Valentine’s Marathon: The Best of Me (2014)

A year or two ago, I went on a mission to watch all the available Nicholas Sparks movie adaptations.  I wanted it to be a torture fest.  What it turned out to be wasn’t half as bad as I’d expect.  Maybe I grew numb or accustomed to it.  Some of them weren’t so good but I managed to pull something from a good few of them.  Its really not all that surprising, considering that I’m a romantic. My best friends know it, my husband knows it and it makes me highly tolerant of super sappy movies that people criticize.  I acknowledge movie tropes and cliches but I don’t quite mind so much when its in a romance. That is just me. Nicholas Sparks is formulaic, I also acknowledge that.  We’re finally at the next one continuing in this year’s (really sad) Valentine’s marathon (that I didn’t even bother to peg in the title of the few posts).  We’re at The Best of Me.  I really don’t even know what to expect for this one.

Let’s check it out! 🙂

The Best of Me (2014)

Director: Michael Hoffman

Cast: James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan, Luke Bracey, Liana Liberato, Gerald McRaney, Sean Bridgers, Sebastian Arcelus

A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown. – IMDB

When I started up The Best of Me, it gave me a prompt to choose between the theatrical version and the “Tears of Joy” edition with alternate ending.  I couldn’t help but laugh a little at it.  I ended up watching the theatrical release and then going back to check out the alternate ending.  I mean, its pretty obvious how it was going to go for both the endings.  I’m going to be reviewing the theatrical release below but let me say that I’m a little disappointed by having the two endings.  Nicholas Sparks adaptations were always formulaic, cheesy, sappy, cliche and anything you can peg onto it but you know what it has for itself.  It owns up all that and I respect it for that.  But, when you give me two endings, that is just trying to be a crowd pleaser when you know, people who don’t like these movies, won’t like it anyways, not just because its a happy or sad ending. Now that I have this rant off my chest, let’s move on!

When we look at Nicholas Sparks, you can’t help but wonder if he is running out of ideas.  The Best of Me is kind of like The Notebook just a lot more natural.  I’m on the record to not be the biggest fan of The Notebook. I feel like The Notebook isn’t really that natural of a romance.  Its hard not to compare because The Best of Me takes the same route.  We pan between the teen and the mature version that had to let go because of whatever reason and then meet again and heal and they are still actually in love with each other but circumstances provide hurdles for them to be together now. Either way, what I’m saying is that (nothing against Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) but The Best of Me is a smooth romance.  It could be my bias of loving guys like Luke Bracey’s character Dawson, the quiet and mysterious type who just opens up to be the most genuine sort of guy but frustrating because he also has his troubles and makes the stupid decisions of letting go.  Okay, its not that stupid.  On terms of which being more emotionally-manipulative, I actually think The Notebook is since every single one of these gets a comment about how manipulative it is.

I really need to stop comparing the two.  The Best of Me has a really amazing cast.  I love all of them a lot, especially James Marsden.  That man makes any movie better and he’s just so great.  Him and Michelle Monaghan as Amanda had a crazy chemistry.  Those longing gazes and the look.  It works so well together. As much as I like the current rekindling of their romance, I think I actually liked the younger couple more. Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato playing young Dawson and Amanda respectively have this out of the world chemistry.  It took me about two seconds to fall in love with young Dawson and they were just so sweet and cute and funny.  You know, the typical teenage romance before things go awry and out of proportion and all dramatic-like.  There are some pretty groundbreaking romance that just sweeps you away with its originality like In Your Eyes (review HERE) but most of us don’t live in a world where sci-fi rules our life so this is the simple person’s romance and as much as we all desire something different from romance and sure its sappy and all that but deep down, don’t you want to be with that guy who just really loves you.  Its true though, when you find that right person, you do give them the best of you and that is what this is about.  Dawson and Amanda gave each other the best of themselves in their first love when everything was about being happy and all that lovely fluttering butterflies bit before we realize what being hurt from heartbreak feels like and just how long it takes to heal from it. And its not even just the romance.  The part I liked a lot was the supporting actor playing Tuck, an older man that takes in Dawson because he knew that he needed a home and someone to lead him in the right path and a chance of having a future.

 I’m going to be honest here and say that when I watch Nicholas Sparks movies, its not about the story anymore.  Its not even about the romantic-sappy dialogue.  I sometimes even laugh at it a little.  I watch it for the cast and their chemistry.  No storyline beats A Walk to Remember (to me) and none has (so far) chemistry and striking a perfect balance between the two. The Best of Me actually doesn’t rank too low in the adaptations.  I’d say my feelings for it are slightly above Safe Haven and The Lucky One, which is kind of pretty high on my list.  I actually had moments of getting misty in this one because I grew to love the characters so much and its not even just Amanda and Dawson but even the supporting characters.

Overall, The Best of Me is a decent romance.  You just need to know why you are going to see this and have the expectations what these movies embody.  Nicholas Sparks stories iare formulaic as heck and its obvious.  There’s even a little inconsistency between Amanda if that was a criticism there with her accent between being young and older self but you know what, this movie had chemistry that just exploded out of the characters.  It gets a little melodramatic and some dialogue is sappy and cheesy but if you already know what to expect (like I did), this is a decent one.  The Best of Me is not Sparks best adaptation but its also far from the worst.  It created some wonderful characters and the cast was great with the script they had. Plus, it wasn’t just about romance,  But then, I guess you have to be a little like me: a romantic and going into this with low expectations and ready to accept anything that happens. Point is, you know if you’re a person that likes this, if you don’t like Sparks, don’t bother with this one but if you do and tolerate them, then this one is pretty decent.

Have you seen The Best of Me? What do you think of James Marsden (and the rest of the cast)?

This Valentine’s Marathon hasn’t been quite plentiful but we’re wrapping up this weekend with the next Nicholas Sparks movie, The Longest Ride!
I won’t be doing The Choice until I get access to it eventually (but I’m not looking forward to it).
I’ll see if I can do something special on February 14th.  I’m still thinking about it! 🙂

Happy Friday, my lovelies!

Bachelorette (2012)

I don’t know what possessed me to buy Bachelorette.  Maybe its because I was going to be part of my friend’s wedding in March or that I really wanted some inspiration for the bachelorette party.  Even though, I didn’t really end up watching it until afterwards.  Either way, I needed a comedy and this became available.  It has been a week or two since I’ve seen this so I’m not exactly sure how to approach this anymore.

Director: Leslye Headland

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Rebel Wilson, James Marsden, Kyle Bornheimer, Hayes MacArthur, Adam Scott

Three high school friends, Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizza Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher) are asked by Becky (Rebel Wilson), a girl that they used to hang out with as the ugly duckling of the group, to be her bridesmaids.  Regan is a control freak with a long distance relationship that doesn’t seem to work anymore but she holds onto it.  Gena lives a life of sleeping with a lot of different guys but with nothing really stable in life while having a hard time getting over her ex-boyfriend and Katie is a sales rep who doesn’t really grows up but spends her days smoking and using her beauty to get by.  As reluctant as they are to be the bridesmaids of Becky’s wedding, they all show up and end up causing more trouble than they should when they accidentally break Becky’s dress and scramble to find a way to fix it before the next morning, the wedding day, while facing up to some of their own problems.

After letting this movie sit too long in my system before I write it, I know that you can’t think too much about this one.  Bachlelorette came very close and soon after Bridesmaids mega success.  If you are thinking of getting the same level of enjoyment (assuming you liked Bridesmaids), this one doesn’t come close at all.  I’m not really a fan of Kirsten Dunst but I don’t hate her either.  I like Isla Fisher for the most part and if anything, I’ve been a long time fan of Lizzy Caplan.  But, Bachelorette doesn’t focus much on our bachelorette, Becky played by Rebel Wilson but rather her bridesmaids.  I guess you can’t call the movie that name since it was already used, right? Either way, point is, this movie is full of obnoxious characters.  All of the girls don’t have any truly likeable traits from the get go.  Even Becky isn’t quite that nice as well.  On a side note, it kind of reminds me why I don’t have all that many girl friends in my life and that I’m frankly very thankful for that.

 

Still, these girls pull of some decent funny moments.  It doesn’t come in elegance or anything because movies these days don’t do that anymore but as over the top of some of these characters get, they still get in their moments where they are stuck in pretty ridiculous situations where you either will roll your eyes or laugh a little.  I’m more of the latter so I guess thats a good sign.  The only thing that does hinder it is that these girls end up turning for the better a lot more than imaginable.  I’m not exactly sure a bachelorette night turned wrong and wedding dress fiasco is the place to grow since I’ve never experienced it but I guess the key here is that friendship does get you through some things and then its about eventually growing up and facing your problems and reality. Because as one of the characters pointed out, its not cute to be acting like when you were in high school.

However, the best one in all of this has to be the parts with Lizzy Caplan.  I’m not sure when I started liking her.  It could be in Mean Girls.  In this one, I feel like she does shine because her story is cute and funny especially with her ex played by Adam Scott, that shows up shortly after.  It makes her character believable that she was drowning her pains and regrets from her high school days and finally growing up.

 

Now that we’ve gotten Adam Scott in mix.  Its probably time to look at the guys.  Although, the guys don’t really have huge significant part in this.  They are paired with each of the girls.  Its somewhat of a high school reunion and it never feels like it isn’t.  One of them is a geek who is smart and successful and tries to get the beauty in his gentlemanly ways, another is the groom (who doesn’t have much place in this), and then we have James Marsden who plays Trevor who isn’t such an admirable guy either but just wants to get hot girls like Kirsten Dunst’s Regan in this case.  He’s all about the challenge.  Then we have Adam Scott and his character Clyde who actually gets a whole lot of screen time because of his high school relationship issues with Gena that was never settled before.  As awkward as his ending speech was, it was actually pretty funny.

Are you getting mixed signals about this one from me? Bachelorette is probably not a movie I hate but its not one I’ll look forward to revisit anytime soon because I’d prefer to sit through Bridesmaids any day if I had the choice.  However, its not all bad.  As unlikeable as the characters are, they still bring in some laughs here and there is one couple, Clyde and Gena’s relationship that shines through over everything and makes it a little more fun. Still, its not very memorable and just a few weeks after, as I’m writing this up, I had to strive really hard to try and remember it a little.

 Have you seen Bachelorette? What do you think of it?

Hop (2011)

Easter is just around the corner and I felt like I should post an Easter movie.  How many are there out there? I already saw Rise of the Guardians (review HERE).  Netflix had this movie sitting around and I remember seeing the first 10 minutes of it a few weeks ago at my boyfriend’s parents.  Honestly, I have zero hopes for this one and I really think it’ll turn out bad but that is what makes it perfect for a brain-dead day 😉

I always try to push away any early expectations or lack of before I see anything so lets check it out!

Director: Tim Hill

Cast: James Marsden, Russell Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Hugh Laurie, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins

Ever since he was a little bunny, EB (Russell Brand) has known that he will be the next in line to be the Easter Bunny to take over his father (Hugh Laurie). As he grows up and the time that he will take over the Egg of Destiny, he knows that he isn’t right for the job but rather he wants to be a drummer.  Not caring for the consequences of the impending Easter day in 2 weeks, he runs away to Hollywood to search for his fame.  There he meets Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) who accidentally hits EB with his car and takes him in.  Fred has no direction in his life and while helping his sister (Kaley Cuoco) house sit for her boss, he tries to get his life in order while helping EB reluctantly as they both unknowingly is searching for approval from their father in their own way. At the same time, back at the Easter Bunny headquarters, Carlos, a chick and the current Easter Bunny’s number 2 wants to take over the Easter Bunny duties.

Okay, I give up.  I don’t know how to make this sound interesting. I’m just going to leave the synopsis like that.  You get the idea, right?

Suffice to say that I didn’t really like it all that much but I didn’t particularly hate it either.  It was just pretty blah, for lack of a better word.  Now, I do have some pros I’d like to talk about before the cons. They are worth a mention and maybe what will push you to watch this.  At the same time, I think maybe kids might get some enjoyment out of it more than say, me. I like pretty childish animation but as musical as this got, it didn’t really work for me. Oh right, I’m getting carried away.

One of the biggest pros is the beauty of the animation.  C’mon! Look at that Easter factory: the vibrant colors, the details and even the animated characters were done in a rather cute way. Look at our ninja royal guards, the Pink Berets.  They actually carry a bit of the Alvin and the Chipmunks qualities, in a way. Here’s for the director who made Alvin and the Chipmunks a few years back, right? Tim Hill gets to do this plus the little one is so cute and clumsy, qualities I love in animals 😉

Another pro is James Marsden. I never quite understand why he takes on these animation crossed with real life movies.  I like it a lot usually, especially Enchanted (which I probably should review soon) and in this one, I actually liked Fred O’Hare.  James Marsden pulls the funniest facial expressions and he puts some fun into this.

I guess this makes me go to the bad part.  What really hurts this animated flick is the story.  It could because once you start the beginning narration, you already know what will happen in the end so the sense of danger never amounts to anything.  And Carlos, our supposed villain, isn’t really that threatening.  He’s actually kind of funny in a weird way but then Hank Azaria does his voice and that man is a voice genius.  And then we have Russell Brand.  I’m not a fan of him. Period. I don’t like him as an actor, or even as the voice of EB. As a voice, he was tolerable but nothing that made me feel like I liked EB very much either.

Overall, if you are watching this with kids, they might enjoy it because its not scary and it has some nice happy beats and furry animated bunnies and chicks, plus lots of candy.  However, the story does lack a bit of inspiration. Even its nice animation and James Marsden’s involvement couldn’t give it more life.  I really don’t hate it.  I’m just indifferent and I know that I probably wouldn’t watch it again.

Have you seen Hop? Do you have any movies you watch for Easter? What are your thoughts on James Marsden?

 

Hairspray (2007)

I’m a huge musical person! I love it all, well almost all…I have some issues with say, Nine.  Not the musical quality just the movie in general.  However, after a whole month of horror, torture, slashing, crazy people, I’m ready for some singing and dancing.  Corny movies are perfect for this phase and I’ve watched most of them so its perfect for this month while I’m writing like crazy 🙂 Hairspray is my absolute go-to movie when I need a lift in spirit.

Director: Adam Shankman

Cast: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Zac Efron, Brittany Snow, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah

1962 Baltimore was influenced by the local TV show, The Corny Collins Show.  It featured a bunch of high school students who everyone wanted to be.  A “pleasantly plump” (as IMDB describes her) Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) lives and breaths the show, especially every month’s Negro Day.  Her and her best friend, Penny (Amanda Bynes) both run home after school to catch it and learn the new dance moves.  When there is an empty spot on the show, Tracy auditions for it but is turned down by the very snobby TV manager, Velma Von Tussel (Michelle Pfeiffer) who believes in upstanding the norms of skinny and white being the way it should be. When the show’s star, Link (Zac Efron) invites Tracy to go audition a second time at the dance event at school, Corny Collins (James Marsden) adds her in right away.  Her ideas of supporting integration doesn’t take a favor to Velma and along with her daughter Amber (Brittany Snow), they try to stop her. Despite all their efforts, she brings a whole new wave of thought to everyone around her.

I really don`t think any other movie makes me as happy as watching Hairspray 🙂

Thats what I tweeted after watching Hairspray once (for the millionth time) on Friday night.  What I love about Hairspray is that it has catchy tunes and the cast is absolutely fantastic.  Just look at the list above! Its filled with actors and actresses I love.  A lot of those when I first saw Hairspray had surprised me that they had agreed to take part in this.

Christopher Walken, really? Man, was he hilarious! Michelle Pfeiffer totally kicked some butt at being the racist and full of prejudice mother.  I’m a huge fan of Amanda Bynes back then because of She’s the Man and Brittany Snow because of John Tucker Must Die.  They were the teen flicks queens in my book (alongside Lindsey Lohan).  That one reason I want to see Brittany Snow’s career get better because she’s a respectful actress and I was happy to watch Would you Rather for Halloween (review HERE if you’d like to check it out).  These are all supporting cast.  My favorite would have to go out to John Travolta in what I assume is a body suit and playing as a woman.  He was impressive, especially when he did all the sequences with Christopher Walken, who played her husband.  However, the biggest joy I had was watching Queen Latifah on screen and everything she sang, its a total mood lifter.  Of course, our lead has to be amazing as well.  I have never heard of Nikki Blonsky before Hairspray and never after either. However, nothing takes away the fact that she was so fun to watch on screen.  She danced and sang and just took it away.

Hairspray doesn’t have a lot to talk about.  Its nothing that focuses on anything deep and profound but it does try to inspire change and to be open mind.  In the time that its set in, this was the situation they were in: the rights of blacks and whites.  Physical appearances like skin color and size was an issue that divided up people.  However, its as always, art, music and dance closes the gaps, with the help of a a few outstanding individuals who want to instigate change. Most of these musicals tend to carry a lot of inspiring messages. Its uplifting to watch it.

Hairspray may seem corny to the max,  (maybe thats why James Marsden’s character is called Corny  Collins) but it packs in a lot of fun and good times.  Its filled with catchy songs and cute dances.  The cast is funny and silly most of the times and its really hard to not just laugh out loud, if you’re into musicals.  In whole, its just some good energetic and full of passion. It never fails to make me jump out of my chair and do some dorky dancing 😉

If you’re having a bad day and you like musicals, this is an absolutely awesome choice.  Even if you’re having a great day, it’ll make you feel even better 🙂 I actually played this movie a second time later that night, just to give you an idea how much I love it.