Tag: films

The Trip to Italy (2014)

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I recently had the good fortune of attending a CMYE (community manager Yelp event) where I was able to snag a pizza from &pizza while watching a screening of The Trip to Italy, starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, at the Landmark E Street Cinema. (One of my favorite spots in all of DC, seriously.)

The Trip to Italy

The Trip to Italy was originally broadcast as a 6-episode television series on BBC Two, as a sequel to The Trip, which took place in England (and is available now on Netflix!). I believe both TV series/films had similar premises: Coogan and Brydon play slightly-fictionalized versions of themselves and play off each other as they take a foodie road trip.

What you need to know about The Trip to Italy is there is no point. Once you have accepted this, the movie is pretty enjoyable. It’s mostly improvised by brilliant comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. I’m personally more familiar with Coogan — who I haven’t seen without his longer hair before!

Steve Coogan, circa 2012 (Photo: The Telegraph)

Here are a few things you can expect when you sit down to watch The Trip to Italy:

  • PLENTIFUL. IMPRESSIONS. Coogan and Brydon are talented impressionists. Some of the impressions you’ll hear include:
    • Michael Caine
    • Christian Bale
    • Tom Hardy
    • Al Pacino
    • Robert Deniro
    • Marlon Brando
  • References to The Dark Knight Rises

    • References to how impossible it was to understand Bane in The Dark Knight Rises
  • References to The Godfather and The Godfather II
    • References to how The Godfather II is maybe the only time a sequel was as good as/better than the original

      (This clip wasn’t shown in its entirety in the edited-down film.)
  • Alanis Morrisette songs
  • Following along the poet, Lord Byron, and his time in Italy
  • Nods to several old Hollywood films that were filmed in Italy
  • Gorgeous Italian scenery porn
  • Gorgeous Italian food porn
  • British humor
  • Every so subtly, two aging actors acknowledging their changing place in the world and mortality

I really recommend watching this for just a little aimless stroll of a comedy. If it gets released on Netflix, as The Trip has been, I really really encourage checking it out.

Favorite Childhood Movies (part 1)

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In honor of the 20th anniversary of The Little Rascals and the cast coming together to recreate the movie poster, I thought I’d reminisce a bit and think about some of my favorite childhood movies. These are the ones that I watched really often, either in school or at home. (Also, I’m not including any Disney animated features here because well, that list would get really long.)

It breaks my heart a little bit when people don’t get that I’m making references to (memorable scenes that I often quote included!):

  • The Little Rascals

    When people don’t understand why I squeak through this song, I am almost as embarrassed for them as for myself.
  • The Sandlot

    A friend once thought I was having a stroke because I was saying “for-ev-er” so weird. I wept for him on the inside.
  • Annie (1999 version)

    Starring a young Lalaine, Sarah Hyland, and Victor Garber, who I would always refer to as “Daddy Warbucks” no matter how many other roles I saw him in.
  • The Brave Little Toaster (technically distributed by Disney)

    This movie was kind of scary, I had a hard time finding non-nightmare-inducing clips!
  • The Land Before Time + sequels

    I think about “Big Water” really often… and tree stars.
  • Older Scooby Doo films

    I had a teacher who loooooved Scooby Doo and rewarded the class if we behaved by showing Scooby Doo movies. Every single one had this old theme song.
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

    The only film to have Disney characters side-by-side with Looney Toons. This was a great one, rest in peace Bob Haskins.
  • Jumanji

    My brother was TERRIFIED of the poacher in this movie but I watched it multiple times at home anyway. Rest in peace Robin Williams.
  • The Parent Trap

    My friend who teaches fencing says that a lot of kids used to cite this movie as the reason they started fencing. Now they’re getting too young for that. Rest in peace Natasha Richardson.
  • Babe

    Baa ram ewe! I didn’t go vegetarian for a long time after watching this, but I definitely thought about Babe when I did.

That’s a good list for now. I need some time to reminisce and be nostalgic for a little bit.

Are these movies as important to you as they are to me?
What are some other key movies from your childhood that you still quote today?

86th Academy Awards!

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We interrupt the hiatus during which you are all waiting for updates from China (and also Europe) to bring you my [mostly] annual Oscars post!

Last night, I rushed home to avoid Storm Titan’s fury and sat myself in frontof my TV with my computer. I didn’t plan on it, but I wound up live-tweeting the Oscars, whoops! It was nice in that I kind of felt like I was watching with a handful of my friends, but I don’t like dividing my attention between my computer and my TV. I’ve never been a live-tweeter, and it’s really exhausting!

A sample of some of my live-tweets from early on in the evening.
A sample of some of my live-tweets from early on in the evening.

I’ll list the winners & nominees at the end of the post, but here is essentially an in-depth look at my live-tweeting and thoughts as I was watching the show.Read More »

2013 in Film

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It’s time for my annual round-up of films that were released this year that I saw. (2012 here) It was a lot fewer than I usually see. The fall-winter season saw a marked decrease in theater visits, aside from my holiday between Christmas and the new year, where I saw 3 movies at the theater in one single week.

KEY:
Without denotation = seen in theaters
* = seen on Netflix/some other service (e.g. Redbox, Amazon)
** = seen on a plane/ship

These are listed in order of the release dates as provided by Wikipedia.
However, it is not the order in which I watched them. I did not enjoy all of these films, but oh well!

  • The Grandmaster
  • Movie 43*
  • 21 and Over*
  • Jack the Giant Slayer**
  • Oz the Great and Powerful**
  • Olympus Has Fallen
  • Iron Man 3
  • Star Trek Into Darkness
  • The Great Gatsby
  • Fast & Furious 6
  • Now You See Me
  • The Internship
  • This is the End*
  • The Heat
  • Coffee Town
  • Thor: The Dark World
  • Saving Mr. Banks
  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
  • The Wolf of Wall Street

Total = 19.

2013 movies

Which 2013 releases do you think I should still try to see?

If you would like to know whether I’d recommend any of the movies I watched, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment and I’ll try to keep it brief with a yes or a no. 🙂