Life is just a Movie Quote

“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” We all know that line. It’s one of the most recognizable quotes in movie history from, The Godfather. It has become part of the American lexicon. Many other quotes have also made it into our everyday speech, where we instantly recognize the meaning. “May the Force be with you,” from Star Wars, to “Here’s looking at you, kid,” in Casablanca. We all enjoy them and we all use them one time or another.

It’s Halloween time everyone; my favorite time of year, next to Christmas of course. My friends can vouch for me on how excited I get for the end of the month October festivities. But, Halloween isn’t just a one day celebration; you have to celebrate for the entire 31 days. Watching scary movies, carving the pumpkins, getting your costume ready, trick-or-treating, attending Halloween parties- anything and everything that gets you pumped for Halloween!
I had some great costumes through my trick-or-treating years as well. I was Esmerelda, Raggedy Anne, Morticia from The Addams Family, a cat, a witch, a genie…oh the list goes on and on! By the way, I have some pretty awesome costumes this year. I’m being Sookie from True Blood for Halloween (she’s a waitress) and I think my roommates and I might do the Spice Girls one time during Halloweekend.

I remember going trick-or-treating with my dad and cousins when we were little. We went around with pillow cases because we would get so much candy! We’d have to make a stop back to my house just to unload our first round of candy, then go back and finish at the rest of the houses. Upper Darby was definitely the place to go for trick-or-treating because of all the row homes on the block. Double the candy But, my cousins were the lucky ones because I wasn’t a big candy eater, so I would give them half of my stash.

The summer days are quickly drawing to an end (sigh) and too many back-to-school TV commercials are airing. Ever since I was little, those commercials always annoyed me for the sheer sense that they are reminding me vacation is over ☹. But, on the other hand, with the start of the fall season comes some awesome TV shows lined up. I’m not going to mention all of them, just a few of my personal favorites.

For those that have HBO, I hope you watch True Blood. If you don’t have HBO, I’m sorry. This show is about…vampires! But don’t worry, it’s NOTHING like Twilight. It’s currently in its fifth season, but actually one more episode is left for this season. With an awesome story line and amazing acting, this show is really captivating and will surely please!

I’m baaaackkk! It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had a blog up because I’ve been away on vacation in Orlando, Florida, then I headed down to Ocean City, Maryland for a few days. Now that the vacations are done, it’s time to start back on the blogs!

The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final installment of the Christopher Nolan Batman series, is causing such a stir nationwide. But don’t worry; no spoilers will be in this blog. What I want to do is take a look at all the different Batman serial films and theatrical movies and see the evolution of this masked superhero.

You have to be mistaken, there is no such thing as the “mob.” A classic line one would most likely hear from any family member that is involved in the “lifestyle,” as they like to call it. Everyone knows that in the mafia lifestyle, you must live by the words of: loyalty, honor, respect, and keeping your mouth shut.

My favorite reality TV shows is Mob Wives on VH1. Mob Wives is set in Staten Island, NY, and takes us into the lives of four women that are associated with the Mob. The first is Renee Graziano, daughter of Anthony Graziano, mobster in the Bonnano crime family. Karen Gravano is daughter of Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, or Sammy “The Rat,” whichever way you like to see it. I’m sure many of you heard of him, but he was the underboss of the Gambino crime family who turned FBI informant. Because of that, he’s lived in the witness protection program and even had plastic surgery done to alter his appearance to avoid any “hits.” The other two ladies are an Albanian and Italian. They married men who are basically robbers; I don’t consider them true mobsters like Gravano and Graziano. There are two seasons of the Mob Wives in NY, and currently there’s one in Chicago. The Chicago one has to grow on me; I’m not the biggest fan of it yet.

As I was driving down I-95 south one day, I was listening to a radio talk show. The host was saying that he and his wife allow their 10 year old son to play any type of video game that he wishes. One game in particular was Grand Theft Auto. He said that they don’t mind his son playing these violent and graphic video games because they have taught him that it’s just a game, and they feel that he has an excellent grasp differentiating between the game world and reality.

Grand Theft Auto is a video game where the player chooses to be either a criminal or a wannabe in some American city, and you rise in the ranks through organized crimes. There are different missions that one must accomplish, including assassinations. I’m not an expert in this game; however, I have heard that if you kill a prostitute, you gain a certain amount of credits. Again, this is the game that the show host and his wife allow their 10 year old son to play.

You’re sitting with your friends watching a movie, and all of a sudden, a Greek actor pops up and you get all excited. I know you’ve experienced this before. We Greeks get excited when we see a famous Greek on the big screen, and why shouldn’t we? We’re supporting our people!

The idea for this blog came to be as I was watching Dancing with the Stars, which stars Maria Menounos competing on the ballroom dance floor. I thought to myself, “There’s actually A LOT of Greeks in the Entertainment business now.” So what do I do? I wikipediad (verb- the act of searching something on Wikipedia) “Famous Greeks.” I thought I would know most of them, but I was really shocked when hundreds of –opoulos,- ides, -as, -os (you get the idea) came on the screen! Now, I won’t go through the whole list of them, because let’s be real, some of them are more famous than others!

I know many of you reading this blog may not like Hip-Hop and Rap music. I’m a little weary of it myself, considering that many of the rappers don’t do anything else but yell and grunt when they sing. But, this blog isn’t about the music. It’s about the fact that a rapper, dead for over 16 years, came back to this life and performed in front of a live concert audience!

There is a new video that went viral showing rapper Tupac Shakur performing at the Coachella Music Festival a few weeks ago. Now, for those of you who do not know, Tupac was shot and killed back in 1996. The concert featured a realistic Tupac performing live onstage along with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. At the end of the performance, Tupac stood facing the audience and vanished.

Sadly, on Wednesday, April 18, Dick Clark passed away at the age of 82 from a heart attack, leaving behind many fond memories for his fans to remember him by. He is most famous for hosting the television show American Bandstand from 1957-1987, the game show, Pyramid and of course, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.

Graduating from Syracuse University in 1951, in the following year, he moved to Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania where he worked as a disc jockey at the radio station WFIL. From this job, he was eventually discovered, and was asked to begin hosting American Bandstand. He first debuted in 1957 on the show with his interview with Elvis Presley. The show was originally set in Philadelphia and in 1964, moved out to Los Angeles. Clark was quoted as saying, “I played the records, the kids danced, and America watched.” But, American Bandstand was more than just a show that played records. Eventually, new singers came on and performed live and started a successfully career. Some include Stevie Wonder and Ike and Tina Turner. On American Bandstand, he was an important force in helping to legitimize Rock ‘n Roll, because of his clean-cut looks (parents were not afraid of him) and eventually in 1973, created and produced the American Music Awards. Clark and Elvis were household names in spreading this kind of music throughout the country. Simply, Clark created youth in the American culture.