Movie Hug

What are your Go-To Movies? 

The ones that you put on when you want the cinema equivalent of a hug from a friend? The ones that you know every character, every piece of music, every quip? The ones that may not be cool to watch but always hold a special place in your heart. 

My Top Ten Movie Hugs, in no particular order and for many varied reasons, are

- Zoolander -

- Edward Scissorhands -

- Leon -

- Beetlejuice -

- Chocolat -

- Pretty Woman -

- Some Like It Hot -

- 10 Things I Hate About You -

- Moulin Rouge -

- Fight Club -

First Date Drama

He's plucked up the courage to ask you out... finally... and now comes the dilemma of a First Date. Where to go? The only advice I can give you is don't go to the movies... just don't.

Going to see a film as your first date is probably one of the worst ideas in what will surely be a short relationship. I know that some of you wise women of the world are quietly nodding your heads as you read this and murmuring 'The movies, no chance to talk and get to know one another' or 'What a waste of several hours as you both stare front and centre'. While these are pretty valid reasons to not like visiting the picture house as first date territory they are not mine.

Just visualise everything for a moment... you're going to play the female lead in this particular production (apologies to my male readers, consider it just role play). You've fretted about what to wear, how to do your hair, how much perfume is too much, should you wear heels.. the usual. You've decided that jeans are casual but that your new top and shoes give it an 'edge'. Your hair is loose so that he can see how carefree you are. You're not wearing any rings so that he can hold your hand with ease. Ditto with forgoing lipstick - you want the end of date night kiss to be perfect and smudge free. You've let him pick the movie and agreed to share your popcorn. You still have butterflies in your tummy over the fact that you are actually on a date with this gorgeous man beside you.

And then the drama starts...

You find your seats in the darkened theatre, get comfortable, prop the oversized tub of popcorn between you and open the bag of Malteasers now so that you don't ruin a quiet moment in the movie with the rustling of sweet wrappers. You become incredibly aware that your date is actually sitting beside you. His hand is on the armrest. 

Should you reach out and hold his hand? 

Oh... He moved his hand... Maybe he doesn't want to hold hands... Wait he's moving his hand back... Does this mean he wants to hold my hand?... No wait he's just getting some popcorn... 

Should I try that corny trick of brushing off his hand as I reach for some popcorn at the exact same moment?... Dammit, too late. He's moved his hand away again... He's moving in his seat... Will he put his arm around me?... 

Oh Ryan Reynolds is so cute... I loved him in The Proposal... Should I make the first move in the hand holding situation?... I'm a modern woman, I can hold a man's hand first... His hands are in his lap now... I can't just reach into his lap... He'll think I'm only after one thing... 

God, why are my palms so sweaty?... Maybe I'll wait a few minutes and then hold his hand... Hold on! Why hasn't he tried to hold my hand?... 

This scenario has a shelf life that equals the length of the movie that you're watching. It's times like these that make a 2-3 hour epic movie a disaster to watch. Well... along with the fact that at some stage you're gonna have to miss some of the film because you really wanted to get the extra large coke and drank most of it before the trailers were over. 

The minefield of physical contact within the First Date territory is tough enough to deal with in a well lit room where you can see your opponent clearly. Throw in dimmed lighting, blinding special effects, a very expensive soundtrack and the fact that you have to constantly flick your eyes from the screen to him in case you miss his body language cues and you have an exhausting first date.       

Just not my cup of tea. Not at all.

Give me conversation, coffee and cake... any time. It just works... well as long as he likes conversation, coffee and cake too. I'd even settle for tea, toast and banter if he was cute enough, and had a pot of strawberry jam.

How about you? What tips can you offer for a first date idea? Have you ever gone on a disastrous first date? What happened?  

A Little Soft And Squidgy

So... they're bringing out a third Ghostbusters movie soon. I heard that on the radio today while everyone was giving out that Bill Murray wasn't really interested in coming back to the franchise.

But as soon as I heard the word 'Ghostbusters' I had only one thing on my mind for the rest of the day...

Marshmallows... soft, sugary, squidgy marshmallows. All sweet and delicious and way too easy to eat. Staypuff marshmallow man, you have a lot to answer for.

Do any movies instantly remind you of food? Like 'Marie Antoinette' and cream cakes, 'Chocolat' and rich handmade truffles, '28 days later' and tinned peaches...

Things I Love Thursday

Hello 80's - I've been reminiscing with movies from my childhood lately. Were you a 'Lost Boys' (1987) and 'Heathers' (1988) kinda person, all dark and tortured, too much backcombing and eyeliner or were you 'The Breakfast Club' (1985) and 'Ferris Buellers Day Off' (1986) - troublesome but lovable, denim jacket and scrunched up socks? I was a Ghostbusters, Princess Bride, Indiana Jones, Beetlejuice, Spaceballs, Coming to America kinda girl, just a little bit of everything, and still am. 

Things on Toast - Everything automatically tastes better when you put it on toast. Scrambled eggs, baked beans, melted cheese, grilled bacon, honey and banana, even humble old butter and jam. I remember being a kid and jam sandwiches just seemed mean and tasteless, but jam on toast - warm melting butter, sticky jam, all yummy and comforting. What a great plan!

A Harsh Reality - Being single has it's perks - not having to share that last piece of cake, no one telling you to hurry up when getting ready, the whole bed to yourself, but it has some huge drawbacks too. I miss being touched... get your head out of the gutter now... just the general he walks past you and brushes his hand across your lower back kinda touching, the you're sitting on the couch and he picks up your feet and puts them on his lap kinda touching. I suppose it's really called intimacy, and I miss it. 

Honourable Mentions - surprise visits, spotted teapots and Very Berry herbal tea, up styles, messy buns, smokey eyes and emerald green toe nails, finding any reason to inject glamour into the day - hats at noon, patent shoes and costume jewellery, waking up to two new followers this morning (edging ever closer to 100 - a giveaway is promised), striped jumpers and knee high socks, reading an entire series of books and loving them   

Fifty People, One Question - Ireland

This is a wonderful short film shot in Galway city as part of the Fifty People, One Question series. It really makes you think...

I'm not going to give away the question before you watch the clip below but my answer will be in the comments section over the next few days.

Big Bad Wolf

The 'Big Bad Wolf' print by TugBoat is reminding me to definitely make sure that I make time to go see Red Riding Hood, only 5 more days until it's release here in Limerick on April 15th.

Check out the TugBoat Blog for more great prints.

Pretty Boy Friday

Max Irons, one of the stars of the hotly anticipated Red Riding Hood movie

Things I Love Thursday

Being A Big Kid - At least when it comes to easy entertainment. Give me a jigsaw and I'll be amused for several hours and I know that I'm not alone on this one. Recently myself and my club had the honour of attending and competing at the Irish Student Nationals, and guess what the girls brought as half time entertainment.... colouring books! Lots of colouring books, and markers. At my last count I saw at least 15 archers curled up in the bleachers at the shoot, markers in hand, trying to out do each other with how well they could stay between the lines. And they all put them up on display when they were done too. Me? I'm more of a scrabble or board game type... my mum even surprised me at Christmas with a beautiful backgammon set.

Juicy - There are few things that remind me more of good weather and sunshine than a huge glass of cold juice. I'm not awfully picky about my flavour either, give me orange, pineapple, tropical, apple and no matter what... I'll be happy. 

Movie Solos - My favourite way to watch a movie is all alone in a dark and empty cinema in the middle of the day, when it's just me and the movie and maybe a bag of Haribo. No one asking questions, no one going out to the bathroom in the middle of the movie, no one rustling food wrappers. I started liking being on my own at the cinema when I was researching my final year thesis for my degree. I was looking into redesigning the experience of going to the movies and seeing what needed to be changed to make the whole thing more enjoyable. I spend many hours of my labs in the cinema sitting, and watching, and eating, all in the name of research. That was a great time.  

Honourable Mentions - being 'tiggerific' (if you're my friend on facebook you'll understand this one), having blue varnish on my toes, birthday cake, finding clothes in my wardrobe that used to be snug and now hang a little loose, putting Nevermind on in the car at full volume and feeling like an angsty teenager again, keeping up with my 4-5 classes per week 'In the gym' schedule, this week I'm all about bags... so this one, this one and this one are on my wish list, and maybe this one too, leftover Christmas lights still strung around my room, open toe shoes 

A Quick Challenge

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I will post an envelope full of lollipops to the first person to name all 26.

"Death can not stop true love, it can only delay it for a little while." from the movie "The Princess Bride"

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This has to be one of my favourite childhood movies ever.

What are your childhood favourites?

Pretty Girl Friday

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This weeks Girl Friday goes to Kate Hudson for two reasons.

1 - She is incredibly vivacious and witty.
&
2 - All they guys picked Heather Graham over Kate in a poll last week as to who they thought was prettier. They claimed that Kate was too flat chested. Well I disagree, you do not have to be large chested to be considered pretty. Kate is beautiful and that is a damn good reason to be my Girl Friday.

On a side note - Pretty Girl Friday is a take on Robinson Crusoe's Man Friday. It does not indicate that I am more interested in women than men Mike.

Wanna Feel Old?

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Is anyone else looking forward to the next Harry Potter movie?
Can you believe that the series is in it's ninth year! Wowza... I think I feel old now.

The Predictable One

I know that this is a bit of a cop-out post. I mean, who hasn't done the list of pretty Johnny Depp photos or the list of Johnny Depp movies?

So yes, I am predictable, and here are my favourite Depp movies to date.

Public Enemies

Sweeny Todd


Corpse Bride


Secret Window


From Hell


Chocolat


Sleepy Hollow


Don Juan DeMarco


What's Eating Gilbert Grape


Benny & Joon


Edward Scissorhands


Platoon

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