Top Ten Tuesday: Movies

I’m seeing a pattern with my Top Ten Tuesdays in that they would be more aptly called Top Ten Wednesdays. If you won’t tell, neither will I…

First off, Monday’s interview went GREAT! I advise anyone who ever has the chance to do this to just go for it – you’ll be surprised at how much fun it is. I nearly backed out I was so nervous, and just minutes before hand I was convinced my voice had left me. But when the phone rang and I heard: “Nadine, you there? Great – you’re on in five” there was suddenly no more room for nervousness.

And then a guy came on who sounded, well, just like a radio announcer would came on (shocking, huh? I don’t what I was expecting him to sound like… my uncle Mahmood, perhaps?) and the adrenalin kicked in and I was off!

I have to say that it takes more to be a radio announcer than meets the eye – I was worried my natural tendency to digress would lead me down some seriously off-topic paths but both Merv and Paris steered the interview so well it felt like they were doing the selling for me. The hook was basically this: how the heck does an accountant write a book and actually sell it??? They made it sound like I climbed Mt. Everest in a day, but hey, I wasn’t going to complain. We spent some time discussing how a Montrealer ends up in the Cayman Islands, and then back to the subject of the book, and, surprise, surprise, how much of it was autobiographical. We finished off by mentioning tour cities to come.

Really, really great experience. I’m planning to post the recording on my website, stay tuned for that announcement.

And now, our list of the day. I’ve noticed that my favorite movies tended to be a) period pieces, and/or b) have awesome soundtracks/singing, and/or c) star actors whom I adore in pretty much any movie they’re in. Also, I really hate black & white movies. Sorry. The year “When Harry Met Sally” came out, I was eight. This, along with Disney’s Little Mermaid, which was the first time Disney introduced a spunky, take-charge heroine, are what I consider “classics”.

Here we go, in no particular order:

1) Pretty Woman – can’t say that the acting in this one is genius, or even the writing, but when you hear something being referred to as a “magical experience”, I think this is the kind of experience in question.

2) Greencard – Ah, mon Gérard… the man is an unlikely hunk a’ burnin’ love, but one nonetheless. Is it his raw, savage persona beside Andie McDowell’s demure, vegan one that accounts for the sparks, or Gérard’s crushing “… Monaco… No, Monteverde… I alwayz forget zat one…” that get me every time?

3) Groundhog Day – I can recite this one backwards in Bangladeshi while hopping on one foot. That’s how many times I’ve seen this movie, which amounts to about 5 scenes running in a loop. A great study in character development in an environment where nothing but the main character changes. A masterpiece.

4) Cyrano de Bergerac – more hunk a’ burnin’ love o’ Gérand, this time with the added bonus of eye-Candy Vincent Perez and period costumes. And France. And poetry. Oo-la-la.

5) When Harry Met Sally – does this one really need an introduction?

6) Quick Change – I think Bill Murray is one of the funniest actors ever. This one kills me every time I watch it.

7) Disney’s Aladdin – You know you’ve made it as an ethnic minority in when Disney validates your existence with a character modeled after you. Plus, now people have a convenient point of reference when they’re trying to figure out which “celebrity” I look like (and you think I’m kidding…)

8) Labyrinth – I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen one in a long time, but it was so mesmerizing that even after all these years I remember it. Plus, had no idea who the hot bad guy was at the time, but am very impressed with my seven-year-old’s taste in men.

9) Pride & Prejudice, BBC version – this is my go-to anti-depression movie. Dunno why… is it the period costume? Mrs. Bennet’s strangely irritating-yet-soothingly-maternal on-screen presence? Darcy in culottes and sideburns? Or that the goodness lasts a whole six hours? Who knows.

10) Four Weddings and a Funeral – Let’s face it, Hugh Grant suffers from some serious typecasting. But who can argue with his best role as the town cad ever? Or the cad with a heart of gold, shall we say?

That’s it for me folks!