The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Movies

3.14 Reasons Why Movies Are More Important Than Pi

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I spent about 22/7ths of a moment thinking about headlines for this post and almost settled on “What Is Your Favorite Movie?”

It is a solid headline. It is easily understood and something that will generate comments, discussion and conversation. Smarter people than I  might leave it alone and let it run, but I prefer the road not taken.

Why take the cable car up the mountain when you can spend a bit more time hiking through the brush and blazing trails where none might have existed before. It is kind of funny because I am  generally not an advocate of reinventing the wheel when you don’t have to.

But this time around I didn’t feel like it. This time around I wanted to try something different, so I did.

Besides, I wanted this post to be more than just our favorite movies. Stick around and I’ll share more with you about why.

My Favorite Movie- Casablanca

I don’t remember the first time I watched Casablanca, but I remember when it became my favorite movie. I was twenty-something and trying to figure out how a woman had found a way to surgically remove my heart without the benefit of a scalpel.

Old Jack was very bitter about this breakup which is probably why I loved the scene below so very much.

Actually there are many scenes in the movie that I love. I am not sure if I can pick just one. What I can tell you is that as I have aged I have gained a deeper appreciation of the movie. I never grow tired of it.

I love movies that make me think and feel. I love the 1,938,933 lines from movies that people quote for years afterwards and laugh/smile about.

GlenGary Glen Ross isn’t just a movie to me. It is a snapshot of some of my former jobs, colleagues and bosses. It makes me see. It makes me feel. It makes me remember.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO_t7GtXO6w 

Movies and Blogging

This is where we drop off clever and pick up simple. I like movies because I like stories. I like creating stories to tell be they written or spoken. I like hearing/watching/reading stories.

On a professional level my focus is almost always on how to tell a captivating and compelling story. How do I help the company create a connection between itself and its prospective customers. What can I do to help people see why they should buy/hire/purchase a particular/product service.

I suppose it is fair to say my personal interest intersects with my professional, with the distinction that one day I want to sell enough books to support my family.

Storytelling can make that happen. The big question is can I write that tale? Can I come up with something that you can’t stop reading because you have to know what happens.

Movies are a source and resource for that.

Sometimes I watch a movie and am completely underwhelmed by something that looked like it should have been amazing. Sometimes when that happens I try to figure out what went wrong.  Was it bad acting? Did they try to cram too many thoughts/ideas into a two hour time frame? Did it suffer from bad special effects?

It is not hard to take those ideas and apply them to blogging. If you wanted to you could create a dozen or more posts based upon those ideas. You could create an entire series with it.

Maybe I’ll try that one day, but not now.

That is not the purpose of this post. This one is about sharing a few thoughts about movies and a couple of clips from some of my favorites.

It is not a complete list.

Nor have I provided you with all of the reasons why I love movies or all of my dreams. This is more of a stew, but that is ok.

It served its purpose.

But I can’t finish this without asking you to share some of your favorite movies in the comments. Feel free to share as much or as little as you would like.

The Hobbit & The Dark Knight Rises

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When my children ask me what made me want to become a writer I point to books, pictures, movies and music. I talk to them about the joy of storytelling and the passion I have for making words do more than work.

The power, persuasion and personality that are generated when my words sing my song is so very sweet.  These trailers touch upon it all from different angles but the smile they bring is the same.

and

Movies Used To Be Cheap Entertainment

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I love going to the movies. I always have, the Drive-in, the theater, whatever. They are all good. Give me a big screen, padded seats and a great sound system and I am pretty happy. I almost never walked out on a movie. A bad movie is like a train wreck, it is hard to look away.

It used to be that the biggest challenge was trying to sneak in some food. I certainly didn’t want to pay through the nose for popcorn and candy, especially if I hit the bargain matinee. Those were usually somewhere between $3.50 and $5. What was the point of paying more for the food than the movie.

Back in college my girlfriend and I found a place that charged a buck a movie. For poor college students it was an outstanding find. We loved it and spent many happy hours there.

Alas I haven’t found anything close to that place in years. For a while the weekends provided the standard $5 fair, but that seems to have disappeared. More and more chains have raised their rates into the $7 to $12 range and shortened the time frame that they were available. Instead of having until six P.M. many theaters seem to offer the bargain for the first couple of shows only.

So what you have is a movie date that is just slightly less than it would be if you went to the standard evening show. Roughly this works out to be between $20-$25 for a pair of tickets and then another $10 in cheap snacks. Add dinner, parking and a couple of odds and ends and you have spent a couple of bucks.

I don’t mind spending money on entertainment but the cost of seeing a movie has made it more important to me to be certain that I want to see it. It is irritating to spend a chunk of change on a bad movie.

The 25 Best Movie Sound Tracks

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Death Watermelon

Time Magazine has a list of what one columnist consider to be the 25 Best Movie Soundtracks. A link to the full list can be found here. Some thoughts about the list:

I can’t stand the Sound of Music. The hills would be better if they were quiet.

Grease– Part of my childhood so I have to give it a thumbs up. Hand Jive baby.
Mary Poppins– Same story.
Saturday Night Fever– I remember when this came out.
Easy Rider– Watched this before a couple of cross country road trips.
Sixteen Candles– John Hughes will be missed.
Singles– I had my own apartment and was enjoying the bachelor life when this came out.

So maybe this really isn’t focused on what should or should not be on the list- but it is my blog and I will write if I want to. 😉

Horror Movies- No Sound Equals No Fear

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Typically I am ambivalent about watching horror movies. I don’t find them all that exciting or interesting.

Oftentimes the acting is poor and many rely upon blood, guts and gore to make them fly. I can take them or leave them.

Truth be told the only time I really remember paying attention to them was during my single years. I found them to be a useful tool as they did a good job of encouraging handholding and the like. There, that is my big confession of the evening.

Here is one more. Silence of the Lambs did wonders for my dating life, I’ll save the full story for a different night. And now on to the meat of the post.

If you are the kind of person who watches horror movies from between the fingers you use to cover your eyes you might want to consider turning off the sound. Ok, turning off the sound would make it awfully dull, but it would work. There is something else that can be done. Get rid of the soundtrack. Strip it from the movie and leave the dialogue.


Ok, I don’t know how you would or could do this, but without the scary soundtrack the movie loses some of its edge. The monsters aren’t quite so scary and the anticipation is dramatically reduced. 

Think about it.