He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not...

Title: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Director: Laetitia Colombini

Writers: Laetitia Colombini, Caroline Thivel

Starring: Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan

Grade: C+

Synopsis: A young woman falls madly in love with a cardiologist. At first it seems like a seemingly healthy relationship, apart for the her being his mistress, and him cheating on his wife, but a healthy relationship none the less. Until you hit the wall, a realize that what you've been told has been a lie since you first saw the girl in the flower shop.

Good Movie For: Audrey Tautou Lovers and people who like love stories with a twist.

I am absolutely and completely in love with France and french films. One of my favorite french actresses has definitely got to be miss Audrey Tautou. I have been quite smitten with her ever since I watched the quirky comedy love that is Amelie. So when ever I get the chance, I try to watch her films. Before I saw the poster on NetFlix, I hadn't really heard of this movie, but I thought hey, if Audrey Tautou is in it, I will probably like it. It's a cute story at first, but in my opinion it started off kind of slow. Just a typical cheater husband story, until you hit the twist, and it's a good twist. The movie all around is alright, not one of my favorites, but it is definitely memorable. A good watch for a lazy afternoon.

Battle Royale: Would You Kill to Survive?

Title: Battle Royale

Director: Kenji Fukasaku

Screenwriter: Kenta Fukasaku

Grade: A

Synopsis: In a war torn Japan, the youth have revolted against the authority. In order to send the kids a message, the adults agree to select and send a high school class to participate in Battle Royale. Battle Royale is a 3 day no holds bar competition for your life. In order to win, you have to be the last one standing. If you don't kill, you die.

Good Movie For: Everyone ... well maybe not babies, and children, and squeamish people.

For the longest time, I've wanted to watch Battle Royale, so when I saw that it was available on NetFlix, I immediately bumped it up to the number one rental spot. I was expecting a really good movie, on account of it's semi cult following, and I must admit, I was definitely not disappointed. When you hear a story about a school murdering each other to survive, your going to expect some gore, but I don't think that I expected that much gore, but that's what I like about most foreign films. There not afraid to punch you in the face with a cascading fountain of blood. Sometimes I feel like American movies seem to water down the intellect and gore, as if dumbing it down for their audiences. My one drawback though was the lead female character, Noriko. She's left standing with two boys, and it seems like she has done nothing really to justify her survival. She's always saved by the boys, and I just sort of felt that she should have maybe been a more of a heroine rather than the damsel in distress. Besides that, I completely loved this movie, and it has definitely easy became one of my favorites.

Ballet Shoes: A 1 .. 2 .. 3.. and Plea

Title: Ballet Shoes

Director: Sandra Goldbacher

Starring: umm ... Emma Watson

Grade: C

Synopsis: A young girl is adopted by her palentologist uncle Gum. Gum goes off on different adventures and in turn adopts three more little girls. The miss mashed family struggles to pay for their housing, and must struggle to find ends meat. The three girls are enlisted into a dance academy.

Good Movie For: People who love Emma Watson or love a slightly sobby poor becomes rich story.

I vividly remember being enrolled into a ballet school when I was about four years old. Not because I was dying to become a ballerina, nor because I had a passion for the ballet. It was because my crazy aunt bought me a tutu one year for Christmas. That was that. Tutu -> Ballet. I really and truly wanted to learn tap dancing, but at the time, a four year olds vote was always lost in the hustle. Looking back, I sort of wish I had stuck with ballet. Yea I was the tallest one in the group, and yea, I basically have the graceful equivalency to a cat with 1 leg, but now I have learned to appreciate the dance. Ballet Shoes was an all around good movie. Not an oscar contender by any means, but it was OK. I was sort of thrown off by the beginning though, but besides that it was pretty good.

Madeline: 12 Little Girls in 2 Straight Lines...

Grade: C

Synopsis: Based on the childhood favorite, Madeline centers around the twelve little girls living in Paris with their teacher Ms. Clavel. Basically the school that the girls attend is being closed down, and they must figure out a way to keep them and the house together. While on this mission, Madeline and Peppito, the neighborhood hoodlum run into clown influenced trouble.

Good Movie For: Uber fans of the book and or television show and people who like to reminisce on their childhoods.

I wasn't much of a fan of the book Madeline, but I can recall sitting in front of the television screen on countless mornings watching Madeline while eating cereal in my pajamas. It wasn't my favorite show, but hey, you have to occupy your time before The Elephant Show came on (Skinnamarink key dink key dink). The movie was good. I liked it, but it was just average. Not one of my favorites, but OK. There was a couple of awkward moments though. I'm a stickler for the score of a movie of TV show matching the contents that are being shown. I just felt that the end song didn't quite fit the Partisan feel of the movie. I would rather of had another track other than A Wonderful World. I mean I'm not knocking the song. It's a great song. It's just I feel like it didn't fit. Minor complaints, but all in all an alright watch.

Paris Je T'aime: Lost in love in the City of LIGHTS

I don't know where my obssesion with Paris began, nor do I know when this obsession reached such a high level. All I know is that I am in LOVE with the city of lights. A love, that is, an admiration from afar. I've never actually been to Paris, France, hell, I've never even been to Paris, Texas, but from the look of the pictures out of the city of love, I just sense that I'd fall deeply for it. I have tried however to study in the city, but a lack of students with innsufficent funds, and my two pushes to go to the beloved city ended in failure. Oh well, one day, someday, I be able to walk along the streets with my baguette and espresso in hand.

So because of my immense love for Paris, I am always up for watching anything and everything about the city. I've been wanting to watch Paris, I Love You for along time now. All in all, it was a really good movie. I enjoyed the different directors takes on the different areas of Paris. Some of them were better than the others, but all in all, it was good. Probably not one of my favorites, but it was good. I'd definitely watch it again.

My favorite short was probably the love story about two mimes who meet and fall in love in jail. I loved the little boy at the beginning with his gigantic backpack.

Coraline: Nothing but another mother...

During my freshman year in high school, I was a part of the honors English program. Honors? I know, me, smart? Oh the years when school was the most important thing in my life, but alas, it appears that as the number of my age has risen, the number of my IQ has fallen. Anyway, enough dwelling on my brain's eminent downfall. So during my stint in honors English, we were assigned a book report in which you had to write a letter to the author discussing the book. At this time in my life, reading an entire book was probably equivalent to getting a root canal done, but I've since learned to appreciate the knowledge gained from books. So I saw the book Coraline one day while gallivanting through the aisles of Barnes and Noble, and was quite intrigued by the cover that I decided to read it, or should I say try and read it. I actually got a couple chapters into it before it was engulfed in the black hole that was underneath my bed. So yes, I did bullshit my book report, but at that time, I had become a master bullshitter, and got an A. Even though your good at it, procrastination and bullshit isn't the best, but shit, I still do it.

I actually really liked the book before I stopped reading it, so when I found out that it was going to be made into a movie, I really wanted to read it and then watch Coraline. I have this thing where I set out to read the book before the movie comes out. Unfortunately, like many other times, my reading was not fast enough, or I kinda just gave in, and watched the movie. I liked it. Probably not one of my favorites, but it was good. The thing that really blew me away was the graphics and the design of the scenes. It reminded me a lot of my all time favorite movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas!

The opening sequence in particular reminded me a lot about the characters in Nightmare. When the doll of Coraline is being made, I got a lot of flashbacks to Oogie Boogie and Sally.

So for the longest time, I thought that Nightmare was directed by Tim Burton. I've realized that I've become a huge fan of Mister Burton, finding out that most of my favorite movies were made by him. So when Coraline came out saying it was from the director of Nightmare I got really excited for the new Tim Burton flick. Upon further research I realized that the director was actually Henry Selick, and the Tim Burton was a writer. Oh the things you learn from IMDB.

Let the Right One In: Vampires, Boys, and Snow.

I've always had an affinity towards horror movies, but in the past I always was deathly afraid to watch them by myself. It was definitely a love hate relationship with me and the horror genre. I would love the thrill that the movies gave me while I watched them, but I would hate the paranoia that filled my mind once I went to sleep at night. Last quarter, I decided to take a horror film studies class. I know, it sounds really stupid considering that I'm such a wuss and can't handle the scares, but I mustered up as much courage as I could and sat down in the lecture hall, and waited for the teacher. Since the quarter has now ended, I've realized that I have a new love for horror films. I think that taking the class and understanding the different types of horror and dissecting the films really helped me to pay attention to the stories rather than the scare.

We viewed many classic horror films, and some new age ones. One name in particular was circulating all throughout the class curriculum. The teacher would constantly talk about Let the Right One In, and I thought that we would be able to watch it as the last movie, but sadly we didn't. I've been wanting to watch this for a long time now, since my friend recommended it, but have just been too scared to.

All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. I thought that it was well directed and well acted. The movie centers on two young kids. Oskar is sort of the runt of the litter at school. He's constantly picked on and hides in bathroom stalls in order to avoid confrontation. A new girl moves into the apartment next to him, and they soon become best friends, but there is something different about her. Eli, is a vampire. Oskar and Eli, find a kinship with one another. They're both outsiders looking in; Oskar is a social outcast, and Eli is a lone Vampire in a world full of humans. I found myself rooting for the relationship of Oskar and Eli. They are in a sense the villains of the movie, in that they murder some innocent people, but their longing to fit in with one another makes you hope for the best. I thought that this movie was so beautifully shot, and that the setting of the events was placed so perfectly. Having the deep red blood bounce off of the crisp white snow was so visually compelling. I really enjoyed this movie, and if you aren't too squeamish about shooting blood then you should really rent it.

Step Brothers: DON'T TOUCH MY DRUM SET!

With a photo like that, how could this movie not be funny. I first watched Step Brothers in the movie theatre, and I thought it was funny, but it wasn't hilarious; I've laughed much harder in other movies. I decided to watch it again, because I noticed that my friends and family would reference scenes a lot. I wasn't sure if I just didn't find it funny, or if I was eating popcorn at the time, and didn't hear the dialogue. It centers around two 40 year old man babies who have to come to grips with their impending maturity. Dale and Brennan are lost in this fantasy world, and are abruptly thrown into the shark tank to fend with the other adults. At the end it sort of plays off of the idea, what is better, being true to yourself, fitting in with society. After watching it a second time, I still think it's funny. I think what put me off the first time was that this was much more provocative than most Will Farrell and John C. Reilly films. F-Bombs were thrown all which way. Where as their comedy movies were still raunchy comedy, but it was far more subdued and guarded.

There was a couple of scenes where I laughed much more than I did in the movies theatre, but I think that all in all it was a fun movie to watch. So If you want lucid comedy with balls thrown at your face, the Step Brothers is definitely the way to go.

Away We Go: to San Jose

Since this movie came out earlier this year, I've been meaning to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. The story centers around Burt and Verona, a never going to get married couple who try to find a new home to settle into before their baby girl enters the world. The quirky cast is made up of some of the finest actors with the most impeccable comedic timing. The off the wall situations that Burt and Verona get into sway your emotions from laughing hysterically to balling with sadness.

I found myself falling madly in love with Burt. John Krasinski plays him perfectly, getting the perfect combination of nerdy misfit and loving romantic. I'm not much of a fan of The Office, but I think after this movie I may have to start Tivo-ing it, in order to get my weekly fix of the Sinski.

The Swan Princess: Oh How I Long to be Odette

Once I read the familiar title on the Netflix menu, endless nostalgia driven memories engulfed my mind. This was one of, if not the one, most cherished movie of my childhood. I remember sitting in front of out little television screen with my vhs in hand, just waiting for my turn to choose the next movie.

I think that it's every little girl's dream to be a princess and marry a prince. My dream was to be Odette. I loved her name, and I loved her. I thought that she was so beautiful and strong.

Alas, I never reached my dream of marrying Derrick and being rescued as a Swan. But this movie brought back many good memories of times past. Yea, it may not have that great of a story line, and the visual effects kinda suck, but the memories of my favorite childhood movie make this little gem priceless.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: It's like The Christmas Carol on Crack

Or should I say it's like The Christmas Carol high playing bongos, considering who the main actor is. You maybe wondering "with so little time, why waste you movie marathon on this?" Yes, I know, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is not going to win an oscar anytime soon, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for a Rom Coms. The movie centers around a wheeling and dealing womanizer who at the end, like many typical Rom Coms, changes to become a sensitive romantic with a heart a gold. The only girl that can change him and his cheating ways is his true love, the one that got away. It was.... cute. Not the best chick flick in the world, but it was alright. Not my favorite adaptation of the Charles Dickens' classic, but it's ok.

I was quite surprised though, that Matthew McConaughey remained fully clothed for the entire movie, there were some questionable shirts that appeared to have an opening down to his belly button, but it was a piece of fabric none the less. This was quite shocking knowing that he's probably the biggest shirtaphobic in the world.

Mister Postman look and see. If there's a letter in the mailbox for me.

I wake up today and see this in my mailbox.

OK, I know this isn't really something that exciting to normal, sane people, but hey, let me enjoy my little gleam of happiness.

Let the movies ROLL!

"Let's do the Time Warp again!"

There's nothing better than a hot cup of tea and a movie.

The winter movie marathon has finally begun, and to set off the festivities, I thought that I should start with a crowd favorite and cult classic. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has always been on my must see list. So the DVR was set, and the watching commenced. All in all, I really liked this movie. I wouldn't say that I've fallen absolutely, completely, and madly in love with it, but it was good. Maybe I just need to watch it again in order fully appreciate it. I was extremely happy that this musical movie was not like the typical I'm singing about everything I'm doing genre, i.e. singing about lighting a candle uhem, Rent, uhem. The tunes were catchy, and I was interested in the characters. Rocky Horror also seemed to cement my love for the one and only Mister Tim Curry.

His unabashed nature towards quirky rolls has truly made me appreciate him. He has enough balls to play a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania. Somewhere down the line you just have to respect that. Maybe I'm just biased because he's the hero in one of my all time favorite movie, The Worst Witch.

So with the start of my winter movie marathon, I've begun to venture outside of my normal romantic comedy box, and try on some other genres. I'm going to try and tackle as many movies as I can, and hopefully I'll be able to have a broader understanding of films when winter quarter classes commence in January. So bear with me as I embark on this journey into film land.

Winter Break Movie Marathon

Fall quarter 2009 is officially over! My fall classes commenced at approximately 12:36 this afternoon, and my bright eyes couldn't have been any happier. The countdown started once that first procrastinated final project had begun. A movie, a script, and a portrait later I sit here in the living room with absolutely no idea of what to do with my next three weeks. I've sadly figured out, through my classes about anything and everything film, that I am well far behind the wave of intelligence that flows through the halls of the Film and TV department. Alas, I've decided to dedicate this winter break to a Winter Break Movie Marathon! Specifically in order to enhance my knowledge of the movies past, in order to feel a little more competent in the next film debate during a lecture. Netflix has been started and the hot cocoa is boiling. So let the movies roll.