Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Omegle Quiz #1: Name Your Favorite Planet

For those of you who don't know, here is the description of what Omegle is, straight from the site:

Omegle is a great way of meeting new friends. When you use Omegle, we pick another user at random and let you have a one-on-one chat with each other. Chats are completely anonymous, although there is nothing to stop you from revealing personal details if you would like.

So last night I decided to try it out.  And when I got tired of guys offering to show me their junk, I decided to start a little poll.  I asked the random people a question and here are the answers I received:

Name your favorite planet:

Uranus: 6 (No surprise here)

Mars: 5

Jewipiter: 1 (That is how the guy spelled it)

Cirus: 1 (I questioned the answer and the stranger replied: It will be one day)

Earth: 1

Pluto: 1

Immediate Disconnects*: 11

This was fun, so check back in occasionally for more Omegle polls.

~ The Office Scribe

* I can only assume these were people who weren't interested in planets but, as mentioned earlier, in wanting to show me their junk.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

AFI #99 (1998): Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Title: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Year: 1967
Director: Stanley Kramer
Staring: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katherine Hepburn

Plot: A couple is put to the test when their daughter brings home a fiance who is black.

Have I Seen It Before: No

Do I Own It: No

Famous Line: I don't think I'm going to faint, but I'll sit down anyway.

Fun Fact: Katharine Hepburn's character's daughter is played by her real life niece Katharine Houghton. (Thanks to my mom for supplying me with that tidbit of knowledge.)

Any Mention of Illinois? Sadly, I think the talk of teaching in Geneva was about the one in Switzerland.

Five Thoughts I Had While Watching This Film:

1) As a parent I don't think my main concern would be the difference in race. I would be more concerned about the age gap, he'd been married before, short time they had known each other, and getting married in a foreign country.

2) Spencer Tracy is adorable in this film and totally reminded me of James Whitmore, which, as I found out from IMDB, is a common thought.

3) Holy cow, didn't they made a modern day version of this with Ashton Kutcher and that chick from "Avatar"?  Why, oh why, would they have done that?

4) I need a sassy housekeeper.  As much as I like to cook, I want one for the snappy banter.  (I also want a British butler - but that has nothing to do with this movie and more to do with Batman.)

5) How did I make it through almost 2 years of studying film, and taking black history and writing classes, and not see this movie?  Sure, they made me read The Bluest Eye every semester, but I didn't get to see this fabulous flick.

This movie deserves to be on this list if for nothing more than it takes place in the span of a day, which most of my fav movies tend to do.  (Okay, so Twister was more like 2 days, but who's counting?)

Next up: #99 (2008) Toy Story

~ The Office Scribe

Monday, April 5, 2010

AFI #100: Yankee Doodle Dandy

Title: Yankee Doodle Dandy
Year: 1942
Director: Michael Curtiz
Staring: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Houston

Plot: The life story of composer, playwright, dancer and singer George M. Cohan

Have I Seen It Before: Yes

Do I Own This Movie: No

Famous Line: My mother thanks you.  My father thanks you.  My sister thanks you.  And I thank you.

Fun Fact!:  George M. Cohan picked James Cagney to play him.

Any Mention of Illinois: Yes! Family was waiting at a train station in Illinois and remarked about how cold it was in Spring!

Five Thoughts I Had While Watching This Movie:


1) The did a fantastic job aging people.  This movie was made in 1942, about 123 years before the invention of computers and long before The Curious Case of Benjamin Button won an Oscar.  The people actually looked old.  Take that CGI!

2) Actors back in the day had to be hella talented.  They could sing, dance, and act.  And it made me realize that, according to these standards, Zac Efron is the most talented human in the world.  DAMN YOU DISNEY!

3) I did phase out at one point and become more interested in checking my Twitter feed.  I mean, I love a musical number but come on.

2) God bless the crazy, frenetic delivery of the actors.  They sped through the dialog so fast if you weren't paying attention, you'd miss something.  But it was also incredibly realistic.  In real life, people actually do talk fast.

1) Women wore hats back in those days and I really wish we still did.  I want to walk around with a smart little piece of miller work on my hat while having cocktails wit the girls at 21.

Overall, I like the movie, but like I said, it did drag a bit.  Of course, I think that is because I was raised in a society where things generally explode in movies every 15 minutes to keep people interested.  Sadly, this movie had no explosions.

~ The Office Scribe

Friday, April 2, 2010

The AFI Film Challenge


Because I love a good challenge (See my post over at Asleep Under My Desk for an example) and because I love movies, I have decided to watch all of the Top 100 AFI Films, in order, and blog about them.

Why?

Because it's easier than reading the top 100 greatest novels ever written.

So tomorrow, the first movie shows up (thanks NetFlix!) and I will start my quest.

Here are the films, in order* (I am starting at the bottom and working my way up)


1.CITIZEN KANE (1941) 
2.CASABLANCA (1942) 
3.GODFATHER, THE (1972) 
4.GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) 
5.LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) 
6.WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939) 
7.GRADUATE, THE (1967) 
8.ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) 
9.SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993) 
10.SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) 
11.IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) 
12.SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) 
13.BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE (1957) 
14.SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) 
15.STAR WARS (1977) 
16.ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) 
17.AFRICAN QUEEN, THE (1951) 
18.PSYCHO (1960) 
19.CHINATOWN (1974) 
20.ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975) 
21.GRAPES OF WRATH, THE (1940) 
22.2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) 
23.MALTESE FALCON, THE (1941) 
24.RAGING BULL (1980) 
25.E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) 
26.DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) 
27.BONNIE & CLYDE (1967) 
28.APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) 
29.MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) 
30.TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948) 
31.ANNIE HALL (1977) 
32.GODFATHER PART
33.HIGH NOON (1952) 
34.TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) 
35.IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) 
36.MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) 
37.BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THE (1946) 
38.DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) 
39.DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965) 
40.NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) 
41.WEST SIDE STORY (1961) 
42.REAR WINDOW (1954) 
43.KING KONG (1933) 
44.BIRTH OF A NATION, THE (1915) 
45.STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951) 
46.CLOCKWORK ORANGE, A (1971) 
47.TAXI DRIVER (1976) 
48.JAWS (1975) 
49.SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) 
50.BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) 
51.PHILADELPHIA STORY, THE(1940) 
52.FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) 
53.AMADEUS (1984) 
54.ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930) 
55.SOUND OF MUSIC, THE (1965) 
56.M*A*S*H(1970) 
57.THIRD MAN, THE (1949) 
58.FANTASIA (1940) 
59.REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) 
60.RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) 
61.VERTIGO (1958) 
62.TOOTSIE (1982) 
63.STAGECOACH (1939) 
64.CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) 
65.SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE (1991) 
66.NETWORK (1976) 
67.MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, THE (1962) 
68.AMERICAN IN PARIS, AN (1951) 
69.SHANE (1953) 
70.FRENCH CONNECTION, THE (1971) 
71.FORREST GUMP (1994) 
72.BEN-HUR (1959) 
73.WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) 
74.GOLD RUSH, THE (1925) 
75.DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) 
76.CITY LIGHTS (1931) 
77.AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973) 
78.ROCKY (1976) 
79.DEER HUNTER, THE (1978) 
80.WILD BUNCH, THE (1969) 
81.MODERN TIMES (1936) 
82.GIANT (1956) 
83.PLATOON (1986) 
84.FARGO (1996) 
85.DUCK SOUP (1933) 
86.MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935) 
87.FRANKENSTEIN (1931) 
88.EASY RIDER (1969) 
89.PATTON (1970) 
90.JAZZ SINGER, THE (1927) 
91.MY FAIR LADY (1964) 
92.PLACE IN THE SUN, A(1951) 
93.APARTMENT, THE (1960) 
94.GOODFELLAS (1990) 
95.PULP FICTION (1994) 
96.SEARCHERS, THE (1956) 
97.BRINGING UP BABY (1938) 
98.UNFORGIVEN (1992) 
99.GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) 
100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)



* This list came out in 1998.  10 years later, AFI revamped the list.  Here are the movies that weren't on the original list which I will be watching also, as close to their spot on the list as possible.


18. GENERAL, THE (1927) 
49. INTOLERANCE (1916) 
50. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE (2001) 
59. NASHVILLE (1975) 
63. CABARET (1972) 
67. WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) 
71. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) 
72. SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE (1994) 
75. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) 
77 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) 
81 SPARTACUS (1960) 
82. SUNRISE (1927) 
83 TITANIC (1997) 
85 NIGHT AT THE OPERA, A (1935) 
87 12 ANGRY MEN (1957) 
89. SIXTH SENSE, THE (1999) 
90. SWING TIME (1936) 
91. SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982) 
95 LAST PICTURE SHOW, THE (1971) 
96 DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) 
97. BLADE RUNNER (1982) 
99 TOY STORY (1995) 

I don't know how long it will take but I feel like this is a worthy task.  Plus, it will be a great ice breaker when I need something to talk about with people in bars.

~ The Office Scribe