A View of My Garden in a Mirror 2010

Thursday, February 17, 2011

#9 of 10 Things I Love in No Particular Order

Movies!

We don't have cable TV. We can view a few television channels with an antenna but we rarely watch them. It isn't because of the expense. It is because we don't want to be tempted to spend a lot of time watching television as our lives go by. We read the newspaper for our news and watch movies when we feel like a little entertainment on the screen. I admit that before I married Keith 7 years ago I used to watch television every evening like most Americans. I would be able to discuss the latest sitcom with the best of them. Now at times I do feel a bit out of the loop when someone starts talking about a particular episode of a popular TV show and I sit there with a blank look on my face. I have no idea what they are talking about. But it is also so amazing what I can get accomplished since I have stopped watching television.

In the summer evenings I will be out in the garden, or out riding my bike with the dogs, or some other outdoor activity. In the winter I like to read, work on crafts, take an online class and lately working on this blog. I can honestly say I don't miss watching television.

I have found one odd side affect of not watching television. Television is where you learn to pronounce words! If a new politician, entertainer or product comes on the scene we will read about it in the paper. However, the paper doesn't give the proper pronunciation.  I will pronounce it in my head the way I think it should sound so after awhile I think the pronunciation in my head is correct. Then I blurt it out wrong to someone who does watch television and if I'm lucky they will correct me. If I'm not so lucky I will go on using this pronunciation until someone, like my sister does correct me. I have tried to get in the habit of asking people who watch television how to pronounce something if I think I might use it in conversation more than once. Anyway, I will stop rambling. I just thought this was a weird phenomenon that others might not realize if they do watch TV. So if you ever hear me pronounce something wrong please correct me! I will be very grateful for the information!

Back to Movies.......

I do love to watch movies. We have a mail order subscription service to get our movie fix. We rent main stream movies, obscure Foreign movies, documentaries and other little known offbeat movies.  And yes, we can also order an occasional television series when we hear good reviews. We once watched all 5 seasons of Six Feet Under over the course of a year with no commercials. It was fantastic!

Do you realize how hard it is to narrow down a list of favorite movies? It took me forever and I know I missed so many. But here goes.

Chicago: I love a good musical and this one is just so much fun.



The Pursuit of Happyness: I don't think I have ever rooted for someone in a movie as much as I did for Will Smith in this one. It will definitely makes you  stop and think about the homeless and the bad luck or social issues that brought them to where they are now. It is an eye opener.



Bridges of Madison County: This is not your typical romance but Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood do such a fantastic job that it works. I love just  any movie with Meryl Streep. She is such a wonderful actress.


Mamma Mia! : This movie did not do well with the critics but who cares. It's fun and the music is great and again Meryl Streep is wonderful!


Hachi: A Dog's Tale: I knew I was in trouble when the video store attendant said, "This movie makes Old Yeller look like a comedy"! Eeek. He was right. It was a real tear jerker but a great movie for dog lovers.


Man of the Year: Robin Williams is so funny. This political satire comedy is a hoot!


Documentaries: We enjoy a good documentary and here are a few:





The David Attenborough version is the best!


Foreign Movies: One great feature of mail order movie subscriptions is the availability to great foreign movies that may be hard to get otherwise. Here are a few we thought were exceptional.





Miscellaneous: Here are a few other movies and mini-series I can't say that I loved because the content is so heartbreaking and sad. But I think they are excellent and worth mentioning:




I would love to hear your favorite movies too 
so I can add them to our list! Please share!

13 comments:

  1. Hi Annie Dear, Well it's no secret [any longer anyway], how you get so much done. No TV to sit your butt in front of like some people I know... :) You've got some really interesting favorites. I don't have any favorites. "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day" was fun and I enjoyed "True Grit." I'm sure there are others but they escape me. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't really have any favorite movies, but I have seen a few on your list, and liked them a lot -- Hotel Rwanda, Rabbit-Proof Fence, and Saving Private Ryan. I've never seen either Gandhi or Schindler's List, I really should....

    You're not missing much by not watching TV. There really is only one TV show on right now that I love -- The Good Wife.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I enjoyed seeing your list-it's given me a few new ones to add. We don't have television either-but do love our 2 movies a week from Netflix. One I think you might enjoy is The Notebook.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great list. I'm going to look for some of the movies on your list I haven't seen. I love the Pursuit of Happiness and cry everytime I see Bridges of Madison County, so I'll have tissues ready if I can find a copy of Hachiko.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Holy Toledo!!!! We have seen a lot of the same movies! I love Rabbit Proof Fence and haven't met many people who've seen The Parrots of Telegraph Hill! I also read my news and don't watch much TV. One of my favorite movies is Love Actually but I also love Like Water for Chocolate and A Matter of Size, about Israeli sumo wrestlers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm sad to say I'm a few days behind with accessing this post, Annie, as I really look forward to anything new from you - my life has been all but consumed with puppy rearing my daughter's little rescue pup, so I've fallen a bit behind with most things and a lot behind with blogging.

    Anyway, here I am, now :)

    I'm not much of a TV watcher, either - and I do not watch soapies/sitcoms at all! I do enjoy the National Geographic channels though and the news channels and we watch movies when there are good ones.

    I'm usually pretty dreadful when it comes to remembering movies I've seen, unless they made a real impact at the time and I draw a blank when I'm asked to name my favourite movie, but I really did enjoy The English Patient, so that's the one I usually name. As I see it's not on your list, I've mentioned it ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm always happy to see a new post from you, Annie! Looks like a good list - I echo your sentiments on The Pursuit of Happiness (great movie to remind us of our blessings, Hotel Rwanda and Schindler's List. I've awarded you the Stylish Blogger Award - you can visit Garden Sense to learn more, if you'd like. If you'd rather not participate, no problem. But I hope more people will discover your great blog!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Annie, I have learned so much about you through your '10 things' postings. Looking forward to the 10th. P x

    ReplyDelete
  9. Greetings from Southern California

    I added myself to follow your blog. I invite you to visit mine and follow me if you want too.

    God bless you :-)

    ~Ron

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Annie! I came to your blog from Gardening with Grace. Thanks for sharing your movie favorites. Since we also are always looking for recommendations for movies, I'll share the following that we have enjoyed: O Brother Where art Thou, Julie and Julia, The Secret Life of Bees, Real Women Have Curves, and the foreign movies, Paris Je T'aime, Sin Nombre, The Syrian Bride, and The Story of the Weeping Camel. I hope you enjoy them too!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Annie!

    Just popping by to check up on you!

    It's been quite a while since you posted anything new...hope you've just been busy with other things!

    Hugs,

    Des xo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for sharing all of your movie choices so I could add them to my Netflix list. I am sorry it has taken so long for me to reply. I am so glad that you all haven't given up on me. I still check your blogs out quickly when I have a second or two. And I enjoy the eye candy!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Really what a lovely busy garden so beautiful and interesting garden so that can be know that and enjoy it in this garden. Mostly people are very like it.

    ReplyDelete