Unless my counting skills are waaaaay off, which is possible, M is the 13th letter of the alphabet, which means I have made it half-way through this here #AtoZchallenge2014 challenge. YAY me!

Sadly, once again, I had a complete and utter blank mind when it came to figure out a topic for this illustrious letter ~ I had really hoped when I signed up for the challenge to find partners who might come up with ideas for with me ~ but alas, that was not to be. (Although I could copy my partner Chad Clark and say M is for Monsters, but he’s pretty well got that covered.)

So of course, in situations like this, one consults one’s bestie for ideas, and she came up with the following: Princess Maggie, my dog; money, tho all I can say about that is I always need more, tho I’ve learned to live with less; mountains, which are of course quite lovely; marigolds, same; murder mysteries, which is my bestie’s favorite genre; M&Ms, a secret ingredient in my special PB sammiches; and marriage. Well, that last one made me think of:

Which led me to my topic:

M is for Movies

So, I give you, in no particular order, some of my favorite movies and my thoughts thereupon.

• The Princess Bride. Duh. Like you couldn’t see that one coming. It has everything. True love, kissing, sword-fighting, magic, myth, humor, etc. And it’s one of the very few movies that is actually just as good as the book. I even remember when the movie came out – I decorated one of my high school folders with one of the print ads, which said something like: “The Pit of Despair. The Cliffs of Insanity. Dating sure was tough… once upon a time.” Brilliant!
• The Boondock Saints. My ex-husband brought this home one night and said something along the lines of “you probably won’t like this… it’s gory and violent”… which, well, it is… but I love it so. Its goriness and violence are an integral part of the story… and the message is basically: “The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.” Plus, Sean Patrick Flanery. Need I say more? Oh yeah, and Norman Reedus, but I myself am partial to SPF.
• Sucker Punch. Okay, so a lot of people decry this movie as being anti-women or something, but to me, it’s a story of friendship and fighting and sacrifice, and those girls kick ass. I’m always a fan of girls kicking ass. (Unlike Princess Buttercup in TPB, who screams for Westley to save her, and ineffectually pokes at the ROUSs with a stick. That part always bugged me.)
• Blue Like Jazz. A boy raised in the church by his mother gets a rude awakening right before he goes away to college, and instead of going to a Christian college like he planned, goes to the “most godless college in America”… and along the way, learns about himself. And this movie stars my friend Justin Welborn as The Pope; Justin currently has a recurring role on the tv show Justified. (Yay for Justin!)
• Henry Poole is Here. Henry buys a house to get away from everyone and everything, but his neighbors intrude… a miraculous little story. I also love the soundtrack.
• Bag of Hammers. This is a terrible name for what is ultimately a quirky, sweet story about friendship and love and growing up.
• The Sweetest Thing. The ultimate chick flick. Hilarious look at friendship and love.
• Nacho Libre. This falls under the o-m-g-this-movie-is-so-stupid-it’s-hilarious heading. With some lines that are so awesomely bad, my hubby and I often quote them to each other.
• Everything is Illuminated. Of course, the book was better in some ways, but the movie did an amazing job of telling the most important parts of the book. Beautiful scenery, a beautiful and sad story, and a reminder of the Holocaust and what it took from us all.
• Willow. An oldie but goodie fantasy movie that also has it all: love, intrigue, humor, and a sword-wielding Val Kilmer.
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. A girl kicking ass. A smart girl. A girl who is not afraid of anything. This movie almost tempted me to grow my hair super-long again.
• Good Will Hunting. I still remember how pumped I felt upon seeing this movie.
• Dead Poet’s Society. I saw this in the theater with a friend… I’ve long forgotten which friend, but I remember wiping tears out of my eyes as we left the theater.
• Some Kind of Wonderful. The John Hughes 80s classic. A tomboy, cars, love, and diamond earrings. Oh, and a night at the museum.
• Benny and Joon. A charming, quirky love story starring Johnny Depp.
• Lucky Number Slevin. More kicking of asses.
• Dogma. Kevin Smith’s awesome and humorous take on religion. Plus, there’s Salma Hayek. And also ass-kicking. And angels.

So there ya go. This by no means an exhaustive list… just ones that I don’t mind watching over and over. As for what this list says about me, what do you think?