TOP 3 MOVIES that SheBlogger watched out for last 2012

(Re-post of the top 3 movies I wanted to watch last year. I did watch them, except for Great Expectations, which was not yet shown here. Maybe I got the show date wrong or they changed. Anyway, sad fact is I was not able to write a review about the other two. Maybe I would this year...for whatever it's worth)

First let me tell you a few things about my favorites so I won’t have to explain in too many details why they are my top 3 movies. Here’s a partial list (relevant to this blog) of my favorites in Hollywood and in Literature :

1.       Johnny Depp – Ultimate Favorite Actor

2.       Ralph Fiennes – Favorite Actor (for seriously dark, mysterious roles)

3.       Helena Bonham Carter – Most Favorite Actress (for dark, crazy, goth roles)

4.       Julia Roberts – Most Favorite Actress (for comedy and drama)

5.       Tim Burton – Only Favorite Director (so far…)

6.       Great Expectations – Most Favorite Novel

7.       Fairytales

8.       Vampire Stories

Now that we have that out of the way, here are my Top 3 movies for this year:

1.       Great Expectations

2.       Mirror Mirror

3.       Dark Shadows

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Yes, there’s going to be another film adaptation of this classic novel by Charles Dickens.  If I’m not mistaken this is going to be the 9^th Great Expectations movie. The others being: 

1.       1917 – a silent film, starring Jack Pickford, directed by Robert G. Vignola.

2.       1922 – a silent film, made in Denmark, starring Martin Herzberg, directed by A.W. Sandberg.

3.       1934 – Great Expectations, starring Phillips Holmes and Jane Wyatt, directed by Stuart Walker.

4.       1946 – Great Expectations, starring John Mills as Pip, Valerie Hobson as Estella and Jean Simmons as Young Estella, directed by David Lean.

5.       1974 – Great Expectations, starring Michael York and Sarah Miles, directed by Joseph Hardy.

6.       1989 – Great Expectations, starring Anthony Hopkins as Magwitch and Jean Simmons as Miss Havisham, directed by Kevin Connor.

7.       1998 – Great Expectations, starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

8.       1999 – Great Expectations, starring Ioan Gruffudd as Pip, Justine Waddell as Estella, and Charlotte Rampling as Miss Havisham (Masterpiece Theatre—TV)

The above is just a list of the movies. There were also a lot of TV and stage renditions of the novel. This year’s Great Expectations will star fresh young actors, Jeremy Irvine as Pip and Holliday Grainger as Estella. While veteran actors Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes will play the roles of  Miss Havisham, and Magwitch , respectively.  And it is directed by Mike Newell.

The only Great Expectations movie I ever saw was the one in 1998 with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. I watched the premiere night then watched again in the regular showing. I also bought a CD copy of the movie (DVD’s aren’t popular yet back then) and watched it several times.  Needless to say, I love it!

And I guess I don’t have to say now why this is one of my Top 3.  It’s my favorite novel…love story. Helena and Ralph’s in it. And I heard that there’s going to be a different ending for this movie. This is going to be the third ending, if ever.  Dickens himself was torn and gave his novel two different endings. The first was somewhat grim and vengeful and the second, as we know it today, was a bit hopeful. So, I really have to find out what is the outcome of this new Great Expectations movie.  Let’s see if it is going to meet the great expectations it has set itself into.

But the reason it is number one for me is because I’m such a huge fan of Pip and Estella love team.  I read the book, fell in love with their characters in all their virtues and failings…in their triumphs and failures.  Watched the movie in 1998, fell in love even more. Especially Estella and her lovely and elegant green outfits. I love green, you see… and I love Estella! Estella even makes it to one of my poems back in college. As if! As if I have the right to compare myself with the proud and glorious Estella! Haha! I won’t take it against you if you tell me, “The nerve of this girl!”

MIRROR MIRROR

As many of you may already know, Mirror Mirror is a comedy fantasy film based on ‘’Snow White’’ of the Brothers Grimm. It also stars new actors, Lily Collins as Snow White and Armie Hammer as the charming Prince Andrew Alcott.  I don’t know these actors but since I’m a fan of fairytales, I simply need to see it! Especially that my favorite Julia Roberts is going to star as the villainous queen.  I heard a lot of good things about her different portrayal of the evil queen.  Roberts says this queen is not really evil but an insecure lunatic, which makes it all the more alluring to me ;)

I’m sure everybody is all too familiar with the Snow White fairytale. But this is a different take on the story. First, it’s a comedy and they say there’s a twist in the story. Well… I can’t wait to find out.

DARK SHADOWS

So you ask, “Why my ultimate favorite actor’s movie did not make it to number one in my list?”  Well, I am really not familiar with this story. It, being an American TV series (not shown from where I am) and I, having been nowhere near the US in my entire life, never heard of it, until now.  In Yahoo, the movie gets mixed opinions from people who followed the series in their childhood.  The die-hard fanatics are opposed to the movie, seeing it as a spoof that desecrates their childhood memories.  The less critical ones see it as a fresh take on their classic favorite and are open to seeing something new.  They even think they might like it.

Well, whatever. I don’t care. I love good vampire stories, even comedies; and if this is good, I would surely like it.  And with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton, together again? What could possibly go wrong?  For me, absolutely none!