Monday, August 3, 2009

Through the Opera Glasses - 25 - It Could Happen to You














Geraldine over at My Poetic Path has a monthly prompt inspired by film titles.

"I’ve always been intrigued by movie titles," she writes. "Obviously, Hollywood and other film-makers work hard to weave their magic with the teaser that is the title. But what other roads could be explored with that very same phrase or word?"

The prompt for August is:

It Could Happen to You













This is actually a movie I haven't seen. There are a lot of those, which tends to confuse people who know that I went to film school. I wrote about this phenomenon over at my group blog, Popculturedivas:

The True Jaw Dropper - Films I Have Yet to See

It Could Happen to You follows the story of a Queens, New York cop (Nicolas Cage) who tips a diner waitress (Bridget Fonda) with the promise of half his lottery winnings - which turns out to be $4,000,000.00.

Could happen.

For Through the Opera Glasses today, I thought I'd take Geraldine's prompt and share with you some favorite TV shows and films that put my kind of quirky twist on the premise: It could happen to you...



1 - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe













It could happen to you...you're sent to live in the British countryside during the Blitz, and a game of hide-and-seek finds you hiding in a wardrobe that empties out into a land called Narnia. And the first person that you meet is a faun carrying an umbrella and an assortment of packages.





2 - Local Hero








It could happen to you...your boss sends you to a small coastal Scottish town to convince the residents to sell out for Houston oil interests, and oh yes, to watch the sky for a comet which the boss wants named for himself. And a hot marine research scientist seems not only interested in you, but may be a mermaid.




3 - Splash










It could happen to you...a respectable fruit and vegetable retailer should be able to find love in the Big City, but your heart belongs to the mermaid who saved you from drowning when you were a kid. And the naked woman who shows up at the Statue of Liberty reminds you of that haunting connection you once felt, but isn't this woman an obvious human, a frustrating one that you discover you finally can't live without?




4 - After Hours








It could happen to you...one night your trip home from downtown gets sidetracked, until you are seriously caught in the surreal zone between the last train and the first one for the next day. Will anything ever resemble normality again?




5 - True Blood








It could happen to you...you waitress in the diner of your small Louisiana town, trying not to hear the thoughts in other people's minds - because you're a telepath. Finally the most attractive man you've ever met enters the diner. You can't hear a thought from him at all. Because he's a vampire...who could ask for a more perfect boyfriend?




6 - The Phantom of The Opera






It could happen to you...your mysterious music teacher suddenly reveals himself when you show interest in a former suitor. Not only is your mentor irresistably hot, but he's also a homicidal stalker who retreats to his wind-up monkey music box when he gets upset.




7 - Night Watch (Nochnoy dozor)








It could happen to you...you seek the counsel of an old woman whom you've been told can get your unfaithful wife to return to you. When she casts a spell, you can see the sudden raid on her apartment by shapeshifters and officials arresting her for unauthorized use of magic. You discover you're a Light Other, and go to work for a secret service organization dedicated to watching over the activities of the Dark Others in an uneasy Cold War-like truce.




8 - An American Werewolf in London












It could happen to you...you packpack across the Yorkshire moors with your college buddy, stumbling upon the creepiest pub in all of England. A nightmarish attack by a werewolf turns out not to be a nightmare at all, and your romantic chances with the hot nurse who tended you in hospital get seriously jeopardized every time the moon comes out.




9 - MI-5/Spooks







It could happen to you...you find things heating up between yourself and a former fellow journalist, but you've hit on a monster story about British spy shop MI-5 and have to follow it. Arms-length objectivity flies out the window when you're pulled into a deadly hostage situation at a TV station and you end up working alongside MI-5 agents to sort things out. Why report on the news when you can make the stories that must be covered up yourself?




10 - The Bourne Identity











It could happen to you...you can't remember who you are or why high-powered killers are after you. Or why you are capable of dispatching an attacker with your bare hands. Or why these killers appear to be government officials.



Jennifer Leeland says I love the Bourne movies. Love them. Like candy.

Apprentice Writer says Julia! An astonishing thing happened. I saw 'Night Watch' at the library and CHECKED IT OUT! Even though it has fangs on the cover.

Shelley Munro says I'm a Bourne fan as well. There were some others here that looked interesting. :)

10 comments:

Jennifer Leeland said...

I love the Bourne movies. Love them. Like candy.
And I haven't seen some of these. Intriguing.
Pssst stop by my blog tomorow.

M. said...

Julia! An astonishing thing happened. I saw 'Night Watch' at the library and CHECKED IT OUT! Even though it has fangs on the cover. I'm also urging my Russian friend (who loves Harry Potter) to read it seeing as the tagline is 'Harry Potter in Gorky Park'

Shelley Munro said...

I'm a Bourne fan as well. I really enjoyed all three movies. There were some others here that looked interesting as well. :)

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Jennifer - Just headed over...

M - *delighted applause* Just watching this trailer for Night Watch (twice!) made me want to sit down and watch both films over again. Hope you enjoy the book.

Shelley - The thing I like best about The Bourne Identity is that it reminds me of Book One of one of my favorite series, the Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny. In Nine Princes in Amber, the main character Corwin wakes in the same sort of state as Bourne, discovers that he has equally amazing and lethal powers and has a pile of people trying to kill him. But then we discover we're in a fantasy novel, not in a CIA suspense flick.

Anonymous said...

I saw the first Bourne Identity (well the remake) 3 times in the theater. Loved it. But some of that magic was ruined when I moved to where it was filmed and recognized parts of the scenery every day.

True Blood was good until Bill started getting more lines. I loved the first eps of the first season, but the man has ruined the show for me with his overacting and v bad accent. I ffwd through his scenes now, but am close to giving up on the show altogether.

As for The Duchess... I was excited to see it, even with emaciated Keira in the lead -- but I was very disappointed with it.

Geraldine said...

I'm so glad you participated in the MMM prompt over at my blog Julia! I loved reading all these: what ifs...could happens...great job!

Mine's up over at MPP if you get time to stop by again.

Hugs, G

www.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com

Travis Cody said...

The Bourne movies are some of my favorite action films of all time. Lots of action, and smart too. Matt Damon makes a terrific action here in these.

And I don't even mind that the movie story wildly varies from the books.

poefusion said...

The Bourne movies are EXCELLENT. I also enjoyed The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (book and movie). Splash is iconic, loved it. Hope all is well. Have a great night.

lissa said...

love you how you present these possibilities,

have not seen much of the tv show/movies you have listed here but Splash is one my all time favorite film, love the star cross lovers idea and mermaids seem to always has this mystical thing about them

Opera Glasses said...

Yeah, definitely nice TopList!!! Bourne is the best though