Amelie's Old School





Tuesday, October 6: COCO BEFORE CHANEL
Thursday, October 8: COUPLES RETREAT





Two movies this week before James begins to review a greater amount of material (including weekly Best Picture winners), so the selection is skimpy, but there is a second part amended for those of you with a weakly Leaderboard score (like a particular person named myself). The two movies we are covering this week are the mega-blockbuster comedy 'Couples Retreat', which features Vince Vaughn and therefore is guaranteed to be on TBS in 4 years, and 'Coco Before Chanel', a feminist drama featuring Audrey Tautou that is guaranteed to add some French flavor to James' movie milieu. Voting for both films ends when 'Coco Before Chanel' is reviewed tomorrow, so get them in quickly! However, the second part of the competitions thread, soon to follow, will last in to the weekend.


Extra Points:
In the spirit of this competition, I have an interesting query. What is James Berardinelli's favorite song? Just put an answer down and I'll formally ask James myself. The winner receives one point. I will also give a point for favorite band, if you are in the know. If she wishes, Sheryl may blow all of us out of the water with the right selection. I would find that entertaining

P.S. - No soundtrack pieces!

Coco - ***
Couples Retreat - **1/2

James favorite band....I'll go with Rush.
favorite song...Tom Sawyer

Coco-3 stars

Couples Retreat-2 stars

Coco Before Chanel - **1/2
Couples Retreat - *

COCO BEFORE CHANEL: 3
COUPLES RETREAT: 2

I love Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn. They had me at Swingers, but I just don't see this one working out too well. The trailers don't look great and it's PG-13.

As for Mr. B's favorite song and band...

I would love to think that Mr. B has a penchant for N.W.A. or Sepultura. I could see him slow cruising the streets of New Jersey bumping "Ain't Nothin' But a G Thang" out the windows...or 2-stepping in the middle of an old VFW to Hatebreed.

But for favorite song...damn, I don't know, "Every Breath You Take."

Favorite band...The Police.

I have no effing clue.

I can't help but think James has a penchant for Journey, 'Wheel Of Fire', in particular. However, it would to no degree surprise me if his favorite band was Led Zeppelin or The Beatles, since they seem to represent what he would call 'perfect music'. I even see him picking Black Sabbath from the 'visceral effect' viewpoint and because they are both catchy and iconic. I will go with Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven', simply because he might think that is the best song, ever. I really wish (although I would never impose) that he would post a top 25, or 50 albums list in the (distant) future. I literally have no musical knowledge of the man (besides film soundtracks, those don't count - THOSE DON'T COUNT!).


Also,

COCO BEFORE CHANEL: 3
COUPLES RETREAT: 2



Looks like a surefire win for this week. Vince Vaughn has never, and may never be, James' cup of tea.

I'm actually not sure I can recall James ever writing about popular music, with the obvious exception of film scores. He has mentioned an affinity for classical music.

Rush is a good pick, I'd say. They tend to be pretty cerebral, and their lyrics often espouse a libertarian world view.

Now that we're on the topic, what about Jethro Tull? Don't tell me you can't imagine James doing some cerebral rocking out to that (especially 'Aqualung'). I don't want to consider that he likes Yes, but that's a possibility. I'm thinking AOR like Boston might be a good place to start. I'm also guessing by instinct that there will be precious little alternative rock on his list, and yes, no rap (definitely no Beastie Boys). It's kind of weird this has never been covered before or asked (unless I missed something).

COCO BEFORE CHANEL: 3.0
COUPLES RETREAT: 2.0

Coco - 3
Couples Retreat - 2

Coco-***
Couples Retreat-**

That's final, Regis.

Wow...either I'm very easily amused or I'm insane about Couple's Retreat chances

Well James dosen't hate Vince Vaugh or anything, so I can't see him hating Couples Retreat THAT much, and i'll admit I did laugh when I saw a preview for it, though I certainly wouldn't be caught dead paying for it!

Coco Before Chanel - 3.0
Couples Retreat - 1.5

Favourite Song: Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)
Favourite Artist: John Williams

Oh eddy...Philip said no soundtracks or scores

After almost 30 attempts (I missed a few weeks) I have all of 3 wins, the same number as say aameen, who's been gone for a while. Since I clearly cannot win I'd like to transfer my victories to Bondurant in the hope that James will have to review Salo. Judges?

Do you mean this, Patrick? Was that really a rule? Given as it was buried halfway down a thread within a post I interpreted it as Phil being upset that he has no musical knowledge of James apart from his love of classical music and that this knowledge doesn't count.

Anyway, if film soundtracks are indeed disqualified, but only if (cause I think I might be right...'twas his wedding song, no?) then I'll go with:

Favourite Song: Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley)
Favourite Artist: Jeff Buckley

Well, more or less it's old news after the top ten he posted. There's not much suspense there. I'm not upset though, haha, just being quick to point that out. I should probably amend the first post.