Thursday Movie Picks #230: Meet the Parents

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 Meet the Parents

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Ahh it's the holiday season and also the time, at least in movies, where characters introduce their significant others to their parents. Here are my picks of movie where there are characters meeting their partner's parents for the first time, though not all take place during the holidays and the first of which is the one like best.

P.S. If you haven't seen it yet, the 2019 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Preliminary) is up. There are nine empty slots, three of which are for the Halloween Edition, so do give your suggestions.

Brooklyn (2015)
Saoirse Ronan's character meets her boyfriend's family for the first time over dinner. And if I'm remembering this correctly, prior to that she tries to prepare for the meeting and meal by practicing eating spaghetti since she had never eaten it before. It's a small part of the movie but it really gave the movie a sense of time and place.

The Proposal (2009)

Sandra Bullock's character follows her assistant back to his hometown for his grandmother's birthday and where they plan to announce their engagement. This was really popular when it came out but I wasn't quite into it. I'm a little curious how I'd find it now

The Family Stone (2005)
Sarah Jessica Parker plays an uptight, conservative businesswoman visiting her boyfriend's family for the Christmas holiday. Not really a fan of this either but it fits the theme.
 

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2019 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule (Preliminary)

Hi everyone! The upcoming 2019 run of Thursday Movie Picks will be the sixth year I'm doing the series. With each year, it has been harder and harder coming up with new themes, so you will see some repeat themes.

As with past years I have a few dates open for suggestions. There are NINE spots open (I've highlighted the dates, but I may rearrange the order of the themes on the final schedule). If you're interested in submitting themes here are the submission criteria:
a) must have participated in a few TMPs and have commented on previous posts.
b) submit three (no more as I'll probably have a hard time choosing) suggestions by posting a comment on this post. Only on this post.

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2019 Thursday Movie Picks Schedule

January 3 - Place in Title
January 10 -
January 17 - 2018 Releases
January 24 -
January 31 - TMP Television Edition: 2018 Freshmen Series
February 7 - Revenge
February 14 -Romantic Comedies
February 21 - Starring Real Life Couples
February 28 - TMP Television Edition: Book to TV Adaptations
March 7 - Cold War
March 14 - Break-ups
March 21 - Private Eye
March 28 - TMP Television Edition: Non-English
April 4 - Unrecognizable Actor Transformation
April 11 -Let's Start at the End
April 18 - Interview
April 25 - TMP Television Edition: Music/Musicals
May 2 - True Crime
May 9 - Actors in Multiple Roles
May 16 - Scientists
May 23 - Movies Adapted from Movies of a Different Language
May 30 - TMP Television Edition: Rivalry
June 6 - Nannies / Babysitters
June 13 - Undercover
June 20 - Period Drama
June 27 - TMP Television Edition: Gangsters
July 4 - Parenthood
July 11 - Muses
July 18 - Blockbuster Flops
July 25 - TMP Television Edition: Crime
August 1 -The Great Outdoors
August 8 -
August 15 -Witness
August 22 - Letters
August 29 - TMP Television Edition: Revivals and Reboots
September 5 - Hostage
September 12 - Non-English Language Movies
September 19 -
September 26 - TMP Television Edition: Fantasy
October 3 - Halloween Edition: Period Drama Horror
October 10 - Halloween Edition:
October 17 - Halloween Edition:
October 24 - Halloween Edition:
October 31 - Halloween/Television Edition: Horror
November 7 -
November 14 - Politics
November 21 - Over a Meal
November 28 - TMP Television Edition: Dystopian/Apocalyptic
December 5 - Adaptations
December 12 - Super long Titles
December 19 -
December 26 - TMP Television Edition: Secret Agents/Spies

Thursday Movie Picks #229: TMP Television Edition Adapted from a Non-English Series

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five titles 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 TMP Television Edition - Adapted from a Non-English Series

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I've always love these TV edition weeks, but sometimes they can be harder to pick because I don't keep track of the series I've seen. So often I feel I am forgetting a series. Anyway my picks today are ones that I have seen the English remake but not the original series.

The Killing (2011-2014) remake of Forbrydelsen (2007-2012)

A remake of a Danish series, The Killing follows the investigation of the murder of a teenage girl found in in the trunk of a submerged car. I had been looking forward to this since I heard that the original was very good. Unfortunately the remake was a disappointment. The pacing was just glacial; I just could not watch it and only managed about two episodes of the first season.

The Returned (2015) remake of Les Revenants (2012-2015)
A remake of the French series, it's about deceased locals in a small town returning from the dead. I thought this remake was decent. I was quite hooked on it and thus very disappointed when the series was not renewed and we never got the answer as to why the deceased have returned. 

Containment (2016) remake of Cordon (2014)

A remake of a Belgian series, the remake is about a city quarantined after a virus outbreak. Containment was just astonishingly awful; it's like a very juvenile take of an outbreak. The dialogue was very bad, then there was also the whole supposed vaccine research done by a lone doctor in a hospital and the handling of the cordoned area by authorities which were all just so so silly.

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Thursday Movie Picks #228: Non-Linear Timelines

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 Non-Linear Timelines [Suggested by Mettel Ray]

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This week's theme is a suggestion by Mettel Ray. This theme is both fun and challenging. A lot of films have flashbacks, so I didn't want to pick something that only employ character flashbacks in their non-linear narrative. I suppose I was also looking for those where there are different characters/stories and timelines and they all eventually overlap and converge. Anyway I think I just about manage it and all of them I actually really like.

Dunkirk (2017)
The movie follows and alternates between three different groups of people from three different start off period. The ones that we follow from land that start from one week ago, the ones making their journey by sea that start a day ago and lastly the pilots that start from an hour ago. Their stories slowly start to overlap and eventually fully converge by the end.  

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This one does employ flashback scenes, in which we discover how two strangers that meet on a train actually do know each other. But it also has a separate but related story arc of a set of characters and how they have affected and would affect the two strangers we meet in the beginning and the story come full circle.

11:14 (2003)
I don't remember much of this other than I liked it when I first saw it and was surprised at how the movie had not received much attention. Basically 11:14 follows different groups of people whose lives overlap and converge at 11:14pm.
 

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Thursday Movie Picks #227: Museum

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 Museum

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Another tough theme this week.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010) 
Set in the early 20th century it follows a young authoress as she explores Egyptian tombs and later mayhem at a museum in Paris. I didn't really enjoy this. I found it a little silly, but I am probably not the right audience for it. My guess is if you like Night at the Museum and the Indiana Jones movies, you might like this.

Russian Ark (2002)
This was the movie that came immediately to mind when I came up with this theme. In Russian Ark the audience sees the world through an unseen protagonist as he is guided by a 19th century man in black as they journey through 300 years of Russian history in the Russian State Hermitage Museum. The movie is best known for its single continuous shot which is a tremendous feat considering the number of actors, dancing scenes and live orchestras.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
A great heist movie that is also perfect for today about a rich playboy who steals priceless art for the challenge and the insurance investigator tasked to get the stolen painting back.
 

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Thursday Movie Picks #226: Political Comedy

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 Political Comedy

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This week's theme is by Wendell. It is a tough one for me, I haven't watched that many political comedies so there were hardly any to pick from.

The Campaign (2012)
I saw this, but I don't remember a thing about it. So I'd say it is generally forgettable.

In the Loop (2009) 
One of my favourites. Filled to the brim with profanities but also hilarious.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Very funny. Like In the Loop, this is a must watch and it has aged very well.
 

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Thursday Movie Picks #225: Gangsters

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 Gangsters

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I don't watch a lot of gangster movies so I almost thought that I had few to pick from until I remembered two that I recently rewatched.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Four friends heavily in debt after a card game go wrong scheme to rob a gang of robbers and ultimately have to go against a myriad of other criminals when their paths intersect. I rewatched this and my pick below pretty much back to back. If had to choose, I prefer this better. Four friends totally out of their depth made for a funnier story.

Snatch (2000)
Different story and characters but still very much like the above, involving a bunch of different criminals with their individual schemes overlap and intersect resulting in chaos that is very funny.

Layer Cake (2004)

You know what...I've forgotten the plot to this. The only thing I remember is that I was surprised at how good it was and how much I liked it when I saw it so long ago. This is will be my next rewatch.
 

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