My Top Ten Color Movies

As I already did My Top Ten Songs With Colors In The Titles, I was naturally going to do movie titles at some point too. The interesting thing is that the color songs are WAY better than the color movies! There were loads of songs I love in that list but I can’t say I totally love many of these movies (although I do really like several).

Oh well! It was still fun making this list. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten an absolute favorite. I suppose a top ten list of actors with colors in their names should be next… Betty White would probably top that list! Betty White rules.

Anyway! Here are My Top Ten Color Movies (counting down from 20 because I’m awkward):

My Top 20:

20. Black Sheep (2006)
19. Red Eye
18. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
17. The Red Balloon
16. Men In Black
15. The Hunt For Red October
14. Blue Velvet
13. The Black Cauldron
12. Blue Valentine
11. Meet Joe Black

My Top Ten:

10. Blue Is The Warmest Color

9. Colors

8. White Oleander

7. Silver Bullet

6. A Clockwork Orange

5. Pink Floyd The Wall

4. Yellow Submarine

3. Pretty In Pink

2. The Green Mile

1. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

I just couldn’t rank anything higher than a classic Disney film. I miss the old days of Disney! They’ve managed to make some really good films in recent years too but nothing will top the classics for me.

Now, there are so many “Color Movies” that I’m going to have to mention some more.

Honorable Mentions:

Ruby Sparks
Fried Green Tomatoes
The Pink Panther (1963)
Silver Linings Playbook
Dead Snow 2: Red Vs Dead
Red Dawn
Purple Rain
Moulin Rouge
White Men Can’t Jump
Black Christmas
White Christmas
Crimson Tide (although it sounds like it belongs in My Top Ten Period Dramas)
The Black Hole
The Golden Compass

Two Movies I Really Don’t Like:

Blue Ruin (HATE!)
Pitch Black (ugh)

What I’ve Left Out:

There were loads of movies I had to leave out of this list, mostly because I haven’t actually seen them. I’d love to hear suggestions of ones not in this list in case I missed a big one but it’s very likely I just haven’t have seen your suggestions. I’ve been wanting to see the French Three Colors Trilogy films for years (I will someday, I promise!) and I have to once again admit my shame at not seeing Jackie Brown (the only Tarantino besides The Hateful Eight that I haven’t seen).

Finally, I just have to mention how a lot of the movies in this list happen to have amazing soundtracks! The Walter (now Wendy) Carlos score for A Clockwork Orange is one of my all-time favorites. Snow White has great songs, of course, since it’s a classic Disney movie as does Pretty In Pink since John Hughes always had good taste in song choice. Then there are three actual music movies from fantastic artists in this list: The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, Pink Floyd The Wall, and Prince’s Purple Rain.

But I want to highlight one composer who did four of the films on this list: Thomas Newman. I feel he’s always overlooked yet he’s done so many of my absolute favorite scores for movies such as The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Finding Nemo, and WALL-E. In this list, he scored White Oleander, Fried Green Tomatoes, Meet Joe Black, and The Green Mile.

The Green Mile & Meet Joe Black scores are absolutely brilliant so I wasn’t sure what piece to post but decided to go with Newman’s Whisper Of A Thrill from Meet Joe Black. It’s such a beautiful piece and the movie itself is judged rather harshly at times. I know my hubby likes the film even more than I do – I think it’s a pretty big favorite of his. Part of this will be down to the score, as both of us are suckers for a great score. Have a listen: 🙂

**Quick question: What’s your favorite color? Let me know in the comments! Mine is most definitely GREEN. 🙂

My Top Ten Movie Fruits & Vegetables

Do you have any idea just how many fruit & vegetable-related movie associations there are? I didn’t until I started making this list! So, I lied – this is a Top 20! There were just too many to narrow it down to ten but my anal retentiveness insisted that I call this a Top Ten to match all my other posts. 😉

I’ll just do a simple list for 20-11 then elaborate a bit more on my Top Ten. I’d really love for people to add any they can think of which I’ve missed. Let me know in the Comments & I’ll add yours to the end of this post & link to your blog.

Now, counting down from 20 to 1, here are My Top Twenty Movie-Related Fruits & Vegetables:

Top Twenty:

• 20. TIE: Jack Lemmon, Eve Plumb, Mr Bean & Barry Pepper. Yes – Barry Pepper! Two for one! (FYI – he’s an actor in The Green Mile). Also, I think Chuck’s cousin, Marvin Berry in Back To The Future, deserves a mention. 😉
• 19. Strawberry Fields in Across The Universe
• 18. The strawberries (and various other food items) in Nine 1/2 Weeks
• 17. The banana in the tailpipe in Beverly Hills Cop
• 16. All those tomatoes in Attack Of & Return Of The Killer Tomatoes
• 15. The “blow job carrots” in Fast Times At Ridgemont High



• 14. Pumpkinhead
• 13. Children Of The Corn
• 12. The cute strawberry Barry in Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (plus loads of other food items)
• 11. The apple pie in American Pie

Top Ten:

10. F*%k The Pain Away by Peaches
As Heard In: Lost In Translation, Drive Angry, My Little Eye

Oh, Peaches – I do admit that I love some of your filthy songs. The most well-known, of course, seems to be Fuck The Pain Away as it’s been used in several movies, including the excellent Lost In Translation.

9. Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) by Harry Belafonte
As Heard In: Beetlejuice

Who doesn’t like this song? Who doesn’t like this scene?! You know, I actually haven’t watched Beetlejuice in years – I really should watch it again! Was never really my favorite Burton film (it’s no Edward Scissorhands…).

8. Poisoned Apple
As Seen In: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Had to be in the top ten – it’s iconic! Not my favorite princess movie but I do love those Seven “Dwarfs”.

7. A Clockwork Orange
As Seen In: Umm… A Clockwork Orange!

Not my number one favorite Kubrick film (that’s easily The Shining) but I do rank it highly despite being uncomfortable with some of the material. Plus, there’s not a damn orange in sight!

6. Minion Bananas!
As Seen In: Minions, the Despicable Me films, Minions shorts

Yeah, I’ve maybe put this a little too high on the list but I LOVE those crazy minions and their banana obsession. 🙂

5. Cherry Bomb by The Runaways
As Heard In: The Runaways, Dazed & Confused, Guardians Of The Galaxy

I’ve put this fairly high on the list even though I’m not crazy about the song. However, it’s awesome that it was included in two of my all-time favorite movie soundtracks (Dazed & Confused and Guardians Of The Galaxy). Also, it gives me the opportunity to recommend the movie The Runaways, which is about the band (obviously). It starred (don’t run away, ha) Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett & Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. Seriously – Stewart & Fanning?! Ugh! But… you know what?! I loved it! They were, well, very good. Especially Stewart. Well worth a watch!

4. Tangerine Dream
As Heard In: Legend, Risky Business, Miracle Mile, etc

I do love a good Tangerine Dream score! It was the best thing about the strange Miracle Mile (a movie loads of fellow bloggers seem to like!) and I’ve always loved the piece Love On A Real Train from Risky Business.

3. The Big Apple
As Seen In: Countless films!

The Big Apple (as in, New York City) – Is there any other city in the world that has SO many films set in it?! I’ve chosen When Harry Met Sally as it’s a favorite. Yes, I’ll be doing a Top Ten NYC movies someday (probably after I finally get around to reviewing Escape From New York!).

2. The Cucumber
As Seen In: This Is Spinal Tap

Ha! I’ve put this high on the list as it’s one of the first things I thought of when I came up with the idea for this list. Again, I’ve not actually watched this movie in years, although I loved it. I need to again. Who wants to watch it with me??

1. Peas In The Pod
As Seen In: Toy Story 3

Yes, I know this may seem an odd choice for number one. But, if anyone here knows me at all, you’ll know I have a thing for anthropomorphism – especially adorable anthropomorphic food! I love these Peas in the Pod!!!! So. Damn. Cute. I may have bought the cuddly toy of this at The Disney Store after watching this movie. I’ve (reluctantly) given it to my daughter now. I clearly love her. 😉

Didn’t Make The List:
(before you add your own ideas in the Comments, here are some more that I did already think of)

• The Mandarin & Pepper Potts in Iron Man 3
• James & The Giant Peach
• The Limey
• Olaf’s carrot nose in Frozen
• Cherry Falls
• Professor Plum & Colonel Mustard in Clue
• Violet Beauregarde turning into a blueberry in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
• Withnail And I – The Camberwell Carrot (the biggest joint ever)
• The garlic used in The Lost Boys
• Popeye’s spinach & also Olive Oyl in Popeye
• Cornholio (did he make an appearance in Beavis & Butthead Do America? I think so…)
• Carmen Miranda & Josephine Baker
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers in various films such as Point Break & The Chase
• Peanuts! Okay – I’m adding this at the end as most won’t agree to it being a veg (or fruit?!) but I’m really excited about this movie coming out!!

Movies I’ve Not Seen:

• Wild Strawberries
• The Grapes Of Wrath
• Bananas
• The Apple

PHEW! I’ve spent way too much time thinking about fruit & veg this past week in preparation for this post. Now let me know if you have any more to add & I’ll link to you HERE –

Ideas From Other Bloggers:

Cindy Bruchman: Ann-Margret in the white living room swimming in a room of canned beans coming out of her television in The Who’s Tommy

Eric from The IPC: Sherilynn Fenn using her tongue to tie a knot in a cherry stem in Twin Peaks (the TV show but I’ll accept it) 😉

sgliput of Rhyme Or Reason: Fried Green Tomatoes, “ogres are like onions” from Shrek, the pumpkin in Cinderella, the berry interrogation in Sound of Music, the giant cherry in Wreck-It Ralph, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and “Can you say mango?” from Paulie.

MovieRob: The blueberry pie in Stand By Me, Herbie Goes Bananas, The 9 1/2 weeks parody in Hot Shots, The Oranges in ALL 3 Godfather movies, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Pineapple Express, Poisoned dates in Raiders of the Lost Ark

And since I gave this scene a thorough re-watching for, ah, research…. I might as well share:

And here’s some Tangerine Dream:

A Clockwork Orange (1971) IMDB Top 250 Guest Review

Today’s IMDB Top 250 Guest Review comes from Troy of The Review Club. Thanks for the review, Troy! 🙂 Now let’s see what he has to say about A Clockwork Orange, IMDB rank 61 out of 250…

There are still some movies up for grabs if anyone wants to do a guest IMDB Top 250 review. You can find the list of remaining films HERE. See the full list & links to all the reviews that have already been done HERE.

‘A CLOCKWORK ORANGE’ (1971)

A magnificently disturbing film of sex and violence and the way society views this behaviour. Seen and told through the eyes of the ‘droog’ leader Alex we find ourselves taken from dystopian shots of a futuristic city to a prison and back again. The main character of this nasty, twisted individual is a really interesting one as you do feel a sense of likeness towards him, you can’t help but like his charm and his confidence and the fact he narrates the story is a creative choice that puts you on side with him from the outset as he is telling the story for us.

Stanley Kubrick’s seemingly effortless gliding tracking shots can be found numerous times pulling into and back from characters and locations and it fits with the uneasy dread of something about to happen, it also ties in nicely with the music used throughout the film. The entire film is shot with care and it does look amazing, even messy tower block lobbies and a distant wood with a pig trough are made to look crafted to an inch of their lives. The place has an air of a London vibe but with an odd unsettling futuristic centre, even if this future does look like a more updated vision of the 1970′s, with the colours and the fashion.

The music is one of the strongest points and it has to be concerning the fact that Alex is a fan of music and Ludvig Van in particular. Beethoven’s 9th becomes a symbolic tool later on and the power of it really and disturbingly makes you feel sorry for Alex. Having classical music played over nearly constantly provided a delicate yet assuring punch of authority over everything. It fitted with the assurance of Alex and also gave a case of opposites in seeing violence on screen but hearing something normally associated as pleasant. A brilliant soundtrack of classic material. The use of electronic sounds and synthesisers fits with the future we are presented with and also lets the viewer feel another layer of unease as we hear the sounds – which would have been even more out of this world when the film was first released.

Malcolm McDowell who plays the young whippersnapper who likes the old in-out is utterly compelling and deliciously bad, mad and engaging. He takes you on a journey and you hate him, like him, feel for him. A sort of roller coaster ride as we get taken through the bigger theme of government control and what is right and wrong in terms of treatment for a sick individual. I’d commend McDowell’s performance for the conditioning section of the movie alone. The eyes being clasped open is enough to make me feel queasy and he went through with that and being humiliated on stage where he broke a couple of ribs. That’s commitment to a role or probably Kubrick’s domineering directing getting the best out of his actors. Also the moment where he spontaneously sings Singin’ in the Rain is brilliant and downright awfully evil. McDowell carries the film and also gives a voice over that isn’t unnecessary, its another way to hear the amazingly created language of this story. It all sounds other worldly yet overly British and that’s the main disturbing factor for me that Alex sounds and looks so calm, collected and intelligent, a fearful powerful character that starts off having no limits.

Aside from the middle section being a little of a lull to the film this is a feat of cinematic wonder, sure it’s dark and explicit but it needs to be to provide shock and to make the meddling government theme have any legs to stand on. A twisted orchestra filled movie with the concerning idea of state versus individual fully demonstrated through the eyes of Alex Delarge. A film of importance, vidi it now young chelloveck.

8.5/10

Classic Movies in Miniature Style by Murat Palta

LOVE! Check out artist Murat Palta’s site where he blends “traditional ‘oriental’ (Ottoman) motifs and contemporary ‘western’ cinema”. See these and more here: Behance

My Top Stanley Kubrick Movies

In honor of what would have been Stanley Kubrick’s birthday today, I figured I’d rank his films. Oh dear – I’ve seen less than I realized! Shameful! So I’ll rank what I’ve seen from least favorite to favorite:

**I’ve seen some more! List updated July 2019**

9. Eyes Wide Shut
8. Lolita (but I barely remember it)
7. The Killing
6. Paths Of Glory

Top Five:

5. Full Metal Jacket

4. A Clockwork Orange

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey

2. Dr Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

1. The Shining

LOVE The Shining… 🙂