Pleasantly Surprised?

[janine]

Jaws, of all things, can you believe it?

Caught the last part of it last night, waiting around w/ the family for bedtime while they quibbled over the computer and whose turn it was...

I was really shocked to actually enjoy it.

See, I was a child when it came out in the theaters.  I perceived it thru a child's eyes.  Since then, I had never seen it again, and I'd never seen any sequel or cheap knockoff copycat movie, either.  (Never did go to many movies.)

It was odd seeing Roy Scheider exude the combination of conflicting emotions and motivations he did, knowing what he later did in things I saw as a young adult, and in Sea Quest.

And I could forsee something of what Richard Dreyfuss would later do with Close Encounters, and Mr. Holland's Opus.

I didn't even mind the cheesy shark - it must have been state-of-the-art for its day, and the main point was the mad fisherman and the other two guys, anyway, yes?

Mike remembers the scene with the guy's head popping out as a real gut-grabber when he first saw it.

[Barb1957]

ooooo! B-day = birthday. Which usually I would've gotten right away, but for some reason when I first read SoaPMan's post, I was reading "movies" into that also and thought he was saying it was his "B-day" as in a day he spends watching "B" movies. LOL (Happy yesterday Birthday, SoaP!)

If I had a brain ...

I could probably come up with better examples if I racked my brain (if I had one), but here's one: I liked Slums of Beverly Hills a lot more than I expected to. I laughed and laughed and laughed, which I like to do. Hilarious movie.

[Nevertheless]

Hubby and I were on a business trip this weekend, so we had cable at the motel.   :)   I was surprised at how much boxing was on!  Anyway, caught the last half of Logan's Run.

I haven't seen it in AGES, and yes, it was pretty silly and had a dumb ending, but I liked it.  I liked where the young girl asked the old man if the "cracks" in his face hurt, and wanted to touch them.   :0

[Barb1957]

Jones, we like Time Bandits too ... and Goonies, that's a fun one and a classic.

Another one ... I cannot even begin to estimate how many times Adventures in Babysitting has played in the vcr. When our Eric was younger, like 2 or 3, any time he was so "fussy" that nothing else calmed him down, we could put that movie in, and as soon as the opening music came up and Elizabeth Shue first shows up on screen as her character dances around in her bedroom, a smile would spread across Eric's face and he would calm down almost instantly.  Over the years, it's become a movie that's still played often -- not for its calming effect anymore, but for the sheer fun and entertainment value. It really is a fun movie.

If I ever were to meet Elizabeth Shue in person, I'd want to thank her for having such a calming effect on Eric when he was little! He doesn't talk, but I think I can safely say he's a huge fan of hers, at least of her in that movie!

[marc]

Nah, not in this case.  I remember being impressed by the scope of the movie, something that couldn't be duplicated on the small screen.

Maybe a letterboxed version. . . .

[Son of a Preacher Man]

Yesterday I was spending my B-day doing as little as humanly possible.  I was channel surfing and hit a movie channel and suddenly (to my delight) Kate Beckinsale honored my screen.

The movie was called Cold Comfort Farm[/i] (Rated PG) and since it was Kate and she was... well, Kate... I sat through the rest of the movie.  Ian McKellen played a hell, fire, and damnation preacher and there's a scene of him preaching and Kate watching in astonishment that was priceless.  That scene alone was worth watching the whole movie.  It was on again later in the afternoon when Wife got home so I made her watch that scene and asked, "How would you feel if I preached a sermon like that?"  She thought it was hysterical, too.

Anyway, it's a period piece, British film, a decided "chick-flick", and a British comedy-- add those things together and most folks won't like this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it.  Besides, Kate was adorable in it!

Query: What's a movie you caught recently that you were pleasantly surprised you enjoyed?
[/i]

SoaPMan

[janine]

P.S.
Happy Birthday SoaPy!

[Jim Abb]

Janine....I agree with you about Jaws. I didn't see it when it first came out. It was several years later. The bond that forms on the boat between the three guys made the film for me. And I had never heard the story about the ship that carried the A-bomb before.
Jim

[Jones518]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]I liked Slums of Beverly Hills a lot more than I expected to. I laughed and laughed and laughed, which I like to do. Hilarious movie.[/quote]

Barb, I really liked that one myself.  I have tried to decifer that special language spoken by Marisa Tomei and the young lady, but have not yet been able to master it.

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]Mike remembers the scene with the guy's head popping out as a real gut-grabber when he first saw it.[/quote]

Yes, I remeber that, and it was truly a gut-grabber.  Sheesh, I first saw it on HBO I think, late 70's, I may have wet myself  :D

I recently saw Time Bandits again for the first time in a long time.  I was glad to see that I still laughed as much as I did when I first saw it.  I am a big Python fan (maybe we should start a favorite Python sketch thread), which probably helps as well.  Sir Ralph Richardson was wonderful as the "Supreme Being".  

Jonesy

[marc]

I wandered into a theater one day when I was bored and tired and sat down and watched a movie I had never even heard of and knew nothing about:  Time Bandits.  A week later, when going to the movies with a couple of people who had no idea what they wanted to see I talked them into seeing Time Bandits even though I knew they wouldn't like it (they were a bit literal-minded, if I remember right), just so I could see it again.  I loved it!  It was a grand-scale movie full of special effects and history and comedy and philosophy. . .

:clap: when I watched it on video years (well, decades) later I was disappointed, though.  The movie was so much, well, smaller than I remembered.  I think the way the movied looked on the big screen spoiled the shrunken-down version for me.

[janine]

Or maybe it was like when you go back to your old school, when your kid gets old enough to be a student there.

Maybe instead of it shrinking you grew?

[dgdodd]

I was pleasantly suprised today by a Disney flick called "The Happy Millionaire."  It starred Fred McMurry.  It was absolutely delightful.  McMurry's character, the millionaire, had a Bible Class.  In fact, upon meeting his daughter's fiancee, he asked him if he was a religous man.  The betroved said he often read the "Good Book," to which McMurry replied, "It's good that you read it, how well do you live it."  I thought my teeth were going to fall out!  Old Disney is much better than some of the newer Disney (IMO).  Also, another funny part of the movie was the butler.  Oh, and the millionaire keeps alligators in the house.  LOL  It is a funny flick.