Category: movies

Persuasion, 1995 movie

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Leads- Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds

Anne rejected Wentworth eight years before due to the influence of a family friend and is now considered an old maid at 27.  When Anne’s family is forced to rent their home due to money problems, Anne once again finds herself face to face with Wentworth.  Only he is barely civil and she is more than disappointed.

I have not read this Austen novel yet (although it looks like I will be doing so in 2010 thanks to all of you voters) and only had a vague impression of its plot.  Although I thought the movie was quite slow in parts I still enjoyed it.  The costumes were wonderful and the two leads were very good. 

Because the movie can only be so long I am still left wondering about a few things, like the specifics of why Anne rejected Wentworth and what exactly was going on with her cousin and sister’s companion.  I am looking forward to reading the novel to fill in some blanks, but I thought the movie was beautifully done, as with most BBC productions.

This is my last Austen for the Everything Austen Challenge 🙂  I checked this movie out of the library.

You will choose 50 of the books I will read next year.  If you help me you could win a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble.  Go here to vote. (Right now the top vote getter is A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving)

Fave Film #15 – While You Were Sleeping

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1995

Cast- Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, Glynis Johns

Lucy (Bullock) is a Chicago subway worker with no family and few friends.  When the man she fancies herself in love with (Gallagher) is unconscious on the tracks with a train about to run him over she risks her own life to save him.  At the hospital, Peter is in a coma and confusion abounds with the family believing Lucy to be Peter’s fiance and she gets caught up in the madness.

Why I love it – I love Sandra Bullock’s performance in this movie and, like her character, fell in love with the Callahan family.  They were hysterical and the writing was top-notch.  The absurdity and warmth of the family made me understand Lucy’s ongoing decision to keep quiet about her deception.  It is the family in this one that is the stabilizing factor for this romantic comedy and I loved that.

This is a perfect time of year to watch this feel-good movie since it takes place over Christmas and the New Year.  It is a reminder to all of us who have loving family to celebrate the holidays with that there are those who could use a little cheer and an invitation to join in the celebration.  Lucy was adopted by a family that did not know her and I think that we could all benefit from taking that to heart.

I have seen this movie too many times to count and I love it every time.  It is my favorite Sandra movie and maybe the only time I ever felt like Bill Pullman was a great romantic lead (but feel free to tell me if there is a better one).  She is charming and likeable, as is the movie.  And when my husband gave me a choice, like Lucy, the only stamp I wanted in my passport was from Italy.

Interesting fact- Demi Moore was first slated to be Lucy.  I think Bullock was the perfect choice.  Only Bullock could have made this silly, sappy movie a success.

 

The Jane Austen Book Club- 2007 movie

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Cast – Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, KAthy Baker, Amy Brennenman, Maggie Grace, Hugh Dancy, Jimmy Smits

Five women and one man of varying ages and circumstances form a book club to read all six of Jane Austen’s novels.  As they meet each month their lives intersect with the novel they have read and friendships are forged, relationships destroyed, and insecurities conquered. 

I reviewed the book this movie was based on a few days ago and liked it.  I won’t get into a point by point comparison because the movie truly stands alone.  My biggest complaint was the Prudie storyline because that was the biggest change/addition.  I didn’t care for her in the book and I liked her even less in the movie.

I liked that this was a movie that revered Austen and literature and featured women as the leads.  All of these ladies were phenomenal.  The movie had more warmth than the book mainly because these women gave it more sparkle.  And I’ve never seen Hugh Dancy in anything, but what a cutie! 

To be honest, I don’t think the book storyline is better than the movie.  If I had to choose the movie or the book to recommend I’d probably choose the movie.  Crazy, huh?  Have you seen the movie?  How did it compare to the book for you?

I recorded this movie on my DVR.

Words Behind the Pictures Challenge – The Big Sleep

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Words Behind The Pictures Challenge

This month Michael challenged us to read and watch one of three Humphrey Bogart movies.  I chose The Big Sleep because it was the one I hadn’t seen before and ended up watching the movie before reading the script.  This may have not been the best way to do it, because I didn’t really enjoy the movie.  I know it is a classic, but even though I like old movies I can’t like them all.

The Movie

Philip Marlowe is a private detective hired by the dying General Sternwood to look into the gambling debts of one of his two daughters.  As Marlowe visits the general at his huge estate, he also meets both of the daughters, one appearing a little crazy, Carmen, and the older, haughty one, Vivian.  Vivian tells him he should also be looking in to the disappearance of a close mutual friend, Sean Regan.  The man who owned the debts, Geiger, is murdered and Marlowe finds Carmen on the scene.

Okay, the plot gets much more complicated from here, so I will not try and unravel it.  There were murders, secrets, lies, beatings, and disappearances and I was not playing close enough attention to make sure I got it all right.  Humphrey Bogart was very compelling as Marlowe and Lauren Bacall did a good job as the secret keeping tempter.  Bogart and Bacall were married when they filmed this and their chemistry is obvious.  The best part of the movie was watching Bogart in a perfect role for him. 

The Screenplay

I enjoyed the script so much more than the movie.  It was co-written by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Howard Hawks and based on the book by Raymond Chandler.  I found the script to be a great read.  It was so descriptive that it read almost like a book.  And there were scenes in the second half of the script that made more sense to me than the ones in the movie.

Actually, I would have liked to have read the book first, then the screenplay, and finished by watching the movie, but it’s too late for that.  In the first movie for this challenge  (The Fast Times at Ridgemont High) I preferred the movie, but this time I really liked the detailed script more than the star heavy movie.  Go figure.

Why not join us  next month?

Fave Film #16 – A Walk on the Moon

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1999

Cast- Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber, Anna Paquin

It’s 1969 and the Kantrowitz is spending another summer away from the city.  Marty (Schreiber) and Pearl (Lane) have been parents since they were 17, and 14 years and two children later they are comfortable in the life they have made.  Well, Marty is comfortable and Pearl is restless, wondering if life has passed her by.  Enter the Blouse Man (Mortensen).  In the age of hippies, Woodstock, and men on the moon, Pearl finds her own sexual revolution.

Why I love it – I should confess that I watched this movie after I fell in love with Aragorn in Lord of the Rings and I needed to see every movie that Viggo Mortensen had been in.  Imagine my surprise when I found this gem with Diane Lane, who I also love watching onscreen.  These two have some seriously hot love scenes in this movie.  I loved the Blouse Man and was hoping for a happy ending for him, I mean, it’s Viggo, so of course I was rooting for him.  Imagine my surprise when by the end of the movie I also had a crush on Liev Schreiber. 

The acting of these three with the teenager Alison (Paquin) and Marty’s mother (Tovah Feldshuh) was top-notch.  Actually I think Feldshuh stole every scene she was in and I loved her character, caught in the middle with the knowledge of infidelity. 

Apart from the outstanding cast and excellent acting I could feel for Pearl.  I do not have children, but every woman can relate to romanticizing the road not taken.  I may not have agreed with her actions, but I understood the motivations behind them.  The choices we make at 17 will still be with us at 31 (how old I think Pearl is).

And this was a story about marriage and what makes it work or fall apart.  It’s never black or white and this movie shows all of it shades of gray.  Oh, and did I mention it was hot? 

According to IMDb Lane wanted Mortensen for this role so much that she gave up part of her salary so they could afford him.  Smart girl.  Take a look at trailer and see if this might be a movie that you’d like too.

The rest of my Top 100 List.

Fave Film #18 – Bridget Jones’s Diary

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2001

Cast Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth

Bridget Jones has decided that this is the year for change, so she keeps a diary detailing her thoughts, sorrows, and exploits.  She’s sleeping with her boss and dealing with the break-up of her parents 35 year  marriage, but she’s still charming, sweet, and a little too obsessed with finding a man.

Why I love it – I will start with the obvious reasons first – Hugh and Colin.  Yes, yes, Renee was fantastic as Bridget (actually this may be my favorite Zellweger role), but it was the two leading men that kept my attention from wandering.  They were both perfect as the men on either side of Bridget.  I could, and have, watch these two in anything.  Colin did steal my heart in this one as a man of few, but absolutely romantic, words and longing gazes.

As for the movie, it had wit and humor and a main character that I both wanted to shake and hug, which is no small feat.  The girl is laugh out loud funny.  Bridget’s journey from clueless to fierce was wonderful to watch.  And Renee was fearless as Bridget, showing off the weight she had to gain for the role.

I liked it better than the book and that’s not easy for me to admit.  Perfect casting and great writing make this a lighthearted comedy worth watching.

Here’s my complete list of Top 100 Movies.

Fave Movie #50 – Made in Heaven

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Made in Heaven [VHS]1987

Cast- Timothy Hutton & Kelly McGillis

Mike is a young man in the 1940’s when he is killed saving the lives of others.  He is welcomed in Heaven where he meets Annie, a new soul who was born there, and falls in love.  Only in this Heaven everyone is eventually sent back to Earth and Annie is the first to go.  Mike strikes a deal with Emmett, the man running things up there, and Mike is sent back as a baby.  He has thirty years to find her or he will lose his true love for eternity.

Why I love it– This love story is original, romantic, heartbreaking, and pure fantasy.  The version of Heaven is not what I picture when I think about it, but it was not so heavy handed to be offensive to anyone.  This is a Heaven where you can fall in love, learn new talents, and be happy and there is nothing wrong with that.

The love story is so pure.  They are meant to be together, but it won’t be easy.  They have to struggle and grieve and hold on to hope.  And it’s about finding your life’s purpose and being good to people, because you will run into them again in this life or the next.

What really brings this story together for me, in addition to the wonderful Timothy Hutton, is the hauntingly beautiful music.  The song, We Never Danced, will make you sit through the credits happily.  I’m including a video that plays it twice with clips of the movie.  I’d recommend stopping after the first one finishes so you don’t see every scene of the movie.

A few fun facts-I am pretty good with faces and I watched this movie quite a few times in the 90’s, only I never knew who Emmett (the guy in charge of Heaven) was.  When I included this movie in Monday’s meme I found out who Emmett was and was SHOCKED!  It was uncredited and is supposed to be a surprise so I won’t spoil it.  But I warn you, if you can’t figure it out the first time you’ll have to watch it again to see.

And for you 80’s rock star fans, Tom Petty, Ric Ocasek, and Neil Young all make cameos.

Fave Movie #85 – The Ref

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1994

Cast – Kevin Spacey, Denis Leary, Judy Davis

Directed by Ted Demme

Gus is a thief.  He barely escaped his last heist and now he is stuck in a small Connecticut town on Christmas Eve because the police have blocked all of his routes out of town.  He takes Lloyd and Caroline, a married couple on the brink of divorce, hostage in their own home until he can figure out a way to escape the cops.  Except the bickering couple drives him nuts and the number of people coming to the house keeps growing. 

Why I love it– This is a dark comedy that is a perfect foil for the fluffy, feel-good holiday movies.  My favorite parts of the film are the rapid-fire, anger-filled exchanges between Lloyd (Spacey) and Caroline (Davis). This couple is riveting to watch and the small details of their unraveling marriage come out in bits and pieces, perfect to keep you watching.  How can they hate each other so much?   Leary was perfect as Gus, the long-suffering thief forced to put up with these rich people who seemed to have everything. 

Then the extended family arrives for dinner and the laughs provide relief from the uncomfortable family dynamics that come to an explosive head.  Glynis Johns as Lloyd’s mother and Christine Baranski as his sister-in-law were perfection!

After I watched this movie again yesterday I read that Demme had a different ending for Gus, but the test audiences hated it so he changed it.  Apparently he regretted doing so and I think I might have to agree with him.  I may have liked it even more the first way.   I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s something to think about if you watch it.

The movie’s not perfect, but there’s more good than bad and it has surprising depth.  If you dislike swearing, this may not be the movie for you.

My Top 100 List

Words Behind the Pictures Challenge- Fast Times at Ridgemont High

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When Michael posted about this challenge I knew I had to try it.  I love reading and I love movies, so the challenge was a good fit.  This month we had to read the screenplay and watch the movie and the chosen subject was Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  I was not excited.  I was just a few years too young to have seen this movie when it came out and have really only seen enough scenes here and there to know it was not something I’d like.  Anyway, on to the challenge…

The Screenplay

Michael provided the screenplay on his blog and I read it on one sitting last Friday at my computer.  This was my first screenplay and my first experience reading anything that long on my computer and I liked the first, but didn’t necessarily enjoy reading it on my computer screen.  It was relatively short, so it wasn’t too bad.

This screenplay was really the bare bones of the movie making process and I enjoyed reading it in that initial stage.  The description was so minimal that the sky’s the limit as far as your imagination goes.  I can’t really say I loved the story.  It had the stoner, the experienced girl, the use sex as a weapon girl, the shy boy, the solid older brother, but none of them were that recognizable to me.  Which leads me to

 The Movie

I totally loved watching the script come to life.  The great cast and setting and additions to the script all made the movie fun.  And truly, Sean Penn as Spicoli was the best thing about the movie.

They did change some things from the script.  Instead of using Carls Jr. and McDonalds’s they changed the fast food places to generic names.  Why do they do that?  And the abortion clinic scene was a bit different, in the movie they chose not to show that she was scared.  And when the girls were discussing sex by the pool I actually thought the script was more funny.

I liked the movie way more than I thought I would and if not for this challenge I don’t know if I ever would have sat down to watch it.  And I loved seeing the progression from script to movie.  This was a good challenge.  Why not join us next month by visiting A Few Minutes with Michael?

Fave Film #23 – Ever After

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1998

Cast- Drew Barrymore, Dougray Scott, Angelica Huston

This is a  romantic retelling of the fairytale Cinderella as the great great great granddaughter of the real Cinderella wants to set the record straight.  Danielle was a tomboy who never knew her mother and loved her father, and was excited by the prospect of a new mother and sisters.  When her father dies she becomes a servant to her new family.  After a few chance encounters with the Prince of France Danielle begins to hope that there could be a future for her that did not include cooking breakfast for her evil stepmother.

Why I love it – I am a sucker for romance and this one touched me when I first saw it at the theater and again when I dragged my husband to see it too (we were newly married and I probably would not try that now 11 years later 🙂 )  I thought Drew Barrymore was wonderful as Cinderella.  She was sweet, sympathetic, fiery, and brave.  And Angelica Huston as the evil stepmother was fantastic!  The casting of these two was perfect as was the rest of the supporting cast.  Prince Henry was a cutie and he won my heart when he took Danielle to a library for a date.

The casting was great, but I equally liked the retelling of the fairytale, full of strong women and the magical Leonardo da Vinci.  Although Danielle was the servant, it was Henry who would have to make sacrifices to marry her and the only power she had was over own mind.  She was a tough and vulnerable Cinderella.

Why did I watch this last night?  My husband and I watched the season premiere of House this week (yea, he’s back!) and his doctor was very familiar to me.  I didn’t know who she was but I kept waiting for her to turn evil.  About halfway through I yelled out, “That’s the evil stepsister!”  And it was, Megan Dodds.  As I watched the movie again I was amazed by how good she was at playing crazy.

My Top 100 movie list