My Movie Alphabet: Pt. III
Here it is, folks. The third and final entry in My Movie Alphabet. If you missed parts I and II, or you just want to see them again because they’re so awesome, you can go here and here. As a reminder, this is part of the wonderful blogathon started by Mettel Ray. So, without further ado, let’s get down to business, shall we?
R: Ratatouille
Runner up: Robert De Niro
Disney·Pixar is a synonym of quality, and their best, in my opinion, is Ratatouille, a warm, absolutely charming movie about a rat that wants to make it big in the culinary world. With beautiful animation and music, great voice work, and two of the things I love the most: Paris and food, this very quickly became my favorite animated film. One of my favorite films, period.
Other favorites: Revolutionary Road, Ryan Gosling, Rosemary’s Baby, Rose Byrne
S: Singin’ in the Rain
One of my favorite musicals and an absolute classic. That scene of actor/director Gene Kelly, well, singing in the rain, is one of the most iconic sequences ever. Fun, funny, and expertly choreographed, there’s no way I was going to leave this out. Gene Kelly was the man.
Other favorites: Somos Lo Que Hay, Sam Mendes, Stanley Kubrick, Salma Hayek, The Social Network, Sean Penn, Sidney Lumet, Stanley Tucci, Saoirse Ronan
T: Tom Hiddleston
Along with Tom Hardy, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan (all Brits, coincidentally), Tom Hiddleston is an actor that stepped into the limelight fairly recently but is now part of my list of favorite actors. I chose to highlight him because he’s been the best thing about some movies I didn’t like: Thor, The Avengers and War Horse. He was pretty good as F. Scott Fitzgerald in Midnight in Paris, as well (I loved that one, though).
Other favorites: The Tree of Life, There Will be Blood, Titanic, Tim Burton, Trainspotting, Tom Wilkinson, Tina Fey, Tom Hardy
U: Up in the Air
We now enter the “tricky” part of the alphabet. Not many words, much less names or movie titles, start with U, V, W, X, Y or Z, so the choices are much more limited. For “U”, though, I chose Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, a sweet dramedy with fantastic writing and even better acting. George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick all got Oscar nominations for their work in this. Do you want the can, sir?
Other favorites: Up, Uma Thurman, The Usual Suspects
V: Volver
Remember that film I referenced back in “K”? Well, this is it and it’s no surprise. I am head-over-heels in love with this gem by Pedro Almodóvar. No other film that I’ve seen so far achieves such a perfect, seamless balance between humor and pathos. Visually colorful but thematically dark, this is a warm, intimate story about family, brought to life by a mostly female and massively talented cast. Together, these “chicas Almodóvar” won the ‘Best Actress’ prize at the Cannes Film Festival, while Penélope Cruz got her first Oscar nomination. Carmen Maura and Lola Dueñas were superb as well.
Other favorites: Vera Farmiga, V For Vendetta, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
W: Woody Allen
Runner-up: Walt Disney
This was probably the toughest decision I had to make for this post, but in the end Woody won over Walt (just barely). Allan Stewart Königsberg is a genius writer, a skilled director and a formidable actor with many, many classics under his belt. A legend.
Other favorites: Walk the Line, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Wes Anderson, Whip It, Woody Harrelson, Warrior, WALL·E
X: X-Men: First Class
Slim pickings here. Not crazy about the X-Men films but I could be writing about worse movies. My favorite of the bunch is last year’s First Class, a very stylish origin story with the best cast in the series, which included James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Rose Byrne.
Y: Y tu Mamá También
Simple indie gem from the awesome Alfonso Cuarón. An involving story very well performed by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, who’d go on to become superstars in Mexico and quite famous worldwide, along with Spanish actress Maribel Verdú. The writing by brothers Alfonso and Carlos Cuarón is top-notch, and so is the narration by one of my favorite actors, Daniel Giménez Cacho.
Other favorites: Young Adult
Z: Zombieland
One of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. I was with a friend, and we actually had to pause it a few times to catch our breath and compose ourselves. Great cast, too, with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, as well as a hilarious cameo from Bill Murray. Funny and gory is a great combination, and this film delivers on both counts. Where’s the fucking Twinkies?!
Great stuff, Fernando!
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Thanks, Mike! 😀
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Nice! Great shoutout to Woody also. Did not know his original surname had an accent on it. 😉
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Thanks, I couldn’t not include him. Although I wanted very much to include Walt Disney too.
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Good pick with Up in the Air.
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Thanks. Not many other choices with “U”, though, haha. But I love that movie.
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Superb selections 🙂
Ratatouille , Singin’ in the Rain , Tom Hiddleston , Up in the Air , Volver , Woody , X-men , Zombieland . . . 😀
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Thanks, Nirav. Just some of my favorite films and people there 😉
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I haven’t seen it in awhile but Volver was absolutely phenomenal. It was the first film I’d seen by Pedro Almodóvar and it put him on my radar.
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Awesome. Glad you love it. It’s my favorite movie.
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Excellent choice with Singin’ In The Rain! Also it’s good to see Tom Hardy mentioned.
I’ve had multiple opportunities to see Volver but each time have gone for a different option – I guess I hadn’t really heard any reviews for it, good or bad. After your post though I guess I really should check it out!
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Thanks, man 🙂 And please do check out Volver, it’s a fantastic little movie.
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Oh man, there are lots of movies/actors I LOVE here Fernando. I like Ratatouille, Singing in the Rain, Up in The Air, First Class, AND Tom Hiddleston! Fantastic list, I love him in everything I’ve seen him in so far.
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Thanks, Ruth! 🙂
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Nice way to round things off here mate. Love the inclusions of Volver and Tom Hiddleston. Also, Ratatouille is the only Disney Pixar film I haven’t seen, sounds like I need to check it out!
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Thanks, man. This part was a bit more difficult but I couldn’t not include Volver. Also, please see Ratatouille. It’s fantastic. I’m curious to read your take on it.
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Well done buddy, great article. Nice to see De Niro get a little mention at least 😉
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Thanks, Tyson! It was a tough decision but ultimately Ratatouille won. I just freakin’ love that movie. But there is no way I could leave Mr. De Niro out. He’s amazing.
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I keep trying to watch Volver but never make it through the entire movie. I’ll have to sit through it one day since it’s so popular / well liked.
In my movie a-z I think I’d have to put Tom Hardy before Hiddleston! This is a really awesome idea – I’m going to do this with books / authors, if that’s okay! I’ll credit you with the idea and link to your movies 🙂
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Yes, please do. I may be a bit biased but I think it’s a fantastic movie.
And it’s great that you want to do the same thing with books and authors. I’ll love it if you’d link to my post but it was actually not my idea, it’s Mettel Ray’s (http://mettelray.wordpress.com/), so credit must go to here 😉
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Nice finish to the list, Fernando. I know what you mean about there being slim pickings towards the tail end of it…. I liked your choice of Ratatouille for R; different, but easily justified.
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Thanks, Morgan. I had to include Ratatouille. I’m practically its biggest supporter! hahah
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Ok, this is an awesome idea and you have some great choices! I may have to jump in and try it. Good job!!!
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Thanks, Keith! Hope you do your own post 🙂
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Good call on Hiddleston. He’s a new-comer that’s actually worth our time and I can’t wait to see what he does post-Loki.
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Thanks. I’ve loved his work in everything I’ve seen him in so far.
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Don’t know how I missed this one Fernando. I’ve a hell of a backlog to get through. Anyway, nice choices. Great to see that we agree on Y Tu Mama Tambien. We’re the only two to pick that I think.
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Thanks, Mark. Glad you checked this out, though. I nearly put “Young Adult” for Y but “Y tu Mamá También” has greater significance for me.
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Great lists. Really excellent choices for all three parts. Thanks for including Up in the Air and Tom Hiddleston.
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You’re welcome and thank you for reading. Glad you like my choices.
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