Happy Father's Day!

JP and I have both been blessed with super cool Dads who have both been very good to us!

Citizen Kane

AFI Ranking: 1st
Release Year: 1941

Citizen Kane is often considered the greatest film of all time.  Of course, because of this, there is much debate on whether or not it should hold this title. 

JP and I watched it with his family when we were at Hilton Head.  JP and I both felt as far as the plot goes it was somewhat anticlimatic at the end and overall somewhat boring. However, as I've read about it, I've discovered that apparently the film did a lot for the film industry.  It's flashbacks, its uses of symbolism, its camera moves, its cuts, its deep focus, its structure, its sets, its sound track are a vitrual catalogue of superb examples of what you can do in a film.  Everything that matters in cinema since 1940 has been influenced by Kane.(source)

At least now we know the significance of the word Rosebud.  I always wondered where the people who made SimCity got that word as a secret secret passcode.

It Happened One Night

AFI Ranking: 46th (3rd ranked romantic comedy)
Year Released: 1934

I'm pretty sure I had never seen a movie starring Clark Gable (if I had, I don't remember).  It Happened One Night was a fun movie to be introduced to him.  I loved this movie and definitely recommend it!

One of the most famous scenes:

Ellie attempts to get a car to stop so they can hitch a ride...

Interesting facts:

• After completing the film, Claudette Colbert, the leading lady, stated, "I just finished the worst picture in the world."
• At one point, Clark Gable takes off his shirt to get ready for bed.  When he does, he does not have an undershirt on.  An urban legend claims that, as a result, sales of men's undershirts declined noticeably.
• In Sex and the City 2, Carrie and Mr. Big watch It Happened One Night on a flat-screen TV in a hotel. Later in an attempt to get a taxi, Carrie uses her leg as a way to flag down a taxi.

Psycho

Ranked: 14th
Released:  1960

The first movie we watched on the list was Alfred Hitchock's Psycho.  Of course I was familiar with the infamous shower scene, but I had never actually seen the movie.  Overall, I really liked the movie, and it kept my attention (I have a tendency to get bored in some movies).  Of course, it wasn't nearly as scary now as I'm sure it was when it came out.  Also, I sort of knew the twist at the end, but I can't imagine how shocked those who watched it when it first came out were.

I really enjoy reading what Wikipedia has to say about the classic movies we have been watching.  Some random, interesting things I learned about Psycho from good ol' Wikipedia:

• Alfred Hitchcock actually makes a cameo in this film (as in most of his films.)  You don't have to wait long for it as it happens seven minutes into the film.  He can be seen through a window, wearing a Stetson hat, standing outside Marion Crane's office.  Honestly, I didn't pick up on this.
  
• There are a number of references to birds. Marion's last name is Crane and she is from Phoenix. Norman's hobby is stuffing birds, and he comments that Marion eats like a bird. In British slang, a young woman is called a "bird."
  
• Psycho is actually based on a book that is based on a true case.
  
• The book Pyscho is based on has the protagonist Mary Crane being from Dallas, TX (my fav city).  The movie, however, has the protagonist being from Phoenix, AZ (JP's home town).  However, at the time there was a lady named Mary Crane living in Phoenix so they renamed the protagonist Marion Crane for the movie.
  
• There were several controversies surrounding the movie (mostly the shower scene) but one of the most humorous one to me involves a toilet.  Marion is shown flushing a toilet with its contents of torn up paper fully visible.  Up until that time, in film and television, a toilet flushing was never heard and definitely not seen.

The Classics

JP and I recently decided to watch films from the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.  The original movie list was released in 1998 and an updated list in 2007.  We are using the 2007 list.  According to Wikipedia, every ten years a new list will be released "to mark changing cultural perspectives"  We are using Netflix to complete this task, and currently have added many to our Queue.  Although there are a lot of films we are familiar with and some we have even seen, there are many that we are unfamiliar with.  As we have gone through the list there are a few that we have decided we have absolutely no desire to see... such as the 3 hour silent film Birth of a Nation... so we aren't sure we will complete the entire list but we will come close.

I plan on doing a post on each of the movies we watch from the list... so watch out for them!

Define: Frolic

According to Webster's Dictionary, the verb frolic means: to play and run about happily.  To JP the verb frolic apparently means...

 

While we were at the beach, JP's brother Michael wanted to do a photo shoot of us on the beach.  When Michael told us to frolic on the beach, well, you saw what he got. These pictures make me laugh every time I look at them.

We did get a few fun shots, but not many due to JP being so very silly.  I told Michael it's just good practice for a non-cooperative groom.

Hilton Head

A few weeks ago JP and I went with his family to Hilton Head.  I had never been, and I loved it.  I definitely want to go back!  Actually, JP and I have decided that one day we will live there.  Hey, you never know!

We took two cars.  JP chauffeured Matt, Michael, and me.  With eight people there was tons of stuff so Michael and I rode in the back with his huge camera bag in between.  The ride actually went by pretty quickly... 

... because we saw some interesting things.  We saw...

 ...a barbeque grill on the road, and yes, it was actually smoking as it traveled down the road.

Michael got quite excited about this fake NASCAR car, which we saw right after we saw a random man run across the off ramp with a watermelon.

We also stopped at the funniest gas station ever...

Once we got there we enjoyed a relaxing week on the beach.  I didn't take any pictures, sadly.  Michael and I enjoyed riding all over the island on bikes that we rented.  We saw alligators, tricked security guards, and had the funniest experience ever with a water fountain.  I had never ridden my bike on the beach before so that was fun.

We enjoyed going out to dinner.  Our favorite was the Sea Shack.  JP really liked Harold's Diner.  Harold's is a very unique restaurant.  If you ask the man taking your order that you don't think you can eat the whole platter because he will respond "It's America puddin', you don't have to."  Also don't enter if you are a Yankees fan!  Finally, don't ask the guy who seems to be in charge if he is Harold, because he is not.  I was informed that Harold, in fact, died 16 years ago.

We had a lot of fun playing games both on the beach and around the kitchen table.

So, overall it was such a fun trip.  When I go back (because I will), I will definitely eat at the Sea Shack again, rent bikes, and I will try and take at least one picture!