Hello Winter Break! Goodbye Fall Quarter.

Finally! The end of the torturous finals has come! At least for the fall quarter that is. Very excited for a break from school. Work doesn’t bother me nearly as much as homework and exams do.

Tonight, I will be traveling back home on the Amtrak. What will I do on the train? I’m thinking of having a little movie marathon. The train usually has long delays, which will need to be ignored, so why not ignore them by watching fantastic movies? I just have to be sure to get a spot on the train that gives me access to an outlet, so that my laptop doesn’t die on me. I’ll fight for that spot if necessary.

So, what will the line up be? I’m not entirely sure, but there are a few that I have in mind:

Gaslight (1944):

My second favorite Ingrid Bergman movie, after Notorious. I love the storyline. I know some people find the story to be predictable, but I think that it’s supposed to be that way. I feel that the audience is supposed to be on the outside and we are supposed to know what is going to happen, which creates suspense about when Ingrid's character, Paula Alquist, will discover the true madness of her husband. We are not meant to be waiting around for the big twist, we are waiting for Paula to figure it out. We know that she will because, as the audience, we want her to find out and the director knows this. I’m pretty sure that the majority of viewers would have been upset if Paula didn’t win in the end. Also, this is a remake, so people who have seen that film should already know the outcome…

The acting in this movie is superb. Not only by Ingrid herself, but the whole cast. Angela Lansbury gave an amazing performance. She’s hilarious and revolting at the same time. Revolting because of how mean her character is towards Paula. Joseph Cotten is also fantastic, as was Charles Boyer. I don’t know what it is about Joseph Cotten, but I find him very attractive. I love him as the romantic hero. Charles Boyer is amazing because of how evil he is in this film. The mind games his character plays! It makes me mad every time when he's mean to Paula and tries to make her go insane! That’s why the final scene between Paula and Gregory is so awesome. She definitely gets him back for what he did to her. I love it!

Let the Right One In (2008):

Okay, so this is obviously not a classic film, but it should be someday. For those of you who have not seen this film, it is a Swedish vampire story where a misfit human, Oskar, befriends a lonely vampire, Eli. The two find each other when they basically had no one else. I love vampires and I feel that this film represents them very well. It shows the tragic side of a vampire's life, as well as the frightening side, and the willingness that vampires have to survive and blend in to the human world. I’ve read the book that this film is based off of and it is very well written. A bit disturbing and disgusting at times, but still a fantastic read. I recommend this film and the book to anyone who enjoys a good vampire story.

The Country Girl (1954):

I always get interrupted while watching this movie, so I do not know what happens during the second part of the film. From what I’ve seen so far, the film is very good. I love Grace Kelly, William Holden, and Bing Crosby, so I expect to like the entire film. I want to finish watching it, so then I’ll be able to talk about it in more depth.