Cinematic World Tour Blogathon: California, Here I Come

Since I thought of this blogathon event I figured I needed to be the first to do a post. I was hoping to go abroad and eventually might before the summer is over, but I decided to start with California, a place I have never been before. Maybe my good friends that I met through blogger and facebook will put me for a night or two as well. Like Desiree, Kori and Valarie. I will call ahead to see if that's cool with them. Anyway some of the places that were captured on film for California feature some very cool spots that would be awesome to see up close. So let's begin shall we...

SO BEAUTIFUL!

First off I have to visit Big Sur, where The Sandpiper (1965) was filmed. Even though it stars larger than life Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the backdrop of Big Sur overshadows them both. One of the most gorgeous places in the world and so lovingly captured on film. Have to go there definitely. I mean it is so beautiful just going by what I saw on display in The Sandpiper, it has to be even more amazing when you actually see it.

Enjoy a casual drive in San Francisco....

But try not to get on the bad side of SFPD...they usually shoot first, 

then ask questions later

Probably venture over to San Francisco to check out the streets where top cops Bullitt (Steve McQueen) and Dirty Harry (Clint Eastwood) performed their duties. Would be very cool to engage in a car chase but we will keep things legal and safe.

Now listen when the tourists start arriving...that's when I will give the signal...

and everyone just go crazy!

Drop by Bodega Bay for a spell, where Hitchcock set his bird frenzy fest The Birds. But the first sign of seeing birds giving me the evil eye, I'm so out of there.

Looks like fun at the park if you decide to visit Santa Rosita

Stop by the Santa Rosita State Park, home to It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) to kick back and just relax. Now if we come across a treasure map, then we're off on a little scavenger hunt then.

From a long lost era..the 60's...American Graffiti..

Also zoom over to Modesto, and cruise the strip where American Graffiti (1973) took place. That would be wicked cool!

Just don't expect gifts from Richard Gere

If you can afford a trip to Beverly Hills, then you have to stay at The Wilshire Hotel...home to such films as Pretty Woman and Beverly Hills Cop.

And to wrap things up, how about a visit to the quaint small town of Santa Rosa that was the setting for Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Small town life is very appealing to me, so Santa Rosa is definitely a place I would want to stop at and visit. So that ends my trip to California as I know there are tons more films I could have included in this post, but it's all I had time for as things are very hectic this weekend with a new AC unit being installed and family get togethers.  I will probably do another post with a different location before the summer is out. And to everyone that is doing a post for this non-traditional blogathon all I ask is that you send me an email letting me know when you post on it on your blog and include a link in it to my blog. Then I can do a write-up on here letting everyone else know that yours is up. Thanks to everyone who is participating and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

My love of classic movies is beyond measure

Monty

A Little Observation

This post I’m writing about today is not about a favorite classic film or a birthday shout out or about a classic movie goddess. Just something I noticed in a few films I recently watched that kind of irked me  a bit. Don’t take this as rant or anything like that. Just an observation. One that as a blogger now, I kind of took immediate response to. Two new films, Life As We Know It and Larry Crowne, which I both liked had some dialogue that took aim at blogging in general.

So Josh, you don't care for bloggers I take it?

In Life As We Know It, Katherine Heigl stars as a young woman who is thrust into raising a child after being named a godparent when tragedy strikes the  actual parents of said child. Well she and another friend of the couple meet years before this happens and go out on a blind date. He is played by Josh Duhamel. And they do not hit it off when first meeting. And he cracks….”look this isn’t going to work. So why don’t you go back to your home, this being a Saturday night and do your little blog thing. You strike me as the type that has a blog. And I will go out and meet another girl and have some fun”. What the hell? As a blogger maybe I was a little too sensitive to that kind of remark.

Julia's husband, the man in question

So I put it aside and enjoyed the rest of the movie. Then I watched Larry Crowne the other day, the pairing of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, which I also liked. The scene where Julia’s husband is a novelist who hasn’t written anything in years and stays home to surf the web watching porn but says he is blogging and posting. Julia slams him and says you’re not blogging or working, you’re commenting, big difference.That scene was not a direct hit on blogging so it’s was not too bad. It just shows bloggers because of this one guy, in a bad light. But in Life as We Know It, that was definitely a strike on blogging. Just wanted to see what everyone else thought about it. Maybe I’m being over sensitive. I just think because now I am blogging I do pick up things like that much more.  Like I said this shouldn’t be taken as a rant, but as an observation.

Be My Guest - Laura (Part 3)

Here is my final part to my chat with guest of the month Laura from her wonderful blog Laura's Miscellaneous Musings.

Monty: Any current stars catch your fancy, if so who are they?

Laura: I like Julia Roberts a great deal and will usually try out her movies. She's always interesting and seems to do a good job selecting her projects. I also like that she has produced quality children's movies with the American Girl series.

Monty: I like Julia as well Laura

Monty: What is your favorite movie quote?
Laura: I've been pondering my favorite film quote and finding it hard to pull a quote out of the air, but the first thing that came to mind is "Get it done, Johnny Reb!" from RIO GRANDE (1950), which we tend to say at our house when we're telling our kids to get a move on doing their chores. :)
Monty: I'm imagining you saying that your kids and I'm smiling.

Monty: If you could be any movie character, who would it be and why?

Laura: Another hard question...I'd probably want to be Esther Smith in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, so I could live in that beautiful house!

Monty: Cool. You can never wrong with Judy.

I like to thank Laura for being my guest this month as I
enjoyed her wonderful answers and entertaining stories.