"You Know the Movie Song..."

As a girl obsessed with movies, I suppose it's only natural that I enjoy the soundtracks as well. Frequently a song will come on that immediately triggers the corresponding scene in a movie to play in my head.

The other day I was driving and "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)" by The Impalas came on and my mind immediately flashed to poor Vern in Stand By Me, huffing and puffing in the tree house amongst his decidedly less plump friends, just trying to tell them a story, but constantly being interrupted by the guys singing the song in his face. Good times.

This got me thinking of other hits that conjure up movie scenes and a new post category, titled after a line in the Dire Straights song "Romeo and Juliet" from that '90's classic Empire Records, "You Know the Movie Song..."

Here are a few to get the ball rolling:

"Don't You Just Know It" by Huey "Piano" Smith in A Bronx Tale - The scene where Calogero and his friends are taunting Phil the Peddler by singing this up in his face while others are stealing fruit from his cart. My friend Anthony loves this movie and on many occasions I have tried to recapture the singing-into-the-camera-fisheye-lens effect of that scene; needless to say these videos have all been deleted. I apparently lack DeNiro's directorial skills.

"Dancing with Myself" the Billy Idol version (the original is apparently by a band called Generation X, thanks Wikipedia!) in Can't Buy Me Love - As one of the many people who finds New Year's Eve to be an over-hyped night that almost always ends poorly and/or dramatically, I think this song fits the scene of Ronald's downfall at Big John's NYE party perfectly. After overhearing Ronald/Donald use her cheesy sappy heartfelt love poem to seduce another chick at the party, a very drunk Cindy Mancini chooses to expose him for the creepy nerd he really is, telling the rest of the party guests that he paid her to go out with him (gotta love the excess of the '80's). And just like that Ronald goes from "King status to no status," as his brother Chuckie later succinctly sums up later. But who could ask for a better soundtrack to their demise?

"Wild Horses" The Sundays version (the original is of course by The Rolling Stones) in Fear - I'm willing to bet that you will be hard-pressed to find a girl who was a teen in the '90's who does not remember this scene where Mark "Marky-Mark" Wahlberg manually pleasures a teenaged Reese Witherspoon on a roller-coaster ride with this tune playing in the background. Nothing says committed relationship quite like going to third base in a rusted metal bucket with torn pleather seats. It truly captures young love at its finest. This definitely isn't the most ridiculous scene in the movie though; on occasion, say for instance when waiting for a friend to open the door for me, I like to repeat the line, "Mr. Waaaaaalker - LET ME INTO YOUR F*CKING HOUSE!"

More of these little gems to come.

Image courtesy of flickr.com user Joshua Rappeneker.

S&TC: 2

To say that I am a fan of Sex and the City is an understatement; it is hands down my favorite show of all time, so when the first movie came out I was skeptical. The final episode of the show's 6 season run was perfect and it's culmination had even conveniently coincided with my graduation from college.

For 4 years S&TC got me through it all; from hook-ups to break-ups. My roommates and I watched the VHS tapes of the first 2 seasons so much that they wore thin, which we then replaced with the DVDs. We spent long hungover weekends watching the girls and their city, which was also our city, change and grow together. So when it was time for all of us to move on from the safe haven of college, it only seemed fitting that the show would end at the same time.

In 2008, when the first movie came out, I was going through yet another major life change. Despite my rocky emotional state, I got dressed in my most Carrie-esque skirt and a white tank and I stood outside of the movie's premier at Radio City Music Hall to watch the stars go by. Hoards of people stood on that street and the skies opened up and it began to pour and I decided, I simply didn't care. With no room to move on the crowded and blockaded sidewalk, I decided to use this as my opportunity to get closer to metal guardrail that stood between me and the street, with all of my favorite characters on the other side.

Yes, I know that they are just that; characters, but they were characters that meant the world to me. From them I learned that it is okay to be imperfect. It is okay to be older and single (not that I'm quite at "older" yet, but when I am I will think of these women) as long as you've got your friends. I learned that I am not a simple girl, I am a Katie girl ("Ka-ka-ka-katie, ca-ca-ca-curly!") and there is no one else I would rather be.

So while bloggers and reporters and everyone else with internet access is bashing the soon to be released Sex & the City 2, where the girls wind up in Abu Dhabi (an admittedly ridiculous location), I eagerly await it. For no other reason than I am a fan and these characters, who restore wonderful meaning to the term "Leading Ladies," still mean the world to me.

Obligatory Oscars Post

After tweeting sporadically about Oscar fashions and attitudes last night, I feel that I should at least throw out my picks for best and worst dressed. This blog isn't solely about fashion, but I'd say the majority of the posts are, so how could I neglect to comment on the red carpet?

Best dressed: Rachel McAdams. I cannot stress how much I love this girl's sense of style. She always looks youthful and fresh and appropriate. Last night's Elie Saab Haute Couture gown was no exception with it's whimsical watercolor pattern, flatteringly fitted bodice and flowing skirt. The minute she came on screen I told my roommate that ABS better choose that gown as one of it's Oscar knock-offs. I haven't wanted an affordable version of a designer gown that badly since Gwyneth Paltrow's pink Ralph Lauren in 1999 when she accepted the award for Best Actress.

Worst dressed: Charlize Theron. This was seriously a toss-up between her and Jennifer Lopez, but Charlize's cinnamon bun boobs won out over the bubble-wrap appearance of the fabric that JLo's dress was made out of. It may seem like I'm picking on Vera Wang a lot lately (she's the designer to blame for Theron's gown), but seriously, what look was she going for when she selected this gown? Avant-garde bridesmaid? Not to mention that the whole dress looked like it could use a good steaming. Maybe whoever was dressing her didn't want to make the rosettes on her bust look any more wilted than they already did. This dress did a serious disservice to a striking woman.

One more thing: can someone please give an award to Kristen Stewart's stylist? That girl is miserable and yet each time I see her at an awards show or premier, despite my desire to smack her upside the head and yell at her about how lucky she is and could she please adjust her attitude accordingly, she looks great. Edgy, but appropriate. The midnight blue Monique Lhullier gown she wore last night was no exception. So brava to her stylist... but still blech to her.

Twilight

Before I can even comment on the movie I need to touch on the ridiculousness of my fellow theater patrons. Going to see a hotly anticipated movie on opening night, I knew I had to be prepared. We showed up about 45 minutes before show time and some of the other girls were already there. They had saved seats for us, I think our group was about 12 in total, and shortly after we arrived the usher made an announcement that the show was sold out and there would be no seat-saving. The term alone conjures up images of school field trips and naturally caused us all to laugh a bit... at first.

All of a sudden we realized that two grown women behind us were calling the usher over. This poor girl, who was probably still in High School, went over to them and tried to mediate as the women accused younger girls of "saving seats" for people who were not in the theater yet. The usher announced that seats could be saved for people who were in the theater and at the concession stand or restroom. This started another round of jokes that the 3 people we were waiting for had stomach problems and/or were waiting for change at the concession stand (which was only partially a joke as I had to wait about 10 minutes for change of a hundred myself).

Then it started to get awkward. The women were insisting that the people for whom the seats were being saved were not there yet and so their claim to the seats was null and void. Then they sat down in the seats with the coats. I kid you not.
Shortly after they pull this little stunt, the true seat holders show up with their snacks and the women are forced to get up, although they do not do so quietly. All of this is going on a few rows behind us and several people in my party are too embarrassed to turn around to which I say, "If they're going to put on this much of a show, they can't expect me not to watch. Besides, I already have popcorn, I'm all set."

Now one of my friends has to go to the bathroom, so we begin joking that she'd better hurry or the women will sit in her seat. Meanwhile, the women are grabbing their teenage daughters from several rows ahead of us and as they walk toward the exit I hear one woman say to the usher "Well we'd better be let in first at the next show." My friend goes to the bathroom and comes back within a matter of moments. "The line was too long" she explains "but wait til you hear this, the women's daughters are all out there crying going 'Why did you get us kicked out of the movie?!'" We erupt in laughter and then go on to enjoy the movie.

My Review:
Okay, I went in with fairly low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. The movie was good and they did a decent job with with screenplay, condensing 400 some-odd pages into 122 minutes. The things that bothered me the most were as follows:

1. Rosalie - In the books, she is supposed to be the most beautiful girl ever, blond and model-esque. The actress who plays her, Nikki Reed, is pretty, but she is (pretty obviously) naturally a brunette.

2. Jasper's Hair - Not sure why they decided to give Jasper this ridiculous mop of overly gelled blond hair, but it was a terrible decision. He looks ridiculous, making it very hard to take his character seriously. Also, Jasper is supposed to have this heightened ability to make everyone feel at ease, too bad he looked so tense the entire movie that I thought the actor who played him, Jackson Rathbone, surely had terrible gas pains throughout most of the filming. He is the newest vampire to go "vegetarian" so I get that he is supposed to look uncomfortable around Bella, but in the book he adjust and winds up liking her and in the movie this never happens.

3. Bella doesn't hatch the escape plan - In the book the whole thing is Bella's idea and in the movie she just kind of goes along with it. This might not seem like a big deal, but I think it is a key moment for Bella showing that she is really quite clever and it shows the Cullens that she is smart as well.

Finally
4. The Cullens wardrobe. The costume designer, Wendy Chuck, claims that she read the books in preparation for the job, but I'd like to know if she read the same book I did because the Cullens are supposed to be impeccably dressed. In my mind they were all dressed from head to toe in Prada. In the movie she puts Edward in a denim button-down. Seriously? Why don't you just have Old Navy sponsor the whole thing?

Bella she managed to get right, but the Cullens are supposed to be stylish. In the scene at their house she puts Rosalie in the most ridiculous stripper shoes and this horrible necklace. The closest Wendy Chuck gets to getting it right is the scene where they are introduced and the whole family is basically in white. It gives them a very mystical feel. Other than that I think she should have gone in a totally different direction.

Oh, there was one decision she made that I think was pure genius, putting Edward in a pair of Wayfarers in the scene where he and Bella basically debut as a couple in the parking lot. Robert Pattinson looked so cool here, I almost swooned.

Twilight Tonight

"When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end." -Bella Swan, Twilight*

In terms of blogging subjects, Twilight is the new Sarah Palin. Fortunately, Twighlight is a much less loaded topic. Well, I guess that depends on how die-hard the fan you are talking to is about the 4 book saga.

Personally, I have only read the first book in the series and I'm excited to read the second, but I knew I'd be going to see the movie tonight (my roommate got our tickets 3 weeks ago) and I decided to wait, lest I get confused. As it is I know I'm going to sit there nitpicking all of the inaccuracies. Hopefully I'll be able to restrain myself from thinking aloud.

The movie has been all over the entertainment news and I can't help but wonder what stylist is allowing Robert Pattinson to show up at everything looking so rumpled. Is it just me, or does anyone else have the uncontrollable urge to iron his clothes? He's not a big enough star to show up to every call looking like he slept in what he's wearing the night before.

Regardless, I'm really looking forward to seeing it and dissecting it over dinner with the girls. Hopefully I don't have to scold any chatty teenagers in the theater, or myself for that matter.

*Note: I chose this quote over "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb" because that one is great, but it's already getting played out. I can just see the t-shirts in Hot Topic now.