Monday Movie Meme – Made You Look

Let’s put a little spin on this week’s return of the Monday Movie Meme, with a theme that is all about one of the most common supporting materials for what eventually plays out on the screen. If you’re anything like me, you could easily identify songs that were on the soundtracks of many films you’ve watched over the years. Yet, recalling the poster is a bit challenging.

So that brings up some questions: Does that mean the key art for those movies suck? Or, are movie posters irrelevant in the grand scheme of things?

It’s almost hard for me to believe that I don’t remember what the posters to some of my favorite movies looked like. This week's Monday Movie Meme is an exercise in figuring out how much we really pay attention to key art....and if it's enough to get us to want to see a film.

Here are my selections for this week’s Made You Look theme.

Black Swan

The poster for this mystery drama starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis lives up to the dark and creepy nature of a movie about ballerinas. I saw this movie when it came out in the theaters, after having to travel to another town because the movie tickets for “Black Swan” in my area were all sold-out.

It’s a psychological thriller that takes viewers on quite the ride and will have you wondering what in the world is going on as you try to figure out what is real versus what’s a hallucination. Anyway, the movie poster for “Black Swan” screams “CRAZY” to me, which works since that just about the easiest way to sum up this movie.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Both versions of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” movies, starring Michael Nyqvist opposite Noomi Rapace and Daniel Craig opposite Rooney Mara, respectively, are pretty badass and worth watching.

However, I initially procrastinated on viewing these crime thriller flicks for a good while -- even after reading all the positive buzz surrounding them as well as the Swedish novel series they're adapted from; and I wouldn’t have even considered checking either of them out if it weren’t for the poster for “The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.”

It gives off a don’t-fuck-with-this-person vibe and made me curious about the plot because it just seemed like something big is going down in this movie. The characters are not playing games.

In Time

There is something about the poster for this futuristic Sci-Fi movie starring Justin Timberlake and Olivia Wilde that made me think of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” – but a much cooler version. "In Time" is about people who don’t age past their mid-twenties but the catch is they only have a short amount of time to live, unless they are among those that can afford to buy their way into an extended life.

I wanted to see this movie but never got around to it. In fact, it's probably somewhere on my Netflix queue with over 80 other flicks I either skipped out on, forgot about, or was unfamiliar with before adding them to the list.

Now, is it just me...or does it also look like this poster is channeling “The Matrix” with Keanu Reeves?

I'm Not There
Although I never went to check out this biographical music drama about Bob Dylan, starring Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett, I'd be willing to watch it. Putting the film aside, I just like the poster because it’s simple with that nice silhouette.

My guess is that Dylan’s life is quite the opposite of simplicity. So, maybe this poster is meant to signify quiet chaos or something of that nature. Who knows?! Either way, it’s among the few movie posters that I seem to be able to easily picture in my head when thinking about those that stand out among the rest.

What movie posters grabbed YOUR attention?

Did a poster ever affect whether YOU wanted to see movie or not?

Monday Movie Meme – Cry Me a River

(l-r): Charles Parnell, Kim Wayans and Sahra Mellesse in "Pariah."Here’s hoping everyone brought the New Year in on a high note…’cause this week’s Monday Movie Meme is about to get emotional!

We’re kicking off the first blog post of 2015 with a theme focused on movies that moved you to tears: Cry Me a River.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, some of the most memorable tearjerkers you ever watched. This includes films with heartbreaking scenes, underdog movies that have moments of victory or those unexpected flicks showing a turn of events that just made you cry (or want to cry).

Here are my selections for this week’s theme about tearjerkers.

Pariah
This Sundance hit drama starring Kim Wayans tells the story of a teenager struggling with identity issues while coming to grips with her sexuality. Now that I finally got around to watching “Pariah” during the holidays, it’s one of those films that has me starting to think there are times when a movie soundtrack is a huge factor in whether viewers start tearing up or not; especially during certain scenes. It's as if the producers, directors and/or editors orchestrated moments to induce tears on cue. Either way, this movie is effective in tugging at one's heart strings.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete
This dramatic movie starring Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon and Jennifer Hudson is about two boys who have to survive after their mothers are arrested.  I went to a screening of “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete” and had to catch myself during a scene in the third act that caught me off guard.

Fruitvale Station
This biographical drama starring Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer is about the encounters Oscar Grant III had before being shot on New Year’s Eve. You know that Isley Brothers song about not being able to hold back tears? Well, I succeeded with well intentions when I went to see this movie in theaters, but it was damn hard.

Revolutionary Road
OMG...horrific is one of the only ways I can describe the turn of events in this sad, sad romantic drama starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie is about a young married couple who move out to the suburbs and start a family with plans to live the life they dreamed of until realizing that circumstances have other things in store for them.

Blue Valentine
This romantic drama starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams is right up there with “Revolutionary Road” on my tearjerker scale. It has Love, Babies, Marriage, Broken dreams, Drunken arguments in the middle of the street, Drunken arguments in a cheesy hotel room and Fistfights in the workplace. However, it also has a dude serenading his future wife, on the sidewalk and and loading her up on mix CDs. That’s cute. Yeah, it’s one big ol’ rollercoaster ride of feel-good scenes and not-so-fun scenes and the latter can just be too much to handle if you let yourself get wrapped up in it all…which I did.

Set It Off
Although this is an action movie about female bank robbers starring Queen Latifah and John C. McGinley (gotta love this dude from the NBC comedy show “SCRUBS” tho!) that I've seen more than one dozen times, it's STILL hard to watch that heart-pounding car scene were a tough  janitor faces the LAPD head on. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. Even Dr. Dre had to look away from the screen!

What movies made YOU cry or tear up?

Monday Movie Meme – Sidewalk Sales

The theme for this week’s Monday Movie Meme is dedicated to men and women who sell goods on the street…like the guy who operates the fruit and vegetable stand where I buy oranges among other food; members of the Islamic community who market their body oils to commuters, and the people hustling newspapers or bottled water to drivers at highway intersections: Sidewalk Sales.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring street vendors. The characters do not necessarily have to be setup in one spot on the sidewalk, per se. They just have to be promoting or selling some type of merchandise to the public – either on the side of the road or in the middle of the street or wherever they find themselves. If the salesman in the film you’re considering is mobile, that works for me.

Here are my selections for this week’s Sidewalk Sales theme.

Bookwars

New York City booksellers face challenges to their quality of life when Mayor Giuliani and the NYPD try to shut them down, in this documentary directed by Jason Rosette. Although I watched this movie only once, it was the first film that came to my mind because “Bookwars” highlights important issues such as the violation of people’s First Amendment Rights by the very people who are supposed to be protecting and enforcing those rights.

Gangstresses

Drug dealers, porn stars and women in the music business discuss survival on the streets, in this documentary directed by Harry Davis. I watched this movie when it was on VHS, back around the time when Tower Records stores were hot. Do hookers count as street vendors? At least, that’s the thought I was going with when I picked Davis’ film, about women trying to hustle their way out of poverty by any means necessary, for this week’s Monday Movie Meme. There are several different stories and lives depicted in the movie, including that of a few women working in the oldest profession. So, that counts toward sidewalk sales, right? Maybe?

Baby Boy

A guy who lives at home with his mother, starts selling women’s clothes door-to-door, in this comedy drama directed by John Singleton. It’s been so long since I watched “Baby Boy” and although it isn’t a film that I particularly care for, it did introduce me to Taraji P. Henson, which was cool.

Breathless

An aspiring journalist sells newspapers on the street while dating a thief who is wanted for murder, in this classic romantic drama directed Jean-Luc Goddard.

Street Paper

Writers, publishers and vendors discuss how their connection with the nation’s best-selling homeless newspaper has provided a chance for them to get back on their feet, in this documentary directed by Chris Roberts.

What movies featuring street vendors would YOU add to this list?