Live A Little, Love A Little, 1968

Director: Norman Taurog

Stars: Elvis Presley, Michele Carey, Dick Sargent

This is a weird one. This strange woman, Bernice (Carey), meets Greg (Elvis), decides she wants him, and proceeds to be crazy and make his life hell. She tricks him into spending the night, causes him to lose his job, moves him out of his apartment and into a new house, and, in general, IS CRAZY! It's a little like Breakfast At Tiffany's, but without the lovable Audrey Hepburn.

No, really, I watch it because it is rather amusing, the way Greg actually likes Bernice.

No, that's not true. It's completely unbelievable to me that Bernice and her behavior would be attractive to anyone.

I watch it because it's ELVIS!!!!

Viva Las Vegas, 1964

Director: George Sidney

Stars: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margaret

"The lady loves me, but she doesn't know it yet."

That's a line from the song Lucky (Elvis) sings to Rusty (Ann-Margaret) by the pool at a Las Vegas hotel, where Rusty works (above). It's my favorite of all the songs in the movie, it's so sweet as he chases her around the pool, and she pretends to resist him. But, as he himself tells her, he's hard to resist.

They meet and fall in love when he comes to Las Vegas for a car race. As he fixes up his car, and works at the hotel to pay for his room, their romance deepens. The movie ends with a race and a wedding, but I won't spoil it for you! ;) And there's plenty of music and dancing throughout.

This movie is SO much fun!

A Tribute to the King

In honor of the 34th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, I am having an Elvis movie marathon! These ones are my favorites. (They are the best ones, trust me!)

Viva Las Vegas, 1964

Change of Habit, 1969

Live A Little, Love A Little, 1968

Jailhouse Rock, 1957

It Happened At the World's Fair, 1963

The Goonies, 1985

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Jeff Cohen, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton

The classic treasure-hunting adventure story!

A group of kids (known as "the Goonies") find a treasure map in an attic, and decide to follow it and see if the local legend is true- that pirate One-Eyed Willy really did leave behind a ship and treasure in a cave. Unfortunately, as they follow the map, it leads them to an abandoned restaurant where a family of criminals, the Fratellis, are hiding a dead body. As witnesses to this crime, the kids flee the Fratellis underground, following the map, as it leads them to a spectacular surprise!

It's absolutely wonderful! This isn't a kid's movie; it's definitely scarier than a kid's movie, and there's swearing too- not too much at all, I just thought I'd mention it. I love the kids' acting and the way they work together. It's very different, and refreshing. Their acting seems to make it more real. I just love it!

Since I have seen this movie at least 20 times, I decided this time I would watch it with commentary, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they actually filmed the actors talking, and frequently showed them talking and interacting, rather than just showing the movie and their voices. And it was the WHOLE cast!! All the kids (except it was 20 years later)

and the director! How often does that happen? That was cool.

(I don't know why this photo says "Bagou" over Mouth, and "Choco" over Chunk. What the heck?

Lethal Weapon 2, 1989

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci

Riggs and Murtaugh return! Hurray! And with them is a new character, Leo (a very hysterical Pesci), a man they must protect from South African crazies who have diplomatic immunity, which, at least in television and movies, is absolutely disgusting. Do people really use diplomatic immunity the way they do in Hollywood? Because if so, why do we have it? It seems wrong to me!

Anyway, it was really good for an action movie. Once again, I've just got to warn anyone who wants to watch it that there is nudity and language, and naturally, violence.

Basically, the good guys fight the bad guys. Riggs is a part of the Murtaugh's family now.

If you liked Lethal Weapon 1, I'm sure you'll like 2!

Lethal Weapon, 1987

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover

Um, wow! My parents let me watch this!?!

Okay, it isn't the dirtiest movie out there, and the only nudity is in the first ten minutes: you see a woman's chest and then a little later, Mel's butt. This isn't for kids! I would say it's great for action, because I like Mel Gibson, and he and Danny Glover work so well together as the new partners who hate each other, and then become friends. Language is kind of awful too, but I think this movie might be the best of the series (there are 4) in the language department. The F-word is sprinkled throughout.

Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) has recently lost his wife, and lives for the thrill of near-death situations, even contemplating suicide quite often in his sadness. Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Glover) gets stuck with Riggs as his new partner, and doesn't trust this crazy man with a death wish. But soon, Riggs saves Murtaugh's life, and Murtaugh lets Riggs meet his big family full of wonderful kids, who love Riggs at once. And the two become friends as they fight the bad guys.

It's not as heart-warming as that, but that's basically it. And actually, it was a Christmas movie, so it's supposed to be heartwarming, I guess. And it's nice to watch the other movies in the series, and see how the relationship grows between Riggs and the Murtaughs, and how he becomes part of the family. That's the part I like. They're so sweet!

And in between are lots of fighting, explosions, shooting, and death. Yay!

Note: The director, Richard Donner, sounded very familiar to me, so I looked him up. I found that he also directed Maverick, The Goonies, and the Superman movies! I must have recognized his name from The Goonies, one of the my favorites!

a review pre-view!

Comedies and Action ----from the 80's! Totally Rad!!!

These movies are the ones my dad used to watch in the 90's. I have vague memories of some of these, so it should be interesting to watch them again!

The Dream Team, 1989 (Not anymore!! There's no sound on Netflix, so I am not paying to rent it. Sorry!)

Dragnet, 1987 (This one doesn't work either!)

Lethal Weapon, 1987

Lethal Weapon 2, 1989