Alice (1990)

This film comes and goes in how good it is. The premise is marvelous, the ending is thoroughly satisfying, and the scene where she meets a former lover is very touching. As a whole, however, there are a lot of scenes that don't ontribute much to either the film's plot or the film's tone, and really don't seem to have any purpose at all. Woody Allen's films often meander into discussions of the philosophical, but this seemed not even to have that in mind most of the time. Not one of his better ones, although still worth seeing for a fan. 3 stars.

27 Dresses (2008)

Plot: After serving as a bridesmaid 27 times, a young woman wrestles with the idea of standing by her sister's side as her sibling marries the man she's secretly in love with.

A romantic comedy really only requires two things to make it work: a guy and a girl that you want to end up together. This has that. Katherine Heigl is a charming bridesmaid doormat who has never said no to anyone in her life, while James Marsden (who is rising in fame, hoorah, hoorah) is a charming cynic, and it's easy to root for the two of them to finally realize they're meant to be with each other. The movie tries to be a bit deeper than it's really able to, but plays well with concepts, hopes, and dreams that are easy to relate to and cheer on. Fairly well-done. 3.5 stars.

Across the Universe (2007)

Plot: The music of the Beatles and the Vietnam War form the backdrop for the romance between an upper-class American girl and a poor Liverpudlian artist.

It's hard not to compare this to Moulin Rouge, another movie musical using pop songs along with creative visuals to enhance the songs. So I'm not going to try to not compare them.

Moulin Rouge was definitely better. Beatles songs actually *are* better, but much of the time it felt like they were hesitant to play much with the actual musicality of it. The visuals, sure, the visuals can be as crazy as you want-- but the music has to stay classic Beatles, at least in tone, or everyone will be angry. Well, unfortunately, that means that many of the vocal performances sound like nothing but decent American Idol performances, lacking much of the musical originality that Moulin Rouge brought to the table.

However! Visually, this works almost as well. Not every scene is pushed quite to the extreme of Moulin Rouge, but there are definitely a lot of scenes that I remember because of the stunning visual effects. My favorite was probably the bizarre twist on "I Want You," where a series of robotic soldiers put several young men through a series of tests to determine draft eligibility.

Although this review is now incredibly long, I just wanted to briefly mention a few of my other favorite moments: "With a Little Help From My Friends" becomes a rollicking, well-natured partying song that conveys a warm fuzzy sense of camaraderie. "I Am the Walrus" is a stunning psychedelic whirlwind. "Strawberry Fields Forever" takes on a dark undertone as an artist furiously struggles to portray his thoughts on canvas. And "Across the Universe" takes place in the middle of a peace-march-turned-riot, as the singer stands amidst the screaming crowd firmly vowing, "Nothing's going to change my world."

Lots of brilliance throughout...and definitely worth rewatching. But all-in-all, it was just slightly disappointing, falls *just* shy of the mark of greatness. So close, Julie Taymor. So close. 4 stars.

10,000 B.C. (2008)

Plot: A prehistoric epic that follows a young mammoth hunter's journey through uncharted territory to secure the future of his tribe.

I have pretty much no reaction to this film. That's how interesting it was. There was nothing that made this film stand out against others in its genre or style. Nice try, but nothing really came out of this. 2.5 stars.

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)

This movie was beautiful. Visually, thematically, plotwise... everything was just gorgeous. It managed to perfectly manage that delicate balance between "Ooh, artsy, visually interesting stuff!" and actually being satisfying as far as a movie story goes. Definitely one of the most stunning movies I've seen in awhile. I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

Hmm. War training movie romantic comedy? No, that doesn't sound like my type of movie, does it? And it really wasn't. It started out interesting but then got very disjointed and wandered all over the place. Couldn't decide on a sensible balance between the two genres, mostly. Plus, you can't really take any movie ALL that seriously when it includes a guy in a Navy uniform yelling, "I don't want you to love me! I don't want anyone to love me! I just want out!" 2 stars.

About a Boy (2002)

Plot: Based on Nick Hornby's best-selling novel, About A Boy is the story of a cynical, immature young man who is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy.

Now I can finally take it off my "want to see it" list and put it on my "finally saw it" list. This movie was recommended to me by both Anna and Sarah L, so I figured there had to be something to it. There definitely was. This movie kept me solidly entertained the whole way through, and there were even a few moments where I laughed out loud. But besides just being amusing, it was also making a bit of a point. Sometimes movies that make a point end up sounding pretentious and preachy, but this was... surprisingly heart-warming. Definitely quite a good movie. 4 stars.

An Affair to Remember (1957)

Such a fantastic chick flick. The characters are interesting, and even though it's loaded with sap, it still manages to keep me interested, proving that when sap is surrounded by good characters and dialogue, you can most definitely still have a good movie! 3.5 stars.

An Ideal Husband (1999)

Yay for Oscar Wilde. Honestly. His plays are so delightfully witty. Or, at least this and Earnest are. I've never read any of his others. They might be horribly boring...but somehow I doubt it. While the storyline of this is much more serious and less outrageously funny than Earnest, it was still - really, the only word for it is "delightful" - viewing and one that I'll probably watch again in the future. Thank you, Sarah L., for recommending it to me. I'm eternally in your debt. Or something. 4 stars.

A Night at the Opera (1935)

Plot: A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

After a huge parade of Marx Brothers movies, I got this reluctantly, wondering, "Will these movie antics now be really old?" The answer, to quote John Adams of 1776: "NEVER! NEVER!" This is probably my second favorite, after Animal Crackers. Two of the most utterly classic and utterly hilarious scenes in movie history come from here - the scene where everyone's packed into Groucho's barely-big-enough-for-him-and-his-trunk room, and the scene where all the furniture between two rooms is switched around for no apparent reason. Come on. How can you not love that? I laughed long and hard all the way through this movie. May these films "be a beacon of hope to all who tread these grassy hills" (erm... this time quoting Alfred from Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed). 4 stars.

50 First Dates (2004)

Plot: Henry Roth is a man afraid of commitment up until he meets the beautiful Lucy. They hit it off and Henry think he's finally found the girl of his dreams, until he discovers she has short-term memory loss and forgets him the very next day.

HATE FOR THIS MOVIE CONSUMES MY SOUL! 0.5 stars.

American Graffiti (1973)

This is one of those movies that everyone loves and I find pretty boring. But it's a classic so I suppose I'm glad I saw it. Maybe I'll appreciate it some day, I just obviously can't right now. It just felt... lacking in... something. I never really cared about most of the characters, and just found myself going, "Um... okay. This is it?" Ah well. 1.5 stars.

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

I'm VERY not fond of these movies that take fairy tales or dated stories and throw all this modernized humor into them. (Another prime example - Ella Enchanted.) It really ruins the spirit of the story. That being said, it makes sense that I hated this movie and found it mostly just stupid. I mean, come on. Martial arts in the middle of this story? Pfft. However, there *was* one part where I began to giggle uncontrollably... that San Francisco beggar was GREAT! Reminded me of the Clown or whoever the one loony guy was from Much Ado About Nothing. 0.5 stars.

Airplane! (1980)

YES! Now *THIS* is my kind of comedy! Sarah L., you would love this movie since apparently we have the same sense of humor ;-) I found myself laughing out loud at several different points in the movie. At one point I nearly fell off the couch, I was laughing so hard. While I'm sure most of my friends would watch this and be all, "Erm... this is dumb," I will be satisfied that I have FINALLY found a comedy movie that I find really, really funny. Oh, note though. I saw it through www.CleanFilms.com (if you sign up, let me know so you can sign up through me cuz I can get points and stuff for that *grin*) and according to Mom, there's so much junk in the normal version that it's not really worth seeing. 4 stars.

Another Thin Man (1939)

As murder mysteries go, it was pretty mediocre, but Nick and Nora are so great together and play off of each other so well, it was still incredibly easy to watch. Please note that, yes, this is exactly the same review as I wrote for The Thin Man. With these, you've seen one, you've seen them all - but they're fun anyway. 3.5 stars.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Plot: Two hapless frieght handlers find themselves encountering Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man.

Um....I can't believe I got this out of the library. I mean, Abbott and Costello movies aren't exactly profound...but I have to admit, I enjoyed most of it. Whenever there was actual plot, it got boring, but as long as it was just silly rambling, it was definitely fun. ("What's in there?" "Broom closet.") 2.5 stars.

Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

Hmm... getting a musical solely on the fact that it's a musical certainly doesn't guarantee it'll be good. Irving Berlin's never been a favorite of mine, so very few of the songs really made me sit up and take notice. "I've Got the Sun the Morning," while ridiculously unnecessary to the plot, was fun, and "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" was simply classic. To my horror, though, my two favorite songs from the show ("Old-Fashioned Wedding" and "I Got Lost In His Arms") were cut! That alone brings this down a couple notches. But Betty Hutton's charming performance as the eager, tomboyish Annie Oakley, brings those notches back up. ;-) 2.5 stars.

Baby Boom (1987)

As far as romantic comedies go, this one isn't bad. It's got one major plus - a very cute baby - and one major minus - the girl returns to the country. Dang it, why aren't people ever content to stay in the city? I've seen too many of these "city doesn't fulfill, country does" movies, and they make me angry. Still, the baby was cute, and Diane Keaton's character was very likeable... so I suppose that compensates enough. 2.5 stars.

42nd Street (1933)

Plot: A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star.

I got this out of the library having heard several of the songs from the show on my showtunes radio station ("Lullaby of Broadway," "Sunny Side To Every Situation," and "We're In the Money") ... and then proceeded to discover that NONE of those songs were in the movie! It had a grand total of four songs (one repeated twice) and none of the ones I knew. Aghast, I went and looked up a synopsis online... the Broadway production had NINE songs that the movie didn't. This leads me to believe that it was a vaguely musical movie that then was transformed into a fully musical stage production, because cutting nine songs and not even replacing them with anything would just be stupid. The movie itself, sans music, was only decent. The dialogue was stilted, and at a few parts my father pointed out that any movie with such fluff in it today would be laughed out of the theater. Although I don't know... The Wedding Planner was generally applauded... Oops. Did I say that out loud? *covers mouth* But in general, this movie was a waste of time (no money wasted no this, luckily). Don't bother with it. 1 star.

An American in Paris (1951)

Ah, the early romantic musicals. Full of great song and dance numbers and generally ridiculous plot contrivances to make the songs fit together. An American in Paris is a prime example of this. The songs are all nice, but they just don't fit in the plot. I mean, come on. The boyfriend releases the girl to go back to the man she loves - and has a smile on his face the entire time. "By Strauss" couldn't really have any conceivably normal lead-in... and "I Got Rhythm" was made incredibly irritating by a bunch of little kids screaming "I GOT!" Sheesh. 'Tis a marvelous song, must it be ruined? *sob* However, if Gershwin's your forte and you don't mind silly plot contrivances... go for it. Er. Not ruining "I Got Rhythm." Watching the movie. 1.5 stars.