Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest! (lots of British films) and Excited ROW80 Check In

Gearing up for the Top Ten Movie Countdown blogfest, hosted by Ninja Captain Alex Cavanaugh! (I knit a Doctor Who scarf for mini-Alex, look!):


The blogfest officially starts tomorrow - can't wait to see what the other 150 participants have chosen!

I find it harder to list movies than books as I don't watch as many as I read... And then I'm also wary of forgetting some important ones and doing a headslap as I make the rounds of other participants!

Let's see... I think I'll go with movies that have made the strongest impression on me, rather than classics and such.


Loveliest, sweetest movie ever.
I give it top billing in honour of the 190th St Patrick's Day parade of Montreal!


From Ireland, across the sea, to Wales!
I watched this movie and The Corn Is Green back to back one summer day, closeted inside a room for hours, mesmerised. When I finally emerged, stumbling into the sunshine outside, I felt like I'd returned from a long time travel journey.


Another Welsh one.
I've blabbed before about my love for Solomon and Gaenor - a heart-wrenching movie. It was 11 years ago this very day that I saw it for the first time!


Do you know, after the first time I saw the part where Elliott finds E. T. all white and ill, I've never once been able to watch that part again. I always close my eyes!


I love every song on this soundtrack!


I had to mention a Python one. Especially since I can quote most of it...
"That's not my nose, it's a false one!"
"There are some who call me... Tim."
"It is the rabbit!"
And so forth...


Deliciously creepy.
I think it was my first Ewan McGregor film. Yes, before Trainspotting.
I love their apartment!


I'm slipping this in here.
It really is a movie, but I'm also going to have it stand for every British show I love to watch over and over, from Blackadder to Red Dwarf to Doctor Who to The Young Ones to Bottom to Fawlty Towers to Absolutely Fabulous to The Vicar of Dibley ("Get a move on you strange and insane idiot!") to...
Well, you get the gist.


Do you know, this is one of the very few movies that really captures the essence of a book?
I finally read Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool a few months ago, and asked: have you ever had a book on your wishlist for twenty years?
Trivia: this was Jessica Tandy's last film before she passed away.


I love Natalie Portman in this.
She's exactly like a character I have in mind for a screenplay I'll write someday, based partly on a true story...

Honourable mentions to Chariots of Fire, wherein I heard Jerusalem for the first time, and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

As for ROW80 - the editing has been going swimmingly. I have to confess, this is the first time in my life I've sat down to do a full read-through of one of my books, and managed to read half of it without getting bored or distracted or disgusted by the hopelessness of it all (not counting novels I wrote in high school, when I wasn't so concerned with editing). I was gripped! Finally, I think I'm getting somewhere with this. I only hope my editing skills get even stronger.

Watch out for DL's Blog Blitz!


"Sign up on the linky list below, making sure to record your email address, and you’ll instantly become a member of the Blog Blitz Team. Then from time to time, I will select a deserving blog (that must be part of the Blitz Team) and a specific date. I will then email the team members that information and on that date we all will go out of our way to visit that blog and leave an encouraging comment on their most recent post. I'm talking about hopefully a 100+ comments appearing out of the blue in one day!"

Hope everyone has a great week of watching and writing!

Comments

Some new movies there! Monty Python - excellent choice. Nobody's Fool is a great one as well.
Glad you got through your manuscript and enjoyed it!
All signed up for the Blog Blitz.
And Mini-Alex can't wait to see his scarf.
Hi Deniz .. some interesting choices - I'm just trying to catch up with today's films -

Well done on your editing - certainly sounds as though you're encouraged with your book ...

Cheers Hilary
The only movie I saw on your list was E.T., but I really liked it; I especially liked the part where the kids are riding in the air on their bicycles and the looks on their faces as it's happening. I also saw one or two scenes from Beautiful Girls, and I remember being impressed by Natalie Portman's talent even then.
Unknown said…
Glad to hear the edits are going well! :)
Nas said…
Hi Deniz!

Great list of top tem movie choices. Some new ones there for me.

Well done on edits.
J.L. Murphey said…
Yeah Deniz on the edits The movies are at the top of my list too depending on my mood. I'd add John Wayne's The Quiet Man.
Unknown said…
New movies to add to my to be watched list. I only recognized E.T. Thanks for sharing.
Talli Roland said…
Oh, ET... makes my heart melt every time!

Glad the editing is going well.
Unknown said…
I used to be terrified of ET as a kid ... Good choice on Monty Python too :)

Jamie
Unknown said…
you get an A++ for Monty!

Jeremy [Retro-Z]
Howlin' Wolf
David P. King said…
I love Waking Ned Devine! Such a funny movie. :)
farawayeyes said…
'How Green Was My Valley' an oldie but a goodie. I'm still kicking myself for leaving ET off my list.
nutschell said…
Im not familiar with a lot of the movies on this list, but I did love ET!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
DL Hammons said…
Awwwww...Monty Python was an excellent pick!! Totally slipped by me. :)
Pat Hatt said…
Forgot all about Beautiful Girls and can't go wrong with ET.
Jemi Fraser said…
From ET to Monty Python - you rock!! Love your list :)
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks everyone! I'm having a great time - my first movie-related blogfest! :-)
Denise Covey said…
Hi Deniz
It's a wonder everyone didn't remember E.T. Great movie that you'll never forget.
Unknown said…
I haven't watched some of these movies but a few look really good.
Carrie-Anne said…
I've only seen E.T. on your list that I can remember. My first (fuzzy) memory is of going to see E.T. in the theatre when I was two years old.
LD Masterson said…
I think the headslapping is part of the fun. I've already done it for E.T. but you caught me with Nobody's Fool. (I went with an older Newman movie in my list.)
Deniz Bevan said…
Now I feel like watching ET all over again! It's been a couple of years...
Cherie Reich said…
Woohoo! That's great about the edits going so well.

And E.T. is awesome!
Arlee Bird said…
How Green Was My Valley is a favorite of mine since childhood. I should probably watch again. I have the DVD but haven't watched it in several years.

Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host Blog
M Pax said…
What a great list! I adore Monty Python. I was just talking about that rabbit yesterday. lol
Trisha said…
The only ones I've seen here are E.T. and Monty Python - love them both. :) The Holy Grail is my fave.
Anonymous said…
I would imagine that making it halfway through your own novel without boring yourself to death or making yourself sick is a good sign... :-)

I loved the last lines of "Beautiful Girls": "So you're the little neighborhood Lolita." "So you're the alcoholic high school buddy shit for brains." The relationship between Matt Dillon and Natalie Portman in that movie was fantastic. And I can't say enough about "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks everyone!
I forgot one, which someone mentioned on another post - I loved The Flight of the Navigator when I was a kid. Haven't seen it since then... wonder if I'd still enjoy it? I was disappointed by the Fox and the Hound when I rewatched it a couple of years ago - even though when I was young I loved it - it was the first movie I cried at!
Anonymous said…
I have to admit that I haven't watched many of these movies. I'll have to add them to my "to watch" list. :3
Deniz Bevan said…
Hope you like them!