Monday, May 28, 2012

Valentine's Day, What Lies Beneath & You've Got Mail


There are so many movies to watch in so little time these days that I bring to you another edition of my mini-reviews.  I love to write reviews at length and detail with splendid screen shots but that eats time fast.  I’ve resorted to at least giving some thoughts about movies I’d most likely never want to give my precious time to in a more detailed review.  Without further delay let’s begin.

My mini-reviews are as follows:

Valentine’s Day (2010)

                When I saw the DVD cover for this movie I wanted to see it 100% because of all the familiar faces on it.  I mean isn’t it like 20 or so of them?  Anyway it’s a decent love angle where all the characters intertwine with one another in interesting ways.  There are people you like along with those you despise depending on your view of what love is supposed to be.  Ashton Kutcher is the lead role for the most part and doesn’t annoy me like in so many other parts he’s played.  I’m going to pick one of the stories from one character in particular that really got me in the heart and I didn’t even see it coming.  Julia Roberts plays a soldier flying back home and she sits with Bradley Cooper for nearly the entire movie.  They talk back and forth and entertain you as much as the other little stories but you learn Roberts is coming home to visit someone special.  I immediately think a husband or at least boyfriend but at the end I was moved by even more than that.  She comes home to see her little boy and embraces him after not seeing him for almost a year.  The boy had his own story that gave no indicator of Roberts being the mother or the elderly couple who were Roberts’ parents apparently.  It’s a funny movie with that love deal as well but it’s worth a watch.  I know I ruined the best story for you but it’s possible you can still feel the love in that scene in the right mood.

Rating: 6.5 of 10

What Lies Beneath (2000)

                I was never into movies like this at the time it came out and I’m still not but that’s why we have wives so we can become aware of these anyway.  I like the two leading people Harrison and Pfeifer, well what guy doesn’t like her right?  The movie starts off a bit silly and I found myself laughing while trying to focus on how the story is trying to be serious.  The typical unraveling process of a movie like this isn’t anything special but the acting performances really lift it.  Harrison Ford is a busy as can be man at work while Michelle Pfeifer is a stay at home woman who recently had her only daughter jettison for college.  Pfeifer begins to see a ghost and even suspects her neighbor of murder as she is the one who seems to be losing her marbles.  In a movie like this you always know something is going to have to twist at some point but you get the idea it must be Ford because of the lack of any other characters.  Toward the end it all pieces together that he’s the bad guy who had some love obsessed college girl after him until it resulted in her untimely death.  The depth of Ford and Pfeifer’s characters is acceptable and you understand why Ford did what he did.  It’s not some hogwash story filled with drivel that falls along the lines of a cheap thriller that pops up around October every year.  I’d recommend it since its not gory and nasty but more suspenseful if anything.

Rating: 7 of 10

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

                 In watching this now it’s neat to remember how the beginning of this internet era we live in today all began.  Do you remember that annoying AOL dial up?  When I saw it in the movie it took me right back to those days and I was forever happy dial up died.  Meg Ryan is a silly funny character especially in the movements she makes throughout the movie.  She has a small time book store that prides itself on service and high prices!  Tom Hanks is the corporate monster everybody hates but reluctantly goes to because the prices are so low.  The two of them meet and become enemies to a degree as they learn about each other while maintaining this e-mail connection in which neither of them knows who the other is.  It plays out pretty funny and clever but does drag on for my liking.  I’d imagine females would melt over the romantic way Hanks eventually snags Ryan.  It’s neat to watch Hanks be the corporate raider looking to destroy any bookstore in his path.  It’s possibly as bad as Hanks could ever be anyway; he seems like such a nice guy.  He slowly transforms into a man who grows a heart and longs for more than what his pitiful father is.  He wants that true love with someone who will share it for the long haul.  I especially like how a boy about 5 years old is Hanks brother while a little girl around 10 is his aunt.  No, I’m not making this up it’s actually in the movie!  Watch it and you’ll see, it’s worth it even to a science fiction nut like me where there is 0% of aliens or anything remotely strange and creepy going on.

Rating: 7 of 10


I hope you enjoyed these brief summaries.  Here is a link to my other mini-reviews check them out!
Dark Shadows & Thor


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2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your mini-reviews Scott and it certainly helped that you featured films starring four of my favourite stars of the 90's Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Michelle Pfeiffer and Meg Ryan.
    What Lies Beneath isn't Pfeiffer or Ford's best work but as you point out it's a decent, suspenseful thriller, and Michelle is always incredibly alluring.

    As for You've Got Mail, I know guys aren't supposed to admit to liking rom-coms but I'd have happily given up everything for the 1998 vintage Meg Ryan.
    For me Michelle and Meg were the pre-eminent actresses of that era and although Pfeiffer may have been the better actress and was undoubtedly more beautiful, Meg was always more appealing, at least in my eyes.

    I can't offer any insight into Valentine's Day because I haven't seen it, I was never that big a fan of Julia.

    I'll check out your Dark Shadows and Thor post.

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    1. I agree with your Meg Ryan & Michelle Pfeifer comparison. I never thought of it in that way exactly but it makes great sense, well done.

      I'm not a Julia Roberts fan either but its rather the moment created between the mother and the son that really stirs up emotion for me. It's really the only part in the "love" movie where you do get roused up which in turn is a bit of a downer.

      Anyway I'm glad you liked the post and thanks for the insight-fullness you brought with the words above.

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