Archives for July 2009

My favorite Canadians: #1 Michael J. Fox

Posted on July 10, 2009 Written by ripitup

I have loved Canada even before I went there and met its great people. It just left a image on me thanks to J. Fox, Jim Carrey and Bryan Adams.

So let’s start with the cutest celebrity ever…

MICHAEL J. FOX

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What do you first remember when you hear J. Fox’s his name? Most probably three Back to the Future movies. And right along with them- because I’m such a 80s& mostly 90s movie nut- I think of Secret of My Success, Doc Hollywood, The Concierge and Casualties of War. He has played the lead in Spin City for 4 seasons and it is my favorite sitcom ever. It is deliciously funny and Mike is a wonderful actor. When I learned that he had Parkinson’s, I remember thinking to myself: Shit!!! Before I knew he had it, I was really upset that he kept appearing in less and less movies. He has always been one of my fav. actors and I like anything with him in it- with the exception of the Mars Attacks- Tim Burton and I just don’t belong to the same planet- I have watched most of his movies more than once. Before the internet made it so easy to reach everything, I hunted his movies down at videostores, videotaped stuff from TVs,bought every old magazine I could find with him in it. It wasn’t a teenage crush though. I never thought Michael in a sexual way. He always felt like a part of the family. He looked like the guy that you wanted to be best friends with. He is modest, friendly and probably the loveliest actor that ever came to Hollywood. He is fantastic at romantic comedies- he steals the show every time with his winning smile. I have admired his sense of family, his loyalty to his wife and his self-depreciating style. He is one of the very few actors who you can admire both personally and professionally. I guess instead of talking about him, it is time to pay my respects in writing.

Back to the Future (1985) – Marty McFly is the kid you wish…,

–…you could date in high school: he is sweet, romantic, fun and well…funny. You also remember that he plays the guitar, right

-…whose scientist friend you knew:

Dr. Emmet Brown is eccentric, deadly smart and naive enough to buy plutonium from terrorists (soley for fuel purposes.

You got to love this guy) oh and he has invented a time machine! He gets Marty in and out of trouble,in that order.

Back to the Future is the absolutely brilliant mixture of comedy and adventure. Marty goes back and tries to save the doctor from the terrorists and also has to deal with his parents’ teenage version. And this is only the first part…

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The first movie is set in 1985 and 1955, the second in 2015, 1955 and 1985. The third in 1985 and 1885. 1885 gives us a western comedy, and 2015 has the more Sci-Fi feel to it. I love all three and have watched them…well, too many times to remember.

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Marty has to deal with his mom’s teenage hormones and has to let her call him Calvin.

The Rom-Coms

Michael makes a lovely lead as he falls for the girl and goes to lengths to get her.

THE CONCIERGE ( For love or money- 1993)

Doug (J. Fox) has a dream of building and managing his own hotel so when he falls for the mistress (Gabrielle Anwar) of the guy who is going to help Doug realize that dream makes things complicated.

DOC HOLLYWOOD (1991)

Mike as the big shot stuck in a small town

The story involves a pretty girl, her daughter, a pig (literally) and Woody Harrelson. It is a fun watch. No more needs to be said.

Secret of my Success (1987)

Again, Mike falls for the mistress of his boss. His boss’s wife wants Mike. He needs to prove his parents and himself that he can make it in the big city.

Fun as expected.

DRAMA

CASUALTIES OF WAR- 1989

So what happens when some guys from your troop decides to attack and rape a local girl, just for the hell of it? What happens if they stick together and you are all on your own, trying to save her and stay alive all at once?

Bright Lights, Big City (1988)

51T9GVQPD3L__SL500_AA240_ J. Fox is no longer the clean cut boy from next door. The movie is a realistic drama about how we deal (or can’t deal) with things that happen to us. It also features Kiefer Sutherland. If you think Michael only did comedy and/or is good at comedy, you should give these two a chance.

Of course he has appeared in many other movies, both dramatic and funny. He has appeared in movies that you won’t tire from watching. But his funniest work to date, I believe, is Spin City.

SPIN CITY

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I am not going to go into much detail since Spin City will have its own spot. I just need to say though; I just couldn’t handle watching it after Charlie Sheen took over the lead after 4 years .It wasn’t funny any more. OK- it was funny but with J. Fox, it was freaking hilarious. The characters were outrageous, both the physical comedy and one-liners were amazing. The script was as entertaining and original as it could get. You have a tall,handsome, nice yet extremely naive and air-headed major who probably wouldn’t remember to tie his shows without his short,funny,sharp and self-centered deputy major (J. Fox). The rest of the staff consists of a clumsy,big,weird, stingy and oh-not-so-smart Paul, lovely, pretty and single Nikki, the unsuccessful womanizer Stu and the geeky James. I prefer it over almost any sit-come. It might draw a tie with Friends but mind you- Friends had its episodes that were not so great.But Spin City made me laugh in 4 seasons-as much as friends did in a total of 10 years. You do the math…

I miss Michael J. Fox. I hate the fact that he can only get small roles now, due to his illness. I am for any sort of research that could help this terrible disease. I hope that he can get rid of it. I know it is wishful thinking but…fingers crossed, it just might happen in the future. He is a great entertainer and a talented actor. He is also a nice guy so he definitely deserves better…

That Old Feeling starring Bette Midler, Dennis Farina, Paula Marshall, Danny Nucci and James Denton

Posted on July 9, 2009 Written by ripitup

THAT OLD FEELING (1997)

Starring: Bette Midler, Dennis Farina, Paula Marshall, James Denton, Gail O’ Grady and Danny Nucci

That Old Feeling starring Bette Midler, Dennis Farina and Paula Marshall. Funny. Very funny.

I am not always gonna talk about dramatic pieces. Here’s a great comedy on love, marriage, relationships and old/new sparks.

And if you are thinking I am discriminating, here the guy-Dan (Farina) – also commits adultery and I am perfectly fine with it.

Molly (Marshall) is getting married. The wedding is extra stressful for her. Not because she’s getting cold feet. But her parents Lilly and Dan (Midler and Farina) are divorced and they really despise each other. She has to make sure they don’t kill each other during the couple of hours they see one another.

Dennis Farina, Bette Midler in the middle of another heated argument.

And what she fears happens. They do start fighting- The mother is now married to their marriage counselor and the father is married to a woman she is sure Farina cheated on her with. However Farina claims she cheated on him before. This was all expected. What wasn’t though is when they are alone, the attraction comes rushing back and they have sex. More than that, they run off together. Paula’s fiancé (James Denton) is a candidate senator so the last thing this young politician needs is a scandal. So before she can go their honeymoon, she has to console two hectic and borderline crazy second spouses, deal with a paparazzi (Nucci) who is determined to find the parents…

It is hilarious and romantic- mostly the romance resulting from the chemistry between the paparazzi and Molly- although he could not be more different than her husband, he just is so fun to be around!!!

I laughed my butt off during this film. It might actually be my ultimate favorite romantic comedy.

Adultery can be OK if the people you are married to are no angels and did use the problems in your marriage to seduce you-and helped you commit adultery in the first place. To see who ends up with who and how, just watch it.

P.S: Molly’s fiancé is played by James Denton. I did not notice how good-looking his guy was until he appeared as a plumber in Desperate Housewives. And even though I am not one of the biggest fans of th show, I have to say I was hooked on James. In this movie, he is too uptight and insensitive and the charm card goes to Nucci.

A little on the actors:

Talk about rugged good looks…His fans might check this movie out to see a younger James.

As for Farina and Midler…They are as marvelously hilarious as always.

Bette Midler and Dennis Farina in That Old Feeling — Yep, fighting again.

Buy That Old Feeling from Amazon.com

If you like romantic comedies, you might want to check out:

He is just not that into you: Starring Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johannson, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly

Just Like Heaven: Starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo

It’s a boy girl thing: Starring Kevin Zegers

You’ve Got Mail: Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

Yours, Mine and Ours: Starring Rene Russo and Dennis Quaid

Playing by Heart: Starring Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Dennis Quaid, Madeleine Stowe, Ryan Phillippe

Enchanted: Starring Patrick Dempsey, Amy Adams, James Marsden and Susan Sarandon

Pretty Woman: Starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere

Made of Honor: Starring Patrick Dempsey

Someone Like You: Starring Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd

Adam: Starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Bryne

Roxette: Swedish Pop-Rock

Posted on July 7, 2009 Written by ripitup

I have always liked Roxette. But the funny thing is I didn’t find out that they were Swedish until 4 years ago. I was in Norway and was chatting with the guy from the record store and that’s how I learned. I had always thought they were American. It is a sound thing, I guess. But I consider Norway to be my second home and Sweden is a close 3rd. So I like the fact that this popular band of the 80s and 90s (I am not too big a fan of their new songs) is Swedish.

Roxette

Roxette consists of Per Gessle (I had been suspicious of his name to be honest-I had never heard of such a name-but than again I haven’t met anyone named Per in Scandinavia either…) and Marie Fredriksson. They share the vocals and Per also acts as the lead guitarist. Other instruments are played by others who are not officially a part of the band.

They have done so many songs that I loved. I am not a fan of their romantic songs in particular- but I just love the lively,rock n’roll songs. To name a few Dressed for Success, Joyride, The Look, Sleeping in my car…

Then Roxette did what most bands do as they get older: they turned more and more into pop, combined more electronic elements into it- which is shame because Per’s voice has that husky & fun rock n’roll vibe to it.It’s of course not just Roxette. Bon Jovi added too much pop into some later albums, so did Def Leppard. But I guess the difference is those bands started with hard-rock and/or glam rock so even when they soften the sound, it is still rock-mostly.

Oh well…I’ll just keep listening to that lovely old songs and dance to them. They have written wonderful stuff about love, dreams, sex and relationships. They are also great motivators. I can’t help but singing Dressed for Success:

I’m gonna get dressed for success- shaping me up for the big time, baby-get dressed for success- shaping me up for your love…for your love-yeah yeah yeah!!!

For more articles on music:

You Can’t Stop Rock N’ Roll: 34 Articles on Rock Music

The Scarlet Letter starring Demi Moore & Gary Oldman: When Adultery Is OK, part 3

Posted on July 7, 2009 Written by ripitup

The Scarlet letter (1995)

Starring Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, Robert Duvall

BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!!!

The letter is A, it stands for adultery/adulteress. It’s the 1660s and Demi Moore gets branded. Why? Oh,right- the story…

She is married to Robert Duvall’s character, who is a physician and a weird man who has sent his wife to one of the new colonies so that she could set a home before he arrives. Weird, right? In a time where women are hardly ever considered capable or to have the right to the anything without their husbands- she arrives alone. Her modern& forthright attitude is not very welcome. Even weirder, the narrator of the movie is Demi Moore (Hester)’s daughter- who will be born later- and keeps referring to Duvall’s character as Hester’s husband…

Then as Hester settles and proves herself capable of living as she likes despite others’ opinions, she meets a beautiful man by the name of Arthur (Gary Oldman).

Oh yes, with his costume of the era, long hair, beard and lovely& cute attitude, Gary Oldman is a beautiful man.They both share a passion for reading. His personality? Just as perfect. He is a priest, very modern and visionary, friendly with Indians,a pacifist and a romantic at heart. He is disappointed to find out that Hester is married. Still, their encounters continue and they realize they have not only respect & admiration for one another but a strong attraction, and deep feelings. Arthur is the one who practices self-control after he confesses his love. After all, he is a priest in love with a married woman and in 1660s, they could be “hanged for this”. So they avoid each other for a while. Then they receive news that her husband was killed in an Indians attack. When Arthur visits Hester’s home to give her the news, she is not exactly grief-stricken. She is anxious to know when it will be publicly acceptable for them to be seen together in public.

But people are bigots mostly and they live by strange rules they have set. Arthur very sadly announces that they have to wait for 7 years. Demi Moore is so disappointed with the news. But it takes them just a few seconds to engage into a passionate kiss- and then later on, into a great love-making.

Arthur and Hester, no longer to keep all those emotions in

I was so glad that they didn’t try to wait for such a ridiculous period of time. After all, there are very few things that are as natural and beautiful than two people- madly in love with each other-having sex. But of course it is not what the society thinks. And to make matters more complicated, Demi Moore gets pregnant. When people find out, they send her to jail. There aren’t exactly laws for this, but then they feel like they should punish a woman who bears a child who is not from her husband. Arthur is shocked and upset that she is treated like that so he wants to confess. But if he does confess, they will let her go but hang him.So there is no way Hester is going to risk his life. She forbids him to talk… So she gives birth in jail and Arthur can only see the child as the “Reverend”. The fact that her husband has survived makes everything even worse. He is determined to make her life hell- he accuses her and her friends of witchcraft. He also finds out Arthur is the father…

So Hester refuses to let go of her principles, to endanger Arthur… She gets branded with A, so the whole town is against her, apart from her friends whose lives are in danger…Arthur is torn between doing what’s right, what’s right for Hester…

And eventually when the town decided to hang Hester and the other women, Arthur just takes his stand, and tells them all..That he is the father of the child.That he loves her. That he is her husband in god’s eyes. He proposes they hang him instead. But when you think this might be another tragic ending, the Indians come to rescue…

It is just such a perfect, amazing love story. You root for the characters from the start. They are so humane, lovely, passionate and idealistic. Their love is real and knows no limits. I love every scene and moment from this film.

If your husband is a jerk, and you have married him against your will and meet such a great guy, it can’t be called adultery. It is just the kind of love a lot of us seek and yet seem to find only in movies…

When Adultery is OK, Part 1: Revenge starring Kevin Costner & Madeleine Stowe

When Adultery is OK, Part 2: The English Patient starring Ralph F?nnes & Kristin Scott Thomas

Easy A starring Emma Stone (full of Scarlet Letter references)

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