Notting Hill (1999, UK)

I was reading (and loving) this book called From Notting Hill with Love... Actually by Ali McNamara, basically a chick lit whose main character loves chick flicks. Of course she mentions this one constantly, and since I've never seen it, I decided to give it a go.

So, eh. To start with, I just have never seen the appeal in Hugh Grant. Sure, I liked him in Bridget Jones as the skeazy Daniel Cleaver, and he's definitely attractive, but his nice guy roles are never that enjoyable to me. I like Julia Roberts quite a bit, and one of my all-time favorite chick flicks is My Best Friend's Wedding, but for some reason I had a bad feeling about this one. Maybe it's the smirk she has on in poster.

Yeah, the concept was cute, but I wouldn't it make more sense for a chick flick to be about a famous man falling for a normal woman, instead of vice versa? I mean, that would make the predominant audience swoon. (Though I do love a man in a bookstore!)  And the whole romance was really sweet. The spilling orange juice, the awkwardness of the first meeting... but then she randomly kisses him and it feels very disjointed, and that's the whole basis for their continuing relationship. I feel like if the initial attraction made more sense and flowed more smoothly, the good parts about the rest of it would have seemed great. (For instance, him having to interview her and pretending to be a journalist from Horse & Hound!)

And okay, I always say that I love Rhys Ifans and he is an under-appreciated actor, but in this case, I had too much of him the second he was on the screen. His character is dirty, both literally and figuratively, and he just made my skin crawl. Why was he there? Sure he made Hugh Grant's character look even more charming (and normal!) in comparison, but for the most part his ewwww factor completely took away from the story. For that alone, I went from a 3.0 to a 2.5.

There are better chick flicks out there. I need to go have a Bridget Jones lovefest to rinse this one out of my brain. And just as a side note, in case anyone is even reading this or cares, apparently there's going to be a third Bridget Jones movie. Now that's what I call good news!

Rating: 2.5

Goldfinger (1964, UK)

This movie was so stupid but it was my favorite one so far! I mean, the superspy has to stop a fat German guy who is a bit crazy, kills women by dipping them in gold, and plans to break into Fort Knox! (Not to mention Oddjob, his nutso Korean henchman who can kill people with a fling of his razor-sharp bowler hat!) A fellow movie buff said that if I thought that Dr. No was bad I would hate this one, but somehow its common elements (corny villain in a corny lair, mostly) were terrible in Dr. No but good here.

The locations weren't so exciting here. Switzerland was nice, but then it was Florida, Baltimore, and Kentucky. I guess that's exotic to a posh guy from Britain. Still, the model of Fort Knox was pretty realistic looking, which was cool.

An interesting aspect of this one was Pussy Galore and her Flying Circus. First, Honor Blackman is still the oldest Bond girl ever cast, and yet I thought she was sexier than many I've seen. It might have been her voice. Second, her female pilots are very girl power. Sure, they wear stupid sexy outfits, but they're pilots. That's pretty impressive for 1964. (I gather in the book they were acrobats and cat burglars, so this was a definite upgrade.) I thought that her manner, crew of self-reliant ladies, and initial disinterest in Bond all subtly suggested lesbianism, but quickly dismissed it from my mind. However, turns out the Pussy Galore of the book actually was gay. Now that really is risky for the 1960s, though it certainly explains the name (and why she doesn't fling herself at Bond like a bimbo). So far she's my favorite Bond girl because she's so self-possessed, self-assured, and self-aware. (Of course plot-wise I still love Vesper Lynd, but she's not exactly her own woman.)

So the verdict here is ridiculous but good!

Rating: 4.0

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011, U.S.)

I have heard a lot of people say that they liked this one better than the first one, and I have a hard time deciding whether I agree or not. I remember liking the first one a lot when I first saw it, but when I rewatched it about a week ago, I only liked it about as much as anything else. So, hard to say. Still, this movie was great.

I think I said it before, but I'll say it again. Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. have such chemistry on screen, to the point where they really don't need any leading ladies. Not in a romantic sort of way or anything, but their witty banter and physical comedy seem interrupted by a lady's presence. They're just too funny. Still, the other actors were good too. I was so excited to see Noomi Rapace out of her goth Salander gear and with a few more healthy pounds on. She made a very good gypsy. The guy who played Moriarty was also eerily good, with that nerdy, seemingly good-natured facade masking pure evil. Oh, and Stephen Fry as "Shirley's" brother = priceless!

The plot was very twisty and convoluted and involved a big conspiracy, and it was fun to watch the whole thing unwind slowly and with such Holmesian flair. I don't want to give anything away, but it was definitely big. And the ending... wow-wee! So shocking, so funny, so entertaining.

And to save my favorite guy for last: Hans Zimmer is just a musical genius, and I loved his soundtrack for this movie. It's no POTC, but it's definitely heading in that direction. His compositions were all very original sounding, but with a hint of inspiration from the plot or setting. It's hard to explain what I mean, but there were some pieces that seemed very Victorian and some that seemed very industrial, etc. The best ones, however, were the ones that were gypsy inspired, with the fiddle and all. Just perfectly done.

I would definitely watch this one again.

Rating: 4.5

Plunkett and Macleane (1999, UK)

I liked this one, but I would have liked it a lot more if it was set up better. The first 20 minutes and the entire rest of the film seemed like two different movies. The beginning was incredibly violent and graphic, popping out eyeballs and digging up smelly corpses. All of this leads to an impoverished gentleman and a run-of-the-mill poor guy start crime scheme in 1748 London. The gentleman (Miller) gets into the social events of the aristrocracy, finding out who is carrying a lot of cash and where they hide their money, and the two become gentleman highwaymen. The poor one (Carlyle) wants to earn enough to go to America, and impoverished one just wants to be a gentleman.

The grittiness lent extreme realism, but it also turned my stomach a little bit. The plot took awhile to pick up because the first scenes were so irrelevant, but when it got going, it was engrossing. It mixed action, a hard-luck drama (with class wars), romance, and a bit of black comedy too. I especially loved Jonny Lee Miller, who was adorable and hilarious. Alan Cumming was interesting as an aristocratic, flamboyant bisexual. Liv Tyler wasn't annoying like she usually is.

One thing that really stuck out was the music, which was partially modern pop/rock (like they were going for the A Knight's Tale feel, though not as successfully) and partially instrumental music that sounded like the type of music you would hear in a modern crime comedy where the "bad guys" are really "good guys." (Instead it was an historical crime quasi-comedy where the "bad guys" are really "good guys.")

If you're looking for something different with a strange feel, this one is worth a watch.

Rating: 3.5

Sherlock Holmes (2009, U.S.)

I loved this movie. I don't know much about Sherlock Holmes, so I don't know how true this was to the original characters. But it was wonderful on its own. Above all, it was absolutely laugh-out-loud funny. There was also an excellent mystery that had all the appearance of being rooted in fantasy but having a perfectly realistic explanation.

There was great chemistry between the cast. Robert Downey Jr. has never been my favorite, but he was great, especially with Jude Law as his sidekick. And Rachel McAdams is one of the most underrated actresses of all time. Usually her performance is really subtle, but here she was so over the top, exactly what the role called for.

I haven't seen too many films lately where the scenery or special effects really stood out, but this was definitely one. Victorian London popped off the screen like it was filmed 150 years ago and yesterday all at once.

Hans Zimmer = brilliant composer. Enough said.

Loved it!

Rating: 4.5

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008, UK)

My friend Stefanie recommended this film to me, saying it was one of the best situational comedies since the Golden Age of cinema. She was definitely right. In fact, since it was set in the late 1930s, it might as well have been filmed in the late 1930s.

There was plenty of situational comedy, as well as some pretty witty one-liners. Romance, a hard-working main character contrasted with some pretty shallow other characters, set against the backdrop of an emerging war... The only thing I didn't like was the message that finding a man is the only thing that will make your life complete or even worth living.

You can't help but love Amy Adams. She adds a spark to whatever project she's involved with, I think. There's just something about her. And I never knew that Frances McDormand was so amusing.

If you're looking for an enjoyable, relaxing evening with a few good laughs, I'd definitely recommend this one.

Rating: 4.0

Black Books (2000-2004, UK)

I just finished watching the entire show Black Books, a very short British sitcom of three series, six episodes each. It was hilarious. It's written by the man who plays the main character, an Irish comedian by the name of Dylan Moran.

Moran plays Bernard Black, the owner of the store Black Books. He doesn't like customers, but he does like to smoke, drink, and live in absolute filth. He is grouchy and grumpy and just too funny for words, perhaps one of the best characters I have seen in a sitcom / episodic show for quite some time. (I can't count the characters of my beloved serials, of course.)

If you need a laugh, watch this one. Seriously.

Rating: 4.5

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003, UK)

What a cheerful film to watch right before bed. From start to finish, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead was remarkably depressing. It was like one giant meditation on the value of a person, wasted lives, how a city can change one's personality irrevocably. There was rape; there was suicide; there was loss, loss, loss.

Of course, I can't say enough about the acting. Clive Owen and Jonathan Rhys Meyers were both brilliant, of course. JRM was very convincing as a victim whose mind was broken -- it was chilling to watch. Clive Owen spent most of the movie bearded, and while that mostly obscured his facial expression, it only made it that much more obvious how well he can act with just his eyes -- not to mention that expressive voice.


I always like the movies that explore the relationship between brothers, for some reason, and this was no different. It was almost easy to forget that they were brothers, however, since they never share a scene, and their attachment to each other is tentative but strong. Fascinating.

The ending leaves you feeling a bit unresolved and thoughtful. All in all, an interesting piece.

Rating: 3.5