Thursday Movie Picks #105: Female Ensemble

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Female Ensemble

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So I actually googled the meaning of ensemble today because it just seems that when a movie is referred to having an ensemble cast, they almost always refer to one that has a lot of famous names, instead of something that is you know an ensemble...one with roles of equal importance...something like Gosford Park. So that's what I'll try to do with my picks, an all female cast with no main characters. 

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

One of my favourite movies. Set in a girls' boarding school, it naturally has a cast of mostly females. The movie centers around the disappearance of a group of students and a teacher during a picnic outing and follows what happens to the people that are left behind. 

8 Women (2002)

I really don't remember much about this movie other than the first time I saw this, it reminded me a lot of Gosford Park but with an all female cast and had a very colourful period setting. Would love to check it out again.

August: Osage County (2013) 

The women of the Weston family are forced to face each other and buried secrets are revealed when they converge for funeral. This movie surprised me. I didn't know it was based on a play so I had initially I thought it was one of those movies that didn't have much of story and were often just an excuse to parade a star-studded cast. Suffice to say I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

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Thursday Movie Picks #104: Single Location Movies

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Single Location Movies (Suggested by Hitchcock)

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This week's theme was suggested by John Hitchcock @ HitchcocksWorld. I love checking out single location movies. They have an incredible task of packing in enough drama to keep the audience interested in with whatever is happening in just one place. This week I'm picking some lesser known flicks. 

Rope (1948)

Rear Window would definitely be the most obvious pick so I went with the other Hitchcock. I didn't think of Rope as a single location film until quite awhile after I had seen it. I think it's because there were quite a number of characters, some of which only arrive later. The gist of the story is two young men kill one their friends just because they can do it. After the deed is done and the body is hidden in their apartment they invite the victim's friends and family for a dinner party because they think they're smart enough to get away with it.

The Divide (2011)
A group of people survive a nuclear blast when they take shelter in the basement of their apartment. As personalities clash, resources and hope dwindle, bad things start to happen. I would say this is probably like an adult Lord of Flies if it took place in a bomb shelter at the end of the world. So if you don't like the thought of that, probably best to not watch this one. 

It's a Disaster (2012)
In short it's about four couples, all friends, that meet for a weekend brunch. As some of them confront the end of their romantic relationships some mysterious disaster occurs in their city and it seems the world is now ending. I actually have not heard of this movie prior to watching it. Overall it's a pretty good dark comedy, I enjoyed it. If you like end of the world comedies like Seeking a Friend for the End of the World or Zombieland than this would be up your alley.

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Thursday Movie Picks #103: High School Reunion

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is High School Reunion

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Reunion movies are fun don't you thing? Just a lot of awkwardness and people reluctantly reconnecting with people they never liked in the first place. Here are some of my favourites:

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

Really enjoyed this dark comedy. John Cusack plays an assassin who has a sort of career crisis and reluctantly takes a job in his home town at the same time when his high school reunion is to take place. 

Beautiful Girls (1996)
A guy returns to his home town as a way to figure out his life, while also to attend his high school reunion and reconnect with his best friends. A young Natalie Portman stars in this as well as once again another precocious child.

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) 
I feel like there is at least one more film that I love, but can't seem to remember it; so here's and old one which I haven't seen in nearly 20 years that I remember enjoying and this list makes me want to do a rewatch.

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Thursday Movie Picks #102: School Competition

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is School Competition (Not sports - could be singing, music, science)

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Typically when movies feature some sort of school competition, they tend to be of the sports variety, so I thought it'll be interesting to have a non sports theme since there really are a lot of other competitive activities schools and their students participate in.

Cheaters (2000)

A couple of students cheat on an academic competition. I used to think this movie was so cool as a kid with its whole underdog story and it also sort of feels like a heist film. The Perfect Score and 21 really reminds me of this movie a lot.

Whiplash (2014)
A young drummer is taught by an incredibly demanding instructor. J.K. Simmons was great as the villainous instructor but I'm underwhelmed by the movie as a whole. While I don't think it's far fetched; I don't know about the slapping and throwing furniture, but throwing books and board erasers happen in classrooms and aren't sports coaches also this aggressive verbally? So why would it be surprising that music instructors be so too? Still at times it does feel like it's just going for the shock factor with the Andrew character practicing until his fingers bleed and the instructor character with his ruthless actions.
  
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
A magic tournament. Not having read the books, this movie was notable for showing that magic was practiced internationally and I think it was also the first one to show the death of a Hogwarts student.

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Thursday Movie Picks #101: Store/Supermarket/Mall Movies

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Store/Supermarket/Mall Movies

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The store/supermarket/mall; those places we used to hang out at which is now increasingly being replaced by the net. I'm picking favourites this week:

 
The Good Girl (2002)
A married woman has an a affair with a co worker at a discount store. Everyone here is just bored stuck and pretty unhappy, but the movie is really good.

The Mist (2007)
When creatures descend upon a small town, it's inhabitants seek shelter at the supermarket. I've picked this movie several other times before for other topics. Love it! It also stars some of the actors who would eventually be in The Walking Dead.

  
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
It's the zombie apocalypse and a band of survivors hole up at a shopping mall. I thought it was really good and am curious how the originals is.

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Thursday Movie Picks #100: Immortals

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Immortals

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Did you notice? It's the #100 edition of Thursday Movie Picks!!! How amazing is that; I can't believe it's been 100 hundred weeks of this. I still have plenty more topics in mind so here's to a hundred more!
 

Today's topic is: Immortals. Since we've already had a week for Vampires before, I'm staying clear of them. 

 
Highlander (1986)
An immortal Scottish man must continually duel with others of his kind throughout the centuries because "there can be only one". I don't remember much of the first movie so I'd love to rewatch the movie that spawned a number of sequels and a TV series which I used to tune in to quite a bit. 

Peter Pan (2003)
A boy who never grows up leads a couple of children away from their London home to magical Neverland. Love this movie; very well made and just incredibly magical and charming.
  
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
Another story about a girl meeting a boy that never grows old. While Peter Pan deals more with the fear growing up, Tuck Everlasting which is also based on a children's book deals more with the fear of death and what it means to never die.

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Thursday Movie Picks #99: Wedding Movies

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Wedding Movies

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A quick note before we begin. I found a few posts last Thursday that didn't have any link back. If you are participating in Thursday Movie Picks, please be reminded to put a Clickable Link on your post to my blog. I think it's only fair since you are given an opportunity to put your own clickable links on my posts.

- back to today's picks -

I didn't think I've watched a lot of wedding movies, but I checked my watched list and turns out I did. Although I can't say I enjoyed a great many. Here are the ones I did like.

 
The Wedding Singer (1998)
I haven't seen this in ages but I remember enjoying it and it's just about the only Adam Sandler comedy I've seen that I like. The 80's bit was fun too.
 
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
Another one I haven't seen in a long time. Quite surprised the IMDB rating is 6.3 because I thought it was one the better chick flick movies, well at least for me. I also always wondered why they had two male leads who looked quite a alike, I think it probably confused some people.
 
Mamma Mia! (2008)
I thought this would be terrible. I mean the plot is terrible; it's obviously just a reason to work in the songs into the story. But it's really not that bad. It's just a very light fluffy movie and was actually fun. The singing was mostly ok too except for the potential dads.

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