my-netflix-challenge

[my-netflix-challenge]

Thinking of starting over

I watched another movie for this challenge but just left unmotivated to write about it or watch the movies after it. So I want to just start over with a movie I want to watch but yet I still feel unsure on whether I should. I want to be motivated and just haven't been. Though I also have been watching House MD so that has been taking up my netflix time. I just got a new tv that has netflix built into so that might make it a little easier to watch a movie before bed and such. Leaving still towards picking a new movie to get my motivation back.

[my-netflix-challenge]

Toast (2010) NR

Nigel pursues his passion for cooking even as he struggles with his mother's death, a troubled relationship with his father and a new stepmother.

So of course i had to watch Toast after just watching a movie called Butter, just seemed perfect lol. But now i'm not so sure on it lol. The suggestions through the next movies don't seem that great.

This movie was alright, it was based on a real person's life. Reading the message board for this on IMDB, a lot of people don't care for the main character. People calling him a spoiled brat and don't like the way he acts, which i wasn't a huge fan of him, but not so sure how much you can call him spoiled when he didn't just get any and everything he wanted. He just wanted to cook, he wanted nicer foods and just basically pouted some when he didn't get it, and he wanted his father to be proud of him. This was in an older time, and not in the USA, so things were a lot different. The father wasn't the greatest, like as if he couldn't be bother with his own child, but sometimes in older times movies, it seems like that children don't just get their parents, usually mostly the fathers towards the sons, affection just because they are their kids, that they have to work and earn it. The step mother wasn't much better, using food to keep the attention of the father, which the son tried to do the same, so the two made a war of food to make the father happy. None of them really seemed to go about things the best, but at least in the end, Nigel seems to off of ended up in a good place in his life after where the movie ends. 

Watching the movie did make me want to try and make the stuff myself. Or really just cook anything.

I think maybe the best thing in it is that Helena is in it

I like a lot of things that i've seen her in, hasn't really been too many things really, but i like her acting skills.

More like: Toast

Today's Special | Sweet Revenge | My Life So Far | Jesus Henry Christ | Big Night | Goats | Someday | Master Harold and the Boys | Papadopoalos and Sons | A Bag of Hammers | London River | The Perfect Family

[my-netflix-challenge]

Butter (2011) R

In Iowa, an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their town's annual contest.

I saw previews for this some time ago. Don't really remember when because i completely forgot about this movie until i happened upon it on netflix. The previews i saw was on demand though, so didn't see anything when it first first came out.

It was pretty interesting for being a movie about butter carving. Seeing the movie poster, is a little odd they don't have the little girl on it, she was one of the main characters. Maybe because she isn't a big name?

It was a nice movie, fairly mellow. Not like a clean movie mellow, it has swearing and a lesbian moment, so basically mellow for a rated R movie.

"Brooke is Olivia Wilde's favorite character that she has played." From IMDB trivia.

Had to look her up to see if i really knew her from anything else, i think the few times i've watch House is where i remember her from. I think she did a really good job in this role. The character was one to help with break things up pretty much. Gave some good lines and gave a break from the uptightness of Garner's character.

Just a few gifs of her.

The movie has some blooper takes at the end of the movie. More movies need bloopers. Kinda sad that a lot of DVDs don't have much of anything in the bonus features anymore :(

Going to end about this movie Butter with this

More like: Butter

Extract | Bernie | A Good Old Fashion Orgy | Safety Not Guaranteed | Toast | Jeff Who Lives at Home | God Bless America | Young Adult | Bachelorette | Friends with Kids | The Kitchen | Hit & Run

[my-netflix-challenge]

The Best and the Brightest (2010) R

A couple determined to get their daughter into New York City's most elite private kindergarten finds out just how cutthroat the competition is.

Since i am starting a new set, i got to pick anything i wanted to wanted. Was a little hard to pick because i wanted to start with so many different things. I ended up picking this one because it was in my list of other movies to watch, also because i saw a movie i wanted to see in the suggested movies, figured starting with this i'd be able to watch both while still doing my challenge. 2 small changes that will be made for this go around is that i will include the movie rating (pg, R, NR, etc), I figure it would be nicer for anyone who reads it to know the rating, in case they like don't watch rated R movies or something. Also that whether i hold my kindle horizontal or vertical, it changes how many suggestions there are. So this go around, i'll be picking through the suggestions while holding it vertical so that i get 2 more options than what i had before.

This movie was pretty was pretty funny. Most knowledge i know about trying to get into fancy schools are from movies like this. Funny whether it's similar or not to the real way of getting into the schools. 

Taking too long to get this written so losing things to say because i'm not remembering them. Doesn't help my daughter keeps asking me for games on her kindle that we can't buy and pay for right now.

So just last thing is, here's a picture to enjoy of the lady's socks/slippers.

More like: The Best and the Brightest

Without Men | Swinging with the Finkels | The Perfect Family | Butter | Life Happens | Conception | Another Happy Day | A Girl Walks into a Bar | The Kitchen | Union Square | Nesting | Keeping Up with the Steins

[my-netflix-challenge]

Starting over

Since the last movie i watched has no more suggestions, i get to pick a new movie to watch. Getting to start over, i get to pick whatever movie i want and even get to read what the movie is about before watching it. Just not sure what i want to watch. Like do i want to start with horror and see where i end up or do i want to start with something else? Not really sure because i'm not sure what i'm in the mood to watch. I did sorta pick one movie to watch because one of the suggested movies would be one i knew i wanted to see, but i need to first see if my mom wanted to see that movie with me because i will pick something else if she does. Or if we do, i could maybe have that be the starting movie for this next challenge. I don't know, my kindle is charging right now so i will figure it out later.

I guess i will also take the time to say hello and thank you to the few people who started to follow this blog, if they see this. I don't plan to do many posts on this blog other than the movies i'm watching for it and if i happen to get any questions for this blog. 

[my-netflix-challenge]

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

I Actually already watched this movie a few weeks ago. Part of what make me pick it was because i thought it was suppose to be off of netflix, or at least through the Roku it said it was going away.  Which is probably why there is no suggested movies after it. This also sounded better to rewatch than the other options i had to watch from the last movie. I also had been wanting to start over to get out of the cartoon and family friendly movies. I don't mind dramas and such, but i just really didn't want to get stuck in an area of really badly made movies. So now i have my out. Not sure what i'll watch next though.

For the movie, It's a sad movie but also amazing. The story is based on a real dog, just this movie is like a modern(modern being for when it's made) Americanized version of the story. Here's more about the real dog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D

The dog even got it's own statue. It's located in Japan, where the real dog and owner lived.

The story is amazing because the dog waits faithfully for his master to come back, not being able to understand that he never will. Instead of just going off to anywhere he could find food and a good home, he waits.

More like: Hachi: A Dog's Tale

Nothing. Will be starting a new challenge set.

[my-netflix-challenge]

Ghost Cat (2004)

Wes Merritt and his daughter Natalie (14) get more than they bargained for when they buy an old house that was formerly inhabited by the nice old Mrs. Ashboro and her pet cat, Margaret. When strange things start happening in the house, all fingers point to the presence of Margaret, who died the same day as Mrs. Ashboro. But why has she come back to haunt them?

At first didn't seem like it was on IMDB because it's under the name "Mrs. Ashboro's Cat" with an Aka of "Ghost Cat"

The movie is pretty mellow, it does had some intense scenes because of the "bad guys" of the movie, so might be good for a kids horror movie sort of thing. 

I was actually going to watch this movie on my own at one point, but i wanted to pay attention to it and hadn't had time the last time i tried.

I wasn't really a fan of Ellen Page's hair in the movie. just certain angles made her forehead look really big. Anyways, no fun or interesting picture from the movie, but more of haha type thing for me when i searched "ghost cat movie" for the poster picture. It came up with this picture in the search.

At fist i'm just like why? Then it clicked that it's a still from Ghost and there's a cat in the picture. So we can just enjoy a picture of Patrick Swayze yelling at a cat.

More like: Ghost Cat

Magic Puppy | FairyTale | Vampire Dog | Gabe the Cupid Dog | Hachi a Dog's Tale | From Time to Time | Little Red Wagon | Frog and Wombat | Nico the Unicorn | Smitty

Bold - Already watched.

[my-netflix-challenge]

FairyTale: A True Story (1997)

Two children in 1917 take a photograph, believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. Based on a true story.

As i started to watch this, i think i might of seen this on tv when i was younger. The movie seems familiar so i think i've seen it, just don't remember when or where. I was around 8 when it first came out, but not sure if i saw it when i was that young.

There's people who really like to complain that the movie shouldn't have "a true story" in the title. Yeah it's not a completely true story, but i don't have a problem with it. It's rather interesting to learn what parts of the story is true. These girls were real, the photos they took were real, in the sense that they really took pictures, just this movie took what was a hoax and made it into a nice family friendly movie and gave it real fairies.

Here's the real pictures that this movie is based around.

Here's the page i got the pictures from, there's more info on the pictures on it, little things to show that the pictures had to of been faked. http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/doyle.htm

Even for the pictures being faked, i think they are wonderful. Makes want to see what kind of pictures i could take with cut outs.

Anyways, back to the movie. Since it's going the route as that everything in the pictures and their stories are real, along with adding in real fairies at the end and through out the movie, they never really show the girls taking the pictures with the fairies. You see them going off to try and get a picture and then it cuts to them being back with a picture, the next time they take some pictures, they just go off while some other characters were talking and they come back saying they got some pictures. A little disappointing that you don't get to see them taking the pictures (partly from that i enjoy photography so would be nice to see), but also it helps hide whether or not the pictures are real.

This was taken from IMDB for a little more background on the real pictures. "The film is based on the true story of the Cottingley Fairies. In the summer of 1917, Frances Griffiths (then 10 years old) and her cousin Elsie Wright (then 16 years old) were living with Elsie's parents in the town of Cottingley in West Yorkshire. Using Arthur Wright's camera, the girls took a series of pictures of themselves with fairies in the nearby woodland brook of Cottingley Beck. (The woodland scenes in "FairyTale: A True Story" are filmed in Cottingley Beck, the actual location where Frances and Elsie supposedly encountered the fairies in 1917.) The photographs became public in 1919 (not during World War I, as depicted in the film), when Elsie's mother gave the photos to Edward Gardner, President of the Theosophical Society of Bradford. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published the photos with an article on spiritualism in "The Strand" Magazine in December, 1920. Opinions over the authenticity of the photos were divided. Several photographic experts examined them and pronounced them "genuine," while other photo experts found "evidence of fakery." (A few experts who examined the photos noted that the "fairies" had "Parisienne-style haircuts," which were popular in the day.) In the end, no real harm came from the photos. The two girls never accepted any money for them, or tried to swindle anyone with their claims of fairy encounters. Years later, as adults, the girls admitted they had faked the photos using cardboard cutouts of fairies taken from a children's book. Elsie explained that they were too embarrassed to admit the truth about the photos after Conan Doyle, the legendary creator of Sherlock Holmes, accepted them as genuine. However, Frances insisted until her death that at least one of the "fairy photos" was real. Frances died in 1986, and Elsie died in 1988. The original photos, and the cameras the girls used to take them, are now in the National Media Museum in Bradford, England."

It's a nice movie, i think it's nicely done for the time of being made, and i just like they turn a hoax into a nice movie instead of just being a movie about it being a hoax. One thing that gets me though is that one of the "experts" that looked at the picture said that you could tell by the wings that they were moving at the time of the picture, and you look at the real picture and it looks like standard still wings to me.

If you watch this, keep an eye out for Mel Gibson. Not sure if i want to share when he shows up, i always worry about people getting mad about spoilers. It's a very small role and he's not even credited for it, read something about he didn't want to be but didn't research it much. Though if you read the IMDB trivia about this movie, it's in there. I'll just leave it as, keep an eye out if you are interested in to doing so.

More like: Fairy Tale

The Secret of Moonacre | A Wrinkle in Time | Ghost Cat | The Magic Door | The Last Leprechaun | Ever After High | Princess | Journey to the Christmas Star | Nico The Unicorn | Princess and the Pony

Bold - Already watched. Strike - tv show/episodes

[my-netflix-challenge]

The Secret of Moonacre (2008)

When 13 year old Maria Merryweather's father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced to leave her luxurious London life to go and live with Sir Benjamin, an eccentric uncle she didn't know she had, at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. Soon Maria finds herself in a crumbling moonlit world torn apart by the hatred of an ancient feud with the dark and sinister De Noir family. Maria discovers that she is the last Moon Princess and, guided by an unlikely mix of allies, she must overcome her family's pride in order to unearth the secrets of the past before the 5000th moon rises and Moonacre disappears into the sea forever.

from picture alone, i thought it would just be some sort of The Chronicles of Narnia type of movie. Haven't seen too much of The Chronicles of Narnia, so can't really say if it relates at all aside from the whole fantasy side of it. This was a good movie though, better than what my first thoughts were.

I guess the movie is lightly based on a book.

The room they made for the girl was really fun, would of been nice to stay in it.

I wasn't a fan of that dress though. from the front it looks fine, but the back of the skirt was odd

More like: The secret of Moonacre

Fairy Tale | The Lost Medallion | A Wrinkle in Time | Princess | Mirror Mirror | Hugo | Nico the Unicorn | From Time to Time | Avalon High | Peter and the wolf

Bold - Already watched 

[my-netflix-challenge]

From Time to Time (2009)

A haunting ghost story spanning two worlds, two centuries apart. When 13 year old Tolly finds he can mysteriously travel between the two, he begins an adventure that unlocks family secrets laid buried for generations.

This was interesting. The travels in time look more like just random flashbacks that he's able to see but then randomly people in that time period can see him, not all though. 

It was an alright movie. A little fun for being a learning the history of a building, even if it wasn't true.

Honestly, i decided to watch this movie because i felt like i've seen her in other things, couldn't remember where and it would of gone against my rules to look up the movie without watching it. Turns out i remember her from watching some of the Harry Potter movies.

More like: From Time to Time

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple | The Secret of Moonacre | Owd Bob | Dear America | The Lost Medallion | The Bouquet | The Measure of a Man | The Magic Door | The Letter Writer | Stolen Summer

Bold - Already watched

[my-netflix-challenge]

The Bouquet (2013)

Two estranged sisters torn apart by their differences suddenly find themselves working together towards a common goal in the heartwarming drama, The Bouquet.

Not really bad, but kinda boring for me. I guess just too many feel good movies in a row lol.

I think most interesting thing was when i looked up the movie for the picture and came across these two

Kinda almost makes it a little sad to clearly see that the cover was edited together. Like if you look close enough, you can tell the cover picture is edited, but was a little surprising to see the part in the movie that the picture came from, and that the blonde isn't even holding the flowers originally.

More like: The Bouquet

The Measure of a Man | From Time to Time | Amazing Racer | The Letter Writer | The Ballad of Lucy Whipple | Smitty | Owd Bob | Me Again | Long Road Home | The Greening of Whitney Brown

Bold - Already watched.

[my-netflix-challenge]

The Measure of a Man (2011)

During the final moments of Donald's battle with cancer, his daughter Elizabeth recalls pivotal moments in her courageous father's life.

The movie is good, it's not until the end that it was even known to me that this was based on a true story. And further looking into it, the film maker was the real life Elizabeth, and even her granddaughter played the young Elizabeth in the movie. Here's a picture of the two together.

It was nice to see a father that was just a loving father, strict when needed but just over all was there for his kids. The time it took place was back in the older times, so at least in movies, you don't see that a lot now a days. Makes it a little nicer to know that he was actually a real guy.

There were a few "omg" moments of kids getting hurt, but this was mostly just about the story of a man and the love one of his daughters has for him.

More like: The Measure of a Man

Stolen Summer | The Ballad of Lucy Whipple | The Bouquet | Little Red Wagon | Long Road Home | Opal Dream | Smitty | Me Again | Second Chances | Owd Bob

Bold - Already watched.

[my-netflix-challenge]

The Letter Writer (2011)

When a teenager receives a mysterious letter in the mail, she sets out to find the author. It's a journey that will change her life forever.

This movie was so much better than i thought it would be from picture alone. Some parts seemed really artificial, but the story of this movie makes up for that, at least for me. 

Things seemed to be going up for Maggy, the teenage girl, and then things start to see to fall apart and with the help of Sam, the letter writer, she learns the key to happiness.

I think it would be awesome to write letters to random people to help try and better their day, but with how on edge people are about the world, i don't know if anyone would be willing to accept  an anonymous letter or that there is still good things in the world. Maybe some day i will write at least one, be a bucket list item sort of thing.

I had to watch the movie in two parts because i wanted to go to sleep while there was just half an hour left and so i watched the last half when i got up because i really wanted to see how it ended....man that last half hour was a tear jerker for me. Like i just happened to stop the movie before a bunch of sad and happy tears.

It was interesting that the main character had the hair style she had. It's not super alternative, but it's not a usual hair style you see in movies and tv shows, or at least not what i see much of. The left side of her hair is cut short.

With watching it, you see that at the end it says "in memory of Bernie Diamond". And looking at the cast, Bernie was the guy that played Sam. The actor died the same year the movie came out, his character also dies. Without looking up to see if i can find the answer, it makes me wonder if that was suppose to happen in the movie or if they wrote it in because the actor died. Either way because of the in memory thing, i'm pretty sure he died before the movie came out. For me, it makes the death of his character hit a little harder because the actor died, not just the character. No idea how much like the character the actor is, but i do think that this movie is good for an ending note, like if you watched everything he's been in in order, not a lot of things, then this is a good one to end on. I haven't seen him in anything else, but i just feel the need to say, RIP Bernie.

More like: The Letter Writer

Stolen Summer | The Bouquet | The Measure of a Man | Owd Bob | Me Again | Snow Men | The Ballad of Lucy Whipple | Smitty | Amazing Racer | From Time to Time

Bold - Already watched.

[my-netflix-challenge]

Stolen Summer (2002)

While most boys their age spend their summers playing baseball and hanging out at the pool, Pete O'Malley (Stein) and Danny Jacobsen (Weinberg) are two boys out to change the world. After being warned by his Catholic school teacher to clean up his act or face divine wrath, eight-year-old Pete is determined to guarantee his entry into heaven by performing good deeds in his Chicago community. He meets and enlists in his mission Danny, a seven-year-old Jewish boy. During one unforgettable summer, Pete and Danny embark on an adventure that will teach them, and everyone around them, about the true meaning of hope and friendship

It's an interesting movie. A lot of the story is following the two young boys who believe they are both doing the right thing but starts to cause the families problems because of the family religion differences. I kinda liked how the families were basically they believe in what they want and we believe in what we do and it's okay that they are different. I also liked that the Rabbi openly showed their church to Pete while knowing that he's of a different faith. Just nice to see an openness instead being closed off for them not being one of them. 

For being religious based, i still think it was a nice movie. Kinda sad ending though. 

One of the brothers of Pete in the movie was actually in another movie i just watched for this challenge. The boy from Dust Factory.

More like: Stolen Summer

Measure of a Man | Children of Heaven | The Letter Writer | Owd Bob | Opal Dream | Foreign Letters | Little Red Wagon | Long Road Home | The Ballad of Lucy Whipple | Smitty 

Bold - Already watched.

[my-netflix-challenge]

Foreign Letters (2012)

A bittersweet coming-of-age film, Foreign Letters is itself a love letter to the unshakeable bond between friends. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the US from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust. Based on director Ela Thier's personal immigration experience, Foreign Letters is a film about poverty, prejudice, shame, and the healing power of friendship.

First thing first, if you don't like subtitles, you probably won't enjoy watching this. It's not full subtitled, but a good bit of it is because of English not being their first language.

I don't mind subtitles, just i had to stop what i was doing to be able to actually pay attention so i didn't miss anything that was said.

There's not too many movies with stories like this, and this being a story from the life of the maker, it just feel so real. Even without the language barrier, it was a great story of friendship. It's hard enough to make new friends when new to a school, even harder when you don't know the language. No idea how well i'd do if i got thrown into the same situation.

Some of the things that happen just seems so sad. Thuy's dad said that she could have a birthday party but Thuy tells Ellie that he said no because she didn't study hard enough. Ellie asked Thuy over the phone if she could come stay the night, and it shows Thuy pretending that she went to ask her dad but she just sat there not talking and then said her dad said no but she could sleep there. Thuy kept making her family sound super strict but the few times you actually got to see them, it didn't seem like they were. It pretty much was that Thuy was embarrassed by that she lives in apartment. Ellie did some things that seem iffy for if they are really best friends. She was starting to feel like friendship was getting one sided, so she steals the best friend token type thing they made together from Thuy's binder to see if she even notices it's gone.

Then also as the two gets closer, Ellie starts to take longer to reply to her best friend from her home lands. It ends with Ellie and Thuy fixing their friendship and Ellie writing another letter to her first best friend. Talking about how once someone is your best friend, no matter what, they are always best friends.

Makes a little sad, because If that's true, then i must of never had a true best friend.

I love that at the end it shows pictures of the real people that these were based on. and even because of the movie, the two best friends of the real Ellie were able to meet up with her, after 30 years. 

I just love behind the scenes pictures

Bloopers are also good too lol.

They had some nice filming in a small forest area

It looks like that this movie is basically an extened version of the short Ela Thier (the maker of this movie) had made in 2009

Both the short and the movie had the same two main girls and a few other people still the same people.

This will probably be something i wouldn't mind watching again. Just is a nice change from the usual, new girl who has a hard time fitting in so she tries to be just like the popular girls then realizing that she is just fine the way she is.

More like : Foreign Letters

Children of Heaven | Opal Dream | A Connecticut Yankee | Frog and Wombat | Stolen Summer | The Secret Garden | A Ballad of Lucy Whipple | Little Red Wagon | Measure of a Man | Dear America

Bold - Already watched.

[my-netflix-challenge]

Frog and Wombat (1998)

Alli and Jane had their neighborhood under control until their new principal moved in next door and changed everything.

This movie didn't catch my attention very much. I just found the characters annoying. But it did throw me off that their suspicions were right instead of just being childish thoughts.

I guess this was the only thing that the girl playing wombat has been in. Not really too surprised from her acting, but not that i know if that has anything to do with her not doing anything more.

More like: Frog and Wombat

Opal Dream | Foreign Letters | Adventure Scouts | The Bracelet of Bordeaux | Au Pair 3 | Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life | Children of Heaven | The Dust Factory | The Sparticle Mystery | Little Matchmakers

Bold - Already watched

[my-netflix-challenge]

Standing Up (2013)

Based on one of the most beloved Young Adult novels of all time: Two kids are stripped naked and left together on an island in a lake - victims of a vicious summer camp prank; But rather than have to return to camp and face the humiliation, they decide to take off, on the run together. What follows is a three day odyssey of discovery and self-discovery.

First off, turns out the kid from the last movie i watched is in this too. 

The prank just made me worry about kids in camp. There's nothing funny about leaving people in places without clothing. 

The movie is decent, wasn't a huge stand out, but i think it was nice, not like i was suffering to watch it.

I'm going to guess this picture is from a blooper reel sort of thing. I wasn't staring at the screen the whole time, but there wasn't really any time in the movie that this would of normally happened lol

More like: Standing Up

Summer Eleven | Opal Dream | The Lost Medallion | Little Red Wagon | The Rainbow Tribe | Little Matchmakers | Frog and Wombat | The Adventures of Mickey Matson | Minor Details | Horrid Henry The Movie

Bold - Already watched