27 Dresses

i could have sworn that i’ve seen this movie before…oh wait, i have. it was called “Never Been Kissed.”

the story line was in such parallel dimensions that if you played the movies simultaneously, both couples end up kissing right at the same time at the end of the movie.

ok. ok. not that exactly…but haven’t we seen this already? someone falls for the person who is their target subject for the news article of the year, and decides to abort the initial plan, thus sacrificing their career advancement for true love, only to realize that the story is way to good not to be printed?

i mean, katherine heigl is typically the subtle comical force, but the plot line just didn’t pull enough originality. i also must have burped at one part cause i just didn’t understand how their relationship really blossomed into love, even though by the trailers alone, you knew she’d eventually end up dating an X-Men. but there were some good parts worthy enough for this to be some blockbuster night.

Knocked Up

the cast was great. the plot wasn’t stellar, but the progression of the movie and it’s fillers of the great writing of its characters were refreshingly comical. most often times, a movie focuses too much on 2 main characters that the movie survives solely on them, but this film did an excellent job on giving vibrant personalities to the supporting cast. granted, there was a lot of french spoken, but the humor spoke deeply about male/female relationships and their (mis)communications. fun. definitely funny. dynamic turn of inner character which is what i liked…you’ll appreciate it even more if you have kids- experiencing first hand the pressure of the unexpected during your first baby…the joys and oh the horrors.

Enchanted

very skeptical at first because you already know the plot line and sinker just by movie cover, but once you watch it, you learn to like its blunt cleverness in using sarcastic cheesiness of the typical fairytale and its perpetuated silliness of the lack of reality involved, like taxes or bodily emissions. i also liked the de-masculinity while still maintaining the hope that chivalry is not dead after all, yet also empowering the effectiveness of women in desperate times. i’ve always been one to scream at the female who spends countless times fainting or screaming when you have the usual circumstances of someone being eaten by a she-dragon.

the songs were palatable too, probably because of the distractions of colors, dancing, and subtle wit in the lyrics. it was an easy going movie, and that’s how it should be…but definitely a girly movie.

but emma even liked it, for the songs and over-capable chipmunk with more intelligence than the prince.

Across the Universe

this movie reminded me sooo of rent- a cast of friends with one couple in the forefront, amidst social turmoil- this time being international due to the vietnam war. the only thing that worked in this movie were the Beatles songs on remix- modernized and put to cinematic vision. Again, some songs worked, and the others didn’t. My favorite was probably Prudence’s song, the love songs, and "I Want You."

I also really appreciated "Strawberry Fields" for its brilliant symbolism. Strawberries nailed onto a white canvas, heart-like: vulnerable, passionate, and bleeding onto the earth. Like lives at war.

Overall, what didn’t work was the poor story line, the mediocre development and trippy scenes that were mere fillers.  Makes an exceptional soundtrack though!

La Vie en Rose (La Mome)

you’ll know I like a movie when i Google it afterwards like a stalker. and yes, this movie made me stalk 1- Edith Piaf and 2- Marion Cotillard.

the only known facts i previously had of edith piaf were those that were taught at my highschool french class- and of course the well known song "La Vie En Rose" which is one of my favorite jazz standard songs (although not her version).   So the movie filled me in on so much of the sadness of her life, her popularity. i question if she really believed her life to be "une vie en rose" despite the heartaches.

biography aside, the acting was superb. marion Cotillard definitely deserved the best actress Oscar. she was compelling- being able to act a range of not only age, but maturity as piaf gains social popularity.  I’m such a big fan for biography movies, and this one did it right- without trying too hard to present the drama and over-exaggerating the facts, although yes, there were moments of fantastical imagery.

i highly recommend this movie, esp. for piaf fans, jazz fans, french fans, and good movie fans.

Becoming Jane

anne hathaway bored me, being supposedly the heroine, and representing jane austen. she’s pretty, sure, but her accent was unconvincing, and she just didn’t seem to transcend to the story’s time. i also thought a lot of the story tried TOO hard to embody Jane’s Pride and Prejudice, but failing horribly and became a mere boring shadow of austen’s novel.

it just failed to portray what jane austen wrote about…the romance between the two just didn’t seem to deliver the restraint, and passion. the direction wasn’t convincing, and anne hathaway just didn’t convey it well. she lacked the complexity of her character and probably the maturity.

i really wanted to like this movie…but it was a disappointment. go see Jane Austen Book Club instead- or the other movies based on austen’s novels. This one lacked the bite.

The Jane Austen Book Club

i honestly recommend this movie to those who’ve read 4/6 of jane austen’s books, because you’ll recognize the witticism of the writing and subtle plot lines with your familiarity w/ jane novels. but if you haven’t, you should still give the movie a try because the dramas of different love stories try to be representations of the austen themes, giving you a good explanation that austen-ism isn’t completely dead after all. the complications of love transcends time and culture.

what i liked about this movie was the dialogue of austen’s novels between different perspectives and experiences, and not just a historic scholarly perspective, but more relatable and personal. it was fun to hear the dialogue about austen’s brilliant characters, and guessing which woman represented each of austen’s heroines.

The movie was subtle, but dynamic. It worked because of all the subplots culminating into one commonality- jane austen.