No Time For Love (1943)

I'm boggled at how hard it is for me to really enjoy a classic movie lately. Either they've been really boring and I had no interest. Not a new issue I'm handling but a frustrating one it is. So once again I pushed aside my netflix arrivals thinking I was in for another disappointment. I wasn't in the mood. I as set to play the movie as a background as I typed up my lecture notes and surf the net.

Ahh...the wonders of surpise.

"No Time For Love" is weirdly titled but such a great rom-com. We have Kate(played by Claudette Colbert), a very successful photographer who works for a newspaper. Kate is frustrated by the superiors since they don't "get" her photos ( Quite frankly neither do i. Her photos would definitely be featured in a MOMA exhibit today. It's that modern art style that I just can't fathom the meaning...). Instead of taking pictures of ballet dancers as she's assigned to, she takes pictures of inanimate objects such as a chair, an egg. This naturally pissed off her manager. So instead of taking the heat she quits. But...since her boyfriend is the head honcho of the newspaper group, the manager is forced to call her back and apologizes.
 Why? Check these lines of dialogue

       head honcho: "we can't afford to lose her....but we would regret losing you..."

 What? What! Woooooooooow. That is harsh! So the manager is naturally even more pissed off (rightfully so) that when he calls to apologizes, Kate gets all high and mighty and says that she is to be treated liked any other photographer, no special treatment. ::evil twisting of hands::
   So she is given a dirty assignment (literally, there's mud). She is the photograph the workers that are digging a tunnel under the bridge.  The Irish workers aren't happy to see her since she's a woman and will bring bad lucj (I thought that was just on ships?I dunno).  She calls them "superstitious children" and they grumble themselves back to work (this woman is psychotic!). As she's there she eyes a well-muscled young man, Ryan (mmm hmm...yummy) who she immediately latches onto and takes photo. As she's framing the shot, a distracted worker (looking at her) loosens a valve and causes a huge accident where the big heavy hammer thing comes swinging and knocks the young man over. Kate pulls him away and ultimately saves his life. Should that make him happy? Nope. He gets all miffed that she was there causing trouble! So begins their path of meddling in each others lives and love.

 I just love the characters so much. Kate is a crazy biotch! She's obnoxious, self-centered, know-it-all, crazy biotch. I owe it all the acting power of Colbert to making this character not only lovable but endearing and charming. Kate is a rich snob but she can definitely hold her own. Her temper is powerful and so is her right hook. I can so relate to her.

One of the most memorable scene was the dream sequence. It is on top of a huge broken chair. On the seat are a bunch of scraggly rocks. A miniture Kate and her fiance Fred are dressed up in overly-dramatic villain and heroine clothes. She mimes fear and tries to run away, only to fall over to the side. She falls gracefully through the air admist her billowing dress. Then Ryan, in a super-man-like costume flies over. As he approaches her, he twitches his wrists like an airplaine, scoops her up and they fly back to the chair. Evil fred tries to shoot at Superhero Ryan only to have the bullets bounce harmlessly from the chest. In the background, kate is all smiles and cheer. Then evil ryan is pushed off and the dream ends! Sweet dreams!

To continue the hilarity, Kate is disturbed at her dreams. She reasons that if she fabricates ryan in real life, then she could deal with him in reality therefore transfering that persona to her dreams. Yeah, it doesn't make sense which is the point. She's sitting at the table with teacups talking to the empty space before her as if ryan is actually there. She is playing with an imaginary ryan. IMAGINARY!! how many rom-com actresses can you think of that can play crazy and yet make it seem so cute?! not many! not many at all!!

 ryan...oh ryan is an irish dream. he is all brawn and principle. he is strong in strength and intelligence. he may work at digging out the mud, or flirt with vapid dancers or brawl at the strangest moment but he can built an engineering machine that can stop a flood of mud (i dunno how. just run with it).he's tall, muscular, handsome. yet sweet, kind, and romantic. when he arrives at kates apartment to return her missing equipment, he barges in demanding to see the chair that she proclaimed had more charm and personality then he. It's just a dainty bedroom chair. which he promptly sits down upon and destroys. he just walks away. kate is livid and tries to yell at him. only to have him grasp her and kiss her.
        Kate : Oh, you---you coward! Kissing a   
                   woman!
        Ryan : What am I supposed to kiss?


I'm barely scratching the surface on what made this movie so much fun. In a nutshell there was great romance, action, and suspense. The dialogue was fun and witty with the occasional sexual quip thrown in for fun. Yes it sounds like a "superman" type of story. Strong man rescues feeble woman of that type. But this was so much more. They both had strong and weak qualities that complimented each other. kate was obnoxious wheres as ryan pointed out that those people she looked down upon worked hard and she wouldn't be able to do what they do. she gets herself into stupid, STUPID situations. he rescues her but he doesn't  coddle.he acts appropriately, he walks away. she deserved that. it was stupid how she put herself at these situations. for a high class lady, she's dumb as hell.

The weird running gag was how the irish could quickly bring themselves to fight one another.i dunno if that was just a harmless joke or a racial slur but it did bring out the funniest moment in the movie. a huge fight is about to arupt between the men. frantic, she urges the men to try her method of solving a fight without fists. how? musical chairs.

yes. MUSICAL CHAIRS. imagine 8 brawny irish men eying each other evilly trying to do musical chairs. once the music stops, instead of sitting, they just grab the chairs! and then the fists start flying!!! it didn't have to be irishmen to make this funny. just grown men doing musical chairs is awesome enough!

if your a rom-com fan, definitely watch this. seriously go now.

I will leave with the most memorable quotes of the movie. one kate makes her decision to go for ryan, he swoops her up caveman style and marches out the door passing their good friend:
                        Ryan: Thank you buddy. Come by for dinner sometime
                        Friend: Tomorrow night then
                       Kate: Oh no. Not tomorrow night

Hee hee...cause they're gonna hit that!!! get it? get?!??!?!

Jurassic Park Official Trailer #1 - Jeff Goldblum Movie (1993) HD

Book vs. Movie : Jurassic Park(1990 vs. 1993)

I've been devouring quite a bit of Michael Crichton.  It started off with reading "Micro", his last published novel. Once I was told that this novel was finished by someone else I had to start reading other Crichton books. Several things:
1. I barely found out after reading "Micro" that he had passed away a year ago. Oops...
2. "Micro" is the first novel I read (mostly) written by Micheal Crichton
3. I loved "Micro"
3. Crichton is heavy on science and killing people
4. I keep confusing Michael  Crichton with John Crichton...
5. The ending of "The Andromeda Strain" teed me off to no end.


Ultimately, this lead me to the realization on how many Crichton novels were made into movies: "The Andromeda Strain "(1971), "Congo" (1995),  to name a few. So that ultimately led me to a series of blog posts I've been thinking of doing. Self-explantorily (is that a word? Well it is now) called "Book vs. Movie". I had the cool idea for an illustration but time slashed that idea to shreds..

Disclaimer: I watched the movie first.

The Story:
  A very rich man has decided to start an amusement
featuring dinosaurs. He does with the help of lots
of money, charm, and power. He is forced to prove
that his park is safe so he invites archaeologists,
a mathematician (this makes alot more sense in the
book), and his grandkids. As he tries to show the amazing potential for the park, all hell breaks loose. Literally.
 
One Corner: The Book

From the first chapter, I realized that the movie I grew up watching was different. The book starts off a doctor in costa rica. An injured young man with slash marks on his chest is rushed to her. She is told that it is merely a construction accident. Suspicious, she takes photos. Once the young man passes away, he whispers  heavily accented words. Her assistant freaks claiming that it is the night monster or some thing. Once the man dies, a corporate who-ha comes in, takes the body, and leaves. The picture is also missing.
   Right from the first chapter I was terrified. Yes, terrified. This was not the story that i grew up with. It became more bloody, horrific, and absolutely thrilling. I was completely transfixed as I read the novel. There was alot of lovely science theories my little head to ponder with. The chaos theory annoyed me. I loved the part with the computer "counting" the animals and the major flaw in that theory. It was amazing to read this novel. I loved it. The ending was a huge downer for me. I wonder if it's because I have to read the "Lost World" but it really felt anticlimatic. After all that chasing and intelligence spewing from the dinosaurs, they're reduced back to bird-like creatures intent on migrating. Eh.
    Oh, I would love to have a mini-elephant.Just sayin',

The Other Corner: The Movie

  I had to watch this movie again. The last time I saw it was more than 10 years ago. So long ago, that I had to watch it videotape! The movie starts off with the Muldoon character trying to place some velociraptors in the holding pen. Only to have chaos ensues as one of the creatures snags one of the workers and kills him. The scene fades as Muldoon screams for them to shoot her.
     There was this amazing moment that it dawned on both my boyfriend and I that this movie....SUCKED. I think it was when Grant is giving the "scary" velociraptor speech. Where were the parents? Why was there a tour at an archeological dig?!?! The dialogue was so...baaaad. Jeff Goldblum...your leg is badly injured. Why are you striking a sexy pose?!?!?
    After I was done smirking at the dialogue I have to admit two things: Spielberg is a great director for making entertaining movies. Not thought provoking ones. Really fun ones. Two: The dinosaurs still hold up. The animations are cool. The CGI for that time was pretty spectacular.
    One thing that I still haven't been able to let go is the disappearing floor in the T-rex scene. You clearly see that the goat was raised up into the ground. You also see the ground around the fence. Then, once the cars are being pushed over, the floor disappears! Now its dramatic steep drop. sheesh.

 The Fight!:
    The movie severely chopped through the first book. Events were simplified. The chaos theory was used a flirting technique. The characters were off. Ellen sucked except for the one cool part where she turns on the electricity. Then she's a bad-ass. Muldoon's character was not supposed to die and he was the most reliable on! The scientist played a huge moral part in the book but was just reduced to a sideline character in the movie. The evil corporation behind Ned's intent to steal the eggs was not even mentioned in the movie. They were the major explanations for Ned's stealing. In the movie, he's just shown as an overweight grunt. Grant is more of a wide-eyed dreamer in the movie, he was more practical and loved children in the book.
    The book did spend too time on the chaos theory. So much that I skimmed through alot of it. I never fully understood the growing cubes.  I guess it had something to do with ever growing chaos.
    Hammond was inherently  ignorant and crazy in the book. And spoiler alert: he dies!Very fitting!! He should  have died. He brought about destruction and mayhem to bring to life a wish for dinosaurs. He ignored rhyme and reason just for "entertainment". I liked Hammond in the movie but I never felt he really learned much from it. At least movie Hammond seemed genuinely concerned that  his grandkids were stuck in the park. Book Hammond didn't give a damn.


The Outcome: TIE!!
    Despite it all, I can't choose on over the other. The movie was flawed in so many ways but I still enjoyed it. I still get excited over the same scenes and I still feel awe at seeing the dinosuars. The book gave me what it was meant to give: a deep rooted fear of people having too power over things that could kill them. Definitely a cautionary tale served with a spoonful of gasps.


I would recommend the book if you haven't read it. You won't be able to stop comparing them both!


Just a fun tidbit from the awesome Nostalgia critic:

Camp Nowhere Trailer

Camp Nowhere (1994)

       I've been so bone tired for the past few weeks. School.Work. Sewing projects. Art ideas. Or just being burned at. This makes enjoying a movie very, very hard. When your feeling so bleh, meh, and eh , all you want to do is curl up somewhere and just let your mind wander. This is prime time to read a romance novel. Or loads of reality TV. Rarely do I feel much for a movie when I'm in this mood. Movies have a slim chance of making an impression on me. It's usually :"Boring" "I should draw something" "I'm hungry". From then the movie is screwed from this bleak first impression. Sad but true.

But then...there are movie that are so much fun, so entertaining, that it has enough of a power to penetrate the doom and gloom and bring a smile. These movies commonly flaw in logic, production value, and common sense. But damn they are fun.

"Camp Nowhere" has the trademark qualities of a nineties movie: bright clothing, absentee parental control, kids going crazy montage. The story starts off with the woes of kids being sent off to various camps

.On a side note, this has always annoyed me about this movie. I would have KILLED to go to any of these camps!!!! It wasn't like these kids had anything better to do. Computer camp??! Hell yeah!! Ugh!!! I really wanted to go to camp!!!Ok...I've worked through my issues,moving on.

So, a core group of kids decide to pool all of their parents money and make their own camp. They hire Christopher Lloyd (now doesn't that just the awesome??!!) to act as their adult liaison to rent out an abandoned hippie camp. After montages of radical kids painting walls, buying a gazillion toys, and doing whatever they want, reality begins to step in as the parents request a visit.

"Camp Nowhere" is not movie that will change the world. It will not influence cultures or even start a riot. It is just awesome, silly kids fun. That still holds up today if you were kid growing up the nineties. Hell I think anyone would enjoy this. It's pretty priceless. When I watched it, I felt myself morphed into a younger me. I felt  the same longing as I did then to frolic and do whatever I want (even though I can do whatever I want now). It still taps into that inner child that always want to run free without any consequence. Oh and develop friends while I'm at it.

The movie is pretty whimsical in story but it does have consequences.Even though it's pretty light in levity and such, there is a great balance of humility, consequence, and responsible. The story can be silly but for the most part is very realistic. When a bunch of kids get together and play without adult supervision, someone can get hurt.One of them will want to break the law. The parents will have to step in at some point.

Of course, I can't end this blog without mention of the main crush. Andrew Keegan. His first movie role. And oooooo I had such a crush on him. His character was so adorable too!! He was playing this bad ass bully but really he was such a sweetheart. That scene where he helps the little girl to cope with her home sickness but letting her make a necklace???Ahhh!!! sweet!!! I love my bad boys with a heart of gold.

Sad thing about this movie that I completely forgot this movie for at least a decade. This movie left my radar for so long. I didn't completely forget it.Something would always remind of this movie, niggling my brain. It was from watching a movie combined with an awesome friend with amazing memory that I remembered this movie.

After a horrible day at work, this movie was wonderful blessing. It was fun, light, and just awesome. I can't get enough of this movie. Definitely on my to collect list.








Oh random fact: Jessica Alba appears in it :)

Richie Rich Trailer

Richid Rich (1994)

I've been spending an incredible amount of time going through all my stuff. I realize that I may have quite a small hoarding tendencies.Or I have a problem with letting go of sentimentality. Either way, I found that I have ALOT of Macauley Culkin movies. I must be a bigger fan than I thought.



In the middle of my ever growing pile of sorting stuff, I popped in my VHS copy of "Ricthie Rich" movie. I geared myself for a whopping dose of Disappointing Nostalgia.



Macauley Culkin plays the non-surprising role of major-super-duper-ridiculous rich child named Ritchie Rich. He is borne to super duper rich and sweet parents. They love, dote, and shower him with everything he needs. He should be a happy kid. Until he realizes that he has the one thing that money can't buy. Give you three hints.....
.....If you guessed love,no.He's just a kid. Besides you can still buy love...mmmhmmm
.....If you guessed humanity....Dude, it's a kids 90's movie. Way too deep
....friends?DING!DING! DING!



Pretty common story line in the 90s. There was alot of movie that stressed friendships, families, and love are more important than anything else. In a goofy/lighthearted way of course.Completely differently from the....movies of today.



At the same time that Ritchie is realizing his lack of friends, a family consultant is plotting to kill the whole family to get access into the family vault ( which is modeled like Mt. Rushmore but with the heads of the family instead), the murder plot is botched when Ritchie is left behind while his parents are caught in the plane crash (don't worry, they don't die). Now it is a rescue mission for Ritchie and his new found friends.l

I'm not too sure if this is common knowledge, this movie is  loosely based on the 1980's cartoon series. I remember watching them but not being too thrilled about them. I was more in "Rocky and Bullwinkle".

I loved this whole movie. From the absurd opulence of the rich family to the antics to save the family. I was pretty much raised in the lower income bracket and still do but I still love watching these ridiculously rich lifestyle. I will admit that I am amused by "Super Sweet Sixteen" and "Real Housewives:Beverly Hills"(the ONLY entertaining one) shows. It's not that I yearn to be rich but its interesting to see what rich people "value". When money is literally no obstacle in their lives. They can obtain any material or lifestyle they want. When given a choice of anything, it's interesting to see what results from it. Emotionally destructive people with pristine mansions? Hobo chic with snobbish minds? Screaming bitches with nothing to lose? That is entertaining. Trying to decide between a tank of gas or some ingredients for dinner makes for melodramatic centenary. I don't want to watch that., I want to watch glamorous flippantry! There must be a psychological reason for this.



For the kid in all of us, the montage scenes of Culking showing off his goodies to his new friends is still awesome.In hindsight, it's lame that the kids were easy to befriend him after seeing all that he could offer. But who can blame them?They come from a low income, blue-collar atmosphere and then they come to this:
* a kid-a-pault
* go carts
* a roller coaster
* a McDonalds


yes please. Yes damn well please.



Culkin is very,very believable as a rich kid. A rich kid with a heart of gold. Because Culkin is very, VERY rich kid indeed. He was already made famous by doing the "Home Alone" series. Every time I watch Culkin, I always felt that he would be a great kid to hang out. When I watched this movie then and now, I still have the same feeling. Huh, I think I just realized I'm a Culkin fan.

 The characters in this movie are just plain fun.I've always loved the scientific guy who comes up with all the experiments. If I had limitless resources, I would be thrilled to make a robotic bee. Except I would rather make a robotic cat. Or a robotic dragon. Ooo, that breathes dragons. The parents are so cute together! Quirky and in love. We see so few of these couples in movies.Most rich couples are despicable , cold, uncaring, and mean. I suppose that it's done to show how harsh money can make people. But not the Rich family. Their family is full of love and generosity. The villain is meh but the movie is not really about him.




All in all, I really enjoyed this movie again. I love that feeling when movies still hold up in my heart. Hoorah for Ricthie Rich!


Here's a fun rebuttal from the awesome Nostalgia critic: