A link-up at lunch? This time it's movies...

Another linkup - this time with Austin Family Diary!

 

A three item linkup on films?  I can manage that over lunch!

Semi-Pro

 

I can cheerfully watch any given Will Ferrell movie, but Semi-Pro is special.  Yes, I know the plot is a cliche, but really, a sporting movie is always best as a Cinderella story (think about it: who - apart from Colts fans - didn't get a warm feeling when New Orleans won the Super Bowl?).  And, I kind of feel warm to this movie because it got such a belting from the critics.  Sure, it's not Casablanca, but it's just a simple feel good movie wth laughs.

Rio Bravo

 

How do you suppose the discussions at Warner Brothers went with this movie?  "It'll be great - John Wayne and Dean Martin!".  "Dean Martin?  The guy who does all the work for the Mafia and croons his songs through his fifth cocktail of the night? Are you high?"

 

But it worked - a solid, redemptive Western with a happy ending.  If I'm having a day where I really can't muster my courage for negotiating, or controlling a barrister or something, every so often I tell myself to release my inner John Wayne (which usually means using his voice inside my head).  Only problem is, sometimes you take it too far and go from "walking" to "moseying" and there's always the danger of calling your opponent "pilgrim".

Anything from the 1920s

 

A few months ago I began to get increasingly interested in the early days of Hollywood - from the 1920s to the earlyish 1930s and have been searching out clips from films of the time on YouTube.  Maybe I'm dumb and a bit of a romantic, but it strikes me it must have been an incredibly exciting time to be alive.  And maybe it tells us something about the world too, when one considers the films and actors that disappeared despite being famous in their day (who, now, remembers Virginia Rappe for anythng except her death?).  I think it must have been that time that Natalie Merchant had in mind when she released "San Andreas Fault" (typing this at work so no youtube link I'm afraid - look it up, though, it's a beautiful song).

 

Thanks for linking up folks!