More Movies

I enjoyed doing Lil Bit's "8 Things" meme so much that I have decided to do ....

"8 MORE Movies That I Love!

1. "Steel Magnolias." In case you've been living on Mars and missed this one, it's about a group of southern women who face life with humor and strength in a movie that always makes me both laugh and cry. Always.

2. "The Horse Whisperer." I read the much-ballyhooed novel and after the first fifty pages, it was laughably bad. But the movie is one of the best ever, with a much improved ending. A girl and her horse are terribly injured in an accident. Her magazine editor mother (Kristin Scott-Thomas) takes them out west to see Robert Redford's horse whisperer, in an effort to heal all of their spirits. A marvelous, grown-up story about all sorts of love.

3. "The Bridges Of Madison County." Again, the book was goshawfully written. But the story is compelling. Clint Eastwood plays a photographer who has come to the midwest to photograph covered bridges for National Geographic. he encounters war wife Francesca (Meryl Streep) and they find something together. If you can watch the end without bawling, then you're made of tougher stuff than I am.

4. "A Little Princess" (1995). Adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett's famous children's novel, this newer version makes all the right changes to make this one of the best family movies ever. Sarah Crewes' father leaves her well-provided for at a school for girls when he has to go fight in WWI. But things happen, leaving Sarah at the mercy of the cruel headmistress. Full of scenes of India from Sarah's earlier life, this movie is just a joy. You'll love Sarah. She says, defiantly, "ALL girls are princesses!" Too right!

5. "Better Off Dead." An 80s classic. A young man loses his girlfriend to the captain of the ski team, leaving him feeling that he is better off dead. He keeps trying, hilariously and without success, to kill himself until he meets a cute French exchange student who changes his tune. Full of dancing guitar-playing Van Halen hamburgers ("Pig Burger! Everybody wants some!"), stalky paperboys demanding five dollars, slacker mailmen and hilariously kitchen-challenged Kim Darby as his mom, this is just a stitch.

6. "A Simple Twist Of Fate." In this modern retelling of the famous (and, I think, forgettable) novel Silas Marner, Steve Martin plays an embittered man who cares only for his collection of gold coins. That is, until a little girl literally wanders into his life and, in opening his heart to her, he finds his own. It's sweet, and one of my favorites.

7. "Narrow Margin." I mean the remake with Gene Hackman and Anne Archer. Urged by a friend to go on a blind date, Archer ends up witnessing a mob hit on her dinner companion. Assistant District Attorney Hackman tracks her down at the remote cabin where she had gone to hide, but the mob is hot on their heels. They end up on a train going through the Canadian Rockies with, you guessed it, a trio of assassins trying to kill them before they get to safety. The perfect Saturday afternoon movie.

8. "Jacob's Ladder." Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer returns home and gets a job with the post office. But weird things keep happening to him. He keeps having dreams that he is still with his ex-wife and that his dead son is still alive. Weirder still, demons seem to be trying to kill him. Helped by an oddly angelic chiropractor played by Danny Aiello, Jacob must unravel the mystery of his life before he can have any peace.

Come on over! We'll make popcorn and watch movies together!

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PS--today I got to meet my bloggy friend Pouty Lips and I can report that she is just as peachy in person as she is in the blogosphere. One or both of us will post on that soon!

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