And the Oscar goes to....

In honour of today's Oscar ceremony, I thought I would discuss a few movies. Rather than praising those movies which are considered fantastic and a "must-see", I wanted to go over a few films that I won't see, or won't see again.

One of the first movies I must mention is "Steel Magnolias". I have indeed seen it, and cried appropriately. But since 1989 (!), I became diabetic, and for those of you who can remember the finer points of the story, Julia Roberts plays a diabetic. And she dies. I can see no reason why I would want to see this movie again, but that little reminder of my increased chances of an early death is a very compelling reason to not go there.

Another one, for personal reasons, that I won't see is "Lorenzo's Oil". I have heard that it is a wonderful and moving film, but for me, it looks like a sob-fest from the opening credits. Rarely do I feel like crying *that* much.

I shamefully will admit that I saw "Titanic" on the big screen - didn't we all? Although my lasting memory of this movie is declaring at the beginning, jokingly to my movie companion, "You know the ship sinks at the end?", and being shushed from the row in front for "spoiling it for them". But realistically, I don't think I need to spend another 3+ hours of my life watching Leo be "King of the World", knowing that he is going to die and wandering why good old Kate couldn't have shuffled over on that door and made room for him!

There are some actors I avoid in movies purely since they offend me so much. Meg Ryan is a classic example. I have seen a couple of her movies, but certainly not for her input. She might be everyone's favourite good-time girl - but she shits me. Another person I avoid, in specific roles is Adam Sandler. Put him in something (allegedly) funny, and I run a mile. Put him in dramatic roles, for example "Reign over me", and I have a different opinion. But sometimes, it is best to err on the side of caution and avoid.

I do admit to having a fondness for musicals, and yes, many of them can be bad, but for escapist movies, they can't be beat. A personal favourite movie is "Funny Girl", with Barbra at her best - she won the Oscar for her role. But I just don't know what happened between this movie and its sequel, "Funny Lady". I think I managed to sit through about 30 minutes of this movie. Thirty long and agonizing minutes. The pain was excrutiating. The movie dull, and the characters devoid of any likeability. I almost cried for the horror of where so many things in the movie went wrong. I am tempted to try and watch it again, just to see how things turn out - but I don't think I can put myself through that again.

Of course, there are so many bad movies of which I have blocked out of my mind and cannot recall, and probably countless others which I have refused so categorically to see that the mere mention will draw a shudder from my depths - but this is a start.

That was quite cathartic really!