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Chasing Liberty starring Matthew Goode, Mandy Moore, Jeremy Piven & Annabella Sciorra

Posted on October 28, 2010 Written by ripitup

Chasing Liberty starring Matthew Goode, Mandy Moore, Mark Harmon, Jeremy Piven, Annabella Sciorra and Caroline Goodall.

This one could have been so much more fun if it hadn’t been chasing a ridiculous soundtrack and well, cheesy dialogue.

I mean I know most romcoms are cheesy but this tends to overdo itself. Nevertheless, I can think of worse things (for a girl) than sitting at home and watching a Matthew Goode movie where he gets to ne ridiculously romantic and all that. There is also some really fun scenes and great locations.

Here’s the movie’s deal:

Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) is the First Daughter. She is 18 and it is impossible for her to enjoy a romantic and private date out with a boy she likes because there are agents everywhere watching and following her. Her last date goes awry again and she decides that she can get a taste of the normal teenage life in Prague, where she will be traveling with her parents. She even convinces her dad (Mark Harmon) to assign only two agents: Weiss. and Morales (Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra). She goes out with her friend Gabrielle (Beatrice Rosen), only to realize that Secret Service are again everywhere. So to punish her dad and prove her point, she gets on the motorcycle of the handsome English guy – Ben (Matthew Goode). Ben helps her ditch the agents Anna can’t believe her luck- she is free in Prague, hanging with a cute guy. Unbeknownst to Anna, however, Ben is also an agent. When her father learns that she ditched the others, he tells Ben to look after Anna, staying undercover. After all, he is sure Anna will come running very soon.

But Anna has other plans, including attending the Love Parade in Berlin. Ben does his best to try to keep her out of trouble but of course Anna is far too naive, pig-headed and optimistic to be safe. There is also the fact she is making it clear she wants him. What is a secret agent to do, especially when he wants her too?

Fun premise, beautiful locations. We get to see Berlin, Venice, Prague, London…I really like Jeremy Piven’s character. He is simply too funny to resist and the sub-plot involves him trying to get Morales to like him.

The movie is only enemy is that it tries too hard to be romantic and it could have been just more fun and genuinely romantic, had they not exaggerated too many things on Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode’s sides. If you want Mandy Moore be subtler (and she can), watch Dedication. If you want a non-cheesy, genuinely sweet and naturally romantic film, watch Before Sunrise.

But even though it has too many flaws, Chasing Liberty follows a fun fantasy. Forget about being the president’s daughter, it is just so fun running off in Europe with a hot stranger no matter how old you are. Still, I’d like the movie more if Anna’s character hadn’t been so stupid in general…

Co-starring is Caroline Goodall as Anna’s mother.

Fun note: Matthew Goode’s 2010 romantic comedy Leap Year also has the leading female called Anna.

Favorite Lines/Scenes

Anna Foster: Dad! Way to go. I can’t believe you had that restaurant swarming with all of your secret servants. You ruined my date! And now, I’m going to die before I ever get to third base… I mean second base.
[Anna turns to see others in room]
President James Foster: Anna?
Anna Foster: I’ll talk to you about this later.
President James Foster: No, no. Stay. Pull up a chair. We were just discussing the G8 Summit in Prague, how to best persuade the EU leaders to adopt our plan for distributing humanitarian aid and medical technology to developing nations, but you had a bad date, so we should probably focus on that.
Anna Foster: No, no, no, I’m so sorry to have interrupted. Excuse me.
[Anna leaves]
President James Foster: So third base is what again?
[indistinct mumbling]
President James Foster: Glad I asked.

***

Anna Foster: I want to swim naked in the Danube!
Ben Calder: Actually, it’s the Vltava.
Anna Foster: Who wants to swim naked in the Vltava? Nobody says that.
Ben Calder: Because in English,Vltava means ‘unhealthy bacteria level’.
Anna Foster: Yeah, right.
Ben Calder: Why can’t you be free without being naked?

***

Ben Calder: [to Anna] Can you please stop taking your clothes off around me?

Other Matthew Goode Movies

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris, Diane Kruger and Matthew Goode

Watchmen starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman & Matthew Goode

Leap Year starring Matthew Goode and Amy Adams

Other Posts feat. Mandy Moore

Nicholas Sparks vs. Happy endings. feat. A Walk to Remember starring Moore

Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode

Posted on October 24, 2010 Written by ripitup

Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode

American Anna (Amy Adams) has a profitable career in “staging homes” for the real estate agents and she is really good at it. She’s also in a 4-year relationship with her cardiologist boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott). They are candidates to live in her dream apartment so things just seem perfect.

However when Jeremy fails to propose at the expected moment, Anna gets inspired by the idea she gets from her loving but unreliable father (John Lithgow): she’ll honor the Irish Leap Year tradition and will go to Dublin- where Jeremy will be attending a medical conference- and propose to him.

But awful weather conditions land her in a remote town in Ireland, where she will need to persuade the unwilling bartender/motel owner Declan (Matthew Goode) –who of course is young and really attractive in a scruffy way.

Monetary issues for Declan to drive her. But everything that can go wrong on the way does-including a growing attraction between the two seemingly opposite strangers.

Is there a chance that Declan is the one instead of Jeremy? And can they figure out they feelings until it is time to part in Dublin?

I know the three words you’re thinking: typical romantic comedy. And you are right. I am not saying to bash the movie, it is a fact. However it is a perfectly enjoyable experience for those in the target audience- romantic (mostly)females who love a good romcom escapism (which I am a part of) it.

It also helps it when you like the leads and I really enjoy watching both Amy Adams and Matthew Goode.

Yeah, it is full of clichés and it is highly unbelievable that they can fall for each other in a couple of days and decide to pursue it. But then again, it is precisely for these clichés that we watch romcoms. And frankly Declan, to me, is the perfect fantasy male. He is ruggedly good-looking, has a good sense of humor, isn’t materialistic and is actually really romantic. And Irish countryside is always a plus (for watching in the films).

Yes, there are no surprises in this film. It is simple, ordinary and entirely predictable. But it is also a good genre example. Watch it if you are not allergic to romcoms. I had fun. My only complaint is that John Lithgow has such a small role.

Other Matthew Goode Movies

Watchmen starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman and Matthew Goode

The Lookout starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matthew Goode and Jeff Daniels

Other Amy Adams Movies

Enchanted starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey and James Marsden

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day starring Amy Adams, Frances McDormand and Lee Pace

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris, Diane Kruger and Matthew Goode

Posted on February 21, 2010 Written by ripitup

Copying Beethoven with Ed Harris and Diane Kruger. Mixed feelings, all over. Not just in me, but in the characters too. Matthew Goode is playing probably the only sane character in the film.

This is one strange movie. I don’t know how I actually feel about it. In fact I am not sure whether I liked it or not. I can’t even guarantee that you will like the movie if you are a Beethoven fan. Here’s the plot:

Beethoven (Ed Harris) needs a good copyist so his helper has asked for the best music student to copy Beethoven’s notes. He is appalled to find out that the student sent is a young woman -Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger). Despite his and Beethoven’s prejudices, Anna is determined that she is indeed the best student and she will try her best to gain Beethoven’s trust and put up with his idiosyncrasies. It isn’t easy, since he can be gentle or mean and she can never know what he will be in the mood for.But albeit complicated, their relationship becomes stronger in time.

Favorite Scene:

The concert premiere, where Anna helps Beethoven leads the orchestra, since his hearing difficulty is making it difficult to lead on his own- both Diane Kruger and Ed Harris are wonderful in this scene and the music is well..amazing. Even if you are not into classical music…

Favorite line:

Ludwig van Beethoven: I’m a very difficult person, Anna Holtz, but I take comfort in the fact that God made me that way.
(from imdb.com)

Performances:

* Diane Kruger is good. Matthew Goode plays her romantic interest and he is lovely. Another supporting actor is Joe Anderson- he plays Beethoven’s nephew. He is good at reflecting the differences between him and his famous uncle. They are all pretty OK. But Ed Harris is just so brilliant and so unrecognizable. Why he wasn’t nominated for another leading actor Oscar is beyond me. Maybe the academy is planning to give him the freaking award the next time he is nominated- he has been nominated for 4 times already! (Twice for leading, twice for supporting actor)

As a movie:

It is rather about the music, the man and the girl’s determination. Nothing much really happens so do not get into it expecting lots of events or interesting dialogue. But…if you are an Ed Harris fan, do not miss it.

Fact:

6.8 on IMDB, voted by over 4.600 people. What is interesting is that the movie’s discussion board has like 15 pages so a lot of people have reacted to this film. I am still not sure what to make of the film, but I am positive that I now have even a higher level of respect for Harris.

Other Ed Harris Movies

Swing Shift starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell & Ed Harris

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Other Diane Kruger Movies

Wicker Park starring Josh Hartnett, Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne & Matthew Lillard

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Jesse Eisenberg & Terrence Howard. Feat. Kruger

Watchmen starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson

Posted on October 2, 2009 Written by ripitup

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3AxenYAyU[/pro-player]

The movie is everything the trailer promises. I am not going to say it was perfect and that the whole 162 minutes were equally exciting. Let’s just say I prefer watching movie adaptations of comics (or in this case a graphic novel) and this movie was rather entertaining. Below are the Watchmen:

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From upper left: The Comedian, Rorschach, Silk Spectre II

Lower left: Nite Owl II, Ozymandias, Dr. Manhattan

It is the 1980s, alternate world. Everything starts with the death of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Or let’s say everything restarts. When the former “superhero” is murdered, Rorschach develops the theory that someone might be after the whole gang. Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) finds the idea ridiculous- he has made his secret identity as Ozymandias public knowledge and is living his life out in the open as a well-respected, multi-billionaire businessman. His partner in most matters is Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup)- who has turned into a blue-skinned man- with some interesting powers; due to a lab accident. He also happens to be the only Watchman with superhuman powers. He is not very concerned either. The world has some other serious issues- like the possibility of Russia going into atomic war against the United States. Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) – his girlfriend- does not share the cold-bloodedness. Also sick and tired of Manhattan’s apathy, she finds comfort in the friendship of Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson)…

Just like any other movie, I favor some characters over the others. The character I enjoyed watching the most was definitely Rorschach (played by Jackie Earle Haley). With the namesake inkblot test patterned mask, his average built (becomes obvious how much smaller he is during the prison scenes). He fights well, he keeps a diary that we hear the entries of, offers his dark points of view on life. Yet he has the best storylines and he can more than take care of himself when in trouble.

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The Comedian ( played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) plays a crucial role in the movie – we get to see a lot of him through flashbacks and notice actions that are borderline psychotic- he can kill innocent people just because they get on his nerves, for instance. You can’t really tell what this guy is doing in a team that aims to protect people…This personality adds up to the dark atmosphere. His morals and motives are very to hard to get…

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While Dr. Manhattan has the most interesting backstory and some really cool lines, his apathy and figure start stalling the movie after a while.

Although we see a lot of the Night Owl II, we don’t really get to know him. Nor we care about Silk Spectre. Somethings feel missing. Somethings are left without explanation and that part of the story doesn’t make sense. You will know what I mean when you see Ozzy’s “pet”. I for one am on the lookout for the director’s cut. Still, I wouldn’t mind a sequel. It might be flawed, but it is damned good entertainment.

The movie has many flashbacks that involve the past of the watchmen, and the “superheroes” that came before them…

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