Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.
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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Characters Magically Aging Up or Down
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I thought there were going to be more of such movies...oh well I guess I was wrong. I think the Body Switch theme in August would be more interesting with a lot more movies to pick from.
17 Again (2009)
Guy regrets the path not taken. When his wish to be 17 again is granted he enrolls back in the same high school his kids are giving him an opportunity to have a relationship with his family from a different perspective. Really enjoyed this, very funny.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Girl wishes to skip the awkwardness of adolescent straight to being 30 and her wish is granted. I enjoyed the whole 80s thing and the movie overall is just super cute.
Big (1988)
Boy wishes to be big. His wish is granted and becomes an adult. The most popular one in this category. This used to be on TV a lot when I was growing up.
Big (1988)
Boy wishes to be big. His wish is granted and becomes an adult. The most popular one in this category. This used to be on TV a lot when I was growing up.
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Participating Blogs/Bloggers
I also picked 13 Going On 30 and 17 Again. I enjoyed them but my taste in movies was terrible then.
ReplyDeleteOh no...have the movies aged terribly...I haven't seen all of them in nearly ten years or more.
Delete13 Going on 30 is all over the place today. I waited for a long time to see it because it looked silly. Which it was when I finally got around to it but silly in a fun way.
ReplyDeleteWe share the other two. 17 Again was only okay but not terrible. Zac is such a baby in it. I LOVE Big! The filmmakers were really able to capture that feeling of childish wonder throughout. It also had a sense of poignancy that made the comedy more real. I think it's the best in this particular genre.
This was a tough week since the specificity of aging up or down isn't used as much as I thought-body switching accounts for alot of similar films though. It took some doing to come up with my three-though Big popped into my head right away.
Big (1988)-After being denied admittance to a carnival ride 12 year old Josh Baskin (David Moscow) makes a wish he was big on an antique fortune telling machine. He wakes up the next morning to discover his wish has come true and he is now a 30 year old man (Tom Hanks). Panicked he finds his best friend Billy, convinces him of the truth and they go on a hunt for the machine while Josh hides out in New York. By luck he gets a job in a toy company and because of his innocence manages to shoot up the corporate ladder with amazing speed while discovering romance with Susan, another exec at the company. Beguiling comedy with assured direction by Penny Marshall and captivating performances by the cast none more so than Hanks.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)-In 1918 a child is born with all the characteristics of an old man and over the course of his lifetime ages backwards. Complicated fantasy has a gossamer sheen and thoughtful performances by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and an extraordinary one by Taraji P. Henson as his caregiver Queenie.
17 Again (2009)-Mike O’Donnell (Matthew Perry) had to abandon his dreams 20 years ago when his girlfriend became pregnant and they wed. He is now unemployed, estranged from his wife and children and living with a friend but an encounter with a stranger allows him to suddenly be 17 again (where he’s played by Zac Efron) and a chance to try and fix all that went wrong. It sounds heavy but it’s played for comedy.
Big was playing a lot a lot when I was growing up so I wasn't into it as much.
DeleteI thought of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for this theme too, but since I haven't seen it I couldn't pick it. For some reason it seemed to look like a very long tedious Oscar bait sort of flick so I never got around to it.
We match on 13 Going on 30! I never did get around to seeing 17 Again.
ReplyDeleteOh you totally should...if you like 13 Going on 30, I think you'll like it. Found it just as light and fun.
DeleteJust wasn't much to choose from this week, so I went a different route. I liked 13 Going on 30 and 17 Again well enough, but didn't love either. Somehow I still haven't seen Big.
ReplyDeleteBig - really??? Doesn't it get played on TV a lot.
DeleteI have not seen 17 Again but have seen the other 2. 13 Going on 30 is cute and better than I thought it would be. Big is truly funny and a pretty good movie overall
ReplyDelete