Lent = Out

Well...that's it friends. My 2-month movie challenge ends today. How'd I do? I can't say I got around to watching all 20 on the list, but I didn't do so bad—and I even kind of liked watching some of them, which is a huge step for me. Here's what I did end up seeing:

1. Citizen Kane 
2. Usual Suspects 
3. Pulp Fiction 
4. Fight Club
5. The Matrix 
6. Say Anything
7. Caddyshack
8. Animal House
9. Legends of the Fall
10. Top Gun
11. Reality Bites
12. Dead Man Walking
13. The Big Lebowski
14. Rushmore
15. Rocky
16. Rain Man

Pretty good for a non-movie person, eh? Here's the few that still remain (note: I have plans to watch Dead Poets Society on Friday night so that'll get scratched off soon).

And I guess I should say Happy Halloween, shouldn't I? I'll be spending the evening dressed up as a yogi in expensive black stretchy pants at lululemon—I hope you're all doing something much more exciting than I am.

The intro to November's Lent: Be a Bookworm, will be headed your way soon, as it something else that I'm super excited about, eee!

Hurricane Sandy = Top Gun

Let me tell you, hurricanes make this movie crunch I'm in a lot easier.

The Final 7, Landmark, and Instagram

I'm bracing for a movie-filled week over here as I make my best effort to watch the final 7 movies on my list in just 7 days. Eep!

Oh, and did I mention that lululemon is sending me to The Landmark Forum this weekend? No big deal, just 3 days of super-intense, emotional, 14-hour sessions that literally leave no time between waking and sleeping for movie watching. Perfect timing.

Wish. me. luck.

And hey, I know I'm a little late to the game here (I've always been a bit of a late bloomer), but I'm finally on Instagram! Follow me: dannedzenawagis

Fanne Loves Movie Month

And movie month loves Fanne...

A Little 9am Rocky, No Big Deal

This morning I did something that has probably never been done by anyone else in the world…ever: I watched Rocky at 9am. 

Yep, to make my movie goal for the month it's time to double up, so before work today, I, Danne Dzenawagis, watched Rocky. I almost don't even believe it myself.

9am aside, can I just say that I surprisingly kind of loved it? Not only did I have plenty of nostalgic moments remembering my days in the high school band when the theme song played (all 300 times), but I even shed a few tears at the end (the crying part was a little less surprising for me).

And in addition to Rocky, I've also knocked Rushmore (which was great), and Reality Bites (which was also great) off the list this week.

7 movies left to watch in 8 days? Totally doable, right?

Uh-oh...

Oh boy, so let's be honest here—I've been 100% slacking when it comes to my movie watching. In fact, if I'm really being honest, I haven't watched one in…over a week. Gulp.

Here's what I have to say for myself (i.e. here's my mediocre excuse): For a good chunk of last week/weekend I was away in NYC visiting Dan's family and friends, then down to Virginia for my old pal Lindsy's wedding, then up to the DC area to visit my other old pal Amanda and her little bundle of adorable/daughter Eleanor, then back for another night in NYC before returning home to Boston. Phew, right?

Then of course when I got back I had about 100 things to catch up on, and a training for work, and so on and so on…

So yeah, now that I've vented my excuses, it's time to get back on it.

10 movies in 13 days, can I do this? Yes I can! Maybe…

A visual journey of what I was doing instead of watching movies:

Watching these 2 lovely ladies tie the knot...

Having a mini 14 Thurston reunion with 2 of my all-time favorite roomies...

Eating as many NY bagels as possible....

and enjoying some seriously scenic highway driving.

Can I Borrow Your Movies?

My only trip out of the house this weekend was to the Watertown Library, where I returned last month's movies and hoped to stock up on some new ones from October's list. Unfortunately, I had a little less luck than last time and only came home with Dead Man Walking (which I watched last night, thanks for the great suggestion Frau!) and Rushmore. Boo.

So, calling all local movie-loving friends, does anyone have any of the following movies available for rental from your personal collection?  

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Reality Bites
3. The Godfather
4. Taxi Driver
5. Mary Poppins 
6. Top Gun
7. The Big Lebowski
8. Rocky
9. Rain Man

*Or, librarian friends, could you teach me how to request movies from the library?*

A Surprise Romantic Comedy Double Feature

For the past week(ish), I've been unsuccessfully battling the super-cold that's going around. While *I think* I might finally be on the upswing, being sick has definitely been a bonus for my movie watching challenge (at least it's good for something).

Earlier in the week I watched Animal House (so, that's where those "COLLEGE" t-shirts come from, I get it now...), 2 nights ago I watched Usual Suspects (see previous post), and last night, I knocked Say Anything off the list. Bam, bam, Danne bam!

My upstairs neighbor was nice enough to lend me his copy of Say Anything (in a book with about 1,000,000 other movies) and when the movie ended, something unexpected happened—after the credits ran, all of the sudden, just like that, When Harry Met Sally (which I've actually seen before) started playing! That's right, a surprise romantic comedy double feature.

Now, I didn't know that I was capable of watching 2 movies in a row, but I did it. For the first time ever, Danne Dzenawagis watched 2 movies in 1 sitting. Woah.

Um, who am I? This must be a side effect of the sickness...

Usual Suspects: SPOILER ALERT

Since everyone else probably saw this movie when in came out in 1995, I'm not really worried about giving it away, but yeah, don't read the caption if you haven't seen it. Or hey, if you want to save yourself an hour and a half and just cut to the chase, this will do it for you:

(In a breathy voice) "Keyser Söze", a name I will annoying utter to Dan for at least the rest of the month, if not longer.

Conversation Of The Week

Last night, before turning out the light:

Danne: "Did you see my October movie list?"
Dan: "Not yet, is there anything good on there?"
Danne: "I don't know...I haven't seen any of them" (laughing)
Dan: "Oh, right..."

Gotta love him...

The Next 10

I knew you guys would help out with movie recommendations and you definitely did. After spending some time sorting through your suggestions (and adding a few of my own), here are the 10 movies that I've decided to watch this month:

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Reality Bites
3. The Godfather
4. Taxi Driver
5. Mary Poppins (just because it's funny that I'm 28 and haven't seen this yet)
6. Dead Man Walking
7. The Big Lebowski
8. Rushmore
9. Rocky
10. Rain Man

And still leftover from last month's list are:

1. Usual Suspects
2. Say Anything
3. Animal House
4. Top Gun

I did manage to knock Legends of the Fall off the list last night. Holy Brad Pitt, that was epic. Rarrr...

And today, I'm home sick from work with the illness that's been plaguing most of Massachusetts, so I'm thinking I'll get at least 1 or 2 movies in before the presidential debates tonight. Time to rock these bad boys leftover from the 2008 election:

Pulp Fiction: The Drinking Game *Update*, and October's Lent

Maybe I should have called it, "Pulp Fiction: The Blackout Game" instead, because omg, they certainly say the F word enough times in that movie. I tried to stick with the rules which included: drinking every time someone gets killed, does drugs, and says "Fuck", "Chopper", or "Motorcycle", but when my beer was already empty about 15 minutes in, I decided to call it quits before I ended up in a pumpkin ale induced coma.

All in all though, I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I thought I would, and was only moderately frightened. I feel like the really uncomfortable scenes were scattered throughout, rather than constantly bombarding you like they were in Fight Club. Plus, the upbeat soundtrack provided some much needed levity.

And um, if you've been keeping tally of my movie watching, you're probably aware that it's October 2nd and I've only watch 5 of my 10 in 21. Whoops? Can I use the excuse that my bestie got married this month and I was a little busier than usual? Or that I started this challenge 10 days late?

Because I've clearly still got some work to do, and because the movie challenge was such a great idea, I've decided to extend this lent into October and add 10 more to the bunch (seems that 2 month lents are the 12MOL trend of 2012).

I haven't decided which movies to watch yet, but I'm open for suggestions. This is your chance guys, what are 10 more "must-see" (more like "must-have-seen") movies that I should add to my list?

Me and bridie, proof that I was indeed busy being a Maid of Honor all September long.