Thursday Movie Picks #355: TMP Television Edition - TV Score and/or Theme Song

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 - TV Score and/or Theme Song

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This is one TMP that I've been highly anticipating. I love a good TV score/theme song so I went all out with my picks and separated them into three different types.

 

TV series Using Existing Music for their Theme Song

 

 

 

"California" opening theme song of The O.C. (2003 - 2007) 

♪ On the stereo • Listen as we go • Nothings gonna stop me now • California here we come • Right back where we started from ♫

The O.C. was one of the hottest Teen TV series back in the early to mid 2000s and the song California by Phantom Planet which was released a year before the TV series premiered was just perfect as its theme song. Also the music supervisor/s whose job it is to pick the music for this series did a great job with its soundtrack; selecting the best songs to complement the scenes it accompanies. I was introduced to a lot of songs and musicians that I would never have heard otherwise through watching the series.

 

"Red Right Hand" theme song of Peaky Blinders (2013 - )

♪ Past the square, past the bridge • Past the mills, past the stacks • On a gathering storm comes • A tall handsome man • In a dusty black coat with •  A red right hand ♫

Red Right Hand, a song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released in 1994, is the theme song of Peaky Blinders a TV series set in early 20th century that follows the exploits of a gang in Birmingham, England called the Peaky Blinders named so for the razor blades sewn in the peaks of their caps. The theme song really sets the tone of the series and this series is probably the only TV show I've seen that successfully marries contemporary rock music with its early 20th century setting.

 

"The Skye Boat Song" opening theme song of Outlander (2014 - )

♪ Billow and breeze, islands and seas • Mountains of rain and sun • all that was good, all that was fair • All that was me is gone • Sing me a song of the lass that is gone • Say, could that lass be I? ♫

The Skye Boat Song is a late 19th-century Scottish song with lyrics by an English baronet about the exiled Prince Charles Stuart. A few years later Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, wrote alternative lyrics to song. The Stevenson version is the one that is used by Outlander with its reference to "lad" changed to "lass" to fit the female protagonist of the TV show. It's sort of amazing how the lyrics fits so well with the story of Claire, the Outlander in the story, a WW2 nurse who while in Scotland got sucked into an opening of some time portal and is spat back out in 18th century Scotland. What is unique about the Outlander theme song is that it is slightly changed for each new season as Claire's story takes her around the world. In season 2 she goes to France and the song is partly sung in French. In season 3 she goes to Jamaica and the song has a more Caribbean island beat to it. In season 4 Claire goes to America and so the theme song has an American folk flavour while season 5 has the song sung by a choir of both female and male singers where before it has mostly been sung by one female singer. My favourite has remain the original season one theme song which kept its Scottish sound.

 

 

TV series with Original Music for their Theme Song

 

 

"Main Title" theme song of Game of Thrones (2011 - 2019)

I picked the Opening Title Sequence of Game of Thrones last month and this time I'm picking Game of Thrones again for its theme song. It is just great. Iconic. One of those theme songs like the ones for Star Wars and Harry Potter that really transports you into their imaginary worlds. 

 

 

"Main Title" theme song of Black Sails (2014 - 2017)

If you haven't seen the Opening Title Sequence of Black Sails, go do it now. It features a beautiful sculpture depicting pirate life in baroque, gothic and rococo style. It truly is a sight to behold. And the music...love love it. It is a standout with its unique sound; a tune that is gritty, rusty and sometimes sounding purposely a little out of tune to express the rough violent life of these pirates...you can almost picture weary 18th century pirates playing their well used musical instruments, that have been corroded by salty air, and singing some shanty.

"Container" opening theme song of The Affair (2014 - 2019)

♪ I was screaming into the canyon at the moment of my death • The echo I created outlasted my last breath • My voice it made an avalanche and buried a man I never knew • And when he died his widowed bride met your daddy and they made you ♫

I absolutely love this song which was specifically written and performed by Fiona Apple for The Affair. The song is very short, lasting only as long as the Opening Title Sequence making me wish Apple would release a more complete song. Anyway the TV series explores the effects of an affair on the two families involved which makes the song, while not about an affair but has a similar theme of reverberating consequence as it talks about the ongoing effects of an event - perfect for the series.

 

 

 

"I'm Just a Girl in Love" season two theme song of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015 - 2019)

♪ I'm just a girl in love • I can't be held responsible for my actions • I have no underlying issues to address • I'm certifiably cute and adorably obsessed ♫

Every season the musical series has a new theme song with a new Opening Title Sequence to go with it and they are always a lot of fun. This show really pushes itself creatively, which I love. My favourite of the show’s four opening theme songs is I'm Just a Girl in Love for season two.

 

 

Theme Songs and Scores of Period Drama Literary Adaptations

I enjoy watching period dramas series especially when they are adaptions. A lot of these dramas also have great original scores, here are some of my favourite tracks from them.

 

 

"I've Seen Hell" song from North and South (2004)

It's this beautiful and rather haunting instrumental that gives us a sense of the main female protagonist's loneliness and misery living in the city where she has seen the grim living and working conditions of factory workers.

Theme song of Persuasion (2007)

I love Persuasion. It is such a romantic tale of second chances and enduring love and this TV adaptation of it is just amazing. And theme song is just soooo beautiful and delicate; utterly swoon-worthy.

 

 

Main Title Theme song of Sense and Sensibility (2008)

Once again a beautiful sweeping instrumental this time transporting us to the Dashwood's cottage near the sea, one they reluctantly live in due to their reduced financial circumstance. 

 

 

Main Title Theme song of Little Dorrit (2008)

One of the more melancholic themes...Little Dorrit did not have great life. Anyway it is a great tune for a wonderful series. Claire Foy was just really good in this...I think even better than her performance in The Crown.

 

 

Main Title Theme song of Emma (2009)

I love this adaptation of Emma, it is funny and fun and it has one of the more upbeat period drama opening theme songs. It's a gorgeous and pretty joyous tune.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #354: Psychological Thriller

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 Psychological Thriller

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I enjoy psychological thrillers. It's fun trying to figure out which parts of the character's perceived reality is real and what is not. Here are three movies that I have enjoyed in the past:

Earthquake Bird (2019)
An expat in Japan, haunted by her dark past, is questioned about a missing friend who may have been involved with her boyfriend. I enjoyed this broody atmospheric thriller. The premise is great, set against the isolation and separateness of the unreliable protagonist, being a foreigner in a foreign land, who is trying to cope with her own dark past and as is now confronted by the recent disappearance of her friend; kept me guessing what really happened till the end.

Fractured (2019)
When a man's daughter hurts her arm at a highway rest stop, he and his wife brings her to the nearest hospital, where the wife accompanies the daughter to get an MRI only for them to both disappear and the hospital claiming no such persons ever checked in. This was a decent thriller that I thought totally plays on the whole hospital waiting room atmosphere that is steeped in anxiety; here the man frantically searches for his family and dealing with hospital staff he perceives as at best unhelpful, at worst hiding something nefarious. 

Trance (2013)
A fine arts auctioneer mixed up with some shady characters loses a painting they're trying to rob. Suffering from amnesia after a blow to the head he goes through hypnosis to recover his memories to find the painting. I remember liking this a lot. Unreliable narrator and hypnosis made this a fun twisty movie where we try to navigate what is real.

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Thursday Movie Picks #353: Female Cinematographers

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 Female Cinematographers

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Today's theme is a suggestion from Brittani. Wow, today's theme is hard. I would say I usually never know who the cinematographer of a movie is. They're not usually one of those people who do the press junket to promote the movie, so they almost never end up on those little interview promo clips and often I think not even in the making of feature (when there used to be DVDs and I used to watch the features on them). So I basically had to go through films that I love or like and check if they had a female cinematographer. And even among those movies that I like that had a female cinematographer, I remembered the story or the performance more rather than how the movie actually looked like...so this week was super hard...so much so that I only made two picks.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2018)

Cinematography by Ellen Kuras. Love this movie, the whole movie has this melancholy and trippy manic look to it. This is especially so in the erasure scenes which just captures Joel's desperation to hold on to his memories.

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Cinematography by Charlotte Bruus Christensen. While I don't love this movie I did enjoy it and I prefer this adaptation to the 1967 one because I like Mulligan's Bathsheba better, she is less silly, more mature. And of course the movie looks gorgeous. There were a lot of sweeping shots of the country side and the cliffs and the lingering glances between the love interests. One of the most beautiful scenes I thought was the one in the woods; there's a magical dreamy quality to that scene.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #352: Amateur Sleuths

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 Amateur Sleuths

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A few weeks ago we had the theme Police Detective. Then, some bloggers had confuse police detectives with private detectives; they are two different things. Now we have amateur sleuths. To be clear amateur sleuths are not police detectives (who are government employees) and they are also not private detectives (who works in the private sector and are required in most places to have a license issued by some government licensing authority before the can work as a private detective). In short, an amateur sleuth is just a regular person who has taken it upon themselves to investigate or solve something due to circumstance or curiosity. I thought this was going to be quite a hard theme, but I found five picks that I like quite easily.

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

A young bride-to-be, Iris, with the help of a fellow passenger searches for a middle aged woman whom she befriended on the train ride and who has suddenly gone missing; a woman no one else on the train remembers seeing. I saw this quite a long time ago and remember liking it. It's one I would like to see again.

Rear Window (1954)
Bored and home-bound due to a broken leg, a photographer spies on his neighbours from his window and begins to suspect one of them may have killed his wife. Unable to move himself, the photographer enlists his nurse and girlfriend to assist him in his sleuthing. Saw this again recently and I still enjoyed it.

 

Upgrade (2018)

Set in a tech obsessed near-future, Grey a mechanic who becomes a quadriplegic after an attack that also killed his wife, is offered a secret unapproved experimental operation where he receives a chip implant that allows him to regain his mobility. Disappointed that the police investigation of the attack that killed his wife hasn't gotten anywhere, now secretly mobile, he begins his own investigation. What starts of as just Grey trying to find information that he could pass to the police to "properly deal with the case" soon becomes a path of uncontrollable explosive revenge and the action I thought was very good, very sleek. I also really like the story; it is just a very good sci-fi action thriller. If you like dark futuristic Black Mirror-esque type of story, I highly recommend this.

Cold Pursuit (2019)

When a snow plow operator's son is killed by a drug lord, he tracks the gang members from the lowest associate, each time gaining information to get to someone higher up and slowly works his way up to the head for revenge. Neeson has really cornered the older-guy-with-specific-skills-action-thriller movie niche. And while I haven't seen most of his films in that niche...I think I only saw the first Taken...I really enjoyed Cold Pursuit. I came in expecting an action crime thriller but was pleasantly surprised that it is also dark comedy. I recommend this to those who like off-beat snow-filled crime dramas like Fargo and Blow the Man Down.

Enola Holmes (2020)

Sherlock Holmes' teen sister, Enola, sets off on her own to find her missing mother using what she thinks are clues left by her. I've picked this before for previous themes and it is here again because I really enjoyed and it's perfect for this week.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #351: Oscar Winners Edition: Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress

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 Oscar Winners Edition: Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress

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I'm picking the most recent winners that I like and it's a theme within a theme. Can you guess what it is?

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

 

Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Rockwell plays the immature, not-that-much-brain-cells and violent police officer who clashed with anyone to do with the billboards.  

 

J. K. Simmons in Whiplash (2014)

Not a fan of the movie; it was over the top and trying way too hard to shock us. Still I thought Simmons was good as the demanding and terrifying instructor.

 

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)

A meaty role and Ledger played it really well. If he had lived, maybe he would have gotten a spinoff movie.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 

Allison Janney in I, Tonya (2017)

I, Tonya was a surprising gem for me, I really enjoyed it. Janney was great as Tonya Harding's mother, a hard working class woman who was emotionally and physically abusive towards her daughter.

 

Mo'Nique in Precious (2009)

I really like this movie which had a lot of good performances including Monique who also plays a bad abusive mother; another one up for worst mother ever.

 

Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton (2007)

Love this movie. Once again a lot of really great performances here including Swinton who plays the stressed and cold lawyer.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #350: TMP Television Edition - Opening Title Sequence

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 -  Opening Title Sequence

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I've been really looking forward to this week's theme TV opening title sequence which is more on the visual aspects of the opening (next month's TV TMP will be for theme songs). You know how most streaming platforms like Netflix has an option to "skip intro"? I almost never do that because I love watching opening title sequences (OTS) and appreciate a well made and well thought out one. And if you like opening title sequence too there's this excellent site you might want to check out that has been around for several years https://www.artofthetitle.com/ Today's post is going to be quite long. My picks are going to be the OTS I like and will be based on 5 themes so there will actually be more than 5 TV series here.

A Different Opening Title Sequence for Each Season

 

 

The Politician (2019 - )

The OTS starts off with an opened wooden mannequin. There are compartments in it and we see it is filled with objects that are important to the main character (MC) and story. The objects in season 2 are different from that in season 1. The mannequin is then closed, painted, clothed and ends with it becoming a real man, the MC. It's a great looking OTS and has a catchy song to go along with it.

Deutschland 83 (2015) Deutschland 86 (2018) Deutschland 89 (2020)

OTS has this pop art collage-ish look with scraps of paper pasted together with images from the season. Each new season is a new collage scene with images from the new season. The series is about the cold war so coupled with a great song the OTS has this almost colorful upbeat spiralling sense of doom. 

 

Artsy

 

 

Anne with an E (2017-2019)

The OTS has this really beautiful storybook decoupage diorama-like look. It fits very well with the title character and how imaginative and dreamy she is.

 

Comic Book Inspired

 

 

iZombie (2015-2019)
Unlike the other series I picked today, I don't love this series but I do like it and like the OTS. Loosely based on a comic book, the OTS is presented as comic book panels that shows how the MC becomes a zombie and also introduces the major characters in the series. Subsequent seasons would add new panels introducing new characters important to the season. 

 

 

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020)

Similarly as above, while I don't love this series, I do enjoy it. And I do like the OTS and how it pays tribute to it's comic book roots. The graphics has this very vintagey comic book look to the tune of an eerie Halloweenish music.

 

 

Transforming Images

 

The Night Manager (2016)

Last of my picks that I don't love but do like the OTS. It has this clever sort of playing with the images where when the camera zooms out it transforms the images into something else. A tea set on a round tray from above becomes a barrel of a gun. Moving boats in the ocean from above transforms into missiles in the sky. This is a spy thriller so the OTS is very fitting in that nothing is what it seems.

 

 

Defending Jacob (2020)

OTS here is less sleek than The Night Manager but it still has the same transforming images thing going on. A blade of a knife becomes the light coming from beneath a door. Branches in a dense woods becomes a finger print.

 

 

Each Episode a Slightly Different Opening Title Sequence
 

 

Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

The OTS shows a map of the Game of Thrones world. With each episode highlighting the locations that the story goes to in that particular episode. I absolutely love the OTS here. It is just looks so stunning and has great sound (the sounds of metal clanging, fire burning and gears moving) plus there's also that now iconic theme song.

Home Before Dark (2020 - )

The series is about a young girl looking into the unsolved case of her father's still missing best friend who was abducted as a child. The OTS shows the girl's notebook being flipped open on a desk and each episode highlights new things on the desk or in the notebook reflecting the girl's new findings in that particular episode.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #349: Fake Identity

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 Fake Identity

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There's two ways to go for this theme: Teens using a Fake ID to buy alcohol or get into clubs or someone using a fake identity to conceal their real one. I'm going for the latter. My picks today are recent watches that I like featuring characters that use a fake identity. All of these movies the characters that use a fake identity are only revealed the earliest somewhere in the middle of the movie and the latest ones revealed only at the very end; so I will keep it all spoiler free.

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Strangers descend at a hotel and bad things are about to happen. Everyone here looks shady from the beginning, so I totally thought a few were faking who they were.

The Invisible Guest (2016)
A wealthy businessman meets a lawyer, an expert in witness preparation, to prepare and build a defense for a trial where he is accused of murdering his lover. I really enjoyed this mystery thriller. It has a lot of fun twist and turns and I did not expect the fake identity.

Stonehearst Asylum (2014)

Based on a short story by Edgar Allen Poe - A new graduate, the alienist Dr Newgate arrives at Stonehearst Asylum to expand his training. He soon realises something is not quite right in the asylum.

I was already spoiled about some parts of it except for the revelation at the end which was a nice extra twist.

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Thursday Movie Picks #348: Movies That Haven't Aged Well

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 Movies That Haven't Aged Well

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This week's theme is a suggestion by Getter. This is a great theme. Haven't we all seen a movie and think "this won't age well; 10 years from now it would look terrible". The only problem is I rarely get to rewatch movies so I don't actually get to see if it is true years later, so I am having trouble finding picks today.

Avatar (2009)

I did not see this in IMAX 3D. I saw this on a DVD rental at home a few months after it's theatrical release. Even then I think it's already started to age with its over reliance on visual effects. Without the supposedly stunning visuals of IMAX 3D experience this movie was so meh with its mediocre story. What is it other than a mash up of a Pocahontas and FernGully story. I can't believe Disney is making 4 more Avatar movies. Does Avatar really have a strong fan base? Is anyone really pining for them? 

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
This was quite popular when it came out but I only saw it in 2016 and I didn't like it. I think we're suppose to laugh at these ridiculous sexist male characters in the seventies as if it was a thing of the past and society have progressed to a better inclusive and respectful version. Then of course in 2017 and 2018 #MeToo and #TimesUp movement happened...and duhh...say all women...not quite a thing of the past issit? So yeah Anchorman has not aged well...and is so obviously written by men.

 

Blade (1998)

I saw this in the late 90s on a rental and liked it a lot. In the mid 2000s I rewatched it and yes the visual effects did not aged well. However I still think it's a fun vampire action movie. By the way, Blade is getting a reboot which will be part of phase 5 of the MCU with Mahershala Ali playing the title role and apparently it will be a PG13 movie. Initial thoughts on the reboot: Not sure how old Blade is suppose to look but I had thought they would go for someone younger in the reboot if they were going to have more than one movie. Snipes was in his mid-30s when he was Blade and Ali is now in his mid-40s. And why is a vampire movie PG13? 

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Thursday Movie Picks #347: Oscar Winners Edition: Best Actor and Best Actress

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 Oscar Winners Edition: Best Actor and Best Actress

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This post is coming quite late so I'll be keeping it short. Here are my favourites:

 

 

BEST ACTOR

 

Forest Whitaker in The last King of Scotland (2006)

Whitaker put in a good and terrifying performance as Idi Amin.

 

Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)

The late 90s and early 2000s was the height of Crowe's acting career, he was nominated back to back Best Actor for three years and won for Gladiator. I don't remember much of The Insider but I didn't much like A Beautiful Mind. Gladiator I like a lot.

 

Peter Finch in Network (1976)

Finch was great as the anchorman who has a meltdown on air, the first of what would be his many rants.

 

Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons (1966)

I've picked this before for Best Picture and Scofield puts in a terrific performance as Thomas More.

 

 

 

BEST ACTRESS

 

Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine (2013)

Blanchett is great here as a former socialite who is trying hard to hold on to her former life and losing her mind in the process. The story reminds me of A Streetcar Named Desire, but I prefer Blue Jasmine and Blanchett's performance.

 

Natalie Portman in Black Swan (2010)

I thought Portman was really good in this as the ballet dancer spiraling towards insanity.

 

Faye Dunaway in Network (1976)

There's just a lot of outstanding performances in this one including Dunaway's who plays the ambitious TV executive.

 

Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins is one of my childhood favourites and Andrews was just great in it

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #346: Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition - Love Triangles

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 Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition - Love Triangles

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Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month. 

 
February 25 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Love Triangles

 

 

Today is the last Thursday of the Romance Tropes edition. I hope you had fun with this edition because it's definitely coming back next year and I already have the themes in mind. Anyway today is also the television edition. I'm sure you are spoiled for choice since this is a trope often explored on TV. Here are some of my favourite love triangles.

Felicity (1998 - 2002) 
Felicity choose to go to the same college as her crush Ben to be near him and there she meets Noel. This so nostalgic; I grew up watching this, or at least the first two seasons or so. I remember really liking the first season but the second season was bad not just because of the hair. This was so long ago but I think I like both of the boys, Ben was the broodier one and Noel was the more mature one. Anyway...Disney+ finally launched here and Felicity is on it so it's on my to-rewatch list.

Gilmore Girls (2000 - 2007)
Brainy Rory falls for local boy Dean and rebellious new boy Jess. Another nostalgic series I grew up watching. I've watched everything except for the last season and the Netflix revival (so no spoilers please). I think I like Jess more because he and Rory were more intellactually matched. He's quick witted and can banter with the Gilmore girls unlike Dean who I remember not quite getting what they were talking about often. Also I can't believe I have never picked this series for any TMP before.

 

The Vampire Diaries (2009 - 2017)
Vampire brothers Damon and Stefan have a complicated love hate relationship partly due to the fact that they love the same girl, Elena. I think most people, other then its target audience: teens, didn't really give this a chance because it came out around the time of the Twilight vampire craze that was going on. It's one of my favourite supernatural series. I thought it was a lot of fun and no there are no glittery vampires, they're quire vicious here. I thought the series had greatworld building and mythology for the supernatural creatures. And I like most of the characters as well and if I had to choose, I'd say Damon was a more fun character to watch. He always had a sarcastic comeback at the ready. 

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Thursday Movie Picks #345: Romance Tropes Edition - Forbidden Love

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 Romance Tropes Edition - Forbidden Love

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Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month. 

 
February 18 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forbidden Love
February 25 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Love Triangles

 

Well when something is forbidden the more the heart wants. Here are my three picks:

Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Heir of feuding families fall in love. I really like this one. It has the whole period setting and the leads were actual teenagers who had great chemistry. They exude the very youthfulness, flirtatiousness and naivety of the characters.

Moulin Rouge! (2001)
A writer falls for a courtesan who belongs to a duke. I love this movie. It's so spectacular and lively and they work in the contemporary love songs so wonderfully well.

 

Underworld (2003) & Underworld: Evolution (2006)
A vampire falls for a werewolf. My very short synopsis makes it seem these movies are romance flicks...when they're more like urban action horror with some romance. Anyway I love the first two Underworld movies. They're fun action movies and have great world building.

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Thursday Movie Picks #344: Romance Tropes Edition - Friends to Lovers

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 Romance Tropes Edition - Friends to Lovers

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Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month. 

 
February 11 - Romance Tropes Edition: Friends to Lovers
February 18 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forbidden Love
February 25 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Love Triangles

 

Well this should be quite easy as there are plenty of titles to choose from. Here are three that I like:

P.S. It was brought to my attention by Sonia that the July 8 theme was missing. I've just now added Female Athletes as the theme for that date. You can check the TMP page for the updated schedule.

Yesterday (2019)

After an accident, a struggling musician wakes up to an alternate world where The Beatles doesn't exist. I was really wanting to love this and although I didn't quite love it, I still enjoyed it. It was cute and fun. If you love The Beatles and just pop music in general I think you'd enjoy this too. There's also a side romantic story where the main character has a best friend who's supported his journey as a musician. However, as he becomes more successful it puts a strain in their relationship and he comes to realize that there is something more than a platonic friendship between them.

Something Borrowed (2011) 

A little drunk after a few drinks, a woman admits to her friend from law school that she had always had a crush on him, the same friend who is now the fiance of her best friend. I haven't seen this in a long time but I know I'm in the minority in that I enjoyed this movie.

 

We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)

Two sets of couples are friends and each of the spouses is having an affair with the other's spouse. I saw this once a long time ago so I don't remember much other than I like it and thought it was a good drama about some very messy entanglements.

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Thursday Movie Picks #343: Romance Tropes Edition - Fake Relationship

 

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.

---

This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Romance Tropes Edition - Fake Relationship

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Hey it's February and it's time for the Romance Tropes Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the month. 

 

February 4 - Romance Tropes Edition: Fake Relationship
February 11 - Romance Tropes Edition: Friends to Lovers
February 18 - Romance Tropes Edition: Forbidden Love
February 25 - Romance Tropes / TMP Television Edition: Love Triangles

 

Today is the first of the Romance Tropes Edition which will run the whole of February and is something that I hope will be an annual edition. Until recently, I've been a big book snob and had avoided romance novels. Now I read quite a lot of them and they are so much fun. The Romance Tropes Edition is very much inspired by the sub-genres and popular tropes in the romance novels I've read. Today's theme is an extremely popular (Netflix's Bridgerton, a book adaptation, if you've seen it, it has this very trope) book trope; the premise usually has two characters for some reason or other pretend to be in a romantic relationship when they actually aren't but eventually fall in love due to spending so much time with each. Anyway Bridgerton is a TV series so it will not count. Here are my movie picks:

Wedding Date (2005)

A woman hires a male escort to pretend to be her date to her sister's wedding to make the best man who was her ex-fiance jealous. It's been a long time since I've seen this but I remember enjoying it. One I'd like to watch again

 

The Proposal (2009)

A boss gets her assistant to agree to marry her and they pretend to be engaged in order for her to
escape deportation. I think this will be probably be popular this week since this is also one of the most successful romantic comedies ever. I didn't love it, but thought it was okay.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)

A teen girl's secret love letters (ones that were never meant to be sent) get mysteriously mailed out to her crushes. To avoid being confronted by a neighbour (one of the receipients of the love letter) about the very letter, she engages in a fake relationship with another letter recipient who sees it as an opportunity to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. I love the book which was just super adorable and this is a great adaptation. It is charming, funny and the leads had great chemistry.

 

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this series, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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