Double Feature: Annie (1982) & Annie (2014)

Welcome to another double feature!

This time we are looking at adaptations and how well the 1982 Annie and the 2014 Annie compares. I have never seen the Broadway musical so I can’t compare to that experience.

Annie (1982)

Director: John Huston

Cast: Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters

A young orphan girl’s adventures in finding a family that will take her. – IMDB

Annie is a movie that hear of a lot but never got around to seeing. Its quite weird since I love musicals a lot and watch and rewatch them throughout the year. Annie is a really fun movie especially with the subject it deals with like an orphan waiting for her parents to get her at the orphanage run by a mean woman. However, Annie is never a sad movie buy rather a very charming one although sometimes the long runtime might be where it suffers a little. The songs are fun and catchy which is pretty important since this is a musical.

Aileen Quinn as Annie is a great choice. She truly comes alive on screen and makes us believe in Annie who is a positively bright ray of sunshine to everyone around her. She appreciates what she has and fights to protect those in need and knows how to find a way to stay hopeful no matter what. Her fascination with the world around her under Warbucks care is really cool to watch. However, the orphanage kids are all very fun to watch. My favorite two songs are the scenes with them for Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile and Its a Hard Knock Life.

The 1982 Annie is almost destined for success as it does have quite the brilliant cast. Albert Finney plays as Warbucks, a billionaire who believes in making money and capitalism until he meets Annie who opens his eyes to what he is missing. Daddy Warbucks is great and it goes all the way to creating memorable characters in his bodyguards, Punjab and The Asp. While I haven’t seen Ann Reinking in anything else, she also has such a wonderful role with Grace Farrell, who plays the private secretary/assistant and really forms a bond with Annie.

There was the surprise of seeing Tim Curry as Rooster. I absolutely love Tim Curry because he has an art of naturally capturing all the roles he does so incredibly well. The same applies for Rooster who really doesn’t have much depth other than being the greedy brother. Of course, we can’t forget the mean and yet very entertaining Miss Hannigan played by Carol Burnett, whose voice reminded me that I hadn’t seen Horton Hears a Who in forever and should soon.

Overall, I love Annie. I’m not a fan of the length and some of the songs I didn’t really care for but overall, it was a lot of fun.

Annie (2014)

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale

A foster kid, who lives with her mean foster mom, sees her life change when business tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. – IMDB

The 2014 modernized remake of Annie was a shorter affair than the original. While it still held some nice songs and changed the orphan to foster kid and even readapted the songs to work with that. They took out some songs and added some new ones. However, the songs are still decent and delivered for the most part alright.

Other than still liking the kids and wishing their role still was more, Quvenzhane Wallis truly does stand out as Annie. I haven’t seen Beasts in the Southern Wild yet so this is the first movie I have seen her in. Her modern parallel to Annie and Sandy being a beautiful Hachi dog was really great and possibly the best part in the movie. At the same time, while Rose Byrne and Jamie Foxx are both great actors. I can’t say that I particularly loved or hated them. They were okay however, also at moments felt awkward.

While Cameron Diaz has had some comedic roles in her career and even as someone who doesn’t always like the roles she plays, her role as Miss Hannigan was just way over the top and just too much that many times, it felt annoying. The same goes to the shallow character that is the equivalent of Rooster in the 1983 version but now is the PR guy for Warbucks to help him become the New York mayor which is played by Bobby Cannavale. I remember watching this guy before and him doing some other movies where I did like him but I honestly can’t remember anymore what they are.

Something about this remake felt like it was lacking some charm that the original had. Even if we put the comparison apart, there were some great moments in this movie and some nice choreography however, it did have a lot of moments that didn’t work well either.

Double Feature: Knight and Day (2010) & Bang Bang (2014)

Welcome to another double feature!

This time we have a deliberate pair-up. Knight and Day was released in 2010 and is a through and through Hollywood production with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. According to Rotten Tomatoes (and a few people that I mentioned to), it isn’t really that well received. Which makes it weird that it was turned into a Bollywood film in 2014 called Bang Bang! starring familiar faces like Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif, both of which I’ve seen movies of before. You’d think that I saw Knight and Day first but I actually saw Bang Bang first and then decided to give the original a shot to see how they compare.

Knight and Day (2010)

Director: James Mangold

Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Molla, Viola Davis, Paul Dano

A young woman gets mixed up with a disgraced spy who is trying to clear his name. – IMDB

Knight and Day is pretty much and action comedy with hints of romance. Its a fun ride with some awkward moments. You can never fault Tom Cruise for not delivering on action but how can we be satiated when we have the last two Mission:Impossible, right? With that said, there seems to be forced dialogue and some things that don’t always flow well along with characters that try to be deep but never quite hit the potential. It might simply be the fact that Tom Cruise has always been a cool dude so when he is doing the passive thing or saying some sarcastic or some misplaced encouragement or whatnot to Cameron Diaz’s character June, there is the rare moment that it works but mostly, it doesn’t seem to fit the character too well or maybe its because its Tom Cruise and it doesn’t fit him. Always a danger of this happening when using huge stars.

Knight and Day also has some familiar faces like a cameo by Gal Gadot. Viola Davis is the Director who is the head of the good side, aka managing the spy and her mission is to catch Roy who has gone rogue. Then you have Paul Dano who is the nerd kid who invented a powerful something that everyone is after. Possibly, the most fun is in the final act particularly after a truth serum is used. Cameron Diaz has always been a hit and miss. For example, I didn’t like Bad Teacher but I love The Holiday.

Overall, I honestly don’t have much to say about Knight and Day. Its good for a watch and it was fun and entertaining but something didn’t feel right and the more I think about it, it might just be awkward dialogue and my not seeing Tom Cruise as this character.

Or it could be that I saw the remake first…

Bang Bang (2014)

Director: Siddharth Anand

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Pavan Malhotra, Danny Denzongpa, Javed Jaffrey, Jimmy Shergill, Vikram Gokhale

A young bank receptionist gets mixed up with Rajveer Nanda, a man who has a mysterious background. – IMDB

Some of you know that with Netflix having more foreign films, I have opened up my world slightly and slowly to Bollywood films. They do take up a ton of time but its usually a decent experience so far. I am a fan of Hrithik Roshan since Dhoom 2 (review HERE). The man is like the whole package and some and in Bang Bang, he proves that he can also be almost like Tom Cruise. Knight and Day being a Bollywood remake is the perfect fit. The corny dialogue and the serious and fun but over the top action: it works here so well. The key here is that Bang Bang keeps a tone that is very light-hearted. To be honest, the Bollywood singing and dancing parts are used quite sparsely in comparison to other films so it makes it possibly even an easily entry point for those that feel less inclined because of these usually odd transitions. I always find Bollywood musical segments appealing to watch. This one is absolutely no exception especially because both Katrina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan got the moves.

Bang Bang only changes the story a little as in its stealing a diamond Kohinoor and that its a more personal affair than the original. At the same time, Bang Bang also remakes some of the scenes almost exactly the same. In fact, some of the dialogue is also incredibly similar. If you went into Bang Bang having already seen Knight and Day, a good at least 70% of this will look familiar. Bang Bang definitely does lack originality on that front. There is no denying it, especially in many scenes like the beach scenes where only the escape is different or how the attack was constructed. Same applies for the final scene that I loved so much in the original.

However, what Bang Bang makes up for is the charm that it has with Hrithik Roshan playing Rajveer and Katrina Kaif playing Harleen. Somehow, the music and dance and their personalities truly shine and match with this story. Its a much better fit for these characters. There is some cheesy moments but it also comes with the expectations and Bollywood films that I’ve seen tend to be structured in this way tonally. It just blends very well together with what this type of story tried to achieve. Of course, Indian cinema has changed now and there are horror films and other more dramatic entries and especially more action which is void of the whole Bollywood musical thing.

With that said, I like Bang Bang more than Knight and Day. I like Knight and Day for its finale whereas Bang Bang was much more of an overall experience.

Have you seen Knight and Day and/or Bang Bang?
Also, if you did see it, I made a little banner for this double feature. What do you think about it?

Medicine in the Movies Blogathon: My Sister’s Keeper (2009)

Medicine in the Movies Blogathon by Charlene over at Charlene’s (Mostly) Classic Movie Reviews was this past weekend and sneaking in my almost kind of late entry is for My Sister’s Keeper. Over ambitious post drafting will eventually backfire one day on me and it did this time. Before I start, I’d like to say sorry to Charlene for the tardiness. Trust me, it was not intentional. As the name indicates, this blogathon is all about medicine in the movies and my thought right away went to this movie adapted from Jodi Piccoult’s book with the same name.

My Sister’s Keeper (2009)

Director: Nick Cassavetes

Cast: Abigail Breslin, Cameron Diaz, Sofia Vassileva, Alec Baldwin, Jason Patric, Evan Ellingson, Heather Walquist

Anna Fitzgerald looks to earn medical emancipation from her parents who until now have relied on their youngest child to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate remain alive. – IMDB

My Sister’s Keeper is an interesting one to talk about. On the surface, its about a family dealing with their older daughter’s fight to live as their younger daughter fights for her freedom of use of her body that she’s lost. What sounds like a heartless thing to do as this decision abandons her sister from her chance of survival and surprising as a top attorney will do it almost pro bono for her cause because he believes in what she is fighting for. However, behind all the medical battle, its also a highlight on how the family has broken apart in pieces. As everyone focuses on one person in the family, everyone else has needs and desires that are overseen or neglected and the only person that sees this is Kate, while ill still sees clearly what her sickness has caused over the years. What helps with this is that there are narratives of each of the characters to see how they are reacting and their thoughts on what is going on: whether it is about Kate or Anna’s decision to earn medical emancipation. My Sister’s Keeper uses sickness in a family to not only highlight each of their characters but also takes the approach to show us how it can break each other apart or keep them together more and also brings up many questions about who to side for and is there a side in this cause? Of course, nothing is that simple. My Sister’s Keeper, while not delivered quite as effective as the book in my opinion, still manages to bring some decent performances to showcase the story and dilemmas in this situation while letting us learn more about each of these characters.

Perhaps the best way to look at My Sister’s Keeper is to take a look at the performances. Dramas are usually pretty clear cut and the story and message is here and it all relies on these performances. First of all, the parents are played by Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric. Cameron Diaz has had her ups and downs (also my opinion) in her movie roles however she does capture the overprotective mom very well. She is focused and committed to keep Kate alive, however she also does play the mother who is much stronger that she does seem to have forgotten about her other children. She defends this by saying that she takes care of the family but Kate is the one that is most in need right now. On the other hand, while not exactly rejecting his wife’s choices, Jason Patric plays the father who is much softer. Being a firefighter and the only person still bringing money to the family, he also isn’t home as much but he somehow  notices a little more of Anna’s life and sees her charm just as much as her older daughter however he does neglect his son who in this mess is the one that gets lost in the mix the most. Jason Patric’s role isn’t very big in this and his father role only appears in glances and observations of the situation. Cameron Diaz does deliver quite a believable performance as the mom here that you can dislike for her neglecting the need of both of her daughters or playing favorites with Kate but then in the situation, the question her character brings is: where is the balance? When is the time to let go? Will you ever want to let go of any chance to save your children?

My Sister’s Keeper came on my radar because of Abigail Breslin. I’ve expressed on multiple occassions how I think she is a brilliant young actress with a ton of potential. As a child actor, she’s done many great performances and as Anna, she is no different. The script writes her character as a young girl who understands what she is asking for and wants to be able to live her life. The stance she brings is that while she was conceived to help her sister, she also has the right to be acknowledged and to be able to live freely and not have to be careful and limit herself. Does that make her selfish for choosing to do that? Should she feel guilt for not helping? Why is she suddenly doing all this? Helping her in this cause is another not very big in terms of screen time but important character nonetheless played by  Alec Baldwin, the attorney that decides to help her because he is saddened by her reports and with a little personal cause that makes him want to fight for Anna’s fight for the freedom of her own body. He helps bring to the table the questions that matter in this family whether everyone has been taken care of. In fact, perhaps this also brings a highlight on the judge in this movie, Joan Cusack who feels like a character that could have been developed more however she brings the angle of someone who has already suffered loss looking into the Fitzgerald family.

While the family and the whole case of medical emancipation plays a great deal of part here, there is no doubt that the main person in focus is the narration of Kate. The timeline of My Sister’s Keeper hops by and forth quite a bit and the first time watching this, its easy to get lost in it a little. However, Kate, played by Sofia Vassileva is quite a powerful one. Perhaps playing a sick child automatically gives some pity points however we can sense the true despair of her pain as she deals with leukemia and how she can’t express or connect with others even the ones that love her the most. However, she does find someone who sees her for who she needs in Taylor (played by Thomas Dekker), another young patient dealing with cancer who eventually becomes her boyfriend and makes her see the world in a much more colorful way despite it not in reality.

Overall, The Sister’s Keeper is full of decent to powerful performances and that comes in building and developing characters well. However, there are many story lines and tangents here and this is where we lose a little focus as some characters don’t get the development they need and at times the timeline can be a little confusing to follow. But, it does deliver a lot of questions to truly ponder. There is perhaps no right answer to any of this but the true double edged sword in this whole affair is learning when to let go no matter how hard it is. My Sister’s Keeper is a powerful book and did a decent job at adapting it into the movie. The ending particularly as everything comes to light is a bittersweet sort of ending that did make me tear up a little. I like movies that make us question these hard decisions and the right and wrong of any situation to see that there is really no clear cut answer.

Have you seen My  Sister’s Keeper or read the book?

Valentine Marathon: The Other Woman (2014)

I had to skip yesterday for a simple reason.  I realized that the movie I finished was really a drama and not really a romantic comedy so I decided to tuck that away for a future review and ventured off to watch another movie to continue the marathon.  I have been rather iffy on whether I wanted to see The Other Woman.  Cameron Diaz hasn’t really scored any awesome roles of late and well, this just seems like a grown up version of John Tucker Must Die, if anything.  I like John Tucker Must Die but a grown up version seems to be just full of stupidity.

Regardless, lets check this out and see if I’m right!

THE OTHER WOMAN (2014)

Director: Nick Cassavetes

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Taylor Kinney

After discovering her boyfriend (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is married, Carly (Cameron Diaz) soon meets the wife (Leslie Mann) he’s been betraying. And when yet another love affair (Kate Upton) is discovered, all three women team up to plot revenge on the three-timing S.O.B. – IMDB

I remember reading a lot of negative reviews on The Other Woman when it first hit theatres.  I didn’t think it was all that bad but it definitely felt like I was watching this trashy romantic comedy of sorts and it totally had to do with the story layout.  I have nothing wrong with the concept or anything.  I just had this moment of wondering whether this movie was insulting my intelligence or something (not that watching rom-coms is about that most of the time either).  However, what the movie does well is probably bringing in some pretty decent cast that manages to make the best of the roles they was given.  By the end of this, I felt like I actually finished watching this movie because I liked the cast and the individual characters. Somehow, they grew on me a little.  Well, mostly Cameron Diaz’s Carly and Leslie Mann’s Kate.

As much as this is a revenge movie on the cheating bastard, the bond between the three women, specifically Kate and Carly are the highlight of this movie.  There’s something about these two ladies on screen that really resound how it all starts off with this weird way of meeting each other.  I mean, awkward probably is the right word and just how the two characters rub off each other somehow and grow.  Kate grows to be a stronger woman than the meek, fragile stay at home wife for the most part.  While Kate Upton comes on at a later time, her addition adds the dumb blonde factor and sometimes, its what gives this movie a little more eye candy, I guess. Although, I’m pretty not a lot of men will want to sit through this.  At least I know that I won’t ask my boyfriend to.

Whats a rom-com without talking about the men, even if this doesn’t exactly qualify as a rom-com but more of a chick flick.  The men selection is actually pretty good.  I don’t think I’ve seen the cheater Mark, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau but he is a pretty fine looking man.  He does match up to the role but he can pull off the pretentious vibe a little.  For the most part, he’s good to look at but he’s also easy to dislike as I start to like the lady characters more.  And then in the supporting characters, there’s Phil played by Taylor Kinney who is a sweet handsome man and he just sends off this lovely vibes.  Of course he turns into a love interest and its expected and he’s in like 4 scenes probably (if not less) but I liked him a lot.

Now, if there’s one reason why I wouldn’t watch this again, it would be because of Nicki Minaj.  I’m already not much of a fan of her music or her as a performer but now she’s going in movies and I just didn’t like it.  Ughhh….Thats all I’m saying on that.

The Other Woman is an average romantic comedy.  The characters and cast themselves make this a lot more fun to watch than the story itself.  There’s some laughs, a lot of stupidity and some silliness but a lot of lovable vibe about finding girl friends in the most unexpected women.  Its not something I’ll watch again…any time soon anyways, but its not all bad.

Have you seen The Other Woman? What do you think about it?

Genre Grandeur – The Holiday (2006) – Tranquil Dreams

Check out this month’s Genre Grandeur for Holiday movies. My pick went to The Holiday. The movie title pretty much says it all but its my go-to feel good movie set during the holidays making it perfect for the holidays.
Remember to check out the other Genre Grandeur entries for holiday movies! 🙂

MovieRob

For the next entry in this month’s Genre Grandeur – Holiday movies, here’s a review by Kim of Tranquil Dreams of The Holiday (2006)

Next month’s genre has been chosen by my good friend Emma of emmakwall (explains it all) and she has chosen the genre of British Thrillers, so send me your reviews of your favorite British Thriller(s) by Jan 25th and I’ll post it.  It’s real simple, just send me an email to britthrills@movierob.net and I’ll post it.

Take it away Kim!

Holiday movies don’t get anymore holiday than The Holiday – also one of my favorite movies.  I watch it during the Christmas holidays every year AND I watch it anytime during the year.  Its kind of my go-to feel good movie.

Director: Nancy Meyers

Cast: Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Eli Wallach, Rufus Sewell

Simple commitments columnist Iris (Kate Winslet) and big shot…

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CK’s Not So Secret Santa Review Swap: The Holiday (2006)

Earlier this year in July, I participated in Cinematic Katzenjammer’s Not So Secret Santa Review Swap Blogathon and my secret Santa gave me a fantastic movie, Dark Harbor.  Obviously, since the first time was so much fun, I decided to join for this December edition of it as well.  This time around, I didn’t get an unknown movie but one that I absolutely adore and just as I was wondering how to work it into my Christmas marathon this year since I already reviewed it last year, I received notice that my Secret Santa gave me THE HOLIDAY 🙂

Whoever you are, Secret Santa, YOU ARE AWESOME! Can I say I love you? Is that awkward? Because if not for that, I would never have thought of doing THIS to lead up to this very post.

The last movie to make it a perfect top 10 in my must-see Christmas flicks is The Holiday.  I’m not going to review it again since I read through last year’s and its probably everything I was going to say and you can check it out HERE! 🙂

The Holiday is one of my absolute favorite movies EVER! I always watch it for Christmas, sometimes even more than once, and I usually sneak it in mid year once or twice.  Its not only a great holiday watch but its also one of the best feel good romantic comedies I’ve ever seen.  I literally have a huge smile on my face throughout the whole thing, even if I know whats going to happen and what they say and all that.

So, I figured I’d take a different path and show you my top moments that made me smile 🙂

6) IRIS IN LA

Being revealed to the unknown of a completely different lifestyle from the one you are used to is always amazing and I think Kate Winslet does a fantastic job in showing that.  Its a feel good scene and it emphasizes the lovable character of Iris as the down to earth modern day simple girl. Trust me, if I saw that, I’d react pretty much the same way 😉

5) VIDEO STORE GAME

This scene is simply good fun.  The charisma between Jack Black and Kate Winslet is awesome and with a cameo of Dustin Hoffman, its makes it even funnier.

4) TENT

Wouldn’t you want that tent? I’m seriously impressed. Plus, the little girls are adorable.  Its like a fantasy world at home and thats pretty incredible.

3) LEADING LADY VS. BEST FRIEND

The character of Arthur Abbott is one of my faves because even though he isn’t a main character, he helps Iris to grow and also put in perspective what this movie is all about.  You can’t help but agree with him, right?

2) KISSING A STRANGER

The whole scene is great but the part I’m referring to starts at 5m 10s of the video.  Funny, passionate and pretty awesome in my book. This was when I fell in love with Jude Law! And goodness, aren’t you thinking that she should shut up and enjoy the moment? 😉 The romantic in me is speaking, of course.

1) IRIS/ARTHUR’S THEME

This scene is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! Its romantic and cute! I think thats where I fell in love in Jack Black, something that I did not think would ever be possible.

I didn’t intend for this to be a countdown and I love the WHOLE ENTIRE movie so this was mega difficult to put together. Plus, there were some scenes that were fantastic. I did love Jude Law in so many other scenes.  Although, if given who was not so great, it would have to be Cameron Diaz.  I’m just not a huge fan of hers in general but she does a decent job :).

Not only that but her and Kate Winslet are fabulous together for example with their expressions.

That scene was seriously funny! I think I’ve admitted that I have a girl crush on Kate Winslet and think she is possibly one of the best actresses with elegance and charm.

Before I start spilling the whole movie because I would love to convince a few of you to actually give it a shot.  I think The Holiday is one of the most underrated movies ever!

Overall, great cast, hilarious, heartwarming and clever romantic comedy set during the holidays, The Holiday is a great watch! Thanks again to my Secret Santa because you allowed me to watch this three times in two days to be inspired as to how to approach this post.  AND, I was feeling really not in the holiday mood and I think this just made it all come back.  Also, HUGE THANKS to Nick for putting this together because once again, it was mega fun! 🙂

Have you seen The Holiday? What are your thoughts on the four leads here?

Remember to check out the other reviews for the blogathon either by clicking HERE or its linked to the blogathon banner on the top 🙂

Bad Teacher (2011)

I wasn’t expecting to get back into romantic comedies so soon but this one just happened to be chosen out of the unwatched list at home. It was time to watch it since I should return it to my friend afterwards. The past weekend was CRAZY! I have a good amount of reviews to write up and its getting all backlogged.  Hopefully I’ll get it up this week.

Director: Jake Kasdan

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch

Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is a junior high school teacher who is just has her engagement broken off from a rich man.  Her priority has always to find a rich husband and now she wants to do that by getting herself breast implants. Conveniently, as she is forced to go back to work as a junior high school teacher, she meets Scott (Justin Timberlake) who is a rich substitute teacher.  She tries to get him to notice her while pretending to be involved in the school activities and her class, when all she does is be disrespectful, inappropriate and rude.  However, when she learns that if her class can score the highest score in the state exams, she will be rewarded with a huge monetary prize, she starts changing the way she teaches.  As she is pursuing Scott, Elizabeth is being chased by the persistent gym teacher, Russell (Jason Segel).  While Scott seems to be growing more fond of another teacher, Amy (Lucy Punch) who suspects Elizabeth of her bad teaching ways and wants to continuously dig up dirt on her to get her kicked out of the school. Between everything going on, will she get what she wants?

Let’s just say I didn’t hate the flick, however, I won’t be adding it to my collection either.  The story is pretty simple.  If you are a Cameron Diaz fan, she really does amazing.  My boyfriend and I sat there hating on her character and shaking our heads as to how disgusting a person like that actually would be.  Thats exactly what her role is supposed to do, so she did it right on! Went straight for getting under our skins as a superficial, inappropriate and rude effortless teacher.  You can’t get any better at that (maybe you can), and she lights up this movie.

 

On the other hand, Justin Timberlake has yet to convince me that he can act.  Maybe he just needs to pick better movies.  If you have one, please tell me.  JT was part of N’Sync and I liked that group when I was younger (I know I know, you can laugh) On top of that, he had the weirdest expressions in this movie. Maybe the movie required that, but it was disturbing to me.  Especially one of the scenes…but I won’t say which one to not spoil anyone’s “fun” if you haven’t seen it.  Okay, I have to move on from this character and attempt to erase that image from my mind.  So I’ll move on to Jason Segel, whom I loved.  I haven’t seen him in much before this but he was awesome! Maybe I like to root for the underdog in love stories but he was a fun character, plus he delivered some good lines.  I’m down for more Jason Segel after this…(about that, I have to find time to finish The Muppets)

For this one though, it was less about the romance than it was the girly unfriendliness between the characters of Elizabeth and Amy.  It wasn’t anything bad but it was entertaining to watch.  It had me guessing as to what would happen next.  Lucy Punch isn’t a bad actress.  She’s average but she had some ridiculous moments as well but then, the parts where she interacted with Cameron Diaz, it made me laugh.

I’m not sure I’m totally down to see this movie again and I’m definitely not going to recommend it highly.  But, if it happens to land on TV for free and you happen to want a laugh here and there, its not completely bad.  Cameron Diaz shines at being the ultimate bad teacher and she, at the very least, will entertain you 🙂

CHRISTMAS Movie Marathon begins with The Holiday (2006)

Welcome to 2012 Christmas Movie Marathon featured here! I have a lot of Christmas movies like 20+ DVD/Blurays and some multiple short animated features.  Usually, I stack them up in certain preferences and just watch them. This year, I decided to go random.  I just going to pick out the movie of the night randomly from a pile of folded paper in a little bag.  We’ll see how that goes.  I think it’ll at least give us a bit of spontaneity and mix it up…should be fun!  And different from the Halloween marathon, I’ll be reviewing all the movies individually (no Top Ten lists).

Lets get it started!

Movie: THE HOLIDAY (2006)

Director & Writer: Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give)

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jack Black

The Holiday is about two women, Iris from Surrey, UK (Kate Winslet) and Amanda from Los Angeles (Cameron Diaz) and both go through a bad break-up.  Amanda decides to take a vacation during the holidays to not be lonely and finds Iris on a home exchange site.  They decide to swap homes for 2 weeks. Iris ends up staying in Amanda’s mansion in LA and ends up making friends with her next door neighbor who is an elderly retired screenplay writer called Arthur Abbott and in the process, meets Miles (Jack Black) who is a film composer. While living in Iris’s cottage, she meets Iris’s older brother, Graham (Jude Law) and sparks fly.

I’m a huge fan of this movie. Ever since I’ve had it about three years ago, I always watch it on Christmas at least once.  During the year, sometimes I’ll give it a second or third run.  Its a fun, hilarious, witty, heartwarming romantic comedy.  What I loved THE absolute most is the chemistry between the characters.  Honestly, I never really preferred watching any of those actors.  This movie changed my view of things, especially Jack Black.  Kate Winslet is charming as always in her role as Iris.  Jude Law, as Graham drunk (and sober) just melts my heart (it didn’t before this movie).  I can see the charm.  As for Jack Black, I always felt that the roles he took on never really was to my taste, but this role made me feel that he can do this corny, witty type of actor.  He was really sweet and there were a lot of laugh out loud moments.  It was really awesome in that department and I think that is the one of the key elements of a good romantic comedy.

Another element that really worked for me was the dialogue.  The director, Nancy Meyers is also the writer and I guess that always adds something a little extra.  It connects better since its her own thoughts I suppose.  I’m not an expert on this, but I bought it. I thought it was witty.  If you asked my boyfriend, I’d say that he would probably say there was corny dialogue here and there.  Still, its a very likeable chick flick.

This is my feel good movie.  I never fails to put a smile on my face and some to roll over in laughter and other moments, to just get all warm and fuzzy from the cute and sweet moments.  The Holiday is a romantic comedy set during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period so very fit to start this marathon! Especially since it comes with a happy ending and lots of smiles and laughs during the whole thing.  I highly recommend it.

Have you seen this? Did you enjoy it? If you didn’t like it, what didn’t you like?