Feelings and Flash Mobs in Film #friday #atozchallenge

“I don’t know what to do, don’t know what to prove. This is more than me, so much more than you. Can we make it through? You and I? I can’t decide...I just can’t pretend that you’re just a friend, we took it further, passion still remains, so here we are again because we caught feelings...”

“Feelings” by Floetry is a very soulful tune that can touch the heart of anyone who can relate to the awkward limbo of figuring out if you want to be with someone -- or that uncertainty of whether feelings are reciprocated, causing knots in your belly.  

Realizing that you have developed feelings for someone can be liberating and scary at the same time, depending on how you look at it. Romantic feelings for someone can also be tough for those who may consider taking a platonic relationship to the next level, because most people seldom want to risk a good friendship for something else that has no guarantee of lasting. In addition to that, what happens when you are ok with pursuing something with a person of interest or exploring where your feelings can take the both of you, but for some reason, you just don’t know how to express what you feel? These challenges play out all too often and then a movie comes along that shows us how art imitates life.

In the romantic comedy “Friends with Benefits” starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, one of the main characters surprises another by arranging a flash mob to express his true feelings. Timberlake plays this role and tells Mila Kunis’ character “You said you wanted your life to be like a movie!” So, consider taking a page from Dylan Harper’s (Timberlake) book the next time you celebrate a special occasion by surprising a friend, family member -- or co-worker with a flash mob in their honor. Flip the script and make life imitate art, creating feelings of joy and gratitude for those whom you care about the most.

It does not have to be romantic, in fact, here are a few surprise birthday flash mobs that may help you come up with ideas on the choreography or overall theme. One features a woman who was so clueless about what was going on that she started participating in her own flash mob, without even knowing that it was for her. I especially like the second video where random citizens put a spin on the flash mob scene by surprising their bus driver with a whole production that included singing and a fake protest that turned out to be a mob of people with birthday messages and gifts for the birthday dude!

The third birthday flash mob video includes a girl whose family surprises her with a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance routine -- in a hotel lobby. Last but not least, I planned to wrap this post up with a video clip that partially inspired today’s “Letter F” A to Z Challenge post -- the “Friends with Benefits” flash mob scene. However, the video clip showing that scene is no longer available on YouTube due to a copyright infringement claim by Screen Gems. So with that said, I guess you'll just have to rent the movie. In the meantime, enjoy.....

Sasha’s Surprise Birthday Flash Mob (5 mins & 27 secs):

The Birthday Surprise for a Danish Driver (3 mins):


Tori’s 18th Surprise Birthday with Family & Friends (5 mins & 57 secs):


What makes a good celebratory flash mob, in YOUR opinion?
The size/number of participants? choreography? dress code? song selection? Or, all of these elements combined?
Which of these birthday flash mob videos do YOU like best?

An Exceptionally Good Enough Film Character #thursday #atozchallenge

“...I’ve completely lost myself and I don’t mind, I can’t say no to you. Shouldn’t let you conquer me completely, now I can’t let go of this dream, can’t believe that I feel good enough, I feel good enough...It’s been such a long time coming but I feel good...and I’m still waiting for the rain to fall, pouring life down on me, cause I can’t hold on to anything this good enough, am I good enough for you to love me to?”

“Good Enough” by Evanescence song may refer to a person of romantic interest or maybe a friend. It’s slow and easy to get wrapped up in but despite Amy Lee’s strong vocals, “Men of Honor” starring Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding Jr. is the only movie I can think of that could fit the theme -- and this dramatic film is far from romantic!

In "Men of Honor,” a Cuba Gooding Jr. portrays a man named Carl Brashear who had to be more than good enough -- he had to “be the best” for the purposes of honoring his father's memory and also because that was the only way to overcome racial slurs, sabotage and related hardships that he endured while training to be a Navy diver.

One key takeaway that stands out in this film is, even though the main character was the best among those in this training program, most of his peers still did not consider him to be good enough for the Navy, in a society that thought he didn't belong. Respect, however, is what this character did gain, despite still not being seen as being good enough to befriend or socialize with in any other environment outside of the Navy.

Using the scene in “Men of Honor” where Carl Brashear has to assemble a flange underwater, as inspiration, host a Navy themed pool party where guests have to play an underwater scavenger hunt game -- call it “Race to be Master Chief” or something like that. Fill the bottom of your pool with toy fish or other toy sea creatures, treasure bottles and other nautical trinkets and then instruct party guests to enter the pool, in search for specific sea props within 60 seconds or less. You can choose a winner in either one of two ways:

 1. The “diver” who comes out of the pool with the most items in the least amount of time wins this underwater scavenger hunt game.

-or-

2. The “diver” who comes out of the pool with the most valuable items wins this pool party game. You will need to allocate a certain amount of points for each item that is placed in the pool in advance, for this option to work. For example: Plastic fish are worth 10 points, Sea Shells are worth 5 points and Starfish are worth 20 points, and so on. Therefore, the person who has the most points based on what he or she found in the pool is the winner.

Depending on what kind of items you use for this pool party game, you may also be able to allocate different point levels for a variety of fish or other sea life. For example: Plastic lobsters are worth 50 points, blue fish are worth 30 points, etc. Either way you do it, just make sure to designate someone to keep a tally of all of the points for each player.

Do YOU feel Good Enough?
If so, how did YOU come to this conclusion?
If not, what will it take for YOU to get there?
What exactly does Good Enough mean anyway; and is this meaning, indeed, good enough for YOU?

Deep Cover Partying with a Disney Twist! #atozchallenge

 

"Yeah, and you don't stop, 'cause it's 1-8-7 on an undercover cop..." 

"Deep Cover" by Dr. Dre is one of those songs that you can just sit back in a lounge chair or a car and bop your head to the beat. Introducing Snoop Dogg to the rap music scene, this tune was produced as the theme song for the crime thriller, “Deep Cover” starring actors Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum. The movie is about a uniformed police officer who infiltrates a drug smuggling organization to help the DEA prosecute the criminal network’s main boss and stop cocaine from being imported into their jurisdiction.

The movie plot in “Deep Cover” involves lot of corruption in various areas of the criminal justice system, from cops to lawyers. It got me thinking about the way cops are portrayed in the movies and more often than not, they are presented in a bad light. Our February 2012 King Dong, Denzel Washington played a dirty cop in “Training Day” and Keeanu Reeves was a corrupt police officer who did not play by the rules in “Street Kings.” Hollywood seems to thrive on story lines where cops are of low moral character and it appears to be rare for audiences to find a good cop on the big screen -- regardless of whether they are detectives, street cops or undercover police offers.

Good cops, just like movies with good cops in them, however, are out there -- as depicted in “Miss Congeniality” where Sandra Bullock plays an FBI Special Agent who goes undercover as a beauty pageant contestant to prevent a terrorist attack. So the next time you have a holiday party or other social gathering, try putting a positive masquerade type of spin on the whole undercover cop plot for some lighthearted fun. Host a masquerade party based on Disney's "Tinker Bell" movie, where your female guests are required to dress like Disney fairies.

All of the fairies don't have to be based on a fairy who is in the movie, which provides more flexibility for your guests to choose one based on who they like and/or the costumes that they can easily put together at a moment’s notice. Bess, for example, would be my personal choice despite the fact that she's only in the books since this particular Disney Fairy appears to be the only one whose favorite color matches a party mask that I already own. She and I also seem to have a lot in common -- go figure! She likes to paint. I like to draw. She likes blueberry pie. I like blueberry cobbler. She is messy. I tend to not only be messy but also very unorganized -- have you even seen my non-alphabetized movie collection?! Case closed.

 

During your party, provide all guests with a pencil and pieces of paper to write down who they think is under the mask during a fun guessing game. The object of this game is to try to figure out which guest is posing as what Fairy. Now, how is THAT for a little no-so-private investigation where the scene is more colorful and no one is at risk of getting shot or arrested?!!

Did you know? - Late actress Brittany Murphy was originally selected to play Tinker Bell in the Disney movie, before the role went to Mae Whitman!

If YOU (or your wife, girlfriend, daughter, etc.) were to attend a party dressed as a Disney Fairy, which one would you pick (or recommend to the female in your life) to go undercover as a masked fairy?

 *Disney fairy costume photo by Maryssa.