I Liked Vampires before they were Cool

At present time, I am a little obsessed with show Vampire Diaries on the CW. I had seen previews for it a million times, as I am a faithful member of the Smallville and Supernatural audiences. It never struck my fancy; after all, liking any vampire-driven media nowadays is almost as bad as wearing your custom-made "Team Bieber" t-shirt to the nearest Twilight convention. This is all ok if you happen to be a 13 year old girl. Disclaimer: I liked vampires before they became cliche.. same with penguins.

Anyway, in divulging this guilty pleasure to my closest friends, my head hanging in shame, it occurred to me that not one of them shared my love for this show. I'm fine with this because I'm not one of those people that changes their opinions based on what their friends do and do not like. But it did seem odd that not one of them liked it. Usually I share mutual likes or dislikes with at least someone!

So, while thinking about this (maybe it was my subconscious trying to justify my obsession), I realized that maybe the reason I like it so much right now is that I discovered it during kind of a hard time of my life. I think that the amount a show or a movie means to you is somewhat dependant on when you discovered it, or when you watched it the most.

Televion and movies are ways of getting immersed in another world and letting yourself fall in love with the characters, and when you are going through rough times out here in the real world, it's easier to fall in love with fantasy.

Anyway if anyone is reading this, and wants to know what's up with Vampire Diaries, it is a really good show if you can get past the slight Twilighty feel to it. Let's be honest, the plot for Twilight wasn't exactly original... mortal girl falls in love with immortal vampire. It just so happens that it's the most populer and the crappiest vampire story right now. Vampire Diaries does have a deep plot as well as all kinds of romantic geometric shapes... from the triangle all the way up to a decagon... well maybe not that high, but good Lord.

I love all the actors, yes Steffan, the main vampire, is a little on the broody Edward side, but actor Paul Wesley is vastly superior to Mr. Pattinson. I am completely in love with Ian Somerhaulder in this. As Boone in Lost, he was great but I hadn't seen him in anything else. But as Damon Salvatore, he is perfect.

Ok so I'm gonna stop writing now because I am extremely tired and getting kind of dizzy... and I apologize for being extremely... all over the place thoughtwise.. but let me just close by saying...

Dracula, Lestat, Louis, Armand, Angel, Spike... yeah there's a million more but the whole tiredness thing is blocking my memory... they all came before Edward... he doesn't have to ruin everything that comes after him you know!

Movie Geekitude

Ok so I'm assuming the "rules" are that 1 movie can't be under 2 different catagories... Otherwise Lord of the Rings would be Best in all of them... that's right.. all. I'm trying to just type what first comes to mind... otherwise I would be here for a really long time...

Current All-Time
BEST: Lord of the Rings
WORST: Battlefield Earth
Action
BEST: Eagle Eye & Live Free or Die Hard
WORST: Wanted
Epic Adventure
BEST: Book of Eli
WORST: Eragon
Drama (makes you think)
BEST: Inception
WORST: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Based on Comic Book
BEST: Constantine
WORST: The Hulk (the older-ish one with Eric Bana)
Based on Book
BEST: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
WORST: Twilight
Based on a Play
BEST: Mamma Mia! & Sweeney Todd
WORST: Grease 2
Based on TV
BEST: Star Trek (2009)
WORST: The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Based on Cartoon
BEST: Transformers
WORST: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Based on Video Game
BEST: Resident Evil: Afterlife
WORST: Doom
Based on Amusement Park
BEST: Pirates of the Caribbean
WORST: (I can't think of any others I've seen...)
Based on Real People
BEST: Amadeaus
WORST: Impromptu
Movie Remake
BEST: Nightmare on Elm Street & Karate Kid (if that counts as a remake) WORST: The Uninvited
Superhero Movie
BEST: The Dark Knight & Ironman & Mystery Men.. I can't choose!
WORST: Hancock & Kick-ass
Spy Movie
BEST: Killers
WORST: The Bourne Ultimatum
Romance
BEST: The American President
WORST: The Last Kiss
Fantasy
BEST: Sorcerer's Apprentice
WORST: Season of the Witch
Science Fiction
BEST: I Am Legend & Tron: Legacy
WORST: Star Wars Episode 1: Phantom Menace
Suspense
BEST: Disturbia
WORST: The Box
Mindtrip Ending
BEST: Secret Window & The Prestige (wasn't a twist but was very... "trippy") & Saw
WORST: The Mist
Courtroom Drama
BEST: ummm.... Legally Blonde?
WORST: I haven't seen any that I can remember!
Psychological Thriller
BEST: The Sixth Sense
WORST: Hide and Seek
Horror
BEST: 1408
WORST: The Grudge 3
Slasher
BEST: My Bloody Valentine (Dean!)
WORST: Friday the 13th (the new one) (Sam!) & Hostel
Ok... now slashers are hard to judge "best" and "worst"... I chose My Bloody Valentine because it was gory but not over the top and it had an actual plot and the acting was good... Friday the 13th was not necessarily a bad movie... but it was so so so so so gory that it actually made me sick... and when there wasn't blood on screen there were boobs.. same with Hostel
War Movie
BEST: Inglourious Basterds
WORST: War Inc.
Sports Movie
BEST: The Blind Side
WORST: Facing the Giants
Silly Comedy
BEST: Galaxy Quest
WORST: Napolean Dynamite
Heartfelt Dramedy
BEST: As Good as it Gets
WORST: Funny People
Romantic Comedy
BEST: Music and Lyrics
WORST: Bridget Jones' Diary
Farcical/Satirical Comedy
BEST: Office Space
WORST: Scary Movie
Western
BEST: 3:10 to Yuma (I haven't seen the new True Grit yet.. want to!)
WORST: I haven't seen any.. because I don't watch westerns unless someone tells me I should.. and so far all the ones I've watched have been good...
Documentary
BEST: March of the Penguins
WORST: An Inconvenient Truth
Foreign Film
BEST: Re-cycle & Death Note
WORST: The Orphanage
Independent
BEST: Little Miss Sunshine
WORST: Plaguers
Musical
BEST: Muppet Christmas Carol
WORST: I don't remember seeing one.. I'm sure I have..
Coming-of-Age
BEST: Karate Kid (the new one)
WORST: American Pie
Teenage Day-in-a-Life
BEST: Easy A
WORST: (I can't think of one.. this genre is too small =P)
Teenage Comedy
BEST: 10 Things I Hate about You & Fired Up!
WORST: The Hot Chick
Teenage Drama
BEST: Juno & Charlie Bartlett
WORST: Jumper
Animated Movie
BEST: Despicable Me & Wall-E
WORST: The Incredibles
Family Film
BEST: Princess Bride & Enchanted
WORST: Chronicles of Narnia
Kids Action/Adventure
BEST: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
WORST: Spy Kids 3D

Monday Movie Meme

Hiests and Capers 9-26-10
The Italian Job (2003)
Public Enemies (2009)
Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)

Supernatural 10-3-10
The Fourth Kind (2009)- Supernatural doesn't mean untrue... not necessarily aliens... but definately something
The Ring (2002)- One of the first Japanese horror to grace our country with its presence
Night of the Living Dead (1968)- all zombie movies...
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Mondy Movie Meme- Aging

9-20-10

The Bucket List (2007): Morgan Freeman an Jack Nicholson. 2 men with cancer escape from the hospital to do everything on their bucket lists... very sweet, yet sad movie
Old Dogs (2009): Very funny movie with Robin Williams and John Travolta
Up (2009)

Movie Meme

Overlooked movies: 7-11-10
Re-Cycle (2006): A Japanese film with subtitles and rather disturbing
The Cottage (2008): A British spoof on horror movies... hilarious!
Numb (2007): Matthew Perry stars in this movie about a personality disorder and love... very cute... also very sad
Neverwas (2005): A great story, Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellan, Brittany Murphy
Fired Up! (2009): Don't be deceived by the previews or the tagline... it's a really cute movie
Surf's Up (2007): What Happy Feet should have been

Anti-Boredom 7-18-10
Lord of the Rings (2001-03): Best series in the world..
Wall-E (2008): By far my favorite Pixar movie... how can you be bored watching him? He's so cute!
Mama Mia (2008): Great music to sing along to!

Animation 7-25-10
Wall-E (2008): Pixar's masterpiece
The Lion King (1994): My favorite classic Disney
Surf's Up (2007): I love penguins and this is the best animated penguin movie... Happy Feet sucked
Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009)
Toy Story 3 (2010): Very epic for a pixar movie
Pretty much anything Pixar ever made with the exception of The Incredibles... bleh

Quotables 8-1-10
Lord of the Rings (2001-03): I know it doesn't seem quotable but I have a knack for bringing it up in casual conversation... just today I used "We are sitting... on a field of victory" but I use pretty much everything from the trilogy
Wall-E (2008): "Whoa!"
Juno (2007): "God banana shut your freaking gob!"... and many more
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-11): Too many to name

Actors under 50 who will be Legends 8-8-10
Will Smith (42): While there are a few unlikeable movies in his filmography (Hancock, Shark Tale) he is still very enjoyable in them. Almost every movie he has been in is a hit and I don't see how anyone could disagree with his talent. Independence Day, Men in Black (yes the 2nd one was awful), Enemy of the State, Seven Pounds, I am Legend, I Robot, Hitch... ALL amazing... I haven't seen Pursuit of Happyness, Bad Boys, Wild Wild West or Ali... but I have heard nothing but great things
Ellen Page (23): A great actress... she is in a bunch of indie or underground movies (Hard Candy, Peacock, Tracey Fragments) all of which she was great in, but she's branching out and is going to be huge very soon (Juno, Inception, Smart People, Whip It)
Johnny Depp (47): The only reason he is 3rd on my list is because I thought he was over 50! He can do anything.. shall I include every single movie he's ever made? Or do you want to just believe me

Prison 8-22-10
The Rock (1996): Duh?
The Green Mile (1999): Also Duh
Public Enemies (2009): Great movie based on true story... can't go wrong with Johnny Depp
Law-Abiding Citizen (2009): Amazing Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx
Gamer (2009): Another Gerard... great satire
Con Air (1997): Nicholas Cage... another duh
Chicago (2002): Greeeeaaat musical set in a prison

Child Stars 8-29-10
Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Signs (2002), Zombieland (2009)
Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999), Pay it Forward (2000)

Storms 9-5-10
Cast Away (2000)
Twister (1996)
Message in a Bottle (1999)

Biopics 9-12-10
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
The Pianist (2002)
The Blind Side (2009)
Blow (2001)

Monday's Movie Meme

Cops 12-07-08
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Turner and Hooch (1989)
Kindergarden Cop (1990)

Sports 11-30-08
The Blind Side (2009)- Not necessarily a "sports" movie but it does have football in it..
Run Fatboy Run (2007)- Racing
Angels in the Outfield (1994)- Baseball
Fired Up (2009)- Cheerleading

Sequels better than Original 11-23-08
White Noise 2 (2005)
The Dark Knight (2008)
New Moon (2009)
Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (2009)
Resident Evil: Exinction (2007)

Encores 11-16-08
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Juno (2007)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Ghost Town (2008)
Lord of the Rings (2001-03)

Expectations 11-08-08
BETTER than Expected:
Star Trek (2009)
Ironman (2008)
Juno (2007)
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Hellboy (2004)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

WORSE then Expected:
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2010)
Wolverine Origins (2009)
The International (2009)
Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (2010)
Avatar (2009)

The Year I was Born 11-02-08
1989
Oscar winner-- Driving Miss Daisy -Didn't see it
MY Favorite-- Turner and Hooch

1987
Oscar Winner-- The Last Emperor- didn't see it
HIS Favorite-- Evil Dead II

Time Travel 06-20-10
Kate and Leopold (2001)
The Time Machine (2002)
Star Trek (2009)
Back to the Future (1985)
The Family Man (2000)

Heroines 06-27-10
Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson)- Ironman 2 (2010)
Ripley (Sigorney Weaver)- Alien (1979)
Alice (Mila Jovovich)- Resident Evil (2002)
Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell)- Silent Hill (2006)
Rachel (Naomi Watts)- The Ring (2002)

Special Effects 07-04-10
Lord of the Rings (2001-03)- Lots of breakthroughs in special effects were had in this trilogy.. such as the Gollum suit and actually making his features resemble those of Andy Serkis... not to mention the walking trees and an entire world getting overrun with creatures and destruction...
Ironman (2008)- People in suits and technology that isn't (yet)... very nice
The Dark Knight (2008)- Twoface was awesome... and there were also the batman/mobile/bike stuff and the semi turning over...

Monday's Movie Meme

My Collection 5-31-09
MOST VIEWED: Lord of the Rings Trilogy (mine)... it's the movie I turn on whenever I'm alone or just want something happening in the background
1408 (Jesse's)... I also watch this with him obviously.... one of the best horror movies to just turn on... always good
NEVER VIEWED: The Changeling... we bought this really cheap on impulse but we haven't been in the modd to watch it... there's also a bunch that his mom gave us but we don't trust her judgement after Last Kiss
GUILTY PLEASURE: The Cottage... great horror/comedy that no one has ever heard of... most people that have seen it hate the humor in it though...
Dance of the Dead... possibly the only good after dark horrorfest movie made...
MOST SHARED: Ghost Town... everyone can enjoy this and they do!
WHY DID WE BUY THIS?: Beetlejuice... Husband said it was great but it turns out the only good part of this movie was Beetlejuice and he's in shockingly little of the movie...
MOST TREASURED: Lord of the Rings... all 3 extended editions...
WILDCARD: Re-cycle... this is on here because we have a bunch of great gems that no one has ever heard of and this is a really ambiguous one... great Japanese horror

Tear-Jerkers 05-17-09
My Girl (1991)- First movie I ever actually cried at
Return of the King (2003)- The end of all things... happy.. sad... intense... tear-jerking
Seven Pounds (2008)
Turner and Hooch (1989)- Well there's a dog in this movie.. what do you think?
Nights in Rodanthe (2008)- Nicholas Sparks... 'nough said

First R Rated Movie 05-10-09
Mine: Speed (1994)
Jesse: The Shining (1980)

Animals 05-03-09
Surf's Up (2007)- Penguins!
Secondhand Lions (2003)- Great movie.. lions!
Homeward Bound (1993)- Dogs and cat
Ratatouille (2007)- Rats and food
Dragonheart (1996)- Dragon!
King Kong (2005)

Concessions 04-19-09
Hot Tamales
Milk Duds
Skittles
Popcorn

Restoring Faith 04-12-09
Surf's Up (2007)- Faith in yourself
Seven Pounds (2008)- Faith in humanity
Love Actually (2003)- Faith in love
Lord of the Rings (2001-03)- Faith in good
Book of Eli (2009)- Faith in God

Falling Stars 04-05-09
Brenden Fraser: Although never a huge shining star... he was blessed with well-known and good roles (Blast from the Past.. some of those random teen kind of movies.. and then The Mummy) but he has since spiraled downward with the third Mummy.. Inkheart... Journey to the Center of the Earth... It seems he is still doing cheesy comedy kind of acting that was popular in the early 90's and it's just not working out anymore there, Brenden...
Adam Sandler: Arguably the king of comedy... starting his career with things like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore (neither of which I was overly impressed with).. and moving on to even better things like Big Daddy, The Wedding Singer, Anger Management... but has now taken on some more serious roles... Click, Reign Over Me, Funny People... and they are just kind of getting worse as it goes on longer... unlike Brenden.. Adam is trying to act less immaturely like his earlier stuff... but that's not exactly working either.
Meg Ryan: For a while she was in tons of romantic comedies in which she was wonderful... Sleepless in Seattle, You've got Mail... Kate and Leopold... and since then she's just kind of fell off the map with some random things here and there...
Jim Carrey: His new stuff sucks...

Soundtracks 03-29-09
Lord of the Rings (2001-03)- Perfection... particularly in TTT but they were all an amazing compelation of music and film...
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)- Also the second in a trilogy (soon to just be a series..) to be the best of an amazing soundtrack
The Last Airbender (2010)- Ok I just saw this today so it is in the front of my mind... but it really did have a great soundtrack... especially at the end
Sherlock Holmes (2009)- Hans Zimmer
Harry Potter (2001-2011)

Eye Candy 03-22-09
Viggo Mortenson in LOTR
Orlando Bloom in POTC
Robert Downey Jr. in Ironman
Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes
Shia Labeouf in Eagle Eye
Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate about You

Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body
Ashley Greene (Alice) in Twilight
Emma Stone in Zombieland
Mila Jovovich in Resident Evil: Extinction
Jessica Alba in Sin City
Monica Bellucci in Shoot Em Up

War 03-15-09
Lord of the Rings (2001-03)
Braveheart (1995)
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Documentaries 03-08-09
March of the Penguins (2005)
District 9 (2009) not a true documentary but done in that style... it was very good

Best Adaptations 03-01-09
Lord of the Rings(2001-03)- Movies were more intriguing than the books because the books are kind of like reading the bible
Mama Mia (2008)- Great musical brought to film
Ironman (2008)- Comic to movie
The Last Airbender (2010)- Show to movie

Oscar Winners 02-23-09
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Amadeus (1984)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

Cameos 02-15-09
Lord of the Rings (2001-03)- Man eating carrot in Bree... Wildman... and Pirate all by Peter Jackson
The Village (2004) M. Night Shyamalan- the reflection of the cop he talks to
Tropic Thunder (2008)- Tom Cruise
Clash of the Titans (2010)- The mechanical owl
Love Actually (2003)- Claudia Shiffer
Zombieland (2009)- Bill Murray
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)- Willem Dafoe
Dodgeball (2004)- Chuck Norris
The Simpsons Movie (2007)- Tom Hanks

Movie Quotes 02-08-09
Lord of the Rings-
"So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
"Would you like me to describe it to you or would you like me to find you a box?"
The Dark Knight- "I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger.. heh"
A Knight's Tale- "The spark of his life is covered in shite! His spirit is gone but his stench remains!"
Independence Day- "Oh shit! Um... hide"
I Am Legend- "I... I promised a friend I would say hello to you today.. hello... please say hello to me"
Pirates of the Caribbean- "You're off the edge of the map matey.. here there be monsters!"
Star Trek- "It's like trying to hit a bullet!... with a smaller bullet!... blindfolded!... riding a horse! Backwards!"
Wolverine Origins- "Okay!.... People are dead!"
Eagle Eye- "Yeah I'm pretty sure she can do that... I'm pretty sure she could turn this car into a talking duck if she wanted to"
Zombieland- "I'm not great at farewells, so uh... that'll do, pig."
Tropic Thunder- "Hey, man, remember way back when I said your mother was a cankerous whore? I'm sorry, man. I did not mean that. She's not"
Galaxy Quest- "Don't open that! It's an alien planet! Is there AIR?! You don't know!"

Car Chases 02-01-09
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
Eagle Eye (2008)

Musicals 01-25-09
Mama Mia (2008)
Sweeney Todd (2007)
Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Chicago (2002)
The Lion King (1994)

Spoofs 01-18-09
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Remakes 01-11-09
The Crazies (2010)
The Wolfman (2010)
Clash of the Titans (2010)
King Kong (2005)
Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
The Ring (2002)

Memorable Endings 01-04-09
No Country for Old Men (2007)- Really oddly disturbing end... not a very good movie
Lord of the Rings (2003)- Great ending(s) for a great movie
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)- Wonderful suprise at the end of this movie
Love Actually (2003)
Monsters Inc. (2001)
Numb (2007)
The Mist (2007)- Horrible horrible end!

Don't wanna watch with Parents 12-28-08
300 (2006)- Too much sex and nipples... I did see this with my dad
Matrix Reloaded (2003)- 20 minute sex scene... also saw with my dad...
Watchmen (2009)- Very long sex scene
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)- obviously..

Feel Good 12-21-08
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Juno (2007)
Zombieland (2009)
Run Fatboy Run (2007)
Surf's Up (2007)
Galaxy Quest (1999)