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Benny and Joon starring Johnny Depp, Aidan Quinn, Mary Stuart Masterson and Julianne Moore

Posted on July 28, 2010 Written by ripitup

Benny and Joon starring Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn and Julianne Moore. Image via uaa.alaska.edu/

Car mechanic Benny (Aidan Quinn) has been living with and taking care of his sister Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson) ever since they lost their parents a long time ago. Joon is mentally troubled and has certain obsessions. Her problems make her intolerant to certain things such as extreme noise, traffic and chaos. While social consultants advise Benny to register in a private care facility, Benny is perfectly content with the living arrangements and so is Joon.

Benny’s idea of fun is playing poker with his friends. At one game, the stakes get a bit unusual. One of Benny’ friends puts his eccentric cousin Sam (Johnny Depp) on the table. Benny loses and ends up taking Sam at home. Sam can’t read or write but he is a total movie nut and he is acting a lot like the silent movie actor Buster Keaton. It doesn’t take long for him to get used to Joon’s “eccentricities” and Joon has a lot of fun having him around. In fact they seem to form a special bond which leads to a romantic involvement. But how will Benny react? And how are these two ever going to make a relationship work? And will Benny be ever to concentrate on his romantic life while he is concerned about Joon all the time?

Benny and Joon is a delightful, emotional and very fun romantic comedy/drama. The performances are lovely but of course as always Johnny Depp shines through. Oliver Platt and Julianne Moore take supporting roles – Oliver Platt as Benny’s friend and Julianne Moore as Ruthie, Benny’s romantic interest. The soundtrack is just lovely and both Benny and Joon’s and Joon and Sam’s relationships are well-developed throughout the film. This film is so much more than a romantic/drama/comedy.

Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik and written by Barry Berman and Lesley McNeil, 1993.

Rated 6.9 on IMDB. Well, 7 or above 7 seems pretty fair to me. Benny and Joon is a total Johnny Depp gem. Of course the film is based in reality and you are having your most fun Tim Burton/ Johnny Depp collaborations, this might not be ideal for you. However, I do suggest you give this one a shot.

Also featuring Johnny Depp

10 Celebrities to Wear Flats For

Johnny Depp’s Best: 8 Johnny Depp Movies to See

6 Celebrities That Aged Really Well

Also Featuring Aidan Quinn

5 Movies to Watch on Fast Forward

Brash.im Review

Posted on July 27, 2010 Written by ripitup

Brash is certainly a creative and fun name for a website, especially when the website design complements the different meanings of the word (as chosen by the company). Two of them are:

* offensively bold; “a Brash newcomer disputed the age-old rules for admission to the club”; “a nervy thing to say” (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

*Leaf litter of small leaves and little twigs as found under a hedge; impetuous or rash; insensitive or tactless; impudent or shameless (en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brash)

Brash offers services in many areas, including seo,sem, linkbuilding, hosting, ppc and social media.

Coffeee.net Review

Posted on July 27, 2010 Written by ripitup

Coffee Beans is a fun site that is all about coffee: coffee beans and coffee related products. This site seems relatively new, as some of the products and brands are yet to be placed. But it offers discounts, gift packages and the opportunity to pay with different credit cards. You can create an account and calculate the prices in dollars, pounds and euros. It is a fun website to hang around for coffee lovers. If you like coffee, check out Coffee Beans

The Ghost Writer starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan and Kim Catrall

Posted on July 27, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Ghost Writer starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Catrall and Olivia Williams. Directed by Roman Polanski, 2010. Image via kampusteyiz.com

A ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) is a little bit reluctant about his next assignment. He is not all that into writing a politic memoir, especially when the ghost writer hired before him ended up dead. And while the cause of death is considered to be either suicide or accident, it doesn’t sound like the perfect job. However his agent and the promised fat paycheck persuades him to take on the job.

The memoir he’ll be ghost-writing is of former prime minister of UK, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). His working conditions are far from ideal as he is not allowed to copy or take out the manuscript, has only one month to finish it, the house of Lang’s is in the middle of nowhere, Lang has a discontent wife (Olivia Williams) who is followed by bodyguards wherever she goes and totally despises Lang’s perfectionist assistant Amelia Bly (Kim Catrall), who she suspects of having an affair with her husband.

The conditions get worse when Lang gets accused of war crimes and people are making frantic protests in front of his house. Because of the chaos, now our ghost writer has to stay in the house, and in his dead predecessor’s room. The publishers also want the book finished 2 weeks sooner.

Things get complicated as our writer is not sure who to trust and becomes increasingly convinced that the previous ghost writer was murdered. But who wanted him dead? What the hell is in that memoir? And will they be coming after him as well, whoever they are?

Directed by Roman Polanski, written/adapted by Roman Polanski and Robert Harris, based on the book called The Ghost, written by Robert Harris. The Ghost Writer is a solid, albeit a little slow-paced drama-mystery-thriller with a stellar cast. Pierce Brosnan certainly looks the part of a handsome-actor-turned-politician, Ewan is perfectly tailored for his role and who can blame an ice-cold wife Ruth Lang (icily portrayed by (Olivia Williams) for suspecting her husband was sleeping with his assistant that comes in the form of Kim Catrall, a.k.a Sex and The City’s Samantha. The slow pace is not a negative thing as the movie always holds your attention and keeps you guessing. Some viewers complained about the ending but I personally loved it. 7.8 on Imdb. I probably wouldn’t go as far to rate it a 7.8, but it is definitely above 7. You don’t always find intelligent entertainment. Thumbs up.

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Note: I didn’t read the book. But I am tempted to read Robert Harris’s books.

Fun Note: Adam Lang’s lawyer is played by Timothy Hutton, star of the heist thriller TV series Leverage.

And the ghost is hired by a bald James Belushi.

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