Thursday, May 26, 2022

Thursday Movie Picks #411: TMP Television Edition - Home and Lifestyle Shows



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your 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 - Home and Lifestyle Shows

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I enjoy watching Home and Lifestyle shows. I don’t follow them like regular TV shows but when there’s nothing to watch on TV, it’s easy to just tune in to them since there’s no plot you need to already be aware of. In the past I used to watch a lot more of the American home decor and renovation shows like Fixer Upper, Property Brothers, Flip or Flop and Tiny House Nation. But I got really tired of them after awhile. They tend to be about the personality of the hosts, how charming they are and their “cute” banter. Some start to bring in their families into the show, making and selling themselves as a wholesome “brand” and less about their renovation/decor work. These shows are also super scripted. Like they would receive a call about some building supply issue or pest problem all as the camera happen to be rolling, drama ensues - so much bad acting. Then there are ones like Tiny House Nation where one of the host is the builder and the other sort of give lifestyle advise to the homeowners on how to minimalise their life and like give pep talks as they get rid of their excess stuff - I mean if the homeowners need someone to advise them how to be minimalist should they even be building and live in a tiny house? Also the builders and interior designers on these shows tend to have a certain aesthetic (when I watched them a few years ago, it was all about open concept), so all the homes they do are just variations of the same style - extremely boring.

Then I found some British building renovation shows and they are so much better. They tend to be more of documentary style, where the host doesn't provide the building/renovation service but instead follow and sort of document the home owners as they build their dream homes. Here are the ones I like:

The Restoration Man (2010 - 2017) & George Clarke's Remarkable Renovations (2021)
Both of these shows are hosted by George Clarke, a British architect. Remarkable Renovations seems to be the successor of The Restoration Man as the concept is pretty similar - they both follow people converting non-residential structures (old churches, barns, windmill, etc) they have bought into homes. The transformation of something that isn’t residential and often very old (with planning and conservation restrictions) into a home is very interesting to watch. In Restoration Man, Clarke would also do a little research on the history of the old buildings and at the end of the episode when the building renovation is completed he would then present the home owners with a book of photos of the old building as how it was used in the past as well as photos of the owners own building renovation journey.

Grand Designs (1999 - ) & Grand Designs Australia (2010 - )
I’ve seen both editions (more of the original British version) and they are both very good. Both editions are hosted by architects and the show follows people who are building their dream homes and the hosts would visit the home owners periodically to see the building's progress and interview the owners and sometimes even the architects and builders the owners have hired. The building projects range from a year to maybe five years for the longer ones. One of the best things about the show is the different type of homes they feature and their budgets. The homes range from modern type homes, rustic homes, container homes, restoration of old residential and non-residential buildings into homes, modular homes, sustainable homes and homes to meet the needs of the owners who have medical conditions or disabilities. While I love watching Grand Designs because it is so interesting, it makes me never want to build my own home, it is just so stressful so I would rather buy one from a developer. A lot of the the owners actually work on their own houses themselves. My guess is so that they can better project manage the building and keep track of where their money is going to and to save on some labour costs. They often look so exhausted and stressed, especially when delays happen and the project goes over budget. The owners are quite candid too with their struggles with money and when they run out of it. Some try to get more bank loans, borrow from family and those that had taken time off their job to work on the building full time eventually had to put a break on the building project for a time to go back to their day job to further fund building costs. Most do complete their homes. However, there are two building projects that stuck out for me as both of them had went on for too long and were over budget, that had by the last visit (several years after the first visit) by the host at the end of the episode, the couples ended up divorcing. One of them - the house was at least completed but the interior decor was still unfinished. The other was much worst - at the end of the episode the structure was only partly done, the project had gone on soo long (8 years) and the owners didn’t have any money left to finish it with them already being millions in debt. They were trying to sell the building but with it partly finished not many would be interested in it; I mean what buyer would reasonably want to attempt to finish it themselves and sink their money on such a publicly known money pit. I think the owners said their only option if they can’t sell it would be to declare bankruptcy…which is just rather foolishly tragic. The project strained and probably ended their marriage and in the end they had nothing to show for it.
 
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Thursday, May 19, 2022

Thursday Movie Picks #410: Mazes



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 Mazes

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I thought that this week would be hard to pick, but actually it was quite easy after thinking about it a little. Here are the ones I like.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Well it's in the title plus it is a favourite of mine which I have picked many times before for other themes. In the movie, Ofelia follows a supernatural winged creature to the forest where there's a maze. She goes through it and down a spiral staircase and meets Pan.

The Guest (2014)
The movie was such a surprise. This was not a role that I had ever thought to see Dan Stevens in, all I had seen him in before was as middle/upper class British guys, but he really transformed into this fit lethal American soldier oozing Southern charm and he was soo good in it. Anyway at the end of the movie, the characters go through this fairground style haunted house type of maze.


The Night House (2021)
I can't decide if I like this movie. I think there are quite a number of holes in it, but I did find it super creepy and weird. So the maze in the movie is a house the main character's dead husband built that has a maze like design because he wants to confound a demon.
 

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Thursday, May 12, 2022

Thursday Movie Picks #409: Actors who are Real Life Family Playing Same Family Role in Movies



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 Actors who are Real Life Family Playing Same Family Role in Movies

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I'm picking the three that immediately came to mind. And these are all first time picks.

Say Anything (1989)
Brother and sister John and Joan Cusack playing siblings in Say Anything. Both have been co-stars in multiple films though not all of them as siblings. This is a popular 80's teen movie, but I thought it was just ok.

Donnie Darko (2001)
Brother and sister Jake and Maggie Gyllenhall playing siblings. This was super dark and weird but I think I liked it when I saw it. I haven't seen it a long time so I wonder what I think of it now. 


Ricki and the Flash (2015)
Mother and daughter Meryl Streep and Mamie Gummer playing a mother and her daughter. This movie has such a low rating on IMDB but I enjoyed it. Streep tends to star in more Oscar baity movies so this was a nice turn; a more family dramedy sort of flick about an aging musician who never became famous and trying to reconnect with her family.
 

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Thursday, May 5, 2022

Thursday Movie Picks #408: Cinephiles in Movies



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 Cinephiles in Movies

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I thought this would be a fun theme for us movie fans, seeing other movie fans on the screens. Here are the three I immediately thought of.

A Little Romance (1979)
Love, love, love. I'm a big fan of this movie...it is so charming and I have picked it for various TMP themes before. The main boy character in A Little Romance is a cinephile; he hangs out at movie theaters. The movie also has this adorable meet cute of the boy and the main girl character in which he makes a movie related reference in his pick up line. 

Scream (1996)
Scream of course pays homage to horror films that came before it and it has a scene where the teen characters list the rules of horror films...those teens know their horror movies.


Super 8 (2011)
A couple of teens make their own zombie movie during their summer vacation, that aspect is cute and endearing and I like the late 70s early 80s sense of nostalgia. However as much as I wanted to love this one, I don't think it manages to be that kinda kid friendship/adventure movie, like the The Goonies, ET, etc, that one revisits again and again.
 

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