Tuesday comes around yet again, time is flying by this year, we're almost in March! Anyway onto the film, after last week's romantic comedy You've Got Mail, we fly headlong into yet another chick-flick, (yes, we at Tuesday Night is Film Night love the chick-flicks).
The chick-flick in question is;
The House Bunny
Well, when the film started it was debatable whether I was a little too old for this film, maybe 30 years too old! It certainly feels like it is a teen movie, the basic premise of the story is as follows;
Shelley Darlingson (played by the very pretty Anna Faris) is a Playboy Bunny who has just turned 27 and is unceremoniously kicked out of the Playboy Mansion (more on that later). Homeless and jobless, Shelley stumbles upon a school, where she discovers the various sororites and is rejected by the popular one, but is accepted by the unpopularsorority, which is just about to be shut down.
So there is your formulaic plot, vapid, dumb-blonde Shelley, is out to save the girls of Zeta sorority.
Simple and vapid. This could describe Shelley and indeed, the film, but...............
..... and this is a big but, it's not that simple and / or vapid.
Yes, the film is true to the genre, formulaic, predictable, fluffy, pink and girlie, but it's also laugh out loud funny! (And chock-full of pretty girls! What's not to like?)
There are some real funny moments as Shelley takes her house of mis-fits, nerds and weirdo's and turns them into popular girls on campus. There's no real point going into details here, you need to watch the film and understand the characters, so you can see for yourself the transformations, but do look out for the Forrest Gump pastiche, very funny.
Hugh Heffner makes an appearance as well, as it is his Playboy mansion where Shelley lived at the beginning. (And he didn't really kick her out, another plot line to look out for).
All in all The House Bunny was a surprisingly good film.
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Tuesday 21 February 2012
You've Got Mail - 21st February 2012
It might be Pancake Day, but it is still Tuesday Night is Film Night and we continue our penchant for romantic comedies and our love of the legendary Tom Hanks, with this weeks offering;
You've Got Mail
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan pair up again as romantic leads, first seen in the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle, for this 1998 movie. Also, as with Sleepless in Settle, You've Got Mail is directed by Nora Ephron.
So, we see Meg Ryan play Kathleen Kelly, a small independent book store owner. And Tom Hanks play, Joe Fox, the owner of a huge chain of book superstores, who is opening his next superstore, just by Kathleen's store.
So, in business Kathleen and Joe are clearly enemies.
Joe and Kathleen have more than books in common though. As they both use email and chat rooms on the Internet, however, unbeknownst to these two they are chatting to each other.
So, in cyberspace, they are clearly friends.
The story follows how their business and private lives intertwine, still totally oblivious to their closeness online. Until that is, they decide to meet up and this is where Joe learns that Kathleen is the woman he is conversing with online. However, Kathleen is still unaware that Joe is her online friend, as he does not reveal his identity to her.
It's now up to Joe to fix the situation and get Kathleen to love him.
OK, so it is a formulaic romantic-comedy, the storyline is predictable, even if you haven't seen the film before, but it is lovely, cute and quaint.
There are moments of tears and laughter.
It does draw you into the story and you are there willing them to get together.
It has all the ingredients of a classic romantic-comedy and it is. Meg Ryan is as beautiful as ever and Tom Hanks is just legendary. We have never seen a bad Tom Hanks movie.
If you liked Sleepless in Seattle, then you'll love, You've Got Mail.
You've Got Mail
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan pair up again as romantic leads, first seen in the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle, for this 1998 movie. Also, as with Sleepless in Settle, You've Got Mail is directed by Nora Ephron.
So, we see Meg Ryan play Kathleen Kelly, a small independent book store owner. And Tom Hanks play, Joe Fox, the owner of a huge chain of book superstores, who is opening his next superstore, just by Kathleen's store.
So, in business Kathleen and Joe are clearly enemies.
Joe and Kathleen have more than books in common though. As they both use email and chat rooms on the Internet, however, unbeknownst to these two they are chatting to each other.
So, in cyberspace, they are clearly friends.
The story follows how their business and private lives intertwine, still totally oblivious to their closeness online. Until that is, they decide to meet up and this is where Joe learns that Kathleen is the woman he is conversing with online. However, Kathleen is still unaware that Joe is her online friend, as he does not reveal his identity to her.
It's now up to Joe to fix the situation and get Kathleen to love him.
OK, so it is a formulaic romantic-comedy, the storyline is predictable, even if you haven't seen the film before, but it is lovely, cute and quaint.
There are moments of tears and laughter.
It does draw you into the story and you are there willing them to get together.
It has all the ingredients of a classic romantic-comedy and it is. Meg Ryan is as beautiful as ever and Tom Hanks is just legendary. We have never seen a bad Tom Hanks movie.
If you liked Sleepless in Seattle, then you'll love, You've Got Mail.
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Valentine's Day - 14th February 2012
So this week's Tuesday Night is Film Night falls on Valentine's Day, so what better way to celebrate St. Valentine's Day, than with a film called;
Valentine's Day
So what is Valentine's Day (the film) all about? Well, predictably it is about love. Old love, new love, young love, undiscovered love, and man love! (You'll see when you watch it).
It is a cutesy romantic comedy, with a fairly star studded cast, well some big names from recent movies; Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Eric Dane, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Taylor Lautner..... the list goes on.
So, it is a very busy plot, with intertwining storylines, along the same theme as Love Actually, or New Year's Day. Although Valentine's Day seems to lack the true romance, the punch to the stomach storyline, that has you reaching for the tissues, but in fairness it does make up for it with some good laughs. So it's more of a comedy-romance, rather than a romantic comedy.
The plot seems to be very active, too much going on to draw you into the lives of those involved, but it does dangle a few lines for you to swallow, which does get you thinking. It doesn't necessarily work out the way you think it might, which is a good thing, plot twists and story turn-arounds, make for better viewing pleasure. You want to walk away from a movie saying; "I didn't think that would happen". Rather than thinking; "well, that went down a very predictable route".
As a movie for Valentine's Day, it is certainly worth the effort. For any other time of the year, well let's just say that there are better movies out there.
Having said that, it does have Anne Hathaway in it, so, what's not to like!!
Enjoy.
Valentine's Day
So what is Valentine's Day (the film) all about? Well, predictably it is about love. Old love, new love, young love, undiscovered love, and man love! (You'll see when you watch it).
It is a cutesy romantic comedy, with a fairly star studded cast, well some big names from recent movies; Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Eric Dane, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Taylor Lautner..... the list goes on.
So, it is a very busy plot, with intertwining storylines, along the same theme as Love Actually, or New Year's Day. Although Valentine's Day seems to lack the true romance, the punch to the stomach storyline, that has you reaching for the tissues, but in fairness it does make up for it with some good laughs. So it's more of a comedy-romance, rather than a romantic comedy.
The plot seems to be very active, too much going on to draw you into the lives of those involved, but it does dangle a few lines for you to swallow, which does get you thinking. It doesn't necessarily work out the way you think it might, which is a good thing, plot twists and story turn-arounds, make for better viewing pleasure. You want to walk away from a movie saying; "I didn't think that would happen". Rather than thinking; "well, that went down a very predictable route".
As a movie for Valentine's Day, it is certainly worth the effort. For any other time of the year, well let's just say that there are better movies out there.
Having said that, it does have Anne Hathaway in it, so, what's not to like!!
Enjoy.
Tuesday 7 February 2012
The Killing of John Lennon - 7th February 2012
Tuesday Night is Film Night is here yet again! The week just rolls by so quickly, it doesn't feel like it's been 7 days since the last film! (Which was The Blind Side incidentally).
This week we pile headlong into the gritty, real life story, portraying a small part of the life of Mark David Chapman, as he plots and commits;
The Killing of John Lennon
Clearly, we all know what happens in this film. The story is well documented, but do we know what was going on in the mind of Mark David Chapman? This film tells us, using the exact words of Chapman gleaned from subsequent interviews and testimonies.
Chapman is portrayed superbly by Jonas Ball, in his first feature film. He captures the paranoid, psychotic killer very well, including the mood swings, and inner demons which drove Chapman to his crime. Most of the words that describe what is going on, are provided through a narration or commentary provided by Chapman (Jonas Ball), which runs parallel with the on screen action. All of which have been drawn from interviews with Chapman since the murder.
Kudos should also be given to the writer and director; Andrew Piddington, who takes the facts and dramatises the story very well, with superb editing, hand held camera work and some very good audio techniques, giving an eerie quality to the narration that runs throughout the film.
If you have a fascination for the story of The Beatles and John Lennon, then this is definitely worth a watch. It's not an action thriller, is is an introspection of Mark David Chapman examining his state of mind, his fixation for the J. D. Salinger novel; The Catcher in the Rye and why Chapman identified with the central character; Holden Caulfield so much, and then subsequently wanting to remove the "phoney" John Lennon.
It is a good factual film, although somewhat surreal in places, but it provides a background to the story of John Lennon's murder. but in no way glamourises the killing or sympathises with Chapman, who quite rightly is still locked up.
This week we pile headlong into the gritty, real life story, portraying a small part of the life of Mark David Chapman, as he plots and commits;
The Killing of John Lennon
Clearly, we all know what happens in this film. The story is well documented, but do we know what was going on in the mind of Mark David Chapman? This film tells us, using the exact words of Chapman gleaned from subsequent interviews and testimonies.
Chapman is portrayed superbly by Jonas Ball, in his first feature film. He captures the paranoid, psychotic killer very well, including the mood swings, and inner demons which drove Chapman to his crime. Most of the words that describe what is going on, are provided through a narration or commentary provided by Chapman (Jonas Ball), which runs parallel with the on screen action. All of which have been drawn from interviews with Chapman since the murder.
Kudos should also be given to the writer and director; Andrew Piddington, who takes the facts and dramatises the story very well, with superb editing, hand held camera work and some very good audio techniques, giving an eerie quality to the narration that runs throughout the film.
If you have a fascination for the story of The Beatles and John Lennon, then this is definitely worth a watch. It's not an action thriller, is is an introspection of Mark David Chapman examining his state of mind, his fixation for the J. D. Salinger novel; The Catcher in the Rye and why Chapman identified with the central character; Holden Caulfield so much, and then subsequently wanting to remove the "phoney" John Lennon.
It is a good factual film, although somewhat surreal in places, but it provides a background to the story of John Lennon's murder. but in no way glamourises the killing or sympathises with Chapman, who quite rightly is still locked up.
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