#122 Thursday Thirteen #1

Holy crap it really snowed last night. Snow day!

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Saw this over at Cory'sblog and thought it might be a good thing to start doing each week. I'd like to try and take this blog a little beyond the fat and fitness at it's core and make it a little more personal. Without further ado:

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #1
Last Thirteen Movies I Watched

1. Phenomenon - Caught this movie on Bravo one night when they were doing a John Travolta marathon. I don't usually go for this kind of movie but it was cute and sort of sad so I got sucked in. I'll admit it, I got a little teary towards the end.

2. Fear - A young Reese Witherspoon dates basically the worst guy in the world who eventually ends up threatening her entire family. After watching the roller coaster scene I'll never be able to see the Witherspoon the same again.

3. Overnight Delivery - I'm a sucker for anything Paul Rudd (who pretty much embodies, physically, everything I want in a man) so I had to watch this when I spotted it on tv. Funny, but dated. A good fluff movie to kill some boredom.

4. 300 - 10% romance 10% story of bravery 80% partial nudity. A truly beautiful movie, not only for the hot men, but for the entire tone of the film. Marketed as a guy movie, but my girl friends and I really liked it.

5. Black Snake Moan - Crazy Indie flicks are my passion, so I was really excited to see this film. It was nice to see Morgan Freeman in something that wasn't completely lame (Snakes on a Plane anyone?) and Christina Ricci did a really great job with her role.

6. Clerks - I watched this movie a long time ago and thought it was really dumb and poorly made. Watching it now, a little older, a little wiser, I actually thought it was funny and could appreciate the sort of low budget dialog driven awesomeness of the movie.

7. Pan's Labyrinth - So pretty, so sad, so magical. A really wonderful movie that everyone should see.

8. What The #$*! Do We Know!? - One night in Spain, after four bottles of wine, my friends and I got into a really interesting discussion about quantum uncertainty and this film was recommended to me. It certainly makes you think about life and how much of what we do is up to us.

9. Leaving Las Vegas - I'm not much of a Nick Cage fan (except for the Weather Man, which I really liked) but I was surprised at how much I liked this movie. It was abrasive and upsetting, which, in my opinion, is usually a good quality in this kind of movie.

10. This Film is Not Yet Rated - A documentary about the rating systems set up by the MPAA and the secrecy surrounding the process of getting a film rated. Very interesting and made a lot of really great points about the faults in the rating system.

11. Enduring Love - I saw a preview for this somewhere and added it to my Netflix. It made it to the top of my queue without being bumped somehow and I was really surprised at how good it was. It's about fate and love and relationships and disasters and responsibility. Excellent acting, and a really intriguing story.

12. Valley of the Dolls - I'm told this movie and the book it's based on were a pretty big deal back in the day. The movie was campy and dramatic and good retro-pill-popping fun.

13. Half Nelson - Watched this late last night when I couldn't fall asleep. Ryan Gosling was nominated for - and won - the Best Actor Independent Spirit Award for his work in this and it was definitely deserved. His character is interesting to watch and his interactions with his co-star Shareeka Epps were hopeful and heartbreaking all at once. A great movie.