Sunday, November 25, 2012

Catching Up with Quelle (9)


Happy Birthday to Me! - I share my birthday with the following actors and actresses:

Kathryn Grant
Charles Emmett Mack
Ricardo Montalban

Nostalgia and Comfort - 2012 has been a year of major change for me and sometimes I want things to just slow down. I find some comfort in thinking about the past, looking at old pictures and watching movies that I know well and love. As I said in my previous Catching Up post, I have been having a difficult time with new-to-me movies. There is too much new in my life I need some more familiar.  I have found that if I watch one or two old favorites that I am more open to watching a new movie. For example, after watching Tony Rome (1967) and Ocean's 11 (1960), two of my favorite 60s standbys, I was more than ready to watch the new-to-me movie Walk Don't Run (1966). Too bad I didn't watch that during the Olympics! What a perfect tie-in.

Here are the films I have stacked by our DVD/Blu-Ray player so I have them ready to go whenever I need some comfort movie viewing.


From top to bottom:
Ocean's 11 (1960) (looks so much better on Blu-Ray!)

I have also been reaching far back into my childhood and have been thinking about some of my favorite childhood cartoons. One of them in particular is Adventures of the Gummi Bears, a Disney cartoon from the late 1980s. I have been singing the song around the house (much to Carlos' dismay, he dislikes my random bouts of Gangnam Style dancing too). I even added the Gummi Bears DVDs to my Netflix queue so I can watch them again. Just yesterday, my friend Lisa forwarded me a link to none other than Alicia Keys performing her version of the Gummi Bears theme on Jimmy Fallon's late night show. What a strange coincidence. To have been thinking of this show and relishing the memory AND to have one of my favorite singers perform the song on TV. Weird how the universe works like that sometimes.






What's your favorite comfort movie? Which cartoon did you love as a child?

32 comments:

  1. Happy birthday!!

    My favorite "comfort movie" is To Catch a Thief. It's been a favorite for so many years, and you can't go wrong with Cary Grant. (I lovingly refer to him as The Most Beautiful Man Ever, haha.) I can put it on at any time and have fun watching; It never fails to lift my mood!

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    1. Thank you so much! To Catch a Thief is a wonderful choice for a comfort movie. Two gorgeous stars, great direction by Hitchcock, great plot and not too intense. Love it!

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  2. Happy birthday, Raquelle! I've got to get that Nancy Drew Collection--Bonita! Hope your day is great even if Mr. Montalban is no longer with us to welcome you to the Island!

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    1. Thanks Cliff! That Nancy Drew ser is a must. Great fun rainy day fare. I may eventually buy myself a backup copy!

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  3. Your "comfort movies" stack has three of my own go-to comfort classics (Bachelor Mother, Holiday Affair, and Christmas in Connecticut). Love it!

    Also, as a fellow fan of the Gummi Bears (who will now be singing the song all day long today), I have to say, you are one truly cool individual. A very, very happy birthday to you! :)

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    1. Thank you Brandie! That is quite an amazing compliment. I am glad we have some interests in common

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  4. Have a very happy birthday and a wonderful year! May it be the best yet!

    Happy Wishes,
    Laura

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    1. Thank you so much Laura. I am very grateful for friends like you

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  5. Happy birthday, Raquel! Hope it was a great day! I can't say I actually have any comfort films, though probably most movies I grew up with qualify. Westerns, in particular, immediately take me to a happy, safe place, and are probably my go-to films if I'm down.

    I never knew the Gummi Bears even had their own show! Bugs Bunny cartoons were always my favorite cartoons.

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    1. Thannk you DKoren . I can definitely see Westerns being comfort films for you, especially since you blog about them. Gummi Bears are not the same as the candy. They are Medeival bears!

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  6. The very happiest of birthdays to one of the very classiest of gals around!
    Xoxo,
    Carley

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    1. Many thanks Carley! You are a classy dame yourself.

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  7. Happy birthday, and best wishes for great year ahead.

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  8. Happy birthday!
    When it comes to movies I watch when I feel down, the winner probably is On the Town, it never fails to make me smile!
    Kisses!

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  9. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :-)
    I loved and still love watching the cartoon classics - like Beauty & the Beast, Anastasia, and Pocahontas. :-)

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  10. Happy birthday!!!!

    Comfort Movie: Easily "the Big Blue" or "the Net"
    Favorite cartoon: Of animated cartoons I really liked a version based on the Monster Squad monsters that I saw as a kid!

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    1. Thanks Shep. Oh my goodness I love The Net. That's an old favorite I have been meaning to revisit.

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  11. Happy birthday, feliz cumpleaños,and feliz aniversário, Quelle! You also share your birthday with Jeffrey Hunter and Pamela Mitford! :-)

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  12. Happy Happy Birthday!!! I'm so grateful for our friendship. I hope you have a fabulous birthday and many many more to come after this one. I have a feeling this is going to be a great year for you!

    As for favorite comfort movie...as odd as this might sound, I'd go with either The Holiday or one of The Lord of the Rings movies. Although, during the holidays I absolutely cannot go without watching the original Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. Yeah, not very sofisticated, but they're comfort movies so that's okay, right? ;)

    Happy Birthday!!!

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    1. Danielle - thank you! Your friendship means a lot to me too. Happy early birthday to you. I hope it's a good one. And comfort movies definitely don't have to be sophisticated!

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  13. Happy Birthday!

    What a great stack of go to comfort films! Christmas in Connecticut is a favorite of mine and Bachelor Mother is actually a new to me favorite. I was so impressed when I saw that film earlier this year. And Gummi Bears - that was such a great cartoon!

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    1. Robby - Thank you! Ah another Gummi Bears fan. I'm glad you have recently come to appreciate Bachelor Mother. What a splendid film!

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  14. happy birthday quele! and how lucky you get to share it with Kathryn Grant! i love holiday affair and xmas in ct as well! i need to break those out this year, its been quite a while since i've seen either of them.

    not sure i have any "comfort" films but things like Footlight Parade, Rear Window and anything with Patricia Ellis (aka Mrs Artman) are a sure fire way to get me smiling. I also like to throw in the Shawshank Redemption when things are looking a bit hopeless. such an inspiring film!

    i do however believe i can say i one "Discomfort" film and that film is Vertigo, lol!

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    1. Paulie! Thanks. I'm not very familiar with Kathryn Grant, I'll have to check out more of her works. Now please explain to me what a Discomfort film is? Is it one you steer clear of or one that makes you uncomfortable in a good way?

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    2. Kathryn Grant played the oh so lovely (and tineh!) princess in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which is a film very near and dear to me since i was old enough to walk (like the cyclops no less, lol) she's also in Anatomy of a Murder.

      a discomfort film is one that you love but tends to take you down a path of unpleasantness or suffering. Vertigo is one, Bad Lieutenant is def another. to me they are not "Oh lets pop in a movie" type films...they are chosen only when one is willing to tread down the suffering path.

      other films like All Quiet on the Western Front, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Five Star Final, The Snake Pit, They Wont Forget, A Clockwork Orange, Shock Corridor and one i viewed just last week- The Famous Ferguson Case... films that show the seedy, the unclean, the insane, the dark side of human nature...i would call them discomfort films...you dont cozy up to them when you're down hoping for a lift! maybe you could do a posting about that and ask others to list their "discomfort films" lol!

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  15. Replies
    1. Thank you Kate! I hope you had a nice birthday too and a nice trip to Disney World.

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