We've made it, friends--the last Shamedown of 2019. Can you believe it? I sure can't. Anyone who's wondering what the heck I'm talking about can find answers at Cinema Shame. Past 2019 Shamedowns can be found here. John Keats is part of every English major's academic diet in one way or another. Born in 1795 … Continue reading Shamedown #11: Bright Star
Page To Screen: Tuck Everlasting
Living forever is an interesting idea. What would you do if you had all the time in the world? I would think it would get boring after a while because you would see history cycle around and cycle around with people and nations making the same mistakes over and over again. If a being isn't … Continue reading Page To Screen: Tuck Everlasting
It’s Not Showbiz
I've written about Christian movies on here before and how they tend to be a mixed bag. However 2006's The Second Chance is one of the basically decent ones I wish would get made more often. Starring Grammy and Dove Award winner, Michael W. Smith, Jeff Obafemi Carr and J. Don Ferguson, the film is … Continue reading It’s Not Showbiz
Shamedown #8: The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
For those of you who would like to find out what all this strange Shame business is about, please visit Cinema Shame. Past 2019 Shamedowns can be found here. The timing of this Shamedown is ironic, as today we're remembering those we lost on 9-11. On the other hand, it's oddly appropriate. There are so … Continue reading Shamedown #8: The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Form and Function
Time to talk shop. The costume shop, that is... Chinese cinema can be very interesting, and one of the most famous (sorta) recent films is 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee. This visually arresting movie is part romance, part traditional Chinese fantasy, part Hollywood, and all spectacle. It opens at a typical village on … Continue reading Form and Function
Page To Screen: Julie & Julia
It's been ten years since Nora Ephron's swan song, Julie and Julia. It was an ambitious film for her and it also wasn't, because it features expected and loved Ephron trademarks of witty dialogue and deft character development. What's unusual for the Ephron canon is that Julie and Julia juxtaposes the lives of two unique … Continue reading Page To Screen: Julie & Julia
Watch Closely
Okay, so my regular readers have probably noticed that things have slowed down a bit this month on Taking Up Room. Job stuff and the end-of-the-school-year rat race have gotten in the way, not to mention basically having no Internet for a week, but the current sluggishness is all about to change. For the next ten … Continue reading Watch Closely
Waiting to Blink
We all know that airports are funny places. They're worlds of their own. As long as one stays within their confines, they're a way of going somewhere while not going somewhere. It's almost like being in purgatory without dying. Obviously, airports are not places where we spend a whole lot of time, but what if … Continue reading Waiting to Blink
The Fade-out of Cameron Crowe
"As someone once said, 'There's a difference between a failure and a fiasco.'" It's ironic that 2005's Elizabethtown kicks off with that line, because the film isn't considered one of Cameron Crowe's best, not by a long shot. For all intents and purposes, it's Crowe's swan song. Cameron Crowe was, of course, the successor to John Hughes, … Continue reading The Fade-out of Cameron Crowe
Elle Goes to the Hill
Yesterday we looked at a Guilty Pleasure. Today's film, however, is just bad. Four words: Good. Grief. Charlie. Brown. When we last left Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), she was valedictorian of her class at Harvard Law School, with a promising career ahead of her. Yeahhhh, that was 2001. In 2003, Elle got a sequel: Legally Blonde … Continue reading Elle Goes to the Hill
Shamedown #1: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Here we are again. Want to know more about the Shame thing? Please visit Cinema Shame. Last year's Shamedowns can be found here. Onward... Like I said in my Shame Statement, I've only ever wanted to see 2001's Lara Croft because Chris Barrie's in it. Other than that, Lara's basically a female Indiana Jones, except with tighter … Continue reading Shamedown #1: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Page To Screen: The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy
Thus speaks the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy. The book within Douglas Adams' novel of the same title, it is the guide to anything that anyone might want to ask about life, the universe, and everything, and a lot that they don't think to ask. Arthur Dent didn't know that he would have to ask … Continue reading Page To Screen: The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy
Shamedown #11: The Young Victoria
Here we are, everyone--the last Shamedown of 2018--can you believe it? If you're coming in late to the party or just want a refresher as to how this thing got started, please visit Cinema Shame. The full Shamedown roster can be found here. Very few monarchs have been as influential as Queen Victoria. Seriously, the woman … Continue reading Shamedown #11: The Young Victoria
For Your Consideration
Hello there... In 2006, my husband and I went to the movies. We'd been hearing for a long time about a film where Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman go head to head as rival magicians, with Michael Caine as stage manager, and we were both intrigued and interested. Only problem was, neither one of us … Continue reading For Your Consideration
Steam Punk Van Helsing
Surprise! Did you know Hugh Jackman was born on October 12? Yep, he was, and it just so happened that he turned fifty this year. This man has quite the resume. Wolverine. Leopold, Duke of Albany. Curly (from Oklahoma, not The Three Stooges). Jean Valjean. P.T. Barnum. The Easter Bunny. Just to name a very few. Since it’s […]
Relationships 101
It's not uncommon for movies to be based on novels, or great events in history, but a movie based on a self-help book?! It's been done more than once, but it always seems a little weird. Even when the book is as successful and overly-accessible as Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo's He's Just Not That Into … Continue reading Relationships 101
Page To Screen: Nella Last’s War
In 1937, a rather gargantuan project of compiling England's social history commenced: Mass Observation. Its aim was and is to chronicle day-to-day living in the United Kingdom, and that can mean anything from sending in diaries to filling out questionnaires to writing poems or taking photos. One of their most enthusiastic participants was Nella Last … Continue reading Page To Screen: Nella Last’s War
Taking Up Room 