Reviews

My husband and I went out to watch The Proposal last night with a pretty full theater. I have to admit we, and the rest of the theater, were laughing repeatedly throughout the film. Bullock and Reynolds are incredible comedians and the film is very entertaining. I would definitely recommend it for both men and women.

The only problem I did have with the film was that it felt a bit rushed. The film could have easily been a good half an hour longer and it would have made the movie so much better. Bullock and Reynolds do have amazing chemistry together and feelings developing between the two of them are very sweet and they pull it off. The only problem is the plot forgets to really give them time to 'fall in love.' There are precious few scenes of the two of them alone together. A lot of the interaction is with Reynolds and his father and Bullock with the grandmother and mother... it becomes a love story with Bullock and family life and Reynolds almost seems to be pushing the business-deal marriage forward in order to spite his father instead of because he might be developing a soft spot for Bullock's character.

However, the scenes they do have together are very well done and the chemistry is very sweet. The movie is funny, the two leads are great together, and the movie has Betty White in it. What else can you ask for in a night out at the movies?! 8/10

As action movies go, they don't get much better then this.

The action scenes were amazing... I was sitting on the edge of my seat on more than one sequence. Of course some of it's a bit far fetched but come on... Aren't MOST action movies? James MacAvoy did an amazing job playing the average joe who is suddenly told he has the ability in him to be a "wolf among the sheep" I enjoyed his American accent. Angelina was great. She does very well in roles like this and even though she doesn't have too many lines she pulls off her character who TRULY believes in what she does very well. Plus, she's hot. I mean, I'm a woman who doesn't particularly even like tattoos and I have a crush on her.. ;-) In all I highly recommend this movie. Great summer entertainment!

Okay I rented this movie thinking 'typical romantic comedy' which are movies I tend to enjoy. However as the movie progressed I almost felt bad making my husband watch it with me.

The whole thing is a sappy ode to weddings in general... not so much the love of the bride and groom or the marriage or the love stories behind them even... just how amazing weddings are. Katherine H.'s character Jane only will kiss Kevin Doyle (played well by James Marsden) when he admits he cried at a wedding.

The acting was fine, there were a few funny moments, but the story was lacking.

This is one of those movies that is just better the second time you watch it.

The first time I saw this film was opening weekend in the theaters. From the previews I was expecting a typical Vince Vaughn film; a Dodge Ball or Old School type comedy about a break-up. However, a few minutes into the movie and you quickly realize the advertising was completely off the mark (and probably advertised it the way it did solely to get people to shell out $8 a ticket to come see it, not to be true to the movie). My husband and I found ourselves watching a movie that is not funny, horribly uncomfortable in certain areas, incredibly frustrating, and does NOT leave you with a typical happily ever after ending. Walking out you could hear the mumbling from the crowd and the consensus was clear: what was that? That was not the light hearted comedy we were made to believe we went to see. That was a drama, a drama I think that hits too close to home for many people and reminds them of things and fights they've had in their own lives.

So it isn't too big of a surprise that I had yet to watch the movie a second time until last night. A girlfriend of mine is going through a break up with her own boyfriend so we decided to rent The Break-Up and drink wine as a kind of theme night. I found myself surprised at how much I liked the movie the next time around.

The movie starts out with Vince Vaughn's character, Gary, and Jennifer Aniston's character, Brooke, meeting for the first time at a baseball game. She's there with another man and Gary doesn't care, happily pursuing her with his jokes and flattery. Then the opening credits catalogue the happy times of the couple with lots and lots of happy/funny/romantic pictures. Then we enter the real story, which is however many months or years later when the couple lives together and faces the same fights that a lot of people go through: he doesn't want to help clean or cook right after he gets home and she feels like all her work is taken for granted, he feels like she just needs to give him twenty minutes to unwind after work before he starts 'nagging' her.

The interesting thing watching their fights the second time around is how true to life this movie is. I think that is very hard for people to watch. We go to movies to escape reality, not see it on the big screen in an uncomfortably real way. The biggest thing that struck me is miscommunication. Each one of them couldn't get their message across and so they just ended up yelling at each other, each of them feeling hurt and attacked and neither of them really understanding WHY things were so difficult for them in the first place. I thought it was also interesting to see how much our friends influence us when we are in these types of situations. Both Brooke and Gary wound up talking to their friends before making most of their decisions about the relationship and what to do next.

After the couple breaks up, there is a lot of uncomfortable public fights that they have around their mutual friends. Then one of their friends, who also happens to be their realator, advises them to sell their apartment. Brooke secretly harbors a desire to get back together with Gary and starts to look for ways to get him to realize that he still wants her. She tries excluding him from their bowling team so he'll feel lonely, going on blind dates with other men to make him jealous, walking to the kitchen naked to make him see what he's missing... But all of this without coming right out and telling him that she didn't want to sell their condo and really just wanted him to show that he appreciated her and all the hard work she had put into their relationship. Gary tries as hard as he can to let Brooke see that he is not hurt or upset by her behavior, and after she leaves for one blind date (that she incidentally ditches as soon as she is out of sight of their Condo), he has his brother invite some girls over for a strip poker/dance night. They both do ugly things to hurt each other and underneath it all they still have feelings for one another...which is a sad fact of life. We all do things when we are hurt and angry that are hurtful to someone that we care about. (I am actually really proud of these two actors for making a movie dedicated to that part of people's lives, it was done very well.) The scene towards the end when Gary makes dinner for Brooke was very beautiful...and also very unexpected. It was so anti-Hollywood. It would have been easy to say happily ever after but they took the more complicated approach, which I think probably upset most people watching the movie. I hope if you sit down to watch it again that you can appreciate it MORE for its decision to do that, however. It is not always easy to make a movie that doesn't wrap everything up with a pretty bow at the end...

The very last scene of the movie is my favorite. It leaves you with a feeling of hope that their could be more to this story, but not in the form of sequel or anything like that. But maybe, just maybe, this movie was just a glimpse at a bad time in the couples lives and you can let your imagination figure out what might happen to them next.

When I went to see Closer last night I wasn't exactly sure what I was in for. I had read a few reviews and knew it was mostly dialogue and that the movie could span months and even years in a few scenes. But the plot looked unique and I love the actors so I drove the extra thirty miles to Salem, the closest theater that had it playing, with a friend of mine to watch it.

I was very impressed. The acting was amazing. I especially loved Natalie Portman's performance. The scene with her and Clive Owen's character in the strip club was really fun to watch; definitely new territory for the actress. She is so gorgeous, too! I have known that, of course, but saw it more in this movie. I love the flawless-ness of her face. (I'm envious!) She did a really good job with her character, and was by far the most intriguing character of the movie. She was mysterious, had lots of moods, and lied much more than you realize at first, even though she really is the only "victim" of the movie.

I liked the job Julia Roberts did just because it was so new for her. I thought that her and Jude had great chemistry and it was nice to see her break out of her romantic comedy roles. Jude did wonderfully, as always, although you inevitably hate his character. Clive Owen, whom actually acted in the original play, did a likewise good job at being very unlikeable.

The plot itself was very unique, and although weird at first, I ended up liking it. Especially on the drive home discussing the movie with my friend. I really think its a movie you appreciate more as time goes on. It starts out with the meeting of Jude and Natalie's character and then jumps a year to the next scene where he's written a book using her life (or at least what he thinks his her life) as his inspiration. Here you see him getting his picture taken by Julia's character and they instantly hit it off and start kissing. It's reeling at first, very hard to believe after just watching him fall for Natalie, but once you get into the pace of the movie you stop thinking about stuff like that. The scenes between the characters are so absorbing and their conversations so emotionally charged and shocking that you just live for the moment and the scene in the movie and forget about the fact that you didn't see the relationship lead up to this point.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is out to see something different-as long as they can handle some very sexually explicit language-and anyone who wants to see well-known actors try something incredibly new for them...and do a very good job at it.

I have just one word: Wow.

I saw this movie not expecting much and was completely blown away. The story and especially the acting was incredible! INCREDIBLE. I am now and forever will be a devoted Alison Lohman fan. I've never seen anyone take a character and make it more real than she did with Astrid. She made me cry more than once. It is amazing to watch it all the way through and then start it over again just to reaffirm the amazing transformation the character goes through from beginning to end. She not only looks different but her mannerisms are also so innocent and naive in the beginning. It's unbelievable. I have to say I am completely angry that her acting was not mentioned in any awards, nominations, or anything by Hollywood.

All the acting was incredible. Robin Penn, Renee' Zellwegger, Michelle Pfieffer; all did outstanding! I've never hated Michelle Pfieffer before but she did an incredible job being someone you could truly be disgusted with. Also loved the job...and sorry to do this but the guy who was in Almost Famous...have no idea what his name is...did. The love story between Astrid and him is very sweet.

As I said before I was very blown away by this movie. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone and hope it gets more popular as time goes on.