My Collection #2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Next up is number 208 on my list, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Man oh man this was a trip down memory lane. This movie came out when I was 5 years old, and boy was I a Turtles fan. I would say Turtles were my first major obsession. I had all the action figures, their Van, and even the Technodome playset. So naturally this movie was one of my favorites as a child, I remember as a kid watching it and being amazed that the Turtles were REAL!!

I watch this movie and I am just dragged right back into the simpler times in the early 90's. Power Rangers had not hit it yet so TMNT were my life. I was always a huge fan of Casey Jones in the Cartoon so the fact he was in this was a thing that always made me happy.

This movie does really stand the test of time. Sometimes movies that were so cool when you are a boy, turn out to be not that great when you see them later. Not at all the case with this; the special effects are great, the actors do a pretty good job (considering it is not oscar material to start), the story is very well written, the character development is pretty rad with Danny, and the Turtles as they basically are forced to grow up quick.

The one-liners and humor in this movie are amazing. That really goes to show the strongest point of this movie, and that is, though the story is darker than the cartoons, this movie doesn't take itself too seriously. This movie is able to deal with the conflict between the brothers, and even Danny and his Dad, and even tackles dealing with loss, and even the teenage feelings of alienation (for the Turtles and the Foot clan kids), but never do these things force this movie into a realm of not being fun. The humor is slapstick, puns, and even some more adult humor mixed in.

As a kid I always loved Raphael, I loved his attitude and his anger. This movie goes into that, and specifically how this effects his relationship with his brothers, especially Leonardo. I always felt that if you had to pick a main character it would be Raph for this movie.

I would give this movie a 7 out of 10. Because I dare you to watch this and not enjoy it.

 Quote I love from this movie

"Wise man say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."

My Collection movie #1: Psycho

So first movie up is number 153 on my list, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

Wow what a way to start this journey, with one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. This movie has always been one close to my heart. I love the horror genre and specifically I love slashers. My all time favorite is John Carpenter's classic Halloween, and I was probably 14 or so and I was nerding out and found out that Psycho was one of the biggest influences on Carpenter when he was making Halloween. So I worked backwards and bought Psycho and watched it, and I must say it is like the Mona Lisa of Slashers.

It is so artistically done, the cinematography is fantastic (such is Hitchcock), the music is iconic and so effective. The story is before its time, America was about to see an explosion of real Serial Killers that would fascinate  and horrify the nation. One of the biggest things that really frightened people is that these serial killers looked like the man next door. They were not disfigured, and socially awkward creatures, they were socially and physically chameleons. That is what Norman Bates was, and that is why I think the movie was so frightening to people, this was before Manson, Bundy, Gacy, and Dalmer, this was a more innocent age of America and this movie absolutely terrified them.

So masterfully crafted by Hitchcock, from the shower scene to the final scene where "Mother" stares into the viewers soul, this is just a mystery that as it gets revealed strikes at the safety of everyone.

One thing that always strikes me is the first quarter of the movie, we see Marion Crane (played by the lovely Janet Leigh) really challenging society. She is the apparent protagonist, but we start by seeing her sleeping with a man who is not her husband, remember this came out in 1960 so the country has not yet been hit with the sexual revolution or the hippies. This is still a country very much "Leave it to Beaver", a nation still in the Dwight Eisenhower mindset, and here we have the protagonist challenging cultural standards.  Then we get to the inciting incident, the thing that starts the whole movie, Marion is asked to deposit a very large sum of money, namely $40,000 (Modern Day value is $288,994.50), in her bosses account. She then after going home decides to take the money and run. So now we have the protagonist also committing Grand Larceny.
So this movie was on the edge in 1960, and this movie really kicked off the slasher sub-genre of Horror movies.

Overall this movie I would give 9 out of 10. This movie is nearly perfect, and is as good to watch today as it was in 1960.

Quote that I love from this movie 

" It's sad, when a mother has to speak the words that condemn her own son. But I couldn't allow them to believe that I would commit murder. They'll put him away now, as I should have years ago. He was always bad, and in the end he intended to tell them I killed those girls and that man... as if I could do anything but just sit and stare, like one of his stuffed birds. They know I can't move a finger, and I won't. I'll just sit here and be quiet, just in case they do... suspect me. They're probably watching me. Well, let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am. I'm not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching... they'll see. They'll see and they'll know, and they'll say, "Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly..."

Watching through my Whole Collection

So I have decided there are a lot of movies in my collection that I own that I have not watched in a while so I decided to fix that problem.

First of all I am a nerd and months ago I cataloged my whole collection in an excel spreadsheet for the purposes of keeping track of what I have, and also to get stats on my collection.

So I am going to print it off and use it as a checklist to watch through them all. Now I have also duplicated this document so that I can delete movies off of it and keep it numbered. The reason behind this is because I am not going to just go through alphabetically, that seems rather bland, instead I am going to use and online number picker and watch them in random order.

So I decided to use this neglected blog to write up a bit on each of my Movies. So I will title each post with the number and the title and I will write up some stuff about the movie.

Sounds fun.

Three foundational films in my life.

In this blog I want to talk about three movies that absolutely changed my life. Now these films are ones that are very dear to my heart but are not my favorite films of all time. This are movies that as I watch today I am taken back to being a child watching them. I will probably do a blog later that looks at my all time favorite films but that is for another day. On to movies that changed my life.

These movies I probably saw every one of them within the same year period. I do not have a photographic memory and this goes back to probably between 1993 (I was 8 years old). During the course of this year I was introduced to these films. Two of them through VHS and one in the theaters.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

This movie I distinctly remember having my parents (which were divorced) argue over whether I was old enough to watch it. My mom, who I went with in the divorce, thought there was no issue. My dad thought that it was inappropriate to watch. I do not remember the exact reasoning all I know is it made me want to see it all the more. Ultimately there would be nothing my dad could do to stop me from seeing it.

So on VHS I watched this movie, and all I can say is this absolutely changed my life. The special effects were so believable and the story was so crazy. I had not seen the first movie but the beauty of this film was that it was made to watch without seeing the first one. I remember quoting this movie SO much after, and I even went to school that Halloween as a Terminator, I spiked my hair, and put on a leather jacket and sunglasses and brought a fake gun to school (yes I know it was a more innocent time), and I stalked the playground.

To this day when I watch the film the small child in me just jumps with joy. The action, explosions, and the whimsy of childhood. Later in life I was an avid paintball player (only in the woods) and I invented a game off of this movie. The Terminator game was where one person was selected as John Conner (they are given no gun), and one person is the Terminator (invincible to everything except a shot in the hand) and every other person playing are defenders of John Conner, the game ends when either the Terminator is destroyed or when John Conner is Terminated. Of course in the inaugural game I played as the Terminator, running around in a manner that most woodsball players would never dream of doing, all manners of stealth or craftiness are out the window and I rumbled through the woods like a tank killing all who stood in my way. When I reached the John Conner I was finally hit in the hand (not an easy feat with a paintball gun). I suppose the Terminator can't win them all.

This movie is one of my all time favorite movies, it was the first DVD I ever owned and it is one that I can throw in anytime and enjoy.

Jurassic Park 

OH Jurassic Park what a perfect storm in my life. Terminator still an obsession this movie was released in theaters, and I literally was the target audience (8 years old). This is the age when I could say and spell most dinosaur names no matter how long or absurdly spelled they were, not to mention identify them. I had so many dinosaur books that I loved. Just the thought of these giant monsters is something that is the wonder of any young boy. 

Jurassic Park is the earliest film I remember seeing in theaters (not sure if any came earlier in my life), and I remember being absolutely breathless during this movie. I remember distinctly when the power goes out and the cars are in front of the T-Rex paddock. Then suddenly the ominous rumble as the camera shows the glass of water. I was unaware of the technological advances that had happened and that the DTS surround sound was making its debut with this film. All I know is I remember that rumbling being felt through my entire body, and the anticipation of seeing this majestic beast, I was excited and I was frightened. I of course related most to Timmy. This whole scene is one of the most powerful scenes I have seen in my life, between the big screen, the surround sound, and this monster trying to kill these people I was totally hooked. 

I remember this movie was the rage on the playground, every kid was playing Jurassic Park on the playground, re-enacting scenes, or making up our own dinosaur filled adventures. I remember distinctly being a raptor one day and killing the kid who was "being" John Hammond (Funny I had not read the book so this was just meant to happen I guess). Another thing that I remember being very shocked at is when this  came out on VHS my grandmother bought it for me for Christmas. The reason this sticks with me is that this Grandma was very conservative and the fact that she would buy me a rated PG-13 movie a day before I turned 13 (and even then) absolutely floored me. I had seen it a number of times but for her it was more about the principle. 

This movie is still one today that I watch and am pulled right in. This film is one that I really think should be made available in theaters every generation, so that every little boy can experience it. I have talked to younger kids who's first and only experiences with this movie has been on the small screen, and that is just a tragedy. In this age of revamping movies in theaters, I think they should put this one out. 

Star Wars

Now this movie is special for me. So very special, and this saga is probably the center of my entire life from age 8 when I saw it through to adulthood, culminating in Episode 3 in theaters. 

I remember this vividly. We lived in an apartment and I was out playing on the playground they had, and my step-dad called me into the house. He asked me if I wanted to watch a movie, and I said "Is it just a boring talking movie" (oh to be 8 again). He said no its a movie about robots and spaceships. I was sold. So he put the VHS in and right there in that apartment my life was changed forever. 

The thing about this is that Star Wars was in a virtual dark age, we were 4 years from the movies coming out for the remastered versions (1997), and 2 years removed from the Power of the Force action figures being released. So this was something that most kids my age were not really talking about, or knew about for all I know. 

I remember watching these movies so much that I believe the three VHS were nearly worn out. I had (and still do) virtually all the dialog memorized. I would be Darth Vader (Yes I am weird) with my invisible lightsaber (dang these kids and all their toys they have now), I would chase the rebels, and fight Luke and Obi-Wan. I remember 1995 when the Power of the Force action figures were released and I was in heaven now I could relive all the battles and even create my own (my step-dad was an avid collector so I usually had even the rarest ones). I remember getting a bunch of money for my birthday and buying the huge Millennium Falcon (which I still have somewhere with a grundle of figures). I remember when the 1997 re-releases came out and I saw every one the day they came out. I was not bothered by the changes in fact they were pretty cool for a young boy, I remember every single one I could point out then (down to the new drool added to Jabba). To see these films which I loved so much, on the big screen was huge moments in my life. 

When it comes to off the screen, these movies in retrospect were big because they really were one of the biggest things that finally bonded myself and my step-dad. I had a lot of difficulties emotionally with the divorce and the relationship I had with my step-dad was anything but ideal, but Star Wars was that thing that finally broke down my walls and allowed me to let him into my life. It was a special thing, he had enjoyed them all (I believe he was 7 when the first one came out) the original release and in the early 90's before the huge Star Wars rebirth and revival they helped me bond with the man who would ultimately see me through all of the big events in my life. 

I have a Star Wars Tattoo, I have read the books, I have all the DVD's, and I enjoyed the Prequels because each of them meant something to me, be it my transition into Junior High (TPM), or my transition into High School (AOTC), or adjusting to being an adult (ROTS). I know there are purists out there that hate them, but all of these movies mean a lot to me. My favorite Empire Strikes Back (remember I pretended to be Vader not Luke or Han). 

Overall Star Wars is probably the deepest rooted films in my life, just because these films really helped me cope with a lot in life, and helped me in so many ways beyond just enjoying movies but real life. There is nothing I love more than seeing young generations dressing up as Stormtroopers or Vader, or Boba Fett, or Han or Luke. I love the spirit of the Star Wars films.

So these are some of the most beloved films in my life. They are movies that I can watch anytime anywhere, and I believe that these films are crucial to my love of the art of Film. There are more movies that entered into my life at a later date that have meaning to me, but these three (or 5 if you count Star Wars as a trilogy) are some of the foundational  films of my life, and helped shape my love of Films and what they can be to someone beyond just entertainment. 

Introduction

Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name.... sorry classical reference.

Really though, my name is Tadd. I am 26 years old, but don't hold that against me, I have often been called timeless by people much older than myself. I often prefer the company of people a bit older than myself, because so often I find my generation just very naive and boring.

Anywho back to the blog. Basically I am creating this as an outlet for this passion of mine . The idea behind the blog is pretty fluid right now, I am sure it will evolve as time goes by.

Also just to give you a taste for my passion for films, IMDB is one of my two homepages :)

My taste in movies

Well first of all I am not one of those pretentious hipsters who will only watch independent movies because "they are not commercial". I enjoy independent flicks on occasion if the story is good and the characters are written well. I am not going to shy away from Blockbusters just to feel more intelligent about myself (sorry hipsters) I like to analyze movies but over analysis can kill the whole idea of the film (to be entertained).

Let me just give you a taste of my (almost Sybil like) taste, the last two DVD's I bought. I bought them at the same time Transformers 3 and Ben-Hur.

I am really a fan of a good story and well developed characters. I am a nerd so I enjoy Star Wars, Star Trek, and comic book movies (Marvel is far superior to DC in ever way, and that pours over into the films).

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Crime movies, so often these characters are so real and so layered and that leads to most of these being fantastic.

Things in movies I HATE!!

Chick Flicks. Hate the whole genre. It is Female Porn. Traditional porn is an unrealistic look at the thing that men desire most (sex) and Chick flicks are unrealistic looks at what women desire most (Emotional connection). These things are crap and I will not tolerate them.

Remakes. Sorry but they are absolutely CRAP 99.999999999 percent of the time. The reason is the remakes are generally money-grabs, they have no artistic vision and no reason to be made but to squeeze an established fan base rather than role the dice on a new idea. (I am positive I will blog on this topic further)

Bad Acting. Is there really anything worse than a great story, or otherwise well casted movie, ruined by the inept acting of someone who's career should not even exist (See Keanu Reeves)? It really bums me out that hacks like Reeves or Nicolas Cage continue to make movies. Occasionally the stars will align and they will do something that is such a good production that it outshines their horrid acting, or they just play morons and they look like Oscar winners (how hard is it to just act normally for them). So you may have one of the greatest films ideas ever but if the acting sucks the movie sucks.

I have other beefs as well  but I will save them for another time. 

One thing that I love is a Film's Score. I often find myself having a movie theme pop into my head, or other times (like now) I listen to the score to relive the film. Like now I happen to be listening to the Lord of the Rings Two Towers score and it is one of the most powerful moments of music in the film, and simply listening to it brings the whole scene back to me. Music is such a crucial thing to a movie, and yes I own many soundtracks and scores. 

I guess I will close it out by giving you some of my favorite films of all time. Later on I may go into explaining them but here are just a few of my favorites off the top of my head. Also in no particular order,

• Godfather Trilogy
• Star Wars Saga
• Jurassic Park
• No Country for Old Men
• The Professional 
• Fargo
• Scent of a Woman
• Shawshank Redemption
• Goodfellas
• Inception
• Indiana Jones 1,3
• Silence of the Lambs
• Psycho
• Halloween
• Pulp Fiction
• Schindler's List
• Hot Fuzz
• Dawn of the Dead
• The Exorcist
• American History X

That is just a really random list of movies I love, there are so many more and I will go into that later.

So this is just a little intro to the blog, hopefully you get a better sense of me and my tastes in movies. If you continue to read I am sure you will get to know it a whole lot more. 

Until next time!