):

1. What was your favorite movie when you were 10 years old?

2.  What's the next movie you plan to watch?

3. What would be your dream cast for an adaptation of your favorite book?

4. What movie do you really want to change the ending of?

5. What movie do you wish had a sequel, but it doesn't?

6. What are the three funniest movies you have ever seen?

7. Do you ever watch a movie in the theater more than once?

8. What are your thoughts on the last book you read?

9. What's the oldest movie you've seen?

10. What's the newest movie you've seen?

11. What movie could you watch again and again without getting tired of it?

Instead of nominating 33 people, I'm going to nominate 3 because I was tagged 3 times (and 33 divided by 11 is 3. And I just like doing math when I can):

Sarah Seele of Sixty-Something Trees

The Nutmeg of Only Mildly Mad

Samantha of Bookshire

That's it for this round of questions, but expect more to be coming, especially because Sally of 18 Cinema Lane just nominated me again! Thanks, Sally!

Thanks to Hamlette for all of these various nominations! Thanks to all of you for reading! 

What do you guys think? Has an actor ever been right for a role but you would've changed make-up or hair? Any tips on successfully completing the Princess Leia look? Anyone else want a Tin-Tin sequel?

Have a great rest of your day!

Chloe the MovieCritic

Inklings // May 2025

Hello, friends!

"The end of May and early June" blend together, and I'm not the only one who thinks so, as Evan Hansen sings the same thing. Today I'm participating in a May event even though it's June because May is such a delightful month!

This is May's Inklings hosted by Heidi who blogs at Along the Brandywine!

How it works:

    1. At any time during the month, on your own blog post a scene from a book or film that matches the prompt, including a link back to the original post in your post.

    2. Leave a link to your post in the link form in the monthly post so everyone can visit your post.

Click HERE to see all of my past entries, and click HERE to see all of the entries for this month! May had the following prompt:

A stagecoach scene in book or film

While at first I was thinking of all of the Western movies I've seen, it suddenly hit me that it's been a while since I talked about a book for Inklings. All the way back in last May! The title of my blog shows my penchant for movies, but I still love books and should not default to movies all the time.

Therefore my choice is the book Cloaked - by Rachel Kovaciny.

The entire first chapter takes place on a stagecoach, so here are the first couple of paragraphs that open the book!:

"You see? I'll be perfectly fine," Mary Rose O'Brien assured her dutiful chaperone, Mrs. Shaw. She climbed into the stagecoach, took her place on the only empty seat, then smoothed out the skirt of her brown travelling dress to keep it at least somewhat presentable.

In truth, the stagecoach was more cramped than Mary Rose expected. Two people would barely fit on each wooden bench. If you didn't know your neighbor well already, you would by the end of the ride. And yet, a man had contrived to fall asleep on the opposite seat, curled up on his back with his dusty boots tipped up against the side. The stage was so small that she might have leaned forward and touched his shoulder without leaving her own seat.

Mrs. Shaw frowned up at Mary Rose from where she stood in the street, though that didn't mean she was displeased with Mary Rose, the stagecoach, or anything else in particular. Mrs. Shaw rarely found anything pleasant enough to bother changing her expression..."

This was fun for me to visit because I read Cloaked all the way back in 2017! It is the first in Rachel Kovaciny's Once Upon a Western series. I've reviewed book 2 (Dancing and Doughnuts) and book 3 (One Bad Apple), but this post is reminding me that I never got the chance to read her latest in the series, My Rock and My Refuge or her collection of short stories, Prairie Tales Vol. 1. I need to get on that!

You can find Rachel on her author blog, but she also blogs at The Edge of the Precipice and Hamlette's Soliloquy, so you can go check out her thoughts on other stories as well as updates on her own!

A huge thanks to Heidi for hosting this even though I've been behind on joining in! Now that school's done I don't have plans on missing another...

As for you readers, have you ever been on a stagecoach? I was on one once for a tour around my hometown when I was really little and that was long enough! It was fun, but I can't imagine going across the country in that. What are some of your favorite scenes with stagecoaches? Any Western book recommendations for me?

Have a great day!

Chloe the MovieCritic

Movie Review: The Breakfast Club (1985)

"Don't you forget about me..."

We all have probably heard that song. Maybe some of us know the references from watching other films such as Pitch Perfect (2012), but I'd never actually watched the 1985 cult classic The Breakfast Club.

I wasn't a complete stranger to it, though. Even without knowing names, from the first few minutes into the film I recognized "the guy in the trench coat."

Now I know the names of all the characters. I still don't understand why it's called The Breakfast Club, but I have more thoughts to contribute. With that, enjoy my spoiler-free review of John Hughes's hit film:

The Breakfast Club (1985):

Premise: Five kids are stuck in detention for all of a Saturday. They're all from different school cliques and at first have nothing nice to say to each other. As the tensions of being stuck in the same room with each other escalate, it makes them each question who they really are.

Genres: Coming-of-age, drama.

Length: approx. 97 minutes.

"I'm in a math club." Look at him count!

Age Range: This is rated R, so not advised for under 17 without an adult. It is a movie about teens for teens, but that does come with a little baggage. There is a lot of language including intense swearing and name calling. Teen smoking. Bullying both verbally and references to physical bullying with a discussion of hazing. There are quite a few inappropriate comments about people and their bodies as well an invasion of personal space. Dialogue with suggestive sexual undertones as well as several discussions of whether these teens have or have not done these things. Additionally there are darker subjects such as allusions to domestic violence and attempted suicide.

Crew: Directed and Written by: John Hughes. Produced by: John Hughes and Ned Tanen. Cinematography by: Thomas Del Ruth. Music by: Keith Forsey.

Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Paul Gleason, and John Kapelos.

While all of the five actors playing the roles of the high schoolers were known as part of the "Brat Pack"---the name for a group of young actors who tended to appear in the same films together, playing off of the idea of the 1960s Rat Pack---this movie also possibly sets the stage for casting non-teens to play teenagers. Of the five students, only Molly Ringwald was under 20.

General thoughts:

I am not known as a lover of 80s movies. In fact, I usually stay as far away from that decade as I can (though as I've seen a wider range of films I now consider the 70s to be the worst decades of movies made). With this knowledge of my least favorite decades, years ago my younger sister told me that I wouldn't like The Breakfast Club. I figured she was probably correct, but as it is on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list, I thought I should check it out. It was the 100th on that list for me to see, so approx. 1/10 of the way there I feel like I'm finally making progress!

Back to this film from 1985, was my sister correct in her prediction? 

"When you grow up your heart dies." Way to shoot an arrow to my heart.

I really like the premise of bringing people together from different groups and having them interact with people they would never choose to. I think that is a very human story and makes us rethink the walls we put up in our own life. At the same time, the execution of that idea is not my favorite here. Maybe that makes it time to admit that I was baffled through most of this film for the way the characters treat each other due to how I never went to a public school. Are high schoolers really this cruel to each other? Does an eight-hour session of detention on a Saturday really exist?

I see this as is a precursor to other stories such as The View From Saturday - by E.L. Konigsburg and Lemonade Mouth (2011), where kids from different school cliques join forces through detention or competition and realize that they are more than the barriers dividing them. The difference with The Breakfast Club (1985) is that all of the film takes place in one day. Brian asks the others what is going to happen to them on Monday, and while dialogue and actions tell some possibilities, we as the audience don't know. It's let up to our imagination. There was the possibility of a sequel for a long time, but that never got fully developed.

I'm left with a few questions. Why was Claire in detention? My web searches for the answer to this question is that it is because she skipped school, but I don't remember that being mentioned anywhere. Then again, while I did watch this movie within the last week, I watched it over a few days in 20 or 40 minute pieces, so I could've lost some of the continuity.

As far as other continuity, I like the way that it tried to show us eight hours in under 100 minutes, but there were a few times it felt a little off to me. There was a bit jump from learning about Bender's life to roaming the halls that did not flow and I would've like to see how Bender convinced the others to do that.

While I was not around in 1985, this film dates itself in a few ways. One being the ending, which is portrayed as being a good one, but I did not think it was the right one. While the characters developed and relationships grew, I don't think it had earned where it went. I did not understand the dynamics between a few of the characters, especially how one was nothing but cruel to another and never apologized yet we the audience are supposed to be rooting for the two of them to come to an understanding? I'm all for connection between these characters, but I think kindness is key to be displayed sometime throughout the eight hours and one day is not enough to grow close the in way the film forced them to be. 

Are they in school or jail? Is there a difference?

There was another reason that I did not love the ending. Ideally, part of characters finding the similarities between each other is where they come to realize that the differences are important, too. Here, it feels like the differences between "us weirdos" was kind of erased? For no real reason? I'm more than a little grumpy about this.

Another way that it is dated to the 80s is in terms of content, and in particular I felt it was typical that while three of the characters really pressed about details of their personal and intimate lives, the other two never were under this same pressure. That unfortunately played into stereotypes instead of challenging them. Not that needed to know, I just think it unfair of how these characters were treated as opposed to Andrew and Bender. 

"Didn't we already talk about this?" I was thinking the same thing.

With all of this, I didn't dislike it either. One of the dancing scenes made me ridiculously happy. The montage of what it was like being bored was peak comedy. While I didn't love some of the cinematographic choices for invading a person's personal space, for the most part the camera angles didn't strike me as being anything special. That is until a scene where Andrew is talking about his relationship with his dad. The camera moves around him, behind the heads of the other teens, ducking behind walls, but the focus is always on Andrew and doesn't change until he's done. It was a very effective way to capture his feelings with the breaks in the viewer seeing him almost working along with his breathing.

My absolute favorite part of the movie was a scene between Andrew and Allison where he asks her what's going on. There is such a softness and gentleness to this gesture and I loved the demonstration that persisting in asking a simple question means that someone is listening to you. 

I also am not ashamed to admit that I cried while watching this film. Not in the part that people usually do I suspect, but when my favorite character cried. How dare you hurt his poor feelings!

I'm glad I watched this movie. It had depth. It feels like an ode to the struggles some high schoolers face, and I appreciate that. So to reassure what the band Simple Minds is singing about, no, I won't be forgetting about it any time soon. With that, I think the message of this movie was accomplished.

"Don't you forget about me // Don't, don't, don't, don't // Don't you forget about me"

This is my entry in the blogathon hosted by Hamlette (of Hamlette's Soliloquy) and Quiggy (of Midnite Drive-In), which is the Back to 1985 Blogathon! Make sure to check out HERE and HERE for a roster of all of the entries celebrating the films of 1985.

Thanks to both Hamlette and Quiggy for hosting!

How accurate is this movie to your high school experience? What are other stories of people from different backgrounds getting together that you enjoy? Do you have a favorite character from this movie? Does anyone know why it's called The Breakfast Club? I understand the club part and when the title is said, but it seemed non sequitur to me. However, most of my own thoughts probably seem non sequitur to others, so maybe this movie and I are well matched!

Thanks for reading, friends! 

Chloe the MovieCritic