Monday, October 15, 2012

This is My 500th Post

As you can tell from the title of this post, I am celebrating a milestone.  I’d like to thank everyone who takes the time to come here and read my posts, and especially those who join in the discussion by leaving comments. 

I figured for this post I would take a quick look back at some of my favorite recommendations.

Below are my ten favorite movies from among the hundreds I have reviewed.  Please note: this is not a “greatest movies of all time”, or “most technically proficient movies of all time”, or best of whatever criteria you might use for what makes a favorite movie.  I simply go on the impact the movie had on me when I watched it.  Also, this is not my complete Top 10 movies of all time because I simply have not reviewed some of them yet (i.e. Lawrence of Arabia).

As you will see, I tend to like happy movies.  In fact, I’m always a little leery of people who dislike them.  “Too silly!”, they scoff.  “Unrealistic!”, they charge.  “They’re kissing again.  Do we have to hear the kissing parts?”, they whine.  Okay, that last quote was from the little grandson in The Princess Bride, but that’s exactly how all these grownups sound when they complain about good, romantic movies for no other reason than that they are romantic. 

Why does a movie that makes someone happy “smack of manipulation”, but a movie that makes someone depressed “shows true art”?

After discussing movies with a woman I had known for a little while she all of a sudden exclaimed, “You’re a romantic!”  She said this in a tone of voice that was part delight, part astonishment, and part “Did I just see Bigfoot?”  All I have to say to this statement of hers is, “Guilty as charged.”

Each of the movie titles is a link to my review:

1.  The Princess Bride (1987) – a great movie for everyone
2.  Seven Samurai (1954) - a true epic in every way
3.  Amelie (2001) – fall in love with a wonderful Frenchwoman
4.  Whale Rider (2002) – the little movie that could
5.  Pride & Prejudice (2005) – the best version of one of the classic love stories
6.  Shakespeare in Love (1998) – a movie done as if written by the bard himself
7.  Throne of Blood (1957) – Shakespeare meets Japanese theater
8.  The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – riveting performances and big scares
9.  The Man from Earth (2007) – a movie with no gimmicks, just a great story
10.The Avengers (2012) – well written and enormously entertaining

In addition to movie posts, I sometimes recommend books, hikes, and TV shows.  I also have an occasional humor post.  Here are my favorites among those:

Book – Ender's Game
Humor – What Happened to the Ads?  (This is my favorite not because it is the funniest, but because I was able to turn a bad experience into one I could laugh at.)

A few months back I tried a new type of post with my Discussion Starters, but they didn’t go very far.  I may or may not try them again.  I am kind of proud of my two posts on the Pros and Cons of shakycam, though.

I’ve still got plenty of ideas for movie categories (i.e. Great Movie Years, Misquoted Movies, “What’s in the Case?”, Maine People, The First Movie I Saw Them In, Conjunction Junction, “Once Upon a Time”, Funny Chases, and about 100 more.)  I also have some unfinished business in that I need to write a review for the latest Derrick Storm graphic novel for my All Things Castle category, and I still need to watch and review Brave for my 2012 Big Summer Movies category.

I hope to someday be writing a “This is my 1,000th post” post.  And I hope that those of you reading this are still there with me (and that you’ve brought some new friends along.)

Thanks.

27 comments:

  1. Congratulations Chip! Yours is one of the most complete and varied blogs I follow, and always a joy to read. Here's to the next 500!

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  2. Happy 500, Chip! I enjoy reading your thoughts and I plan to read whatever it is you have to say in the next 500. Keep up the great work!

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  3. Congrats Chip. I'm nearing my 900th post at this moment though I don't really keep count at the moment.

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    1. Wow, I'll never be catching up to you. Even if Blogger didn't track the number of posts, I've included it in the filename of each of the reviews I've written, so I would have known it was coming that way.

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  4. Congrats, man! Keep on truckin'! Love those new ideas!

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    1. Thanks. I originally started out asking people which of a set of categories they wanted me to do next, but after I got zero responses I just decided to pick each new category myself.

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  5. Nice going! Those discussion posts is a good idea.keep it coming.

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    1. Thanks. The only thing is those posts didn't generate a lot of discussion. Perhaps I too definitively refuted and/or supported a couple of positions that it turned people off from replying with their own opinions. Maybe people just didn't feel strongly one way or another on the topics I picked. I've got at least one other idea for a topic that I set aside at the time.

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  6. Congrats on the milestone. Looking forward to the next 500.

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  7. Congratulations, Chip! And thanks for reminding me of Whale Rider. I loved that movie, which I saw 14 years ago, and I'd forgotten all about it. I'm also a big fan of Amelie, Pride and Prejudice, and The Princess Bride.

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    1. Whale Rider was a huge surprise to me because I had literally heard nothing about it when it appeared on the rental shelves back in 2002. Thanks.

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  8. Congratulations, Chip! Glad to see The Princess Bride and Seven Samurai on the list. Your posts have been anything but predictable. Can't wait to see what's around the bend.

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    1. Thanks. I do try to bring attention to some of the less well known movies that I feel deserve a bigger audience.

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  9. Congrats Chip! I wish you many 500s other posts for your Blog!

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  10. Well done on the landmark! Hope you keep going for another 500 posts, Chip
    I'll have to move Whale Rider (2002) up my queue, I remember it got some awards recognition, nominations or something.

    That's a very good observation about manipulation.

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    1. Whale Rider received an Oscar nomination for Keisha Castle-Hughes for Best Actress - by far the youngest woman to ever receive such an honor. The actor who played her grandfather also deserved a nomination, in my opinion. Whale Rider also won the Audience Award at Sundance and the People's Choice Award at TIFF.

      Thanks.

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  11. That's quite a milestone, well done!

    While I'm here, I also wanted to let you know that I finally watched To Kill a Mockingbird, after being inspired by your review a few months back.
    You were right, it is a superb adaptation, and I actually found it quite moving to see the characters of one of my favourite books brought to life.

    Thanks for the tip Chip!

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    1. Thanks! That means a lot to me. Thank you very much for coming back and letting me know that. Introducing people to great movies they may not have seen is the primary reason I do this.

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  12. A milestone indeed. Well done, Chip!

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  13. Congrats! I'm sure you'll be celebrating 1000th posts very soon too!

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    1. Thanks. I hope so. It took me about 22 months to get to 500, which is about 22 posts per month - how's that for symmetry - so at that rate we're talking around August 2014. Since I very likely will finally be ending my sabattical and joining the workforce again before then, I don't know if I will keep up that rate.

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  14. 500 posts is a very important and exciting milestone, so congrats, you should be proud of yourself. Many more to come!!

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