101 in 1001: All Day Movie Marathon

This quote couldn't be any truer to my life. For me, every life lesson learned was learned through film (/tv), not so much from own personal life experience. I grew up loving everything that was John Hughes. As I get older, I got into the classics and made my way into the "festival scene". I began to pay more attention to the limited release films than I was to the big budget, highly marketed films. Now, don't get me wrong, I do still love at a lot of the top box office films, but I've started paying attention more to the screenwriters and the story than I am to the top billed actors. Though, sometimes a favorite actor makes me more inclined to see a film if it doesn't seem that appealing to start, but I think that's true for everyone.

Well, yesterday I had my first day off in 11 days and I felt the need to spoil myself. And to me, spoiling myself means spending all day in a movie theatre blocking myself off from the world. I had been so stressed out and I just needed a break from reality. Being in a theatre is a perfect excuse to put your phone on silent and not have to worry about answering it! And since a movie marathon was on my 101 in 1001 list it was the perfect opportunity! 

Though I love movies, I unfortunately don't go as much as I would like. So I took this opportunity to see films that I had been waiting for for a while, and not the lasted Mark Whalberg flick.

 Fruitvale Station | This film has to be one of the most riveting films I have ever seen. Even though I knew how the story ultimately ends, I still fell for the main character Oscar played by Michael B. Jordan because he played him with such heart and authenticity. Every performance in this film was played with conviction which kept you hanging on and for me, almost made me believe the ending could be different. At least that's what I was hoping for. For a film based on true events, they leave you with a quite a bit of suspense, and that is something that I love. (A)

 The Way Way Back | This is probably my favorite film of the summer. This film is the perfect halfway point between comedy and drama. Sure, it can be a little cliched but the charming writing and brilliant performances by Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney are reason enough to love it. Added bonus: Sam Rockwell does a mini monologue to Holding Out For A Hero. Genius. (A-)

The To Do List | This is one of the movies where I go because I love the cast. Like, the entire cast. I didn't really expect much because it's your typical raunchy "coming of age" film. There were some good jokes, and I do give them props for being very open and making the main character a girl and not a guy to give it a bit of a different perspective but it was a bit too cliche, all in all. But there were two great bonuses: Connie Britton and Clark Gregg. The two of them had some of the best material in the whole film, in my opinion. (C+)