NEWS… It’s A Happy New Year and a Huge Congratulations to Realweegiemidget’s Sunshine Award Nominees

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May your New Year celebrations continue, with a special shout out to my nominated 11…

 

It’s kind of a tag but also a huge thanks for a great read (or more) from 2023.

 

Michael Douglas

 

It’s now the year 2024, and time for my belated New Year award ceremony from Realweegiemidget Reviews. This year’s award nominees have been chosen with the following criteria… I’ve simply enjoyed reading your posts at some point during 2023, I love reading your blog and / or I have appreciated your support last year in a personal or blogging way … this is my final 11, which I’ve chosen after a lot of deliberation as there were more contenders than usual this year as I’ve read a lot of great blogs.

This post is also an unofficial thanks to you my fantastic readers for helping me reach the 254,277 hits mark – at the time of writing – and this includes 58,087 of those reads which were for last year alone… The 58,000+ views, I’ve been told by my stats page is 30% more than 2022. This was quite shocking, yet wonderfully surprising especially as I took about three months off in the summer for personal reasons, so a big thanks if this was you.

 

 

Now onto those Awards…

In September last year, the lovely Rebecca of Thoughts All Sorts added me to her list of nominated bloggers for the Sunshine Award… and I’m now officially thanking her for this nomination and accepting this award.

This year, in a complete change of venue, I’m accepting this award from Alain Delon (again) and going back to 1975 to accept it…

 

 

Now it’s over to Gregory Peck and his friends to hand out my nominees’ awards… while I swan off with Delon on one arm (as if it’s 1975, someone dear to me would be too young to attend the ceremony).

So cue trombone cue – from Jonathan Frakes – and here are the rules for these nominees to follow as they accept these awards… and my lovelies, your award is below…

 

 

List the award’s official rules…

• Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
• Answer your nominator’s questions.
• Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
• Ask your nominees 11 questions.
• Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.

 

Here are my questions from Rebecca (in bold)… with my answers (not in bold)…

What are your top five movies from this year 2023? So far, anyway.

Fallen Leaves (2023)

These are my favourite films that I watched in 2023 and I’ve included some that I’ve added to my review pile… The now guilty pleasure musical that is Lost Horizon (1973), a surprising two movies which I discovered while doing my Finnish course… I Hired a Contract Killer (1990) and Kuolleet Lehdet (2023), and two movies I wallowed in with these great dramatic performances from Mia Farrow and Donald Sutherland respectively in See No Evil (1971) and Eminent Domain (1990).

 

Which movies are you looking forward to seeing next this year?

Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

I am hoping to see more foreign language films, particularly Finnish, French and German ones so any recommendations please add them below. I love seeing Berlin in film, as I was on a (belated) honeymoon there last year with Darlin Husband and this capital’s architecture and ambience have always got a fabulous presence in films. As for French films, I’m hoping to see more Alain Delon movies (as I’ve got a bit of a crush on this actor) and more films by Aki Kaurismäki, now that I was happily able to understand the film, Kuolleet Lehdet without subtitles!!!

 

Which movies (if any) do you regret watching this year?

There are probably some real horrors, but can’t think of any just now…

 

Marilyn Monroe’s last house was recently (and temporarily) spared demolition. What are your thoughts on celebrity homes–should they be preserved as historic landmarks or should they be torn down like many upscale homes in the LA area eventually are? This is a really nuanced question but an interesting one, in my opinion.

Southfork

I think it should be up to the celebrity’s next of kin or relatives who should have the final say on what happens with a building. This is especially true as some homes might be a reminder of an unhappy happening to this celebrity such as an untimely death. They certainly shouldn’t be sold exploiting this status either, or used in filming a biopic – there is something quite ghoulish about that.

 

Which movies do you think deserve the Broadway treatment?

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

I think there are a lot of movies that would be fantastic to watch as a dramatic non-musical play on Broadway. I would prefer more drama such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), which I would have loved to see with this film’s casting… as sadly there are so many non-musical films that have been transformed into a Broadway all-singing and dancing musical…

 

Quick–a celebrity is coming to your house for dinner. Who is it and what would you serve them?

Lee Grant

Probably my man of the moment Alain Delon – and tell him he must wear a chunky jumper as it’s in -20s here – or Lee Grant, my favourite actress… I would swot up on things to mention with this actress – with a wee shout out to Joey from The Last Drive In for this post HERE and this wonderful profile and interview.  Or I’d ask Morgan Brittany for dinner, as a thanks for my fabulous interview with her last year (as found HERE.)

As for what I would serve them, I’d have to consult with Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers if she had any recipes from their collections, then get Darlin Husband to improvise a meal with these recipes’ ingredients, while I chatted to this star about random movie stuff…

 

Which YouTuber or YouTubers would you like to see in a feature film?

I’d like to see two of the Red Letter Media guys, Rich Evans and Mike Stoklasa in that rom-com, Never Been Kissed (1999), but I stress only for the scene that they starred in as extras as discussed HERE.  I really have no desire to see the rest of the movie.

 

A musical is being made of your life. Who would you want to write it and who would play you?

The Carpenters

Good question, I would probably want it told in a musical with musical soundtrack numbers from ballads by Karen Carpenter, as for who would play me.. as long as the star is about 1ft smaller than the rest of the cast this would make it more credible for those who know me as wee Gill, ie just about everyone.

 

Where do you get ideas for writing your blog? Do you have any particular inspirations?

Joan Collins in Quest for Love (1971)

My Darlin Husband is always finding films and TV that he insists are perfect fodder for a review. I do like seeing a random Dallas or Dynasty star – albeit the original series – in the cast, or an undiscovered gem from the 1970s, but that’s not compulsory…

 

You have the chance to be a guest host on TCM. Which show do you host or which kinds of movies do you want to introduce?

Lucky, at her most evil…

I’d introduce some of the more underrated and guilty pleasures I’ve discovered from the 1970s and include such guilty treasures as Lost Horizon (1973), Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978), The Visitor (1979), I Don’t Want to be Born / The Devil Within Her / The Monster / Sharon’s Baby (1975) and I would definitely use some ideas from Darlin Husband as he always finds some great so bad movies…

 

Do you have a favorite silent movie? If so, which one?

Gloria Swanson…

I haven’t seen that many silent movies, and to be honest I am pretty new to this genre, but I do like The Artist (2011), which is a more recent take on these movies. I am keen to see more of Gloria Swanson in her earlier roles after seeing her in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and her later movies…

 

And now for my eleven nominees (in no particular order)…

Ruth from Silver Screenings

Joey from The Last Drive In

Rebecca at Taking Up Room 

John from The JHL Collective

Ari at the Classic Movie Muse

Emily from The Flapper Dame

Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers

Kristina from Speakeasy

Rachel at Hamlette’s Soliloquy

Daffny from A Vintage Nerd

Paul from Pfeiffer Pfilms and Meg Movies

and sneakily adding Eddie from Film-Authority

 

My questions for you lovely lot to answer…

Who would be your dream interview subject and why?

What’s your favourite blogathon that you have either run or taken part in?

You have the choice of a film festival to attend in 2024 in an all-expenses paid trip, which do you choose…?

What film-inspired present would you buy for me if you had 50 dollars (or your own currency) to spend…?

Imagine that you are moving house, which actor or actress would you choose as your next door neighbour?

What’s your favourite film franchise?

Which year is your favourite in film, and support your answer with your top 3 movies from this time…

Recommend a film to me that you think would easily fit in my blog.

Without saying who the murderer is, which Agatha Christie inspired movie would you change the murderer in…

What’s your favourite film related  biopic?

Who was the first celebrity who responded to you on social media and who was the last…?

 

Finally, the meme below says it all and is for everyone… and looking forward to your support in a like, a read or a comment this year.