The "Obama Chill"

I was just watching the news and Obama came down some red carpet and I got a chill as he did it. Hey, Obama is the President! I've had this chill many times. Wow, it feels great! Others have told me that they feel the same. Thus, if the phrase isn't coined, I wanted credit. Therefore, let us go forth and feel the great "Obama chill". (Even when he screws up...)

Favorite movies by genre

I have decided to become a real facebooker and fill out my profile. They ask for favorite movies. I have a list of all my favorite movies by genre that really doesn't fit. So, I am dumping that list here and then linking people to it. Not really resuming the blog....

Every movie I listed above I have seen at least twice and usually more, so they are fully-tested all-time favorites.

comedy (general): Groundhog Day, Heaven Can Wait, Defending Your Life
romantic comedy: Modern Romance, House Calls, Notting Hill
screwball comedy: His Girl Friday, Easy Living
slapstick/ silly comedy: Airplane, Take and Money and Run
black humor: Harold and Maude, Fargo
mockumentary: Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman
cult/quirky: Night of the Comet, Nashville, Kill Bill (both)
children: Parent Trap (original), Wizard of Oz
animal: Babe, Old Yeller
sports: Hoop Dreams, Damn Yankees
animation: Finding Nemo, South Park, Waking Life
teen: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Adventures in Babysitting, Valley Girl
romance: Casablanca, To Have and Have Not, The Graduate
tearjerker: Terms of Endearment, Bambi
musical: West Side Story, King and I, Cindrella (from TV)
drama (general): All About Eve, Caine Mutiny
buddy film: Midnight Run, Shanghai Noon, Trading Places
crime: Gauntlet, Pulp Fiction, Roaring 20s
westerns: Butch Cassidy, Zandy's Bride
gambling: Big Hand for a Little Lady, The Sting
prison: Bad Boys (w/ Sean Penn), I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
war: M*A*S*H, Schindler’s List
disaster: Titanic, Poseidon Adventure
action/adventure: Terminator 2, Under Seige, Bourne Ultimatum
suspense: Coma, Misery
mystery: Last of Sheila, Usual Suspects, Memento
film noir: Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd, Body Heat
horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (with Donald Sutherland)
slasher: Scream, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
science fiction: Total Recall, Empire Strikes Back
politics: The Candidate, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, American President
fish out of water: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (original), Starman
journalism: Teacher's Pet, Broadcast News
documentary: The 7-up series, anything from Errol Morris
foreign language: Fire; State of Seige
filmed monologue: God Said, Ha, Letting Go of God (both Julia Sweeney)
series: Lord of the Ring, the Bourne series
made for TV: Special Bulletin, The Positively True Story of the Texas Cheerleader Murdering Mom
made for web: Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Chad Vader series
TV mini-series: Elizabeth R
historical/biography: Amadeus, Reds

As should be clear, my favorite genre is romantic comedies or romances with comic elements.

Some movies I really like but I didn’t find a good slot for:

• I love romantic comedies so I could have gone on and on with that. Some more of my favorites are: Hearts of the West, Pillow Talk, Move Over Darling (the last two Doris Day films), Dave and Annie Hall.
• And yet more romantic comedies: I love Jean Arthur movies (she was a romantic comedy star in the 30s). Best known for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (listed above). My other favorites of hers are Easy Living (listed above), The Devil and Miss Jones, You Can’t Take It With You, The More the Merrier and Talk of the Town.
• I love movies written/directed by Albert Brooks. Think of him as the west coast Woody Allen. Being from the west coast, I like him better than Allen. Defending Your Life (on the list) is probably his best. If you like it, though, then see Lost in America, Modern Romance and Real Life (which is a mockumentary)
• I think Bill Murray is a great comic actor and often has great material. Groundhog Day is my favorite but I also like What About Bob?, Stripes and Ghostbusters.
• There is no gay male movie that I particularly love, but I do have four favorite films with lesbian themes: Fire (mentioned above in foreign film), Desert Hearts, Bound and Kissing Jessica Stein.

What's missing. Look, the truth is I admire Hitchcock far more than I like him. If I don't want to see a film again, it isn't on this list. There isn't a film of his I want to watch again. Hence, zippo. And, while I really enjoyed watching the Godfather series and Goodfellas at the time, Tony Soprano has blown them out of the water for me. When I recently rewatched Goodfellas, I realized it was missing something: a sense of humor. The same is true for the Godfather series (to a lesser degree). To me, if there is no humor in a drama - it isn't real life.