My Favorite Movies

A dear friend of mine worked so hard in her job for over thirty years, she saw very few movies during that time. Now that she's retired, she has time to watch movies, so I told her I would make a list of my favorites to save her from having to weed through the bad ones. I thought my list would probably be a dozen or so. Not so. And I'll probably keep coming back and adding to them as more come to mind.

The librarian in me is listing them by genre, and some titles will appear in more than one genre. And here's my caveat: I am not an expert in reviewing movies. I don't know all the technical stuff that goes on behind them. I usually go to a movie for entertainment, not torture, so the only heartrending or uncomfortable ones I list are movies I think are important to see*, usually involving some historical event or courageous person. The movies are in alphabetical order within each genre.

Adventure - 
Back to the Future - all
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Hook
Indiana Jones - all but the last one
The Jungle Book (not the animated one)
Knight & Day
Mission Impossible (w/Tom Cruise)
Pirates of the Caribbean - all

Animated - 
Brave
Cars
Finding Nemo
How to Train Your Dragon
Monsters Inc.
Shrek - all
Tangled
Toy Story - all
Up
WALL-E

Biographical - 

Braveheart*

Coal Miner's Daughter

Lincoln*

The Miracle Worker (w/ Anne Bancroft)

Schindler's List*

Fantasy - 

Enchanted

The Fall

Harry Potter - all

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Princess Bride

The Wizard of Oz

Historical Drama - 

Australia

The Fall
Far & Away

Gladiator*

Good Ol' Boys
The Help*

Last of the Mohicans

Saving Private Ryan*

Schindler's List*

To Kill a Mockingbird*

Zero Dark Thirty*

Humorous - 

Big
Christmas Vacation

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Good Ol' Boys
Nacho Libre

Princess Bride

Musical - 

The Sound of Music

Mystery/Suspense - 

The Client

The Firm

Witness (w/ Harrison Ford)

Romance - 

Australia 

Ever After

Far & Away

Lady Hawke

Last of the Mohicans

Man From Snowy River

Pride & Prejudice (w/ Keira Knightley)

The Princess Bride

The Scarlett Pimpernel

The Sound of Music

Sci-Fi - 

Avatar

Sixth Sense

Star Trek - (the prequel with Chris Pine)

Star Wars - (the early ones)

Thor (I can hear my son-in-law groan at this one, but I enjoyed it)

I didn't choose these for the actors or an outstanding performance or an original idea. I chose them for the stories they told, and for most of them, they made me feel good walking out of the theater. I wouldn't mind seeing some of them again and again. I don't mind admitting that I like happy endings. I want a movie to surprise me, thrill me, bring me to tears, and/or to make me laugh. The Pixar movies almost always hit every range of emotion in me-- they are all so well done. Avatar blew me away with the technology and creativity. I didn't go see it for all the subtle and blatant environmental messages. I went to watch a good story, and it didn't disappoint me.

I like a good romantic movie, but I don't like to watch graphic nudity or sex in a movie. It makes me feel like a peeping Tom, and I believe most stories can be told just fine without it, or leave it to our imaginations, please. One of the most romantic scenes that I've seen in a movie is in The Last of the Mohicans when Hawkeye and Cora are hugging each other. [And I realize the book is very different from the movie]. Every time I see Pride and Prejudice, I love it even more. 

I'm sure there are other movies that I can add to this list, but these will keep my friend busy for a while.

Pantry Redo

I said a few posts back that I would share a bit more about our pantry remodel. Our pantry's dimensions are approximately 2'x3'x11' high.

It only had three deep shelves to start off with, as seen in the photos above, and that meant the pantry was like a dark cave since the light only shined on the top shelf. (unlike these pictures where the photo flash lit everything up well). We could see only what was in the fronts of the shelves, the backs held unorganized stacks of mystery food and supplies. 

The distance between the pantry light and the top shelf was approximately six feet of wasted space. 

We didn't realize that each of the deep shelves were made up of two boards, so we removed the front boards and created six shallow shelves in the closet by adding support braces on the walls. The shelves used the entire 11' of the height of the closet.

We used existing material stored in our garage to create rows of shallow shelves on the right side for canned goods and smaller food items. 

There is not a blind spot in the pantry now-- we can see everything at a glance. The pantry light finally lights up the whole food closet. On the left side, we added hooks and ceramic insulators we found in the attic to hang things on.

The project didn't cost Dad and me anything but our time to do this, and we finished it in a few hours one day. We're so happy with it, we still drag unsuspecting guests to the kitchen to see our pantry re-do. : )

Gangy Update

Gangy and August, her youngest great grandchild
 and a big six-month-old boy old now. 

About the only time she can hold him now is when he's sleeping. 

Mom uses her "Hot Wheels" power chair during almost all of her waking hours now. We were able to take it to our family Christmas get-together on MLK's birthday weekend recently, and it was nice for her to have the mobility there instead of having to wait for someone to move her around in her push chair. I think she put it off as long as possible, but it's been much less stressful not having to worry about her falling while using her walker.

Dad takes her to the beauty shop once a week, and hopefully, she'll be able to go back to church after the flu season. They watch the services on dvd for now. I'm hoping she'll eventually go with Dad when he walks to the library each week; it's only two short blocks from our house.

She can still use her hands to write or spell out words in the air to communicate, since she hasn't been able to speak for quite a while now. She's still able to eat some, although most bulbar ALS patients at the same stage have long since stopped due to the choking hazard. She spends her days watching her favorite TV shows, reading, corresponding with friends who've been so kind to write to her. She has about twenty Words with Friends games going at any given time, and she helps Dad with the bills. She had always been the accountant and bill payer in their marriage, but about a year ago she began "training" Dad to start doing it. Her most important job is helping Dad and me remember stuff-- we are both so forgetful, and she still has the best mind in the house.

My daughter Vanessa comes over with my three grandkids one afternoon a week, and we always enjoy  seeing them. Finn (6 years old) is Dad's helper; he bonded with Dad from the time he was a baby, and they are always tinkering on something together outside or in PaPaw's workshop. Last week they trimmed the crepe myrtles; yesterday they planted onions in the garden. 

Mom is currently in her 46th month of ALS, which began with her speech slurring and eventually paralyzing her tongue. It's gradually moved to her limbs with her muscles weakening and taking away her ability to walk. I can't imagine how frightening it must be for her knowing what's coming, but she is so brave, and continues to think of others' well-being. We know the road ahead is not going to be easy, but God has been with us every step of the way and will continue to give us the grace to endure. We appreciate your prayers, and we can definitely feel the effects of them. 

I've really enjoyed living with my parents the past four years. I hear nightmare stories about families who don't get along, but my parents are the exception. I've learned that Mom has spoiled Dad pretty good all these years, but now he's getting the opportunity to be her hero as he so sweetly takes care of her. I love watching their relationship.

We still laugh often, I still ask her advice about cooking, and I'm grateful to get to spend time with her. She is one of my best friends, and it's an honor for me to be able to help her at this time in her life.