The Broken

I watched The Broken recently and went online the next day to find comments about it. Between audio problems (caused by the channel) and video issues (my TV doesn't do dark scenes well), I almost gave up after a few minutes. Still, I continued. I wanted to know what was going on. Well, that wasn't easy. Maybe I could've figured it out much sooner if I'd been able to see what was on the screen well enough. I have a feeling that's the case, but I'll never know.

We were trying to decide on a movie, and the short description on the cable guide was intriguing. The Broken is about a woman whose life spirals out of control after she sees herself driving down the street. See? Doesn't that get your attention? Don't you want to know what's going on?

As I said, I went online to see what people were saying about The Broken. This movie has a lot of haters out there, which puzzles those who love it. I didn't hate it or love it. I thought it was interesting but wouldn't put it on any list of my favorite movies. I'll probably try to watch it again someday to see whether I can pick up the clues now that I know what to look for. Although it's sometimes referred to as a horror movie, there aren't many gory scenes. The element of horror is present, but mostly, I'd say it's a thriller. It's definitely not for children.

Since I didn't love it or hate it, I won't recommend it or say you should avoid it. I don't want to give anything away, but if you're looking for a movie that will make you wonder what's really going on and have you changing your mind back and forth, this could be it.

Set in London, The Broken stars Lena Headey. It is rated R.

3 Movies Worth Watching: Media Mayhem Blog Hop

This is day two of RJR Daydreamer's Media Mayhem blog hop, which means it's time to talk about movies. Specifically, I'll tell you about three movies I feel are worth watching.

Cold Comfort Farm
Cold Comfort Farm stars Kate Beckinsale as a young woman who moves in with some eccentric relatives. There are several memorable quotes in this movie, and they're repeated so often that you can say them right along with the characters. My favorite is, "There's always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm," which involves a bit of action in addition to those eight words. Check out this PG-rated movie and you'll see what I mean.

Dick
Set during Nixon's tenure in the Oval Office, Dick stars Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst as teenagers who get caught up in the Watergate scandal. Rated PG-13, this is the funniest movie I've ever seen about Watergate.

Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is in a class by itself. Dark, moody, and filled with '80s music, this is a movie most people either love or hate. I think it's great, but it's definitely not for everyone. As for the music, it includes some fantastic songs such as "Head Over Heels" and "The Killing Moon" (the director's cut substitutes "Never Tear Us Apart" for the latter). Jake Gyllenhaal has the title role in this R-rated cult classic.

RJR Daydreamer Media Mayhem Blog Hop

I've decided to participate in the RJR Daydreamer Media Mayhem Blog Hop. This particular blog hop lasts three days and covers three different types of media.

Saturday's post will be about music. Specifically, I'll be writing about three songs that I like. They don't have to be my absolute favorite songs; I just have to like them. That's good, because choosing my three absolute favorite songs would be an impossible task. I'd be changing my mind every few seconds!

On Sunday, I'll be writing about three movies I like. This could be really interesting. At this point, I have no idea which three I'll cover.

Monday is the last day of this blog hop, and its post will be about blogs. I don't traditionally cover blogs here at Ellie's Couch, but I'm going to write about some entertaining ones to keep the theme going.

Time to sign up is running out, so add your link before it's too late!

One-Hit Wonders

A one-hit wonder is a recording artist that has one major hit and then never achieves that level of success again. The exact criteria vary from one definition to another, from placing the song anywhere on Billboard's Hot 100 to maintaining that only #1 songs qualify.

While looking at a lot of lists of one-hit wonders and the songs that made them famous, I came up with a list of my favorites. I had doubts that some of the ones I saw really only had one hit, but I wrote them down anyway. Then I chose ten to mention here.

Here are some of my favorite hit songs by one-hit wonders, in no particular order:

1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (The Verve) - A phenomenal song, and a great video to go with it.

2. "Under the Milky Way" (The Church) - It's hard to get better than this song, which was later included in the Donnie Darko soundtrack.

3. "I'll See You in My Dreams" (Giant) - One of only two power ballads included on this list, although there are probably others I could have mentioned.

4. "Bad Day" (Daniel Powter) - A catchy song with a good video.

5. "Don't Close Your Eyes" (Kix) - The second power ballad I decided to include here.

6. "Tainted Love" (Soft Cell) - This one will always remind me of Port Charles, which made good use of the song during its "Tainted Love" arc.

7. "The Promise" (When In Rome) - This is a nice, catchy song.

8. "Cry Little Sister" (Gerard McMann) - This theme from The Lost Boys has been covered by several bands and re-recorded by the original artist, but the original version is my favorite.

9. "Cry" (Godley & Creme) - Somehow, I completely missed this one until seeing the video a few years ago. Priceless.

10. "Major Tom (Coming Home)" (Peter Schilling) - This follow-up to David Bowie's "Space Oddity" tells what happened to Major Tom.

When Books Become Movies

As someone who likes both reading and watching movies, it's sometimes hard to decide which form I'd rather indulge in. Differences between a book and its movie adaptation can nag at me, even when they don't make a difference to the story. Because of this, I've found that it usually helps if I see a movie long after having read the book. That way, the text isn't fresh in my mind, and I can appreciate the film version better.

I found three books that I think have potential on the big screen. The publication dates range from 1982 to 2007, and I read them all fairly soon after they were published. If you're a fan of Christopher Moore, Dean Koontz, or Bentley Little, check out my picks for books that should be movies.

What does this template have to do with arts and entertainment, anyway?

Wondering why I chose this particular template? Funny how that happened.

I was looking at templates, rejecting quite a few but adding almost as many to my list of maybes. When I saw this one, I knew I had to have it. I just didn't know where I was going to use it.

I narrowed down the list to a more manageable size, still trying to assign templates to each blog. When I saw this one, I actually thought, Ellie's Couch.

If that were the scene outside my window, I'd want to curl up on the couch and read a good book or maybe watch TV. Either that or just enjoy the gorgeous view.

Then when I asked for my husband's opinion about which templates to use on which blogs, he also chose this one, but for a different reason. "It's cinematic," he said. I realized he was right. That gorgeous scene could easily have been taken from a movie.

So, that's how it happened. I realize that most people probably won't see it as a logical choice, but it makes perfect sense to me. Maybe someday I'll change it, but for now, it's here to stay.

Motel Hell: Cult Classic from the '80s

Motel Hell is a hilarious classic horror movie from 1980. The title is something of a play on words, depicting both the name of the motel and the general state of affairs for the unfortunate soul who wanders anywhere near the motel and its proprietors. The story takes place at the very rural Motel Hello. However, the letter "O" on the sign has a bit of trouble, its light flickering on and off. The light on the other letters are fine, so that when the "O" is out, only the first four letters of the word remain. "Hell" is a good description of the motel, as you're about to learn.

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Welcome to Ellie's Couch

When I watch TV, read, or listen to music, I'm usually on the couch. For me, it's the most comfortable place for those activities. That's why I chose "Ellie's Couch" as the name for this blog about books, television, music, and movies. I won't be writing about everything I'm watching, reading, or listening to; that would be a monumental task. Instead, I'll choose the most interesting ones and see how that goes.