My favorite movies

I recently decided to participate in the 'moho book club' inspired by -L- on his blog. Although, this month they are discussing a movie rather than a book called States of Grace (a Richard Dutcher film). I'll have to admit that I didn't particularly like God's Army; although, I will approach this film with an open mind and write my thoughts about it here in my blog. When I first added the movie to my Netflix queue yesterday, it showed it was available; however, this morning it says there will be a "Short Wait"; so, I don't know when I'll actually be able to watch the movie.

Anyway, this got me to thinking about my favorite movies...

When I was much younger, my favorite movie was The Sound of Music. I think I must have gone to see that movie at least 6 times or more. This was at a time when it was unusual to go see a movie more than once. My parents also took me to see the stage version of the musical. Now that I think about it - it does seem kind of gay for a 9 year old boy to go ga-ga over a movie like The Sound of Music. I remember singing some of the songs from the movie in the Elementary School choir.

However, my very most favoritest movie of all time is "Little Shop of Horrors". The new one, not the original one. The new Little Shop of Horrors is a film adaptation of a Broadway musical which was based on the original movie. I don't just like this movie. I reeeaaally like this movie. I can't explain why; perhaps because it is quirky, like me. I have this movie on VHS and DVD. I have the soundtrack (on an LP record). I even have a book of sheet music which includes most of the songs from the movie. Anytime a local theater group, high school drama club, etc. puts on the play "Little Shop of Horrors" - I'm there.

One time, with the assistance of my oldest daughter, we painstakingly entered the music to the song "Skid Row" into Cakewalk and created the accompaniment as a MIDI file. It was a long process since I had to recreate some of the tracks on my own by listening to the song over and over because the sheet music didn't include everything (like the percussion parts). I then created a recording on a cassette tape which my family and I used to perform "Skid Row" at a ward talent night. I sang the part of Seymore, my wife sang the part of Audrey, my daughters sang as the “doo-wop” chorus girls , and my boys played the part of bums. I will never forget the looks on everyones faces as we were performing this song - it was priceless. Kind of a "I can't believe what I"m seeing" and "I kind of like it but I can't let anyone else know I like it" sort of look. You know, the kind where everyone keeps glancing at the Bishop to see his reaction. Afterwards the applause was tentative; but, at the end of the talent night when we were all just socializing, we had a lot of people come up to us privately to tell us how much they enjoyed it (and that I sound exactly like Seymour Krelborn; although, I don't know if that is a compliment or what).

Beyond Little Shop of Horrors, I like all of the Star Trek movies. I'm a trekkie from way back. I remember watching the original Star Trek TV series when it was first run back in 1966 (I was 10 years old at the time). I have a captains uniform (Star Trek Next Generation style) hanging in my closet which I wear to Star Trek conventions (although, I haven't been to one in a while). Many people didn't like the first movie. "Star Trek the Movie". It didn't have enough action in it for younger audiences nor was there an evil villain. But, my wife and I both loved it! I also love all of the TV series that have been on over the years. I was very sad after the last episode of "Enterprise" aired.

After Star Trek movies, I would have to say that "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Amedaeus" would be tied as my favorites.

Beyond that, I have a lot of movies I like; but, I wouldn't necessarily call them my favorites. I like some (but not all) of the Star Wars movies. The Harry Potter movies (although, I haven't read the books), The Lord of the Rings movies, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I like other quirky movies, such as: "Tremors", "GalaxyQuest", "Battle Beyond the Stars", "Labyrinth", "The Dark Crystal", "Princess Bride", "Three Amigos", and "Kung Pow: Enter the fist".

Something that the astute reader may notice is the lack of any serious movies - the kind that make you think. There have been movies of that genre that I've enjoyed; I just can't think of any at the moment (I guess they just didn't make that big of an impression on me).

So, what does this say about me? I'm not your stereotypical Mormon guy. I sing songs like "Skid Row" at LDS functions, I like quirky movies, I drink cola products. I play games with face cards (gasp!), and I didn't attend BYU (nor do I follow BYU sports). I guess being a gay Mormon fits right in with my non conformist personality.