The Weirdest Movies Blogathon

Ronyell at The Surreal Movies and TV blog is hosting The Weirdest Movies Blogathon this May.

The rules are to list up to 5 to 10 of the weirdest movies you've ever seen. They don't have to be our favorite movies or ones we even like - just films that we thought are weird. The blogathon runs into May 20th. If you want to join in, feel free to check the official post here.

I don't watch a lot of weird movies - it's not a genre that I typically reach for. Granted these picks aren't probably odd for everyone or the weirdest ones ever, but they were out there enough for me. 

At The Movies Blog Challenge - 10 Movie Theater Experiences

Cinemas have taken a huge hit during the Coronavirus lockdown. Theaters have been closed for almost two months, leaving many who love going to the movies to watch films at home, and those working in theaters furloughed. I was inspired to create this blog challenge that celebrated memorable cinema experiences as something to look forward to when the pandemic ends - experiences or events that wouldn't be the same watching at home. 

From dramas to action movies and musicals, here are ten of my favorite movie theater experiences. This post is a part of my blog challenge to celebrate memories at the movies. You can find my post and others who have participated here.

At the Movies Blog Challenge

Since social distancing began earlier this year, the state of cinemas as we know it was turned upside down. Not only have theaters closed temporarily and permanently, but employees have been furloughed, critics have questioned what the future of movie-going experiences will be like, and flicks slated for release this year have been rescheduled or shelved. It's a bleak moment in time to love movies, to say the least.

While staying home and taking advantage of streaming, *Carrie Bradshaw voice* I couldn't help but wonder about my experiences at the cinema - all of the happy and exciting memories I've made escaping for a few hours in front of a screen. Watching a film with a sold-out crowd or entirely on my own, attending blockbusters, celebrating re-releases, has made up too much of my life to adequately put into words. So with the pandemic still ongoing, and the film industry put on hold until further notice, I thought it'd be fun to do a blog challenge - At the Movies.

Mount Rushmore of Hot Beards

m.brown at Two Dollar Cinema is holding a blogathon called Mt. Rushmore of Movies, where fellow bloggers pick four actors, performances, or themes that they think should replace the U.S. Presidents on Mount Rushmore.

I've never participated in the challenge before and thought it would be fun to give it a go. If you follow me on twitter, you guys will know I have a type. And that is a dude with a glorious beard. If an actor (on my radar or not) cranks out some scruff, he becomes worthy of being displayed in a museum, or in this case, on a mountain for the whole world to bow down to. My theme was fairly easy to choose after some inspiration from Rambling Film and Mettel Ray. I started questioning my life choices after seeing their magnificent selection, but these are my picks for the Mount Rushmore of Hot Beards. If you think there's a beard I missed including in this list or should check out, let me know in the comments!

Dell on Movies Against The Crowd Blogathon

Dell on Movies is hosting the fifth year of his blogathon Against the Crowd, where bloggers share their unpopular opinions about movies "everyone" seems to love or hate. The blogathon sounded like a lot of fun, and not something I've participated in before. It was interesting to rummage through different genres, trying to find movies I thought were universally loved or hated and then find out my assumptions were completely wrong. I'm pretty surprised I actually found a pairing that fit a genre. If you want to see the full blogathon and the rest of the entries, check out Dell on Movie's blog here!

The blogathon guidelines:
1. Pick one movie that "everyone" loves (the more iconic, the better). That movie must have a score of 75% or more on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you hate it.

2. Pick one movie that "everyone" hates (the more notorious, the better). That movie must have a score of 35% or less on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you love it.

3. Include the tomato meter scores of both movies.

Here are my two picks. What do you think - agree or disagree? Feel free to let me in the comments!

The Ten Best Christmas Movies of All Time Relay

Nostra came up with a great idea to get everyone in the Christmas spirit: a Best Christmas Movies of All Time relay race, where bloggers try to decide which are the best holiday movies. Thanks to Margaret at Cinematic Corner for passing the torch over to me! Let's get started!

Here are the rules:

The list has 10 Christmas movies (in random order) and when the baton is handed over to a new blogger, he or she has to remove one title of the list (with an explanation why) and add one new title. 

Once that is done a new blogger is contacted who will take the baton and run with it, doing the same (you can reinstate a title which has been previously removed). 

As Christmas is in three weeks I want to ask you to publish your entry as quickly as possible to make sure the list changes as much as possible before the 25th of December. Add the logo of this relay race to your post and also add links to those who came before you making it easy for everyone to find all the entries

The bloggers so far: Marked Movies, Keith and the Movies, Flixchatter, Rambling Film, Two Dollar Cinema, Dell on Movies, A Film a Day, Cinematic Corner

2nd Annual Merry Fictional Challenge

The holiday season is here! And, I thought I would pep this place up a bit with a little Christmas cheer from a holiday blog challenge I created last year. Get the list of questions at this post. If you'd like to join in, feel free to comment with a link to your blog in this post below or tweet me! I'd love to see your answers!

Mettel Ray Movie Alphabet Challenge

One of my favorite movie bloggers Mettel Ray just celebrated her seventh blogging anniversary. Reminiscing about how our favorites change over time, she rebooted one of her previous blogathons: My Movie Alphabet, where participants share their choice of favorite actors, movies, directors, etc.

I thought this would be so fun to participate in, but didn't know where my picks would lead. Classic Hollywood has been on my mind lately, but more modern movies and musicals squeezed their way in too. This was so much fun and helped me think out of the box, and I honestly could've kept this going over and over again. See any of your favorites below? What movies or actors would you put on your list? Feel free to give a shout-out in the comments! Be sure to head over to her blog to join!

My Merry Fictional Challenge Answers

Christmas is just around the corner. I created this little holiday meme a while back and thought it was finally time to give it a whirl! If you'd like to join in, feel free to comment with a link to your blog at this post or with your own picks. I'd love to see your answers!

Advent Calendar: Traditions you celebrate during December?
My mom, sister and I make a whole day of shopping together - going to the mall, getting a drink at Starbucks, etc. My family also know that my Christmas day is 1000% reserved for watching A Christmas Story marathon - it's one of my favorite days of the year.

Carols: What's your favorite song(s)?
Christmas Is A Comin' by Bing Crosby, Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson, Jingle Bells by Barbra Streisand - to name a few. I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to holiday music. I can't get enough!

Coal: A naughty character you'd send coal to?
Spencer Monroe - The Walking Dead. Negan kinda took care of that for me but still....

Fireplace: Favorite Christmas movie that melts your heart?
It's A Wonderful Life. It just doesn't feel like Christmas if I don't watch this at least once.

Gingerbread: What's your favorite holiday snack?
Anything peppermint flavored- chocolates, marshmallows, cookies, candy canes.

Hot Cocoa: What's your favorite drink?
BARNIES WHITE CHRISTMAS MOCHA. It's so hard to find but such a good coffee.

Mistletoe: Character you'd like to meet under the mistletoe?
STEVE ROGERS. HELLOOOOOO.

Mittens: A cozy outfit that keeps you warm during winter?
This Christmas has been so hot in Florida (thanks, global warming); it's been the usual shorts and t-shirts I typically wear during the summer. Usually a pair of jammies will keep me warm enough though. I actually can't wait to move and go somewhere where the seasons change. I don't know how I'm going to react when I encounter snow again.

Naughty: Three characters who'd make the Naughty list.
Negan - The Walking Dead, Kilgrave - Jessica Jones, Rumpelstiltskin - Once Upon a Time.

Nice: Three characters who'd make the Nice list.
Eleven - Stranger Things, Regina - Once Upon a Time, and Sasha - The Walking Dead.

North Pole: If you could spend Christmas anywhere, where would you go?
Absolutely - Hogwarts. I'd just love to spend time in the Gryffindor common room by the fireplace or in the Great Hall and watch the tree get decorated.

Presents: A book or movie on your wishlist?
Agent Carter season one. That girl needs some support after everything that happened to her this year.

Rudolph: What's your favorite TV holiday special?
I Love Lucy Christmas special. Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel try to make Christmas magical for little Ricky and end up encountering a little magic of their own. I'm so happy CBS has played it the past few years.

Santa: A character you'd love to exchange presents with? What would you get them?
Rick Grimes - I'd give him a bunch of stuff - canned foods, water bottles, knives - and then I would force him to hide it from Negan.

Scrooge: A villain you'd help see life in a different way?
I don't know how many villains are pass the point of being redeemed. Maybe Kylo Ren?

Snowflake: Something that makes you feel special.
Random conversations with strangers like a barista or cashier. It's nice to just pause and talk to someone and connect, even if it's fleeting.

Tree: What do you decorate your house with for the season?
I like to make a lot of little crafts like paper snowflakes and chain links. It's starting to get a bit fancier with more complicated craft projects though (thanks Pinterest!).

Yuletide: The top 3 things in your life that make you happy?
Trying to think outside of the box of friends and family - soooo... I'll say taking walks early in the morning, dachshunds, and late nights watching movies in bed.

BONUS: Ugly Christmas Sweater: Would you wear a sweater Molly Weasley made you or avoid it like the plague? I'd definitely wear it but it'd have to be on a cooler day here. I'd probably pass out otherwise!

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Eat, Drink, and Answer Halloween Questions!

I'm a huge nerd for questionaires. On a little old website called LiveJournal, friends could send each other questions and memes about their favorite fandoms and life in general. Mostly these days "ask box" challenges are passed around on tumblr. Grabbing a Halloween-themed ask over on tumblr, I thought it'd be fun to answer some of them here. I tag anyone who wants to do the same thing here or on tumblr, and feel free to leave a comment of your answers!

Bat: If you could transform into any kind of animal, what animal would you be?

As a swimmer, and someone who loves to travel, I'd transform into a bird - probably a duck. A lame choice probably but they are so cute and have the best of both worlds: land, water and people at parks feed them all the time. They have it made!

Black Cat: Are you superstitious? If so, what are you superstitious about?

I'm not superstitious but I'm a little stitious.

Broomstick: If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?

London, London, London. I would flee across the pond in a heartbeat to explore the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio and Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. The rain and trains would be more than welcoming after dwelling in Florida heat for ten years and driving two hours anywhere to find something exciting to do.

Candy Corn:What food disgusts you the most?

Not sure why candy corn is used as a food to disgust 'cause I love it. I'm not sure there is a food that disgusts me.

Cauldron: What is your favorite thing to cook?
I'm not too bad at cooking anything pasta. I seem to have an automatic mental timer on getting every kind of noodle the right consistency.

Cobwebs:One place you would never want to get lost in in the dark?

Anywhere alongside a highway or back road. NOPE. No, thanks.

Coffin:Are you claustrophobic?

Yes. It's not an extreme case of claustrophobia, but it kicks in at times. Watching films with isolated locations doesn't scare me as much, but in real life, I have to be aware of where the exits are. I need to know a way out in order to keep my cool. Visiting houses with low ceilings, or at Disney World sometimes you can be herded into a crowded room with little to no queue to the actual line for thirty minutes - I can feel dizzy or trapped.

Demon:What is your worst flaw?

Jumping to conclusions. A writer can bounce all over the place and exaggerate something small  to the inth degree in seconds, usually playing a real-life scenario into something fantastical- at least in my own mind. 

Eerie: One thing that always creeps you out?

Frogs. Frogs, and Frogs. Florida has helped me confront every creepy crawly there is - including surviving a poisonous spider bite. But I will NEVER get over frogs.

Fright: What is your biggest fear?
With phobias, it's frogs and heights. In life, maybe finishing life with things left that I wanted to do or see and was capable of achieving but didn't feel confident enough to do it.

Ghost: If you could be reincarnated, would you come back as another human or an animal? If an animal, what kind?
I don't know if I'd like to come back as anything or anyone else at all. If I did come back, I think I'd want to be myself - a polite ghost....I also think I just figured out what I'm superstitious about - talking about becoming a ghost in my afterlife....

Haunted House: If you could be roommates with anyone of your choice, who would you pick?
Veronica Roth, Emma Watson, and perhaps the 10th Doctor who drops in every once and while to take me on a grand adventure.

Hocus Pocus: What is the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?

This isn't a sassy answer, but anything human nature is capable of doing to each other. On a lighter note, also somethings that my sister and I have joked with each other because we're pretty freaking crazy together.

Jack-o'-lantern: Do you have any scars? If so, how many?

I have one on my leg but I have no idea where it came from. Woopsies!

Monster: What is your favorite scary movie to watch in the dark?
The Birds. It's my favorite Hitchcock movie and has just the right amount of thrills.

Potion: What is your favorite thing to drink? Alcoholic and non alcoholic?

Java Chip Frappacino - nice blend of coffee, chocolate, and whip cream. Also, Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer - they're both wonderfully sweet but not overly sugary.

Pumpkin: What is your favorite food around the holidays?
I'm not sure if it's a "holiday" food but mash potatoes poured with butter or gravy. It's such a yummy comfort food.

Spooky: What was your last nightmare about?

Not sure it was a nightmare but I had some wicked dreams of joining Scully and Mulder on solving some of their cases. The dreams were awesome but also creeped me out with encounters of strangers with supernatural powers.

Vampire: Which one are you? Early bird or night owl?
For insomnia's sake, I'm a night owl. I can stay up very late, get up in the same morning on a few hours of sleep and keep going - but that's not very healthy. If I could get on a good schedule (which is my newest goal), I'd be an early bird.

Witch: If could have the power to cast any kind of spell, what kind of spell would you cast?

My first instinct was to pick Accio from Harry Potter, but then I thought that I wouldn't want to get lazy over time from always beckoning things to me. I'd like to go with something doing with flying or bringing light into my life when I needed it, like Lumos or Expecto Patronus.

Zombie: What is one food you always overeat?
Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream. Yep. Just can't have one scoop, gotta have the kitchen sink sundae too.

This Is How I Work Blogathon

Fellow blogger Mariah at a A Space Blogdessey changed things up a bit by starting a blogathon about her process and asking us some questions about ours. Inspired by other bloggers, she asked us to join in a challenge to show us how we work. Thank you to Mariah for hosting this blogathon. Enjoy the look behind the scenes about how this blog survives staying active every month.

What apps can my not live without? Netflix seems like a pretty obvious one to give a shout-out to. I also really love WPS Office, which allows me to write and edit documents. Sometimes writing is much easier on my tablet punching in every letter one by one rather than facing my keyboard and a blank screen. Google Keep is also easy for creating small notes and ideas in one place.

Movie Roulette Blogathon

Mettel's latest blogathon is such a cool idea. I couldn't pass up the chance to participate. Let's play Movie Roulette!

The rules are these: Pick five or more facts from a list she has provided. At random, choose a gif from one of her sets. Comment on the answers that you're given - if you want to.

Whichever movie gifs I grabbed became my answer for each fact. This was hard - I was tempted to keep picking until a more favorite movie popped up - but meh, I let it be. It was a blast! Stop by Mettel Ray for information on the blogathon if you want to join in and hope you enjoy!

10 Favorite Cinematic Moments (A Fisti Blogathon)

Feeling euphoria from a film can be a rare experience. We go through a lot of bad, mediocre, and semi-good movies to discover the golden nuggets. The true gems remind us why we fell in love with movies as a kid or why we became movie bloggers when so many movies throughout the year can just plain stink. Most of the really good films are hard to get off of our minds because a certain moment touches us unlike any other.

As fellow blogger Fisti describes, it can be the way powerful music fills a scene, an actor bares his all, how scenes are seamlessly edited, and a grand climax to an adventure. Cinematic moments is the inspiration for his latest blogathon.

The rules are super simple, so simple they may as well not be rules, just suggestions. 

1) Pick a number between 1 and 100 (any more than 100 is just gaudy)
2) Choose that many cinematic moments that are either your all time favorites or ones that could, on any given day, be your all time favorites
3) Post them on your blog (or Tumblr or whatever) with the above header (or one you create for yourself)
4) Send me the link by either posting it here in the comments or getting ahold of me on Twitter ( @fististhoughts )

Thirteen scenes were selected as my favorites. I'm sure there will be more that come to mind later!

Brilliant Acting Defined by One Look

Brittany at Rambling Film shared a great idea of Brilliant Acting Defined by One Look. Upon reading her awesome list, I was immediately excited to comb my favorite expressions that are unforgettable.

Sometimes during award show season it's easy to get caught up in the loudest performances; comedic actors who prove they are capable of being dramatic, actors who physically transform to the point of being unrecognizable, and life-changing themes that strike everyone's heartstrings. The most natural and memorable moments on film sometimes occur the most strongly when looks speak louder than words. I'm sure there are plenty more choices I could've added but I left this list at a solid ten picks. I hope you enjoy (thank you Brittany)!

Lucille Ball - I Love Lucy

Uh oh, Lucy is up to no good again. All Lucille Ball had to do was give a glimpse at her husband Ricky, or friends Ethel and Fred, for us to know she was up to something. This crazy redhead was able to distort her face into so many wildly comedic and expressive looks. I don't think there's another comedienne who'll live up to the same amount of physical comedy.

Fairytale Blogathon: Meet the Charmings

Over the summer Fritzi Kramer at Movies Silently invited bloggers to partake in a Fairytale Blogathon. As a big fan of so many adventures about true love overcoming all, I couldn't wait to cover one of my favorite princess/prince relationships: The Charmings from Once Upon A Time.

When this show premiered in 2011, millions of home viewers instantly fell in love with the fairytale-centered story split between a fantasy world and a small town in Maine called Storybrooke. From the creators of Lost came a new show starring popular and favorite fairytale characters stuck in a new dimension of the real world unable to remember who they were.

Two of the main characters that caught my attention from the beginning were the Charmings - more commonly known as Snow White and Prince Charming. The show has explored the many dreamy, romantic ways some princes and princesses have met (Cinderella/Phillip, Ariel and Eric, etc) and spun their legends into charming storylines of adventure, sacrifice, and romance. Though Once Upon A Time is a Disney production, the story of Prince Charming and Snow White's relationship isn't the Walt Disney animated version most of us grew up with.

Over the span of the first season Snow White and Prince Charming meet, fall in love, (have a young daughter who they sacrifice from an evil curse), lose, and find each other. To not dive into the entire series of complicated storylines, we're going to focus more on the main similarities between the animated film and the television show, and why the latter is vastly more interesting.

Blockbusted Blogathon: The Haunting (1999)

My weekends are often filled with the happy voluntary indulgence of watching blockbusters - Speed, Twister, Poseidon - and the list goes on and on. Across the board online is a movie that earns not one but three worst movie accolades; remake, horror film, and book adaptation. In terms of fulfilling a guilty pleasure, let's talk, rave, and analyse the insanely-awful movie The Haunting (1999).

As the story goes: Eleanor “Nell” Vance (Lily Taylor) has a terrible string of bad luck and arseholes ruling her life. After caring for her invalid mother for eleven years in a rundown Boston apartment, her sister and boyfriend evict Nell from her home via her mother's last wishes. Nell receives a phone call to participate in a sleep research study helmed by Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson) in an isolated mansion on Hill House. She uses her newfound "freedom" and nightmares as a means for escape to join the experiment. Once all have arrived at the manor - Marrow and fellow participants Luke Sanderson (Owen Wilson) and Theodora (Catherine Zeta-Jones) - they're cut off from the bordering town and the house soon shows its true horrifying colors.

Honestly, they are horrifying - not in the sense of the movie being scary. Two key ingredients of horrible films are plotholes and/or unrealistic plot circumstances. While offeringcheesy moments of suspense such as unexplained drastic temperature changes, constant conviction by the main character that she is seeing ghosts, and scenes of waiting to see what's lurking behind the corner to make you jump, The Haunting is all but laughable - probably one of the only reasons I watch it; to revel in its bombastic storytelling.

Blockbusted Blogathon

In the 2014 blockbuster directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Bryan Cranston, Godzilla is about to be unleashed onto the world again. For those who are not familiar with the original 1954 tale, a giant kaiju (strange creature or monster) attacks Japan - as simple as that. The classic version is beloved by movie goers around the world, though Hollywood has continually attempted to update the story and special effects to modern standards. A similar plot is being told in the newer version, and every new teaser that is released creates more and more anticipation for one of summer's most promising flicks.

Beyond this post and into the movie blogosphere, the hype for the new Godzilla has almost always included some layer of disgust for the last version Godzilla (1998). Starring Matthew Broderick, this monstrous flick was exactly that: an enormous disappointment to critics and audiences. The box office fail had every characteristic an aspiring blockbuster of the 1990s could have: cheesy direction, the hype, cringe-worthy one liners, sub-par characterization, the list goes on and on. Unlike other big disaster or monster flicks that gain a cult following over time, more than ten years later Godzilla (1998) is still avoided like the plague.

All of this got me thinking about the love of disaster and monster movies, especially ones that are not deeply appreciated by the general movie-going population. In my family, I've been crowned the queen of cheesy B-flicks. The list of my favorites goes on and on (however, even I cannot stand the Broderick Godzilla). Movies that I proudly hail as my favorites (The Day After Tomorrow for example) don't have the best scripts or characters. They might attempt to tell a serious story of the Earth being invaded but the material ends up reveling in fluff.

Which brings me to: the Blockbusted Blogathon. It's time to spread the shameless love for B-movie awesomeness.

Here are the rules:

Choose a super cheesy blockbuster B-rated movie(s). Genres include: disaster flicks (examples: Twister, Poseidon), alien invasions (i.e. Independence Day, Mars Attacks), creature attacks (Eight Legged Freaks, Tremors), retro horror (i.e. The Crawling Eye, The Blob), and 80s and 90s action (i.e. Total Recall, Armageddon), supernatural (The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Van Helsing), and others like Battlefield Earth and the first three Star Wars. Here's a resourceful list for inspiration

In your post, include a picture(s) of your selection (etc) and reasons why you love that particular movie. Characteristics to consider may be the sense of adventure, the cast, the script, the one-liners, an nostalgic memory, the cult following. Share all the reasons why you are shamelessly in love with this particular movie; the sky's the limit!

Remember this blogathon is not about "bad movies"; it's about our unbreakable bond towards a cheesy blockbuster-esque movie with a setting, story, or character that introduces or deals with something not from this ordinary realm. (Even 90s action movies break the laws of nature and sane storytelling - so they count!)


Include one of the logos/buttons above on your sidebar or post, and link back to this post. Let me know about your post in the comment section, twitter, and e-mail. The deadline is May 24th. Wrap-up post will be May 25-26th. Good luck! Participants:

• Alex with Deep Rising
• Mariah with Reign of Fire
• Tanya with Galaxy Quest and Scott Pilgrim versus The World
• Sati with The Wicker Man
• Big Screen Small Words with The Running Man
• Mettel with The Island
• Maurice with Judge Dredd
• Anna with Independence Day
• Fisti with The Fifth Element
• David with Army of Darkness
• Jenna and Ally with Tremors and Mars Attacks

Spin-Off Blogathon by Cinematic Corner

Dealing with the loss of a beloved family member, Margaret's blogathon at Cinematic Corner was a welcoming challenge to say the least. As instructed by her post, participants select a minor character from any film that they would wish to see a movie made of their own story and provide the reasons why.

Emma Watson in This Is The End is the first "character" that came to mind. The movie mostly focuses on Seth Rogen and his pals surviving the apocalypse in James Franco's house. Every time I watch this movie, she is definitely one of the major highlights, and I can never stop asking the question how did she get here?

ABC Movie Blog Challenge

Taking a day off from movie reviews, inspiration struck me in a meme sort of way. I really wanted to do an alphabet related movie meme or 30 day challenge, but finding one was more than a challenge I thought it would be. In free moments here and there, I created this meme which I hope everyone enjoys.

As all alphabet memes go, each letter is a theme or question to answer about your love of movies. Feel free to share this on your own blog, and comment with a link to your own list. I'd love to see what your answers and choices are!