I just watched 2 new movies. One was so-so and the other was touching, sweet, and very real.
So-So Review: The Last Kiss
I wasn't expecting this movie to be so depressing! Despite the script being very matter-of-fact and like normal dialog, it was really sad. You have 4 life long friends who's lives have either fallen apart at the beginning of the movie or crash and burn by the end. Even the free-wheeling surfer-type dude has a moment of "my life really is going nowhere" as he joins another dumped buddy for a road trip. Basically, Zach Braff's character is freaked out because his girlfriend, Jacinda Barret, is preggers and he thinks his life is done and over. He then meets Rachel Bilson at a wedding and has a brief stint in an adulterous world. Watch it if you want to feel depressed, want to feel better about your life, or want to feel assured that life can deal some pretty crappy hands but your friends will always be there for you. If you like Zach Braff and you haven't seen Garden State, rent it now to feel better. You will like this movie if you liked: Moonlight Mile, Beautiful Girls, The Groomsmen.
High Recommendation: All the Real Girls
In a way to sum up the theme of this movie, the main character played by Paul Schneider says to the most painful love of his life, "This is between me....and me." Though this is another movie about 4 life long friends, in contrast one of them starts to date his best friend's sister. A ladies man by trade, Schneider rediscovers the man he wants to be with Zooey Deschanel, the sister. Not to give too much away, but he ends up getting a piece of what he dealt and learns a lot about himself in the process. This movie involves an ensemble cast that each have their own relationships. You have brothers and fathers, best friends, mothers and sons, kids and kids, a man and his dog. Shot on a low budget, there are no fancy effects or cookie cutter sets. No one lives a glamours life. This is bare bones about love and relationships. It's about loving your family and loving those around you. It's about everyone getting by in the best way they can. You will like this movie if you liked: Say Anything, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or Good Will Hunting.
Movie Review
Movie Review
Blockbuster Online reviews
I'm still on my online rental kick and I love it. It takes about 2-3 days to return a movie and then receive a new one. Extremely fast!
Here are my recent views and reviews:
Dead Girl: This all-star cast including Toni Collette, Giovanni Ribisi, Rose Byrne, James Franco, Mary Steenburgen, Marcia Gay Harden, Kerry Washington, and Brittany Murphy tells the story of the brutal murder of a runaway and the ripple effect it has on the community where she is found. The movie is told in a chapter format and replays the events both before and after her death. It was a short movie (for today's standards), but instantly engrossing. You might like this movie if you liked: Memento, The Black Dahlia and Identity.
Brick: Another movie about solving a murder, but set to an entirely different beat. And unlike that traditional high-school flick of parties, sunny California beaches and shopping, this movie gives a glimpse into the dark and twisty reality of the high-school drug underworld. The hero of the sordid tale is Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Third Rock from the Sun, 10 Things I Hate About You) who is tracking down the killer of his ex-girlfriend who had turned to the dark side and disappeared. He quickly finds himself engrossed in the world of crime, seduction, and coverups in the effort to unlock the truth without getting killed. Reviewed as a modern day "film-noir" in the styling of Dashiell Hammett. You might like this movie if you like: River's Edge, Heathers, Alpha Dog, or The Salton Sea.
I Capture the Castle shows have been Law and Order, Cold Case, American Justice, etc). : I do have a lighter and brighter side to me. I am not all morbid like you might think by my previous film choices. I just have a liking for crime dramas...always has (Law & Order, Cold Case, American Justice). Anyway, I have a soft side for romance. In this movie, we meet 2 sisters in 1930s England who have been trapped for more than 10 years in a castle that their father had purchased with the hopes to write the follow-up to his first successful novel. Feeling rammy with the knowledge that they were going nowhere fast, the eldest and more beautiful of the sisters set out to meet a suitor who would save them from despair. Two American men enter the scene and change their lives forever. The beautiful sister makes herself love one of the brothers while he becomes the object of affection by the younger plain narrator. The classic heroine of the movie, the plain Jane, is in search of real love and is instead trying to maintain normalcy among the family that has been swept up by the empty joy of wealth and fortune. By the end, she has felt love and been broken by love, but is hopeful to feel again. You might like this movie if you liked Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Shakespeare in Love, Enchanted April and Mermaids.
I didn't really like: Borat (shock among all shocks....but I find myself saying "Very Nice" all the time!) & Forty Shades of Blue.
Next in my queue: All The Real Girls and I'm With Lucy
Blockbuster Online-Recently Viewed
I just signed up with Blockbuster Online and I was already impressed that my movies showed up 2 days after I put them in my queue. They sent me 3!
This is not a review, merely just a hey, this is what I just watched and my brief rating:
Notes on a Scandal: ooohhh so good. Judi Dench is caaareeeepy! Kate Blanchett is wonderful as a emotionally vulnerable teacher who strikes up an affair with her student. Judi Dench is a veteran teacher with whom she befriends not without some consequences. The rest is a roller coaster. 5 stars!
High Art: The drug scenes were a little uncomfortable to watch, but it was a good departure for Ally Sheedy before she went all Buried Alive on us. I really like Indie flicks..the kind you find at the film festivals. Don't watch this if you are a little weirded out be drugs and lesbian scenes. It was a powerful movie, but I wasn't as drawn into it like Notes. 3 1/2 stars.
Next up: Borat!
In my queue: I Capture the Castle, Catch and Release, Because I Said So, Dead Girl, Queen, Brick, Forty Shades of Blue, All the Real Girls, and I'm With Lucy.
**If you've seen any in my queue and have any comments, please feel free...
