Cinema Paradiso

I watched Cinema Paradiso last night. I know it came out in 1988, but I'd just never made time to see it. I'm glad I finally did. It was a delightful, sentimental movie. IMDB listed the tagline: 'A celebration of youth, friendship, and the everlasting magic of the movies.' I guess when it was first released it wasn't favorably reviewed by the critics, it was too sentimental. When it was shown at Cannes it got rave reviews for it's sentimentality, winning the Grand Prize of the Jury and was also nominated for the Golden Palm. It went on to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for 1990.

It begins with the main character learning of passing of a dear old friend, whom he hadn't seen for 30 years. It brings up old memories, the film ends up being mostly flashbacks to Toto's childhood. At first I was a little hung up on it being a movie about people watching movies, but then I let go and got swept up into the story. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. I laughed, I cried, I am glad I finally Cinema Paradiso. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

Never give up, never surrender!

Galaxy Quest is an awesome movie. It's a spoof of a Star Trek type tv show staring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman. It is a very funny flick. A friend lost her job Tuesday and was feeling rather sad. We started talking about things that could make her feel a little better. She thought having a few drinks was a good idea. She and her bf came over and I made us each a dark and stormy. Mmm, tasty! I found ginger beer at Trader Joe's and I use Gosling's Black Seal Rum. I also buy limes by the bag, juice them and freeze the juice in an ice cube tray. Mix the rum and ginger beer over ice with a lime wedge (or lime cube). They say the dark and stormy is described as the national drink of Bermuda, whoever they are... I think the combo of the drinks and the movie helped my friend feel a little better.

If you haven't seen Galaxy Quest yet, I recommend giving it a view. It's perfect for that evening you want to watch something that is just goofy and ok with itself being goofy. Kinda like me! I own it so if you ever want to come over and give it a watch just lemme know.