Shafty, Film Frenzy, and Broccoli Rape

Let me tell you a little about Project Film Frenzy. It is mainly compromised of my favorite people, sitting around and watching movies with me. Holy Cross is a bloody difficult school, and I needed a break now that summer had come and I did not start work for a few weeks. (Katie and I started this project about a month ago.) My idea of a break: watching movies and making jewelry, eating blueberries with cool whip and drinking 99-cent Arizona green teas, with my best friends. So that’s what I did. I decided, after careful consideration on how to attack all the wonderful movies I still need to see, to take on the Smithtown Library DVD collection. I have taken out many of their movies before, since they have a much more of the oldies I like than Blockbuster does (did you know that Blockbuster doesn’t even have The Breakfast Club?!). But there are still more I need to watch, so I am alphabetically taking out 7 movies at a time that I have yet to see/ really want to watch again. Here is what I have tackled so far:

· African Queen (Humphrey Bogart at his youngest, and least handsome)*

· Age of Innocence (based on the novel by Edith Wharton…good, but frustrating, as tragedies are)

· Aladdin (have obviously seen it a million times but I had to watch it again, to pay tribute to most of my childhood years in which I actually thought I WAS Jasmine…found it incredibly funny this time, especially how Jafar, (who Alli, Zach and I used to call “Jafart” when we played Aladdin when we were little) always called Aladdin “Prince Abooboo”)*

· Alice in Wonderland (both versions)

· Amelia (which wasn’t terrific but it revived my fascination with Amelia Earhart…SHE JUST DISAPPEARED!!!!!!)

· Anna Karenina (with Greta Garbo, based on the novel by Tolstoy that I have never been able to get through…but Garbo was great with her frequent head-back movements, and Katie loved this one most I think, partially because it brought us our new favorite word: “INSUPPORTABLE”)

· Apollo 13

· Bonnie & Clyde (Did you know Warren Beatty got 40% of the profits from that movie?? Craziness! Like he needed anything else when he’d already slept with half of Hollywood)*

· Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford and Paul Newman are such a good pair…Kate joined us for this one, of which we are extremely lucky, and I miss her greatly)

· Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (based on Tennessee Williams’ play…this was soooo good, definitely my favorite, Elizabeth Taylor was beautiful and Paul Newman was hotter than James Dean and Marlon Brando (circa A Streetcar Named Desire, not in his cotton-mouthed Godfather days…) combined!)*

· Choke (based on the Chuck Palahniuk book, which we rented to satisfy our beloved Giff who we have put through far too many movies that were not her type. She takes it like a champ, though!!)

· Ciderhouse Rules

· The Constant Gardener

· Diner

· Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (the version with Ingrid Bergman…Katie fell asleep in utter exhaustion but I enjoyed it)

*= You need to go rent this movie…immediately!!!

I will keep this blog updated with our progress; hopefully we can get through the alphabet by the time the summer is over!

Daily Randomisms:

Daily Excitement: British-ness. This is always an excitement for me. The monarchies, the scones, the literature, the accents. Don’t forget the idea for round tables, The Who, high society snobbery, and Churchill’s attitude. So much goodness has come out of that little rainy island.

Daily Annoyance: Thong Bathing Suit Bottoms on Family Beaches. I mean, really, is that necessary? Very few people want to see that. And then to rub oil all over your bottom and almost give the crotchety old man sitting behind you a seizure?? More unnecessary. So, lady-that-I-saw-on-the-beach, and all others sporting this form of nudity, please put your arses away. For the good of your countrymen (and countrywomen, of course.)

Possible Future Occupation: Writer for the NY Times Travel Section. I may have decided this was a good job for me because I was reading the Sunday Times and there was an article on Harry Potter World in Universal Studios. And the author of the article got to go to the park early with his family to write about it. And this might have made me so envious that I decided being a Travel writer is the only way to satisfy my wanderlust.

Trivia!: In his army days, JFK’s nickname among his peers was “Shafty.”

And I’m Still Laughing About: Menu item 19 at the Italian restaurant we ate at in Aruba read “Broccoli Rape.” I’m guessing it is supposed to say Broccoli Rabe (the disgusting broccoli-spinach combination). We asked the Spanish-speaking waiter how long they’ve had their menus, (and after being thoroughly confused about what “menu” meant, and going to ask another waiter, who then had to ask the hostess, causing a ruckus at our table) they said about 3 years. So we figured it best not to tell them of their written mistake, and let the rape remain…even though it sounds like a title of a Veggie Tales gone horribly, sickeningly wrong.