Posted by: Christine on Aug 24th, 2007

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As if I needed another reason to be fascinated by illusionist Criss Angel, on a recent episode of his A&E show “Mindfreak” Criss mentions that his favorite movie of all time is The Wizard of Oz, which is my favorite movie of all time as well. The episode was called “Burning Man” and featured an illusion where Criss built a scarecrow and then it came to life. Check out the trick below.

Posted by: Mike on Aug 23rd, 2007

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This week’s Guess the Movie answer is Office Space. Congrats to Josh from Best Play Ever for guessing correctly.

Guess the Movie is posted every Monday at 9:30am. Be the first to guess and win…our love and affection.

Posted by: Christine on Aug 19th, 2007

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Go ahead – tell me I’m a traitor for not picking E.T. or Men In Black, or even Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I don’t care. My favorite alien movie ever, in fact one of my favorite movies period, is Signs. I have a very strange, intense fascination with this movie. I could discuss it for hours. I think the subtle plots points that build into the climax of the movie show that M. Night Shyamalan, despite what some critics may say, is a masterful storyteller. If you haven’t seen the movie, first of all shame on you. Secondly, the rest of my post has spoilers.

The beauty of the movie is in the subtleties. At first we have the crop circles, which could be a bunch of punk kids. Then they appear around the world. Then we have the animals acting strangely, which the town vet dismisses as “some kind of virus.” We see our hero Graham (Mel Gibson) get a glimpse of the alien’s leg in the field. Then Merill (Joaquin Phoenix) watches a news report with another glimpse of one of the aliens, this time in grainy black and white.

Posted by: Christine on Aug 13th, 2007

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There are a lot of movies set in schools. I guess the dynamic of students and teachers, puberty, and budding adulthood is as fascinating for movie-makers as it is painful to live through. As an avid fan of the teen movie genre, I have a very difficult time picking just one favorite school-setting movie. Therefore, a list…

1. The Breakfast Club – As the one that started it all, The Breakfast Club is the ultimate at-school movie. You’ve got five kids from different social circles stuck in detention all day. By the miracle that is movie magic, they learn to understand each other, even if just for one day. It doesn’t get any better than Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, and the 80s teen queen Molly Ringwald.

2. The Faculty – One of the greatest movies to come out of the late 90s teen horror surge, The Faculty is a semi-ripoff of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but at least it admits that. When all the teachers at their school start turning into aliens, a band of misfits (not unlike the kids in The Breakfast Club) has to figure out how to kill the Queen Bee to return the town to normal. Starring Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, and Shawn Hatosy, among others, and boasting one of the biggest product placement deals at the time (the entire wardrobe was Tommy Hilfiger clothes), The Faculty is a kids-fighting-back classic.

Posted by: Christine on Aug 9th, 2007

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Sick-day movies are those movies you need to watch when you’re curled up under a blanket, drinking chicken soup, and going through Kleenex like it’s going out of style. The movies you’ve seen so many times that it’s ok if you doze off a little bit. The movies that make you the happiest. Everyone has their sick-day movie. My Mom’s sick-day movie is Cry-Baby (or anything with Johnny Depp, really). Mike’s is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Mine happens to be A League of Their Own.

I thought it’d be appropriate to write about the best sick-day movies ever since two of the MovieSnobs were in a minor car accident this week, and my Mom has a vicious cold. Other than A League of Their Own, here are the best sick-day movies ever, and why:

1. The Princess Bride - The Fire Swap, rodents of unusual size, “As you wish,” and “Have fun storming the castle!” Not to mention “My name is Inigo Montoya…You killed my father…Prepare to die.”

2. Dogma – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon as angels, Chris Rock as the 13th Apostle, Alan Rickman as the voice of God, and Jason Lee as a demon.

3. ET - Come on…it’s ET. Eliot, ET phone home, Drew Barrymore as Gertie, ET dressed as a ghost, and Reese’s Pieces.

4. The Goonies – The Truffle Shuffle, “booty” traps, “Hey you guys….”, and One-Eyed Willie.

5. The Breakfast Club – a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal

6. The Sandlot – Smalls, the Great Bambino, “For-ev-er,” the Beast, and Wendy Peffercorn.

Did I miss your favorite? Add it in the comments.