Today at work, we celebrated a co-worker’s (and friend’s) birthday. The law partners (and married couple) decided that we should have breakfast in the conference room. It was quite a spread including white cake decked with whip cream and strawberries, loads of berries, tubs of yogurt and granola. Don’t worry, my boss also provided breakfast tacos from Whataburger for those of us who are not on a diet, hunger strike, or vegetarians.

As we were sitting around the table, we were each asked what our favorite movie was. For a lot of us, it’s hard to pick just one. In fact, for years now, I have had at least two, if not three, top ten lists of my favorite movies. The movies picked by each person were truly unique to their personality. There were movies about great warriors, romance, westerns, old classics, dark suspense and true life stories. It was across the board. Surprisingly, one person had never seen The Wizard of Oz. I guess that should not be strange, since I have never seen Star Wars or ET.

Some of my favorite books are listed on this blog. It’s only fair that we share our favorite movies. Below are my two “top-ten” movie lists. Maybe you have seen some, maybe not. If not and you are interested but afraid, call me and I’ll talk you into the craziest or at least, most entertaining movie you have ever seen. They are not all “dark suspense” films which are my favorite. I am a big fan of the Cohen Brothers, and one of the movies not listed, “Burn After Reading” is one of their best! You will not wish for those two hours of your life back, like the time I watched that really stupid movie about Zach and Miri trying to make a porno.

Let me know what your favorites are, I would love to add them to the blog! Susi, I already know yours, “Purple Rain.”

Top-Ten A-List:

1. True Romance
2. Usual Suspects
3. Pulp Fiction
4. The Hangover (2009)
5. American Beauty
6. Reservoir Dogs
7. No Country for Old Men
8. Killing Zoe
9. Run Lola Run
10. Jackie Brown
11. A Day Without a Mexican
12. Slumdog Millionaire
13. Burn After Reading

I know it is more than ten, and it may even make it to 20 one day.

Top B-List:

1b. Raising Arizona
2b. Taxi Driver
3b. Glengarry Glen Ross
4b. The God Father (Please, who doesn’t love this movie!!)
5b. Girl Interrupted
6b. Erin Brockovich
7b. There’s Something About Mary
8b. Schindler’s List
9b. Blood Simple
10b. U-Turn
11b. Kill Bill
12b. Pieces of April
13b. 11:14

I even have a reserve list with some great movies on it. So if you are looking for something different let me know. There are so many good ones and so little time!!

Carpe Diem

Lately, all I have been motivated to do is trim bushes and clean out closets. This weeks series of weird incidents has awakened my creative juices. Sure, the big fat Italian wedding in San Antonio was fun despite the 100 degree weather, and I could spend time writing about politics; but nothing beats the fact that Ryan O’Neal still didn’t get around to exchanging vows with Farrah Fawcett before her long struggle with cancer finally ended. Maybe his little visit to jail for DWI a couple of months ago deterred him. Nice move.

Not only was Farrah duped out of a wish to marry her long time on again off again lover and father of her child(ren), she was also shoved right out of the limelight by the biggest weirdo of them all, Michael Jackson. Yes, he is king of the weirdos, but he is also the king of pop iconville. Red leather jackets, silver gloves, Pepsi commercials, Thriller and moon walking. And, in a weird way, so many people connected with his music at various times in their lives. It helped provide me with an outlet during a bad time, giving me something to talk to about with my Dad of all people. He made a splash on MTV and actually gave people insight in the making of music videos. In fact, there is an entire prison population in the Philippines that re-created the Thriller video (as well as thousands of other people around the World).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o
Yes, a weirdo, and yes he stole the limelight from Farrah, but he is the King of Pop. Anybody want to go to Neverland?

And poor Ed McMahon. The saddest part about his death is that he was forced to do infomercials to earn a living. I would want to die too. (just kidding).

Speaking of infomercials, the king of infomercials, the God of pitchmen, the OxiClean mega mogul, Billy Mays died suddenly and unexpectedly. When my boyfriend told me that Mays was a passenger on a US Air flight which, the day before, had experienced a blowout upon landing, I immediately thought that he likely hit his head. We shall see.

I’m glad the week is over, and I’m sure a lot of other people living in Hollywood are too! I promise, my next blog will be a bit more upbeat.

Carpe Diem!