Scenic Favorites...

As a fun little break I thought it would be neat to share 10 movies I like to watch because of the settings they are filmed in. These are not put in any particular order just as they came to me.


10. The Bourne Trilogy
I like the bourne trilogy because in these films you get to jump all over Europe. France, Italy, Morocco and Switzerland to name a few.






9. French Kiss
I think the banter between Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline in this film. I love the shots of Paris, the beach and especially the shots with his family at the Vineyard. I always want to watch this movie with some Laughing Cow Cheese.




8. The Holiday
I love Jack Black and Jude Law in this film. I don't like Cameron Diaz very much, but am willing to overlook here for this film. I love the holiday shots of the English countryside. I like the shots of the cottage and the pubs in this movie.





6&7. Let the Right One In & Girl With A Dragon Tattoo.
Both of these are great films if you can see them edited. Both are being remade into English versions. I think some of the great parts of these movies are the beautiful shots of Sweden. Being 1/4 Swedish I might be being a bit one sided, but they are great shots. Both are very different shooting styles. The vampire shots are more close up and at night. Very cold and still looking. The Dragon shots are long sweeping shots of full countryside.




5. Leap Year
Leap Year was a fun movie to watch. The shots of the local pubs and the farming countryside are great. Most Irish and Scottish films are this way. You see the narrow roads and the shepherds with their sheep grazing on the emerald green meadows.



4. The Man From Snowy River
I will take us out of Europe for a bit and take us to Australia. I watched this movie a lot as a kid. The shots of the Victoria countryside are great.




3. Letters to Juliet
The beautiful Italian country and Amanda Seyfried make this one a must see.There a few shots of the cities, but mostly vineyards and countryside.




2. Under the Tuscan Sun
Once again set in Italy, but this time with Diane Lane. This is a film that makes me want to eat Italian food all day.






1. Goal:The Dream Begins
I like this one for many reasons. Soccer and England being the two main ones. There are great shots of Newcastle and the scene when he eats his Full English breakfast looks great.

Well, there are some of the movies I like to watch to see other countries and other places.

Never Been Done: The Jon Comer Story

"I think I heard something crack."
"Oh, it was probably just my leg."

I like others lik the inspirational underdog movie. Jon Comer was just 4 years old when a 14 year old neighbor decided to take his parents car for a joy ride. He ended up running over Jon's leg a few time wich over the course of the next few years lead to amputation above the ankle.

At the age of seven Jon was fitted with a prosthetic foot and he began to skateboard and did not stop. He had two legs one for skating and one for school. He spent all of his free time skating. He bacame very good and was put on some local teams. It was only a mtter of time before his story was out. The amazing part was not ony that he was doing all of this with a prosthetic, but that this kid was really good. He not only good for a local kid, but he was good enought to go pro. He was put on a pro team. He bacame friends with some big names, like Tony Hawk. He is stil a pro skater who lives by the motto Sk8 4 fun. He continues to tour and has been on Warped Tour and many other popular skating events.

This was a good documentary about this great story. It was not the best quality, but was not done with a home video camera either. The narration was choppy, but it was narrated by a pro skater, not a professional actor. It was a good film for aspiring skaters and people who like inspiring sport documentaries.

6.78 out of 10

Letters to Juliet

"I would have grabbed her from that blasted balcony and been done with it."

Once again I was sucked into a romantic film. This one though I was actually looking forward too. I saw the trailer for Letters to Juliet and told Heather that this was one that I would go with her to see. There was going to be some great shots of the Italian countryside and of course great shots of Amanda Seyfried. She has come a long way from playing the dumb friend in 2004's Mean Girls. She has established a spot for her self as someone to watch out for.

The story is about Sophie, a girl who is engaged to an Italian chef. They decide to go on a pre-honeymoon to Italy so he can get recipes and they can sight see together. hey both end up going off to do different things. Sophie comes across a wall below a balcony where women write letters to Juliet (of Romeo and Juliet) asking for advice on love and relationships. Sophie sees a women collect them at the end of the day and find out that a group of ladies respond to these letter as Juliet.
Sophie joins in and finds a letter behind a stone written 50 years ago. She responds and the adventure begin. The women come to Italy and together they are off to find her lost love.

The grandmother is accompanied by her grandson and the two provide the comic relief by their loving banter. The grandson, Charlie, is not happy that the grandmother, Claire, is on this silly adventure. Of course, there is the conflict between Sophie and Charlie which builds to a romantic tension.

The shots of Italy are great. We get to see the countryside as they travel across the country looking for Lorenzo the lost love. You get to see the dry side of country as well as the vinyards, and the cities.

I enjoyed this film and plan of seeing it again.
8.46 out of 10

The Pink Panther 2

"Would you - even though it may lead to injury - marry me?"

I have always loved stupid movies. Well, at least that is what my wife calls them. I like the 80's style comedies like the Great Outdoors, Ferris Bullar's Day Off, and all of the John Cusack films. I was surprised that I never watched the old Pink Panther Series with Peter Sellers. After Seeing the new Pink Panther films with Steve Martin I did go back and check out the older ones and loved them.

I was not disappointed with this one either. I went into the film knowing there would be cliched misshapes with the main character, but that is why I like these films. I put them in the brainless fun genre. I can watch these films over and over as I'm cleaning or multitasking. I had figured who was the "bad guy" as soon as they appeared in the film, but that is to be expected.

I thought Steve Martin did a good job at playing Inspector Clouseau. I am sure bout one thing in this film. I think that any movie that requires a French Police officer that it needs to be played, and usually is, by Jean Reno. He is in a lot of movies like French kiss and The Da Vinci Code. He is great. Steve's assistant Nicole, who is played by Emily Mortimer is also veyr good. As usual I like the footage of foreign countries. I sure most of the inside shots are on a sound stage, but the shots of Paris are nice.

Yes this movie would never be up for an oscar, but that is probably why I like it.

7 out of 10

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid

"Zoo-Wee-Mama!!"

I had seen the books in the bookstore, and was confused about the purpose behind them, an even how to read them. I was not surprised, however, that they decided to make a movie out of it. I was surprised on how much I like this film. The young man that plays Greg, the main character, was a great actor. I was impressed by most of the kids in this movie. The friends were very entertaining. I enjoyed all the scenes with Greg's older brother, Roddick. One of my favorite parts was to find out that he was a drummer for a band called "Loded Diper." Awesome.

The purpose of the movies was to see how Greg and his friend Rowley would handle going to middle school. They develop a list of popularity and develop plans to get to the top. Of course most of the plans go wrong and friendships are made and broken.

I was particularly fond of the little friend Freggy. He is a disgusting kid who most kids would avoid being around. All of his scenes are entertaining, and a bit disturbing/disgusting.

There was a young girl played by Chloe Moritz who was particularly good. She is a great actor and will be appearing in the upcoming movie "Let Me In." This is the American adaptation of a Swedish film, "Let The Right One In," which she will be playing a 12 year old vampire. No not the dancing, happy kind we all fell in love with in the "other" films. Cloe's character in this film is the grounded Friend who offers sage advice. She is the one who sees past Middle School and all the games that are played there.

I was very happy with this film and so was my oldest son who said "We should buy this from the store dad." Sorry buddy mommy did not like it as much as we did

8.23 out of 10