Romance

Ruby Sparks

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Ruby Sparks
  • IMDB: link

“This is the true and impossible story of my very great love.”

ruby-sparks-posterAnyone who has ever sat down to write has done so with the desire to see their creation burst from the page and come to life in front of their eyes. For Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano) this literally comes to pass when the renown young novelist solves his current state of writer’s block by writing about the perfect girlfriend who one day magically shows up, living in his apartment.

At first it may seem odd that Zoe Kazan wrote the screenplay in mind casting herself not as the writer but the creation. However, it’s Ruby Sparks (Kazan), not Calvin, who has the far more demanding role as the woman whose entire behavior must change on a dime depending on what her creator decides to type next.

Dano is well cast as the writer whose best work came far too soon and seems lost, unprepared to deal with his mother’s (Annette Bening) current boyfriend (Antonio Banderas), the suggestions of his psychiatrist (Elliott Gould), the lovable but annoying antics of his dog Scottie, or the advice of his brother (Chris Messina). Calvin instead chooses a solitary life which makes his creation of Ruby Sparks all the more remarkable.

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Guilty Pleasure – The Pirate Movie

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Pirate Movie
  • IMDb: link

pirate-movie-dvd

Loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, 1982’s The Pirate Movie starred Kristy McNichol as mousey young Mabel lost in a dream of swashbuckling, and singing, pirates. After an accident leaves her thrown overboard and washed up on a beach, Mabel’s imagination creates a fantasy world casting herself as the youngest daughter of a Major-General (Bill Kerr) who falls for a young pirate named Frederic (Christopher Atkins) adamant on leaving his service of the Pirate King (Ted Hamilton) to start a new life.

The plot, which involves Fredric’s attempt to leave his old life behind while trying to stay true to his word and duty, is secondary to how insanely everything is played including some memorable music numbers such as “Pumpin’ and Blowin'” (you can find the video below). I’ll be honest, the film doesn’t work as well for me as it did when I was seven years-old, but it still provides enough enjoyment for me to classify it as a guilty pleasure.

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To Rome with Love

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: To Rome with Love
  • IMDB: link

to-rome-with-love-posterThe latest from writer/director Woody Allen is a return to the absurdest formula from his earlier career that crafts a tale of Americans and Italians dealing with love, fame, passion, death, and dreams. Unlike most of the director’s films over the past two decades To Rome with Love is a true ensemble that grabs absurdity with both hands and runs full speed right into a brick wall, producing some glorious insanity and plenty of laughs.

Broken into four separate vignettes, which are not forced to intertwine in the film’s final act (as many Hollywood movies of this type often do), To Rome with Love focuses on the absurdity of love set against the beautiful backdrop of one of Europe’s grandest cities. Given its setting, the film will undoubtedly be compared to last year’s acclaimed Midnight in Paris, but in truth To Rome with Love is far closer to Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (although we sadly don’t get a sequence with Gene Wilder and a sheep).

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Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
  • IMDb: link

seeking-a-friend-for-the-end-of-the-world

What if Armageddon had failed? Well, if you’re writer/director Lorene Scafaria the story might lead to a quirky odd couple road trip which mixes in equal measure romantic comedy and art film sensibilities. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World opens with insurance salesman Dodge (Steve Carell) and his wife Linda (Nancy Carell) in their car hearing the news that NASA’s last ditch shuttle mission to deflect the asteroid hurtling to the Earth has failed.

People react differently to the news that everyone on the planet has three weeks to live. Linda immediately runs from the car never to be seen again, deciding to embrace the affair and life she’s kept hidden from her husband for months. Dodge’s best friends (Rob Corddry, Connie Britton) throw all caution to the wind going out with a bang that involves a non-stop party, drugs, and booze (even for their kids). Over the course of the film we’ll also see rioters unable to cope with the situation and survivalists planning to start a new world following the end of this one.

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Rock of Ages

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Rock of Ages
  • IMDB: link

 

 

rock-of-ages-posterBrought from Broadway to the silver screen by director Adam Shankman and screenwriters Justin Theroux, Chris D’Arienzo, and Allan Loeb, Rock of Ages is a celebration of classic 1980’s rock that gives us the story of a small town girl (Julianne Hough) and a city boy raised in south Detroit (Diego Boneta) whose paths cross in a famous Hollywood bar on the Sunset Strip known as The Bourbon Room.

Adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, the film makes both big and small changes in regards to both characters and music.

For two-hours the script weaves Drew (Boneta) and Sherrie (Hough), and countless supporting characters, through a story built on the back of several 80’s hits from the likes of Journey, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi,  Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Night Ranger, Warrant, Poison, Guns N’ Roses, Twisted Sister, and REO Speedwagon which the characters not only perform, but live.

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