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Summer Movies, Musical Transitions, and One More Month

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

Our theme this month is about summer, and one of the things I like to do in the summer (actually all year long) is watch movies. I usually watch movies at home on my DVD, but if it's a particularly hot day (yes, it does get over 100 here in the summer) there' nothing to compare with a cool, dark movie theater and an entertaining film on the screen.

Warning! Rant about to happen...


I watched a really BAAAD movie on DVD last night. It wasn't supposed to be bad. Matter of fact it had several "A" list actors and got good reviews, but it still annoyed me!

And I don't mean just the story line, though I did find that aspect rather weak, cliche-ridden, and therefore annoying. The thing I really objected to was that every time a pivotal scene ended, the director/film editor/whomever would throw up a montage of landscapes along with the character who had just "learned the BIG LESSON" and fill the soundtrack with LOUD WHINY MUSIC.

Worse, this movie (no, I won't name the title) is far from unique. I've noticed the exact same thing in other movies and in TV programs. Granted, I don't watch much of the latter, but the biggest offender that I do watch (and am about to STOP watching for this and several other reasons) is "Grey's Anatomy." I can almost tolerate Ms Wishy-Washy Perpetual Victim Meredith's voice over platitudes... most of the time. But SPARE ME those whiny girl singers screeching away about their broken hearts/lives/tattoos or whatever it is they are carrying on about.

Whatever happened to TRANSITIONS? You know, those little things that move you between scenes? For that matter, at least in films and TV, what is wrong with the old fade to black and start the new scene? This technique has worked for loads of award winning writers and directors in the past.

I think it boils down to trusting your audience. We GET IT already! We don't need some smarmy montage and loud music to hammer your point home. If we do, then you didn't sufficiently make your point in the first place!

Okay, rant over for today.

Please share some of your favorite summertime movies. Are there any you can't wait to watch this summer? What are your all time favorites?

And just in case you hadn't noticed, The Wild Irish Sea is scheduled for release in 29 days! (yes, I am counting!) Please be sure to join me for my launch party here on the blog on July 6th!

Comments

  1. The most recent movie I saw stared a big green ogre. Yes, I have kids. Adult movies are a thing of the past (no not that kind, I mean anything above a rating of PG).

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  2. What? It gets over 100 degrees where you are? How odd. Here in the southern end of our Valley it stays a nice balmy 75 all the time.

    Hahahaha....

    Seriously, I feel your pain, Cindy. I stay in as much as possible in the summer. Or in a theater. We do see more theater movies in the summer, but that may be due to the blockbusters coming out then as well.

    I am a sucker for a big popcorn movie. Unashamedly so. This summer it will be Eclipse. And I already count Iron Man in that group even though it came out in May. Close enough to summer, and it has RDJ - nuff said.

    I am dying of curiosity about which movie! But I think the dramatic music and so on comes from the soap opera world. It is a cliche and very annoying, I agree.

    Now come on, which movie? LOL!

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  3. I feel a little out of the loop since I don't watch TV or many movies, but this is kinda why -- I just don't have the patience for the bad ones! :)

    I am looking forward to your upcoming release though!

    Tawna

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  4. hee hee. I'm so with you on Whiny Meredith. I only watch the show because my Survivor Girls watch it after we watch Survivor. I couldn't go to the season finale, and, frankly, won't watch it since I'm not with them.

    You do realize, don't you, that you've got me curious about that really bad movie, right?

    I'll name one of the worst movies I ever saw: 10,000 BC. The CG looked really cool in the previews - turns out that was all there was in the movie, and they showed all of it on the previews.

    I asked for our money back. They couldn't do that, but they did give me movie passes to make up for it, which was fine.

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  5. Amanda,

    I LOVE that ogre! The heck with kids, I love it for the humor!

    And I bought Disney's Aladdin WAAAAAY before I ever had kids.

    Enjoy your inner child - being a grown up isn't as much fun.

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  6. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie in the theater, with five of us, it's just too dang expensive any more--especially since everyone must have popcorn, sodas and candy.

    I'm so looking forward to seeing the Shrek. My youngest and I recently had a Shrek marathon (we even watched the Christmas one) and we talked about how we couldn't wait until it came out on video! We love Ogres!

    Summer for us means the June Show, my daughter's ballet company has an end of the year show, the weekend before dance camp begins. It's quite a competitive thing. Twinkle Toes has been chosen to dance 3 dances, and this year, she was chosen by the grand dame, Marcia for her dance. She even leads in Marcia's dance which is both exciting and frightening.

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  7. Hi Aunty Cindy,
    I'm looking forward to "Inception," "The A-Team" and "Toy Story 3." Congrats on the upcoming release. I'll be sure to follow you on the blog tour.

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  8. We just saw Shrek 4 and enjoyed it very much. The way they used the music was perfect!

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