My Top Ten Sigourney Weaver Movies

Happy Birthday (soon) to Sigourney Weaver, who turns 68 on Sunday.

Ellen Ripley is one of my all-time favorite characters in two of my all-time favorite films (only the first two Alien films really count). I’m obsessed with those movies – they’re definitely going with me to my desert island.

As for Sigourney Weaver as an actress? Well, she IS Ellen Ripley to me. How awesome must it be to be able to say you played one of the all-time greatest cinematic characters?! Outside of the Alien films, however, I’m not gonna lie: I’d never call her a favorite actress of mine. But who cares? Ripley is all that matters.

As for her movie resume (aka movie CV in the UK), she’s been in a wide mix of things and not many I’d say I love other than numbers 1 & 2 on the below list. But who cares? She was in the Alien films. The f*^king ALIEN films. Nothing else matters. They can’t be topped. But, what the hell, I’ve done a Top Ten anyway. 😉

Counting down to my favorite, these are My Top Ten Sigourney Weaver Movies (not ranked by character or performance):

The Rest That I’ve Seen:

21. Heartbreakers
20. Copycat
19. Red Lights
18. The Tale Of Despereaux
17. Be Kind Rewind
16. Paul
15. Dave (could do with rewatching)
14. Ghostbusters (2016)
13. Galaxy Quest
12. Finding Dory
11. Avatar

Top Ten:

10. The Ice Storm

9. Working Girl

8. Holes

7. Chappie

6. Gorillas In The Mist (could do with rewatching this)

5. The Cabin In The Woods

4. The Village

3. Ghostbusters I & II (even though I just tweeted the other day that Ghostbusters has NOT aged well. and I barely remember II…)

2. WALL-E

1. The Alien Films (but really just Alien & Aliens)

Some I’ve Not Seen:

Annie Hall, The Year Of Living Dangerously, 1492: Conquest Of Paradise, Infamous, Vantage Point, Baby Mama, Exodus: Gods And Kings, A Monster Calls

My Top Ten John Ratzenberger Movies

Happy Birthday to John Ratzenberger, who turns 70 today.

Ratzenberger was of course first mainly known for playing Cliff Clavin on Cheers & then for doing voices in the majority of the Pixar films. Thanks to this, he probably has the absolute best Top Ten of the many actor/actress top ten lists that I’ve done on this blog. I’m sometimes scraping the bottom of the barrel for the bottom of these movie lists but all (12! Ha!) of the movies in Ratzenberger’s list below are absolutely brilliant.

As usual, I’m ranking these in order of my favorite film instead of performance. Favorite performance? I’m not sure but I do love his school of fish in Finding Nemo. So here are My Top Ten John Ratzenberger Movies that I’ve seen:

The Remainder:

17. Cars 2
16. Planes
15. Cars
14. The Good Dinosaur
13. Finding Dory
12. Monsters University
11. Brave

Top Ten:

10. Ratatouille

9. A Bug’s Life

8. Up

7. Inside Out

6. TIE: Spirited Away (dubbed) & Finding Nemo

5. The Superman Movies (I & II)

4. Monsters, Inc

3. The Toy Story Movies

2. WALL-E

1. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

The biggest John Ratzenberger movie I’ve not seen is Gandhi. It’s an alternate on my Blind Spot list so I’ll get around to it someday!

Here’s a fun compilation of some of his Pixar roles:

Question Of The Month At Oracle Of Film – Favorite Star Wars Character? & R.I.P. Wes Craven

I’ve participated in another Question Of The Month over at Oracle Of Film & I have to say this is my favorite question yet: Who Is Your Favorite Star Wars Character?

So many to choose from! Not an easy question to answer if you’re a big Star Wars fan (which I suppose I am). 🙂 Actually, no – it was pretty easy as I already knew my answer. I have two favorites so I just had to choose between the two. Who did I pick? Is my answer in the photo above or not?? You can read everyone’s answer HERE. I may ramble on a bit for several paragraphs like I always do when I really like something…

Thanks for another great question, Luke (Skywalker) Abbott! 🙂

**I don’t normally do any celebrity R.I.P. types of posts on here but I had to mention Wes Craven. I was very sad to hear of his death this morning. A Nightmare On Elm Street is one of those movies that was a very special part of my early teens when I was starting to discover that I had a love of film that kind of went beyond what my “normal” friends seemed to think of movies (I’m sure you movie bloggers can relate).

I saw it for the first time at a party at the age of 13 & it was my first proper horror. I loved it instantly. We later played spin the bottle at this party, which was fun, but while everyone else probably went home thinking about those pathetic 13-year-old kisses I was mainly thinking about how I would manage to see that “cool” movie again as it wouldn’t be one that my mom would really approve of. (We also watched Fright Night at that party, another awesome 80’s horror classic, although of course not on the same level as Elm Street. Man I miss those days, especially when it comes to horror movies. And clumsy groping.)

I’m not going to turn this into a long post or discuss Craven’s other work that I like (Such as Scream which is of course very popular but I also have a thing for Deadly Friend). I mainly just wanted to mention A Nightmare On Elm Street as that will always be an important part of this movie-life of mine.

R.I.P. Wes Craven – I’m so glad your brilliant film was my introduction to horror. Very few other horror films have been able to live up to A Nightmare On Elm Street for me in the 31 years since its release.

My Top Ten Swimming Pool Scenes In Movies

Summer is here! (I think?) I don’t know – it’s hard to tell in England! We did have a few hot days last week… Anyway! As schools are finishing all across England, that means it’s summer which means things like BBQs & pool parties! Except it’s been rainy & crap all week and no one here really has a pool as it would be pointless to have one.

This introduction is depressing me! Let’s just get on with my list, shall we? Here are My Top Ten Swimming Pool Scenes In Movies counting down to my number one… 🙂

10. TIE: A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 & 5

I love the Nightmare On Elm Street series so had to include these. Although these two films kind of suck plus I can’t ever get 4 & 5 straight in my head… I really thought the diving board one was from number 4. Oh well. Freddy Krueger is still my favorite slasher villain.

9. Almost Famous

“I am a Golden God“! Remember when Cameron Crowe made some really good movies like this and Say Anything? This is a great scene. I could probably do a top ten just of people jumping off roofs into swimming pools. Idiots. At least this ended a little better than it did for the dude in All The Boys Love Mandy Lane. Speaking of Crowe, he also wrote my number one choice in this list…

8. Caddyshack

I’m not crazy about this movie in the same way that males my age & a little older seem to be but, like when I included The Big Lebowski (even though I don’t love it) in my list of My Top Ten Carpets & Rugs In Movies, this list wouldn’t be complete without this scene. I know it would top many other people’s lists. And rightly so! It’s a classic.

7. Cocoon

Well, there’s more than one pool scene in Cocoon. I love it when the old people go swimming like little kids. I love Cocoon! Who else here loves Cocoon?? No? Just me, then?

6. Harold & Maude

Look! It’s my “please take me seriously as a movie blogger” choice! 😉 I do love Harold & Maude, though. This scene is hilarious.

5. WALL-E

WALL-E is one of my all-time favorite films so I had to include this moment when the humans realize how much they’ve been missing out in life. “I didn’t know we had a pool…”

4. It Follows

This movie just keeps going up in my estimation & I like it even more now than when I first saw it. Such a refreshing change from the loads of crappy horror films these days. I don’t want to go into this scene much as even knowing there is a pool scene in this movie is kind of a spoiler. I liked that this scene felt so much like a scene from an 80’s horror movie and I liked the naïve innocence of the teens.

3. Let The Right One In

This scene is intense! I remember going to this in the cinema and being quite stressed out during this scene. In fact, I missed the big moment here the first time around as I just couldn’t watch it. Man I’m a wuss!

2. Gremlins

Yeah! Gremlins! My Twitter buddy Zach Galligan! A movie from 1984! Those who know me won’t be surprised by something like this being so high on my list – you’ll find no Wild Things on MY list (well, my number one is filthy). This scene is obviously quite an important scene, of course, as it’s the big moment when the shit really hits the fan.

1. Fast Times At Ridgemont High

Another Phoebe Cates movie! This topped another list of mine (My Top Five Movie Scenes Of Self-Pleasure – do you like how I avoided using a dirty word there?). Well, it had to top this list as well – it’s such a famous moment. I’m surprised I’ve chosen it as I’m not normally a fan of naked boobs but you really can’t “beat” what Judge Reinhold does during this scene. Ha! (See what I did there?) 😉 *Also, Happy Birthday to Phoebe Cates who turns 52 today! I’ll pretend I knew that before this posted….*

Honorable Mentions:

You know what? I’m just going to post pictures of my honorable mentions without naming them. How about we make this a little QUIZ! That’ll be fun, yeah? The winner will receive…… Um. My respect! 🙂

CPD Classics: WALL-E (2008) Review

WALL-E (2008)

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Starring (mostly voice) actors:
Ben Burtt
Elissa Knight
Jeff Garlin
Fred Willard
John Ratzenberger
Kathy Najimy
Sigourney Weaver
MacInTalk

Music by Thomas Newman

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar Animation Studios

Running time: 98 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. He falls in love with another robot named EVE, who also has a programmed task, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity.

My Opinion:

This will probably be about the most recent CPD Classic as films need to stand the test of time a bit first. However, I do admit that there are occasionally “instant classics”. To me, WALL-E was indeed an instant classic.

I get super excited about every single Pixar movie that comes out (I LOVE Pixar!) but WALL-E was the one I was the most eager to see as, from clips released before the film, WALL-E looked so completely adorable & loveable plus the film sounded like a very interesting (and brave) concept. And sci-fi! Yes! I even went into London to see it as early as possible because I could NOT wait. And, boy, was it worth the journey!

The entire beginning of WALL-E, before he leaves Earth, is an absolute masterpiece. Complete & total perfection. Sometimes I put the DVD in just to watch the beginning again. And again. From the second the Hello Dolly music starts to when we’re zoomed down to Earth & see WALL-E continuing to do his job on this desolate planet – Oh my god – There’s a big smile on my face just writing about it. Then the very grown-up Thomas Newman score kicks in and it’s quite dark and almost eerie and you know you’re in for a very different kind of kids’ film. Then, bloody hell – there’s no talking! For AGES. And it’s brilliant! Leave it up to Pixar to get away with that. The beginning of WALL-E is just so… I dunno. Epic! Cinematic! (It’s times like these I wish I was a proper writer!). Like in the old days where they made these sweeping epic dramas like Gone With The Wind & shit. The beginning of WALL-E is easily up there with things like that and I don’t think it gets the credit it deserves, probably because it’s an animated film. And sci-fi. The start of WALL-E, in my opinion, blows away every movie of the past ten years. Probably even 20. Maybe even 30!

WALL-E, as a character, can’t get any better. Completely loveable and adorable. I never thought I could love another little robot as much as R2-D2! How can these two little robots that don’t even talk (much) have way more personality & character than most human beings? I love WALL-E’s childlike innocence – it’s so genuine & pure and makes you wish that every human could have that same curiosity and thirst for knowledge & experience & love. Love! Because WALL-E is a love story and, I don’t care what anyone thinks, is probably my all-time favorite cinematic love story (it’s close between this and Carl & Ellie in Up. Woohoo Pixar!). I found WALL-E & EVE’s romance more genuine & believable than any in those girly romantic comedy type movies that mostly get on my nerves. I get annoyed with people who moan that WALL-E is some preachy movie about the environment and how fat & lazy & wasteful we all are. Really? Um, no. That’s just the backdrop for a unique love story & a story about appreciating the little things in life. Argh! These people are missing the whole point!! (Sorry. I get passionate about WALL-E because I’ve had a lot of people tell me they do NOT understand my love for it.) 😉

Unfortunately, (and I hate to say anything at all negative about this movie) once WALL-E leaves Earth, the rest of the film just doesn’t live up to the beginning. But it would be very hard to match the brilliance of the start so I can’t complain too much. I really really want to love the rest of the movie as much but it goes downhill with the appearance of the humans, who aren’t that likeable (mainly because they’re not very developed but, obviously, the movie is focusing on developing the personalities of WALL-E & EVE). There are still wonderful scenes (the space dance with Thomas Newman’s beautiful “Define Dancing”) and anything involving the other robots (especially cute little clean-freak M-O).

Yeah – I just mentioned Thomas Newman again just like in my review for The Shawshank Redemption. Is it a coincidence that he’s scored some of my all-time favorite films? I think not! He’s brilliant and I love the WALL-E score, although much of it is very different from other scores he’s done. It’s very quirky but I think it fits the film perfectly. Because, I admit, it’s a quirky film and I know it’s not for everyone. But I adore it and the beginning is a true masterpiece that I honestly don’t think I’ll see another film come even close to topping in my lifetime. That’s why WALL-E is a CPD Classic.

My Rating: 9.5/10

My Top Pixar Movies

Okay – Now that I’ve finally seen Monsters University (My review HERE if you’re interested), I figured now is the time to finally rank my favorite Pixar films. Because I’m sad like that. And obsessed with Pixar. And list-making…

In order, starting with my favorite & ending with my least favorite (Cars 2, no surprise there): 😉

1. WALL-E

2. Toy Story

3. Monsters, Inc.

4. Finding Nemo

5. Toy Story 3

6. Toy Story 2
7. Monsters University
8. Up
9. A Bug’s Life
10. The Incredibles
11. Brave
12. Ratatouille
13. Cars
14. Cars 2