Monday, February 9, 2009

Movies and more movies...

Hi all, this past weekend we saw the movie Bolt...it was very charming...we liked it...

it seems in the past few months we have seen a ton of new movies...I love movies in general, I used to work in Movie Theaters, run them and such for over 15 years, so it was a big part of my life at one time & award seasons were a huge party time for the folks in my industry...one particular party I always liked to go to was Show West in Los Vegas where the Distributors (the people who make the movies) wine and dine the exhibitors (the people who show the movies, movie theater owners and such)...I got to go several times, it was really fun...each studio would put on a dinner or a party of some sort, we would show up in this large rooms with big round tables all set up for dinner, on each chair there was a bag full of goodies from the studio...only a select few got to go, like 5000 of all the people who work in the movie industry...I had so much fun at these events...

like peacocks the studio would not only show us all kinds of short bits of their movies coming in the next year, they would also parade in front of us their brightest stars, so at one dinner I could be sitting 20 feet away from Whoopei Goldberg at another 20 feet away from Tom Cruise...course the stars would change as they got more famous...there was no need for them to show up every year, which was good since it left room for new up and coming stars to come...

a little bit of my life in the movies...there are so many stories, so many stars, so many promotions, I was the queen of promotions, I had a great time promoting them, oh the Oscar parties, at home and at the theaters we held...by the end of my movie theater career I would go from place to place and open large theaters, staff them, train the folks, set them up and move on...loads of fun and never any time to myself...

my favorite movies come in all kinds genres, this past few weeks, I have seen the following: Revolutionary Road-----Awesome, The Reader-----Sad but awesome, Doubt----Awesome, Curious Case of Benjamin Button----Awesome & eye opening, Wall-e----Great, Vicki Christina Barcelona----Awesome funny, acquired taste, I've loved you for so long----Awesome, Milk----Awesome & sad, Slum Dog Millionaire----Awesome, Yes Man----Funny & good, The day the earth stood still----not so well done, Tropic Thunder----Awesome & so funny...this is the first time in a long time that I have loved so many movies in a row.

have you seen any good movies or bad ones lately...? last night I saw the BAFTA awards here in England, and last month the Golden Globes, Oscars are next...do you have your favorites picked out...? Do you Care? let me know...

Thanks for stopping by, hope your weekend was good too...

Jelveh

Peace

7 comments:

ginny said...

Hi Jelveh:
I love to watch movies but not in a theater. I like to watch them at home. Plus, I love tear-jekers or the "underdog wins" type of movie.
Hmm, do I care about movie awards--not in the least. Are you surprised?
Your experiences with movie theaters reminds me of my youngest daughter's experiences. She was a buyer for a large chain of department stores in the southeast-Dillards. She would go to New York, Los Angeles, and Houston three times a year each to buy. Yes, she was wined and dined just like you were. I think her high point was having dinner with Ralph Lauren and Tony Danza at Spago Hollywood. That's all in the past now because she is a stay at home mom with an 8 and 5 year old. I think she is happier now than she ever has been.
So, Miss Movie Queen Jelveh, what and who are your picks for February 22?
Ginny

jelveh Designs said...

Hey Ginny, I am with your daughter, life is better now that it was then, I never had time for me...I love seeing movies in a full dark theater, there is nothing like the group reaction, I used to stand at the back of the theater and watch people watch movies, it was awesome to hear the laughter and see the heads all move at the same time...creepy I know but cool...

well let me see, I think first of all that Slum Dog will walk away with the best picture and the director awards, would make you happy to know not only it was a great movie, but it is also the underdog of them all, it was almost not made due to no one thinking it would make money, but it is a great movie...

I am not sure if it is the best movie, but I see the writing on the wall...my choice for best picture would be either Milk or Benjamin Button...but it will go to Slum Dog I think...

For best Actor I would love to see Sean Penn win it for Milk, but once again I think it will go to Micky Rorke for the Wrestler, again the movie was almost not made, no one likes him, he has been messing his life & his face up for the past 14 years, blah blah blah, how great is he in this role...I remember he was always good, long before all the plastic surgery and the drugs...

so my guess is they will give it to him, since as a people we tend to pay more attention to people who come back from the bottom but not so much to those who were always good and worked their behinds off to stay off the bottom...

ok now on to leading actress, I think it will go to my favorite and the well deserving Kate Winslet for the Reader...the movie sad as it was, it was great and she was great in it, here in England (she is English as you know & from Oxfordshire) the BAFTA's nominated her twice in the leading actress role, Reader and Revolutionary, she won for the Reader...

Ok on to supporting Actor, it will go to Heath Ledger posthumously, as he has so far won the Golden Globe & the BAFTA & several other smaller awards for his role as the Joker in Batman, again he was great in the role, even though both Hoffman for Doubt & Robert Downey JR. are also well deserving...

Best Supporting actress will probably go to Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona, but it should go to Viola Davis of Doubt, she was so good in that role...Tomei is making some noise here too, its kind of up in the air I think...

The only other one I am going to mention here is the Best Foreign which I would like to see go to Walts With Bashir, its an Israeli movie about what war is like, it does not take sides, but offers the sad view of war, the truth....

Oh yeah and I think Wall-E will win for best Animated feature and both Benjamin and Slum Dog will win a ton of other awards for sound, music, make up and that kind of award, but ultimately you will be happy as the underdog Slum Dog will do rather well I think anyway, it was awesome movie...

I wrote this all in 5 min, can you believe I movie geek...
Glad you asked?
Jelveh
Peace

ginny said...

Hi Jelveh:
Yes, I have known for quite sometime about your involvement with movie theaters, and that you are a movie geek! I think everyone needs an entertainment about which they are passionate. It's movies for you-along with other entertainment such as travel, art, etc. You are very well-rounded in your choice of entertainment.
I think what you should do now is run a contest and ask your blog readers to predict what percentage of the Oscar awards you actually predicted correctly above. I, personally, think your percentage will be really high!
Ginny

jelveh Designs said...

This sounds like a good idea Ginny, I will try and work in to the blog in this week's bead up-date...thanks for the great ideas always...
Jelveh
peace

Vered said...

Watching a movie is a great way to forget about your own reality for a while.

jelveh Designs said...

Vered, that is so true, in all economic down turns and war times in America movies have been the one great source of escape from reality for the populace...

The studios however need to lower their cuts these days so the movie theaters can lower the costs or have more promotions, as movie tickets have gone up a lot in the past few years...and that could make it hard for the every day person to fit in to their budget...

Jelveh
Peace

LisaL said...

You have led and continue to lead an exciting life. Sounds like you have some great memories.

I haven't seen any of the movies you've listed. I will catch one occasionally at home when I can pause it as needed. My attention span makes it hard to watch a movie all the way through not to mention my 3 kids. LOL