Archive for the 'Romance' Category

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

Published
by
Chalupa
on March 9, 2009
in Based on a book, Based on a true story, Comedy, Journalism and Romance
. 0 Comments

Based off Toby Young’s book, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is the story of a magazine editor from the UK coming to New York to work for a more successful company.  Sidney Young, played by Simon Pegg, definitely isn’t your classic “charming” Brit like a Colin Firth or a Hugh Grant.  He’s loud, crass and offensive.  He seems to have a knack for saying the wrong things at the wrong time and taking the party to a “whole notha level” and embarrassing himself to no end.

Clayton Harding, played by Jeff “The Dude” Bridges, started the magazine Sidney came from and we get the hint he might see a little of himself in Sidney.  He does a wonderful job playing the hard nosed boss who gives interesting advice and rarely passes up a chance to put his employees in their places.  Rounding out the cast are a lot of recognizable faces including: Gillian Anderson, Thandie Newton, Danny Huston, Miriam Margolyes, and Kirsten Dunst.

This is another one of those movies that received raves reviews from some and awful reviews from others.  While I wouldn’t say this movie is going to win any awards, it’s kind of like how Sydney describes Con Air as being the best film ever.  There are a lot of good elements, hilarious scenes, and it’s just plain fun to watch.  Pegg’s character is a bit grating and not very likable.  I think the film makers were banking on Pegg just being so likable that he would counter-act the character he was playing.  I think that might work if you’re already a fan of the guy and know some of his previous work.  Overall, Sidney doesn’t really have any epiphanies or have any major change.  He just is who he is.  Part of this is probably sticking to the original source material.

One aspect I really loved were the Lebowski references in the film.  Watching the “making of” featurette Jeff Bridges mentions being good friends with the director, Robert Weide.  At one point Sydney mistaking calls his landlord “Mrs. Lebowski” while mispronouncing her name.  In another scene Sydney calls his boss, played by Jeff Bridges, “dude” to which Harding replies, “I am not the dude.” It was also great seeing two actors, Chris Dowd and Katherine Parkinson, from a British show I just started watching, The IT Crowd.

This is definitely something to check out if you’re a fan of the actors in this.  I wouldn’t say  you absolutely have to rush out and rent it for tonight though.  I enjoyed this much more than Pegg’s last film I saw, Run Fatboy Run, and Bridges gets much more screen time than in Iron Man.  Be aware of the R-rating though.  After seeing Watchmen yesterday and watching a fanboy father bring in his three, under the age of 13, children in, I’ve once again become aware of the importance of not sitting children down in front of inappropriate material.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 24, 2009
in Adolescence, Comedy, Drama, Music and Romance
. 0 Comments

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a movie I was really looking forward to.  Being a huge Arrested Development fan, I’ve always been on the lookout for Michael Cera and have really enjoyed his roles in Superbad and Juno.   Now there’s another movie starring Cera and it has something to do about music.  I know it came out a while ago, but I’m just now getting to it on my Netflix list.

While on the surface, the story of some teenagers (I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to be high school students) driving around all night trying to find where their elusive, favorite band is going to be playing in New York City might sound cool, I was a little disturbed by the sub plot.  You know, their seemingly alcoholic friend, Caroline (Ari Graynor) who is so drunk she has no idea where she is or what happened to her.  She was initially handed off to some friends of friends but then came to in the back of a van and “escaped” her kidnappers.  You see, she heard the other occupants in the van talking about a song and assumed she was about to be date-raped.  So while this funny, teen-romance comedy is taking place Nick (Michael Cera) and Norah (Kat Dennings from 40 Year Old Virgin) are also trying to find Caroline.  They’re essentially chasing her around town to all of her “favorite puking places” and eventually meet up with her by the end of the film.

I feel weird saying it, but I must be getting old.  I’ve never really been bothered by these more “sophisticated” teen comedies before, but this time I really just felt out of my element.  While there were some funny moments, the whole situation just seemed a little ridiculous.  Is this just because I’m not 17 years old anymore?

I was also expecting some awesome music to be had but I must have missed it or just had too high of expectations.  Has anyone else seen this flick?  I’d really like some feedback here.  Was I just not in the mood and need to give this a 2nd chance?

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Run Fatboy Run

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 17, 2008
in British, Comedy, Feel Good, Marriage, Romance and Sport
. 0 Comments

When I saw that Simon Pegg was involved in another film, how could I say no?  Especially when said movie was called Run Fatboy Run?  If you’re not not sure who Pegg is, you might recognize him from his collaborations with Nick Frost in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.  One surprise was to see the film was directed by David Schwimmer.  I’ve never been too hip on his acting skills.  He just always seems to play Ross from the TV show Friends.

Anyways, back to the movie.  This reminded me a lot of About a Boy.  The plot really isn’t the same, but there is a child involved and a man is trying to impress a woman.  Oh, and there are the British accents as well.  Pegg plays Dennis Doyle, a bit of a loser, who had the girl of his dreams but freaked out the day of the wedding and literally ran off.  Libby, played by Thandie Newton, is said girl who several years into the future is now set to marry Whit, played by Hank Azaria.  Doyle sees there only one thing he can do to prove he’s more of a man than Whit, and that is to run a marathon.

I’ll agree this film may be a bit cheesy, but it’s one of those “feel-good” stories, and probably something most of the family can enjoy.  With the holidays coming up, I always start thinking about movies that aren’t too annoying that would be appropriate to watch with the family.  There are some usual Pegg antics and hilarity in here, especially with his Indian landlord.  Hank Azaria has been good in every role I’ve ever seen.  Strong cast, good story, and funny to boot.  You should probably check this out.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Mongol

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 6, 2008
in Asia, Assassination, Based on a true story, Biography, Drama, History, Romance and War
. 0 Comments

Here’s an amazing story that has really been needing a film - Ghengis Khan.  Mongol is an amazing film that chronicles that story of Temudjin, who eventually became known as Ghengis Khan.  One reason this is somewhat feasible is because there are many written accounts about this man and how he ruled the Mongols.

The story is really amazing how the young son of a slain ruler is kidnapped, enslaved, and jailed - yet never gives up.  He just keeps getting back up.  I can’t really comment on how Temudjin really was, I’m sure the peoples he conquered weren’t exactly happy to be conquered.  He seemed to be just in what he did though, and he didn’t forget those who were kind and who helped him.  Some parts of the film really personified “an eye for an eye.”

I’m not exactly what language was being spoken in the film, but I assumed it was the native Mongol tongue.  That’s always something I enjoy about films.  Not so great though for those of you who detest subtitles.  To that I say you should get over it cause you’re missing out on some good films.

One aspect I wasn’t sure what to expect was the war factor.  I’m glad to say this wasn’t turned into an action flick.  That would be interesting to watch, but this was mainly focused on Temudjin’s life and his relationships with people, including his best friend who eventually became his enemy.  Definitely rent this and check it out if you’re into historical films, like history, or are into Asian culture.

Rating: ★★★★☆

August Rush

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 6, 2008
in Drama, Music and Romance
. 0 Comments

I had high hopes for this movie.  It just looked so “feel good.”  That’s probably why I was disappointed with it.  The cast was promising touting big names like Robin Williams, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, and the talented Freddie Highmore.  It also looked like it could be good like the popular indie flick Once.

I think the hardest aspect for me to buy in to was the magical realism portrayed in the story.  You have a very musically talented man and woman who fall in love and “make a baby” one fateful night.  The girl’s father decides she doesn’t need a child because she has her career as a cheloist.  So the baby boy is given up for adoption and has been living in an orphanage.  So one day the boy is exposed to music and he turns into Mozart on steroids.  He believes the music he creates will bring his parents back together and reunite them as a family.  That’s what made me roll my eyes at this movie.

Performances were ok.  Everything seems very much like a Charles Dickens’ story.  Highmore did pretty well and the music was interesting.  You have to remember though, that musicals rarely float my boat.  They’re just not my thing.  Maybe that’s why I couldn’t get into the story very well.  I’d be interested to see what other think.  I’m kinda feeling like maybe the movie wasn’t so cheesy, but just not my style as with Across the Universe.  I’d love to hear any thoughts anyone else has.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Raising Victor Vargas

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 4, 2008
in Comedy, Coming of age, Drama, New York and Romance
. 0 Comments

I’m not really sure why I added this one to my Netflix queue.  I think it was suggested to me as something I might like.  Writen, directed and produced by Peter Sollett - you might recognize his name in conjunction with a new film coming out, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist starring the ever-funny Michael Cera.  I wasn’t really sure what to think of this film.  I think part of the confusion was with the title.  Raising Victor Vargas would imply it might be about Victor growing up or his parents raising him or something.  The story starts off with Victor being ashamed everyone in the neighborhood knows he’s dating a “fat chick.”  So he heads to the pool with his sidekick to try and change his reputation.  We eventually get clued in to his interesting homelife and his grandmother who is raising him.  So I thought maybe the story would be centered on the grandmother, but it wasn’t.  I want to say I didn’t understand the point of the story, but that just sounds bad…even though I still feel that way.

If you check out the cast list on IMDB, you’ll notice that most of the characters real names are also their character names.  I’ve always though that must make the acting a little bit easier.  The two people I recognized were Melonie Diaz from Be Kind, Rewind, and Victor Rasuk from Lords of Dogtown and I’m Reed Fish.  I appreciated the effort put into accents and vernacular.  It seemed to fit the time and place, or maybe it’s just what I’m used to from watching TV.

Overall I wasn’t really thrilled with this one.  I know movies can just be entertainment; they dont’ have to always teach you a lesson.  This one didn’t seem to have a lesson, there wasn’t any major closure, there didn’t even seem to be much of a character change in anyone.

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Across the Universe

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 6, 2008
in Drama, Musical, Romance, Vietnam and War
. 2 Comments

I thought this film looked really cool when I started reading about it and saw the previews and trailers. The concept seemed cool. It was a heavily Beetles influenced love story. I missed it in the theaters and heard some not so great reviews of it. I think I now know why people didn’t like it. This film really seemed like it was trying to copy the success Baz Luhrmann’s success with Moulin Rouge!. The only problem was the movie just didn’t seem to have much direction. Now I know this sounds crazy because how could a movie have no direction when there obviously was a guy called a “director” directing it? I don’t really know the answer to that question, but it just seemed to lack an over-arching vision.

Starring Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess (21) and set during the Vietnam War, this movie follows the romance of an upper class girl and a poor artist. Sounds a little bit like Moulin Rouge, right? The tagline also happens to be, “All you need is love.” I’m not sure why Luhrmann did it so well and Julie Traymor didn’t. This turned out to be one of those movies I had to force myself to watch - and that doesn’t happen very often. Maybe it’s because I’m not a huge fan of musicals. If any of you have seen it and have some thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The Other Boleyn Girl

Published
by
Lij
on March 28, 2008
in Based on a true story, British, Drama, England, History, Romance and Royalty
. 0 Comments

Ask people what they know about Henry VIII, and you’ll hear one thing: he killed his wives.

People more interested in history will also tell you about his divorce of his first wife, his splitting with the Catholic church, and his major impact on world history because of those two splits, but most people at least know that Henry VIII killed his wives.

In The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn and Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn, director Justin Chadwick attempts to explore the earlier parts of Henry’s reign. This is before Jane Seymour, before his second and third Catherines, and before he’d begun beheading people because things weren’t going his way.

Eric Bana plays the king, and he does well. Johansson plays the kindhearted Mary Boleyn well, while Portman is at once endearing and conniving. You want to like her because she is strong and unwilling to be trampled, but she’s also self-centered and self-serving. Her fate, though, is still tragic, and her final monologue is excellent.

The story follows Mary and Anne as they are ordered through their lives by the men around them — their father, their uncle, their husbands, and more. It’s upsetting to see them traded as commodities, which is basically how the men in their lives see them. Even Henry VIII, who is either in love with or infatuated by each of them from time to time, is shown as loving them only because they are what he can or cannot have.

Mary is the first sister to become the mistress of the king, who is being driven to desperation by his wife’s inability to give him a male heir. Anne only becomes the mistress of the king later, after she manipulates her way into a better place. This works for and against her.

I liked that the film didn’t try to hard to make you love or hate any of the characters. It did well to show them as human enough that you care for them, but it also showed that they were flawed. Some more than others.

Rating: ★★★½☆

2 Days in Paris

Published
by
nathanshorb
on February 13, 2008
in Comedy, Drama, France and Romance
. 0 Comments

Julie Delpy has proven herself quite well in this past year’s offering, 2 Days in Paris. Not only does she star in it, it’s her directorial debut. But that’s not all, she also wrote it, edited it, and composed music for it. She probably did a few other things as well, like recruiting her parents to play as her parents in the movie. If the movie wasn’t anything worth watching, none of this would be very impressive. But since it’s a more-than-halfway-decent flick, it’s quite an admirable feat.

Delpy takes a cue from the tone that was set in Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. But where I thought those movies got lost in lengthy dialogue that didn’t really go anywhere and didn’t really amount to anything, Delpy instead chooses to do something with her movie. (That may be a harsh statement about two movies that were quite critically acclaimed, but personally, I’m still trying to figure out why they were so praised.)

Delpy is a Parisian who lives in New York, coming off of a Venice vacation with her American boyfriend and staying with her parents in Paris for 2 days. Voila.

The dialogue here is still as down-to-earth as those mentioned predecessors, and still with plenty of references to politics and art and the world. But here it’s quite funny and entertaining. The chemistry between Delpy and Adam Goldberg is enjoyable.

With this story, you get the inner workings of a relationship, the experience of culture shock, and the visit of the odd parents all in one shot. In each arena, the theme is explored with a rude–or perhaps honest is a more palatable word–sense of reality. Adam Goldberg is left all alone to fend for himself creating a comedic version of Lost in Translation. His facial expressions alone have almost a slapstick quality to them. The dynamic interaction of French and American is probably what this film does best.

While Delpy might tell her audience more than enough in her periodic narrations, many of these moments create beautiful, artistically creative scenes that round out the movie quite nicely.

Somewhere along the way, this movie failed to be a blockbuster hit or an admired art-house offering. But somewhere in the middle it became a fun story and a valiant showing of Delpy’s many talents, and that’s a fine place to be.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Atonement

Published
by
Lij
on January 24, 2008
in Based on a novel, Drama, Romance, WWII and War
. 0 Comments

Atonement is a beautiful film, full of stunning imagery and moments of musical intensity. I see why it recently won Best Picture-Drama at the Golden Globes — it is intense, what a movie critic would probably call “sweeping,” dramatic, heartbreaking, remorseful, and unusual.

The “sweeping” intensity comes from the fact that the film doesn’t spend a lot of time telling you how the characters got from one place to another. The first act takes place entirely over one afternoon and evening, and while it gives you a bit of backstory here and there, you’re pretty much right in the moment. The viewer almost feels the ungodly heat of summer in that act, as the characters try to stay cool. The plot goes back and forth in time a lot, giving you different perspectives on certain events. It’s jolting the first time it happens, but it is done masterfully and becomes a natural part of the flow.

The film is dramatic because it covers such monumental events in these characters’ lives. It shows how little decisions and misunderstandings can lead to life-changing situations. Young Briony, who could perhaps be called the main character, misunderstands and misreads so many moments that she literally destroys the lives of the people she loves, including her sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley, who is amazingly not mouth-gapingly irritating in this movie!) and childhood crush Robbie Turner, played by James MacAvoy, whose roles are getting more and more interesting.

Eventually, Young Briony grows up and is played both by Ramola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave, all three of them dwelling on the same part of Briony’s character: her guilt and how she comes to terms with it. (Yes, how she atones for it.)

The movie is certainly heartbreaking, but the rationale behind that claim is for the viewer to understand. I’m going to guess that many viewers will disagree on where the real tragedy is found in Atonement: in Cecilia, in Robbie, in their relationship, in the war, in Briony’s guilt, or in the moment early on when Robbie accidentally passes his dirty note to Cecila through a nosy Briony, causing the whole thing to change from innocent confusion to less innocent anger.

I would definitely recommend Atonement, and based on the recommendations of my good friends, I’m going to get the book and read it just as soon as I can.