Film is Truth 24 Times a Second

Every year I am asked for cookie recipes for our anniversary cookies, so here they are: (more…)

I had the pleasure of calling our raffle winners yesterday. And what fun it was. We should do more raffles!

Monday afternoon Karl and I headed downstairs from our office with a cookie jar of 672 raffle tickets. We called upon regular customer Kenui, who happened to be in the store, to draw our grand prize winner.

Congrats to Bliss who won the 50 free rentals!

Also congrats to our runners-up. Jordan and Kristin won 5 free rentals. Jenny and Weston won T-shirts.

A while ago, for our ten year anniversary, I put up a list of my own Top Ten Distopian Films in the store. Tyler’s post reminded me of it, so here it is (not necessarily in order):

• Delicatessen
• Brazil
• The City of Lost Children
• The Road Warrior
• 28 Days Later
• Six-String Samurai
• Children of Men
• 12 Monkeys
• Blade Runner
• Tank Girl

Wow! We gave out over 350 free movies on Wednesday for our store anniversary. That’s a lot of movies. It was an exciting day, I just want to thank everyone who came in as well as our hard-working staff for renting out all those films and keeping the cookie plates stocked! In addition a special thanks to Renata and Ariel, who spent most of Monday scrubbing the store with me. And Zoey, who spent most of Tuesday baking cookies with me.

We were not successful, however, at giving out all 800+ cookies. Next year everyone needs to bring a friend to help eat cookies!

I rank the cookies in this order of deliciousness:

1. Chewy Chocolate Ginger

2. Oatmeal Butterscotch

3. Peanut Butter

4. Molasses Cumin

5. Chocolate Chip

(sorry, not a snickerdoodle fan)

Feel free to make suggestions for next year!

Now that March is here it is time to celebrate by watching as many Irish films as possible!! Here are my favorites:

* Waking Ned Devine

The story of a small town coming together. Old coot Ned has been playing the lottery for who knows how long. He finally wins only the excitement kills him. His buddies decide to pretend to be Ned and collect the lottery — it’s what Ned would have wanted after all… One by one the entire town gets in on the scam.

* Father Ted (TV series)

This is an odd little Irish TV series about three priests living and working on Craggy Island. The sitcom follows the day to day of their lives as Father Ted tries to bring stability to his congregation with little or no help from his fellow priests, Father Dougal McGuire the young innocent and dimwitted, as well as Father Jack Hackett who lives for the simple pleasures of sleeping, eating, and swearing. This comedy is “a little off-color” as my father would say.

* Felicia’s Journey

A young Irish girl is sent to England after a scandal with a soldier. She meets sweet, helpful Joe (Bob Hoskins) who turns out to be not so sweet. This is a dark and disturbing drama.

* The Butcher Boy

Raised by his alcoholic father and manic-deppressed and suicidal mother, young Francie lives in a world of childhood fantasy. When his mother eventually succeeds at suicide Francis is sent to boarding school where things just get worse. Neil Jordan directs this film about a young boys’ decent into madness.

* Into The West

A modern-day fairy tale about two young Irish boys, their alcoholic father (Gabriel Byrne) and a magical horse they keep in their flat, until it is stolen and they must runaway to save the horse. A lovely little film about a dysfunctional family and a horse that brings them together.

* The Secret of Roan Inish
I almost forgot to include one of the best Irish movies ever. This movie is a real treat. Gorgeously shot in the islands of Ireland it combines fable with reality as a young girl struggles to bring her family back together.

What are your favorite Irish films?

It’s been a busy year for me, but I managed to squeeze in a few movies and even more TV on DVD. In brainstorming my list I am sure there are a few I have neglected to remember — I will add them later!

Favorite films I saw in 2006

• Casino Royale

I love James Bond. I love Daniel Craig. How could this not be awesome! (Coming to DVD March 13.)

• The Long Night

I reviewed this in one of our email updates. A great little film noir gem recently released from the vaults.

• Mrs. Henderson Presents

Judi Dench doing what Judi Dench does best. This is one of those drama-comedies that is sweet and a joy to watch.

• Everything is Illuminated

The best part of this film is not Elijah Wood; it is the quirky side characters that make this film great.

• Little Miss Sunshine

Yeah, yeah, it’s the big indie hit. I still enjoyed it. I would not call this a perfect movie, it definitely had a few issues that could be argued, but sometimes I just want to be amused and this film had several amusing parts (which usually involved Steve Carell).

• Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round

Well, this has been on the list for a long time. Well worth the wait.

——

Favorite TV on DVD I saw in 2006

• Curb Your Enthusiasm

I was not a huge fan of Sienfeld. I absolutely love watching Larry David.

• Foyle’s War Season 3

Sometimes you just want exactly what you expect. Unlike our American TV there is no hype, no episode you can’t miss, no twist that will amaze you. Foyle is your typical BBC Mystery! set in England during the war.

• Rome

I found this a bit confusing when I watched the first episode at a friend’s on HBO. Best watched on DVD in a marathon, Rome is all it should be. It is graphic, sexual, and violent. A window into ancient times.

• Murder Rooms

Another BBC, this one is the early adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the basis for this Sherlock Holmes characture.

• Firefly

I am a Sci-Fi fan. This is a little gem and I am sad it was canceled after only one season. How come the best shows die young? If I were a ba-zillionaire I would open a studio devoted to quality TV shows.

• Jeeves & Wooster

Fun 1920’s poofy-ness. Hugh Laurie stars as a young rich nothing-to-do aristocrat who devises cunning plans to get his friends out of prediciments. Only, as you’ve probably guessed already, things usually go horribly wrong. Wooster (Stephen Fry), his valet, is always there to save the day.

Ok, so I haven’t seen as much Robert Mitchum as I thought, but seeing as the new Signature Collection is out I wanted to put in my vote for best Mitchum films. Here they are:

• His Kind of Woman (1951)

• Macao (1952)

• Night of the Hunter (1955)

• Cape Fear (1961)

• Dead Man (1995)

Here is a list of Robert Mitchum films at the store. Unfortunately, The Big Steal is not included as it has been out-of-print forever. I have been wanting to see it since I first read about it back in 1997! If you know where I can get a copy let me know.

• Angel Face (1952) DVD
• Cape Fear (1961) VHS/DVD
• Crossfire (1947) DVD
• Dead Man (1995) VHS/DVD
• Farewell My Lovely (1975) VHS
• The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) DVD
• Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) VHS
• His Kind of Woman (1951) DVD
• Home From the Hill (1960) DVD
• Last Tycoon, The (1976) DVD
• The Longest Day (1962) VHS/DVD
• Macao (1952) VHS/DVD
• Night of the Hunter (1955) VHS/DVD
• Out of the Past (1947) VHS/DVD
• The Racket (1951) VHS/DVD
• Ryan’s Daughter (1970) DVD
• Scrooged (1988) VHS/DVD
• The Sundowners (1960) DVD
• Thunder Road (1958) VHS
• The Yakuza (1974) DVD

He is also in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1942 Sabotuer as a passer-by if you are quick enough to catch him!

This week, Helen Mirren achieved something pretty remarkable: She won a Best Actress Golden Globe for playing Queen Elizabeth I in the mini-series Elizabeth I, and she won another Best Actress Golden Globe for playing Queen Elizabeth II in the movie The Queen.

We have Elizabeth I on DVD; The Queen won’t be out until later this year. In the meantime, here is a list of other Helen Mirren films available for rent at our store:

• O Lucky Man! (1973)
• Caligula (1979)
• The Long Good Friday (1980)
• Excalibur (1981)
• 2010 (1984)
• The Mosquito Coast (1986)
• The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
• Prime Suspect 1-5 (1991-1996)
• Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991)
• The Madness of King George (1994)
• Some Mother’s Son (1996)
• Critical Care (1997)
• Greenfingers (2000)
• The Pledge (2001)
• Last Orders (2001)
• No Such Thing (2001)
• Gosford Park (2001)
• Calendar Girls (2003)
• The Clearing (2004)
• Shadowboxer (2005)

What’s your favorite Helen Mirren movie?