I Love You Anniversary

It was five years ago today that Randy put my face in his hands and told me "I Love You" for the first time.  Then he proceeded to say we were unofficially engaged.  He wanted to wait till he had a ring to become officially engaged.

When looking for an image to put with this post I came upon a couple of images from different movies.  The one below is from Jerry Maguire. He says to her "You had me at hello."  Hubby has mentioned he really likes that line.

British Class System

Theme of the day for Saturday, August 11th: British Class System

Comedies:

... Tom Jones (1963)

... Princess Caraboo (1994)

... Gosford Park (2001)

Dramas:

... Howards End (1992)

... The Remains of the Day (1993)

... Vanity Fair (2004)

This is the last of the London Olympics Movie Marathon lists.
I did not always watch all the movies, just giving options.
Sometimes I did not watch them on the day I posted.
But I did watch a lot of the movies during the time.

British Comedies

Theme of the day for Friday, August 10th: British Comedies

These were other movies I wanted to include and realized their common theme was comedy.  I really enjoy comedy especially romantic comedy.  In particular from this list I like A Fish Called Wanda, Calendar Girls and Bridget Jones's Diary.  

John Cleese Comedies:

... A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

... Fierce Creatures (1997)

... Splitting Heirs (1993)

Risque movies not for everyone:

... Calendar Girls (2003)

... The Full Monty (1997)

Romantic Comedies:

... Wimbledon (2003)

... Cold Comfort Farm (1995)

... Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

... Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Swag Sports

Swagbucks has been doing an Olympic themed event.  For search wins they are currently giving out what they call "Collector Bills" with a sports theme.  If you manage to get all of them you will get an extra reward.  I decided to post this because I think the bills are pretty interesting especially the color blocking which is similar to flags of different countries.

British Boarding Schools

Theme of the day for Thursday, August 9th: British Boarding Schools

St. Trinian's (2007) - a very fun movie with upbeat music

Wild Child (2008) - not as good as St. Trinian's but okay

3 Men and a Little Lady (1990) - sequel to 3 Men and a Baby

The Little Princess (1939) - a favorite of mine from childhood

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) - remade as Mona Lisa Smile

Mona Lisa Smile (2003) - A remake of 1969 movie but set in America.

Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939) - Robert Donat and Greer Garson

Goodbye, Mr Chips (1969) - Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark

Dead Poets Society (1989) - I thought this similar enough to include.

British Novelists

Theme of the day for Wednesday, August 8th: British Novelists

Jane Austen (1775-1817)
... Emma (1996)
... Persuasion (1995)
... Pride & Prejudice (1995)
... Sense & Sensibility (1995)

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) ... Jane Eyre (1997)
Emily Bronte (1818-1848) ... Wuthering Heights (1939)

HG Wells (1866-1946)
... The Invisible Man (1933)
... First Men in the Moon (1964)
... Time Machine (1960) and Time Machine (2002)

PD James (born 1920) ... Children of Men (2006)

Barbara Taylor Bradford (born 1935)
... A Woman of Substance (1984)
... Hold the Dream (1986)
... To Be the Best (1992)

British Musical Films

Theme of the day for Tuesday, August 7th: British Musical Films.

Across the Universe and Mamma Mia! are the best two movies that seamlessly integrate a groups music into a story line. Husband and I both greatly recommend these two musicals to others. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stars Dick Van Dyke who starred in other musicals: Mary Poppins and Bye Bye Birdie. Oliver! reminds me of the musical Newsies. My Fair Lady and Doctor Dolittle both star Rex Harrison; in both he plays a person who has great knowledge of languages.

Across the Universe (2007) - music of Beatles
Mamma Mia! (2008) - ABBA songs

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) - based on novel by Ian Fleming
Oliver! (1968) - based on novel by Charles Dickens

My Fair Lady (1964) - based on novel by George Bernard Shaw
Doctor Dolittle (1967) - based on novel by Hugh Lofting

British Children's Authors

Theme of the day for Monday, August 6th: British Children's Authors. There's a number of well known British children's authors who have had their works turned into movies.  Miss Potter is a biography of the great Beatrix Potter who both wrote and illustrated her own books such as Peter Rabbit.  Three children's authors who had their work immortalized in film are Roald Dahl, JRR Tolkien and JK Rowling.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

The Witches (1990) and Matilda (1996)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

English vs British

English is used for people living in England.

British includes people from England, Scotland, Wales. (Great Britain)
United Kingdom = Great Britain + Northern Ireland.

England Animated

Theme of the day for Sunday, August 5th: England Animated
These all took place at least some of the time in England.

101 Dalmatians (1961)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Robinhood (1973)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Valiant (2005)
Flushed Away (2006)
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
Cars 2 (2011) in World Grand Prix

Flint Powers English

Theme of the day for Saturday, August 4th: Bond-like Movies. I expect many of us grew up watching James Bond movies.  Recently I rewatched all of them except the most recent.  I remember liking them better when I first saw them.  I prefer some of the Bond parodies better than the actual Bond movies probably because I really enjoy comedy. 

Of the Bond-like movies made in the 1960's I really enjoy watching James Coburn as Derek Flint.  Doris Day in two separate spy movies is a close second.  I least like the four with Dean Martin as Matt Helm.  Not until the 1990's do we see more worthy Bond-like movies including Mike Myers as Austin Powers, Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English and Freddy Muniz as Cody Banks (child agent). 

A number of the Bond-like movies had an opening title sequence similar to the real Bond movies.  Many of the movies make direct reference to Bond elements.  In Spy Hard agent WD-40 (Leslie Nielsen)'s favorite drink is a "dry Manoli and Roussos on the rocks, stirred not beaten, with a twist of lemon, in chilled glasses not frozen, and with two curly little straws".

Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967)

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) and Caprice (1967) 

The Silencers (1966) and Murderers' Row (1966)

The Ambushers (1967) and The Wrecking Crew (1968)

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) 

Johnny English (2003) and Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Agent Cody Banks (2003) and Agent Cody Banks 2 (2004)

Top Secret! (1984) from the makers of Airplane! 

Spy Hard (1996) similar comedy stylings of Airplane!

Thunderbirds (2004) International Rescuers with Lady Penelope

Amazon Gift Cards $30

Since it is a new month I was able to redeem my online virtual money for actual Amazon Gift Cards.  Swagbucks only allows users to redeem five of any given denomination of gift cards.  I had enough earned on Swagbucks to indeed order five $5.00 Amazon Gift Cards.  Over on iRazoo I also redeemed points there for one $5.00 Amazon Gift Card. So primarly from searching, watching short videos and doing surveys I will be getting $30.00 in Amazon Gift Cards.

British Royalty

Theme of the day for Friday, August 3rd: British Royalty.  Understanding the British Royalty can be very confusing.  I found a couple of websites that are well organized and helped me better understand the different houses.  Tudor History clearly explains the six wives of Henry VIII as well as the Tudor lineage.  English Monarchs has the complete history of Kings and Queens of England.  The first six movies cover the monarchy under the House of Tudor.

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) about Anne Boleyn sister, Mary

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) about Anne Boleyn

Elizabeth (1998) about the beginning of the Queen's reign

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) about her latter years of reign

Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) about threat to Elizabeth's throne

Mary of Scotland (1936) about Mary Stuart, rival to Elizabeth

The Lion in Winter (1968) King Henry II - House of Plantagenet

Victoria & Albert (2001) about their long romance - House of Hanover

The King's Speech (2010) King George VI - House of Windsor

The Queen (2006) Queen Elizabeth II - House of Windsor

Mary Poppins

Theme of the day for Thursday, August 2nd: Nanny Movies

"A British nanny must be a general! 

The future empire lies within her hands 

And so the person that we need to mould the breed 

Is a nanny who can give commands!"

Mary Poppins is the ultimate British nanny.  

Julie Andrews is the ultimate nanny portrayer.

Mary Poppins (1964) Julie Andrews as the Nanny

Nanny McPhee (2005) Emma Thompson as the Nanny

Eloise at the Plaza (2003) Julie Andrews as the Nanny

Eloise at Christmastime (2003) Julie Andrews as the Nanny

Au Pair (1999) An accidental Nanny who wins love of widower.

The Pacifier (2005) A very different Nanny in Vin Diesel.

British Ghostly Tales

Theme of the day for Wednesday, August 1st: British Ghostly Tales.  These are all well known tales told beautifully with star power.  Rebecca won the 1941 Oscar for Best Picture for director Alfred Hitchcock.  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was nominated for Best Cinematography in 1948 for director Joseph L. Mankiewicz.  A young Natalie Wood played Muir's daughter as a child.  

The Innocents is based partially on a 1950 Broadway screenplay which was based on the Henry James novella The Turn of the Screw.  Deborah Kerr considered this her finest performance.  It was nominated for two BAFTA awards: Best British Film and Best Film from any Source.  The Others is obviously also partially inspired by the novella The Turn of the Screw. 

Rebecca (1940) stars Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) stars Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison
The Innocents (1961) stars Deborah Kerr
The Others (2001) stars Nicole Kidman