James Bond Box Set Unboxing

30 Favorite Book Covers

Reposting my #30DaysofFavorites project here on my blog. Sharing my 30 FavoriteBook Covers.

 

 

 

30 Favorite Fictional Characters

Reposting my #30DaysofFavorites project here on my blog. Sharing my 30 Favorite Fictional Characters.

 

 

 

30 Favorite Movies

Reposting my #30DaysofFavorites project here on my blog. Sharing my 30 Favorite Movies.

 

 

 

 

 

Double Feature: From Russia With Love and The Sting Movie Reviews

Reposting some old reviews.

 

In case anyone reading these posts couldn’t tell, Robert Shaw is my favorite actor. I first remember seeing him in Jaws and I was captivated. Since then I have made it one of my missions in life to view his complete works and this marathon is a way for me to get a good chunk of them in. From Russia With Love definitely makes my top ten film list because it not only has the world’s coolest secret agent, it also has the world’s coolest secret agent’s best opponent. I could give a debrief of why Sean Connery is the best James Bond but I won’t because this isn’t a Sean Connery marathon (although that might be a good follow up blog), it’s a Robert Shaw marathon. In this film he plays Donald Grant, SPECTRE’s hired hitman that ensures that Bond’s part in the scheme is played out, and then that he is eliminated. What makes Shaw’s performance so memorable is that he doesn’t have any lines for the first hour and a half of the movie so he relies on body language and facial expressions to communicate his thoughts and emotions. I really do think Shaw’s best talent was in his facial expressions. He doesn’t need to exaggerate anything because he can communicate anger with a narrowing of his eyes and tightening of his lips. He can show that he’s serious with a low, menacing tone of voice. He gets to do all that in this film and he does it well, and for most of the movie he isn’t really interacting with the other characters directly, so he does a good job without having to respond to someone else’s act.

 

Today’s film is The Sting. I’m a fan of Paul Newman and I think he and Robert Redford are wonderful together, and they play well off each other in this film. Shaw is also wonderful playing yet another villain. He seemed to have more roles as the bad guy than the hero but it was probably because he was so good at playing them. The big difference I see in this role is that the villain isn’t cool and collected all the time. His character Doyle Lonnegan is prideful and when he’s cheated he shows his anger. When he’s angry he acts almost childlike, complaining that he’s been tricked by a better cheat or that he’s lost his money in an almost whiney tone of voice. The only distinction between him and a child throwing a tantrum is that his resolution is to kill those that have tricked him. Shaw pulls off this performance flawlessly and even though the film won best picture, Robert Shaw was looked over yet again. That didn’t seem to discourage him from putting his best work forward in all of his roles

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#30DaysofFavorites: Favorite Movie Posters

Today’s post is the last entry for my 30 Days of Favorites project so I thought I’d end on a fun note. In case you couldn’t tell by the name of my blog, or the last few posts, I’m a big movie fan, and one of my favorite things about movies are the gorgeous posters designed to promote them. Now, I could sit here and bitch about the decline in the art of the movie poster, and bemoan the use of photoshop and giant floating heads but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m just going to show you what I consider are pretty great posters. Some of them are older, some are newer. Some feature that dreaded use of photoshop, and some are hand drawn/painted. All of them, in my opinion, are works of art.

 

 

#30 – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

 

#29 – Elivis & Nixon (2016)

 

#28 – Wonder Woman (2017)

 

#27 – Ant-Man (2015)

 

#26 – Chappaquiddick (2018)

 

#25 – Bullitt (1968)

 

#24 – DragonHeart (1996)

 

#23 – Snakes on a Plane (2006)

 

#22 – La La Land (2016)

 

#21 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows P1 & P2 (2010/2011)

 

#20 – Beauty and the Beast (1991)

 

#19 – The Babadook (2014)

 

#18 – Spectre (2015)

 

#17 – The Nice Guys (2016)
(Bench Ad)

 

#16 – 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

 

#15 – Chinatown (1974)

 

#14 – The Rocketeer (1991)

 

#13 – Back to the Future III (1990)

 

#12 – Back to the Future II (1989)

 

#11 – Back to the Future (1985)

 

#10 – Star Wars (1977)

 

#9 – West Side Story (1961)

 

#8 – Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

 

#7 – Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

 

#6 – Revenge of the Jedi (1983)

 

#5 – Walk the Line (2005)

 

#4 – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

 

#3 – Baby Driver (2017)

 

#2 – Jaws (1975)

 

#1 – John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982)

#30DaysofFavorites: Favorite Book Quotes

I’m getting close to closing out my 30 Days of Favorites project in which I’ve been listing off a bunch of my favorite things as a way to celebrate my 30th birthday. Today I’m counting down my Favorite Book Quotes.

 

#30

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#1

 

#30DaysofFavorites: Favorite Actors

All throughout June I have been celebrating the fact that I’m turning 30 on the 30th by talking about some of my favorite things. I’ve posted several vlogs on my YouTube channel, and I’ve shared my 30 favorite movie moments, and my 30 favorite albums here on my blog.

Today, I’m sharing a list of my 30 Favorite Actors.

 

#30 – Emily Blunt
Favorite Role: Rita, Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

 

#29 – Nicole Kidman
Favorite Role: Gillian Owens, Practical Magic (1998)

 

#28 – Amy Adams
Favorite Role: Louise Banks, Arrival (2016)

 

#27 – Paul Rudd
Favorite Role: Danny, Role Models (2008)

 

#26 – Ryan Gosling
Favorite Role: Holland March, The Nice Guys (2016)

 

#25 – Uma Thurman
Favorite Role: The Bride, Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)

 

#24 – Chris Pine
Favorite Role: James Tiberius Kirk, Star Trek (2009)

 

#23 – Timothy Olyphant
Favorite Role: Raylan Givens, Justified (2010-2015)

 

#22 – Sebastian Stan
Favorite Role: James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes / Winter Soldier, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

 

#21 – Joe Anderson
Favorite Role: Russell, The Crazies (2010)

 

#20 – Sigourney Weaver
Favorite Role: Ellen Ripley, Alien/Aliens (1979/1986)

 

#19 – Gene Kelly
Favorite Role: Don Lockwood, Singin’ In the Rain (1952)

 

#18 – Paul Newman
Favorite Role: Luke, Cool Hand Luke (1967)

 

#17 – Errol Flynn
Favorite Role: Robin Hood, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

 

#16 – Howard Keel
Favorite Role: Adam, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

 

#15 – Burt Reynolds
Favorite Role: Paul Crewe, The Longest Yard (1974)

 

#14 – Richard Harris
Favorite Role: Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone(2001)

 

#13 – Danny Kaye
Favorite Role: Hubert Hawkins, The Court Jester (1955)

 

#12 – Alan Rickman
Favorite Role: Hans Gruber, Die Hard (1988)

 

#11 – Harrison Ford
Favorite Role: Han Solo, Star Wars (1977)

 

#10 – Joaquin Phoenix
Favorite Role: Johnny Cash, Walk the Line (2005)

 

#9 – Keira Knightley
Favorite Role: Elizabeth Bennet, Pride & Prejudice (2005)

 

#8 – Sean Connery
Favorite Role: James Bond, From Russia With Love (1963)

 

#7 – Roy Scheider
Favorite Role: Chief Brody,  Jaws (1975)

 

#6 – Walton Goggins
Favorite Role: Boyd Crowder, Justified (2010-2015)

 

#5 – Jake Gyllenhaal
Favorite Role: Louis Bloom, Nightcrawler (2014)

 

#4 – Sam Rockwell
Favorite Role: Owen, The Way Way Back (2013)

 

#3 – Kurt Russell
Favorite Role: RJ MacReady, John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982)

 

#2 – Peter O’Toole
Favorite Role: T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

 

#1 – Robert Shaw
Favorite Role: Quint, Jaws (1975)