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500 Days of Summer starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel

Posted on December 3, 2009 Written by ripitup

500 Days of Summer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

This is one real, sincere and a little gem of a movie. It is quite lovely, actually bordering on brilliant. I have seen better movies and I’m sure you have too. I am just not sure I have seen any better in the whole romance/comedy genre though. I think most people have been in the places of both of the leading characters- Tom and Summer.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsD0NpFSADM[/pro-player]
Tom (Joseph Gordon- Levitt) is a young man working at a greeting cards company. When Summer (Zooey Deschanel) starts to work at the same office, he can’t believe his luck. She is beautiful, fun and seems to share his taste in music. There is one problem: Summer is a cynic who doesn’t believe in love and doesn’t want a serious relationship. So Tom only has one choice really. As much as he’s falling for Summer, he pretends he is OK with the casual relationship they are having. The movie adds a half-serious/half-amusing documentary approach to the background as the story takes a look at Tom’s 500 days spent either with Summer or thinking about her. The days are not shown in order and we just join the emotional rollercoaster Tom has got on.

The movie provides all the bittersweet reality of falling in love, the great days when we think the other person feels the same and the other days when we simply feel all alone in the relationship. This is of course Tom’s point of view. I once fell for a boy who didn’t love me back yet I was certain we were such a good match. As Tom’s terribly smart and mature younger sister points out, just because the other person likes the same stuff with us, it doesn’t mean they are your soul mates. Attraction and love may not be mutual or even if there is chemistry, it doesn’t mean the other person fells the same way about you. But then again, I understand Summer too. I have been Summer, meaning where I was the one who didn’t want a relationship, where I wanted to keep things casual. That is what makes this movie so good to watch. The characters are us. We have been them or met them at some point in our lives. But the story is never slow or boring because the familiarity is always presented with a lovely sense of humor.

But as the tag line says, this is not a love story. It is a story about love. And as far as emotional and funny movies go, this is pretty well-done.

The soundtrack is lovely. The actors are totally believable and very likable. And do not consider as just a love a story. It is a great look on life,relationships and dreams. It takes a girl like Summer for Tom to start thinking about his goals again. All people that enter our lives leave some sort of mark, whether they stay on or not. This film is the perfect combination of escapism and reality.

Never Been Kissed starring Drew Barrymore, Michael Vartan and David Arquette

Posted on November 21, 2009 Written by ripitup

I have kissed guys. I just never felt that thing.

Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore, David Arquette and Michael Vartan

Please get your minds out of the gutter, after all English is a pretty flexible language. : ) But, this is a PG-13 romantic comedy and there are not any explicit scenes. It might even be considered unrealistic in many aspects. After all people totally buy that Drew Barrymore and David Arquette are high schoolers, and sometimes romantic movies feel less realistic than an extra futuristic fantasy /sci-fi movies. But it is all in the name of some good fun and unless you are feeling cynical (or you despise the genre as a rule), this movie is good to watch.

That thing…that moment when everything around you becomes hazy and the only thing in focus is you and this person

The lead character is Josie (Drew Barrymore)- a totally unhip, unattractive and anti-social female working as a journalist. She is also a die hard romantic who feels like she has never had the perfect kiss. Yeah, girls in general tend to enjoy kissing more if there are some intense feelings going on. One day she gets to do a feature undercover story about today’s highs schoolers. But there’s a problem. As her brother Rob reminds her, she used to be an unpopular, fat kid everyone made fun of. She was of course in love with the most popular guy and as you can imagine, she didn’t get him. Now she has to put herself put there, make friends, get popular and find some juicy story to write about. She might be wiser and much lighter this time around, but she’s still clueless when it comes to social activities and popularity. She just gets along better with the nerds than the popular kids. And to make matters more complicated, her English teacher (played by Michael Vartan) might just be the guy she’s been looking for all her life…

The movie is a romantic comedy but it generates enough laughs before it gets all romantic on you. Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan make a nice couple but there are some interesting names in the cast with small roles such as James Franco and Jessica Alba. Try to make sure you catch this film from 1999. I revisited it recently and it is still fun.

IMDB rating: 5.7 from 25,370 people.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d97O5zOBwcw[/pro-player]

Other Posts on Michael Vartan

Alias starring Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan and Bradley Cooper

Monster in Law starring Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan and Jennifer Lopez

Other Posts on Drew Barrymore movies

Whip It starring Ellen Page, Kristen Wig, Juliette Lewis and Drew Barrymore

He’s just not that into you starring Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper and More

Donnie Darko starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone and Patrick Swayze

The Hangover starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha

Posted on November 15, 2009 Written by ripitup

The Hangover starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. Also starring Justin Bartha and Heather Graham. Directed by Todd Phillips. Image via abrilosojos.com

I really have to see this movie again. Not too soon, but after I forgot some of the jokes. I don’t know why a friend of mine said this film wasn’t that funny: I was laughing my butt off during the entire movie.

I like Bradley Cooper. I have been watching him act since Alias (2001-2006). The first role I had seen him was of a very nice guy. He played the best friend to Jennifer Garner‘s Sydney. Then I saw him as the ultimate asshole in the Wedding Crashers that gave hell to Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson’s characters. His roles haven’t exactly been very difficult or diverse but he is believable and fun to watch whether he is a nice guy or the jackass. He has given the performance that his roles required him too. In The Hangover, he is neither a sweetheart like his Alias character Will Tippin nor a psycho. He is a nice guy at school- he is a school teacher. And with friends, he is the ultimate party animal who is never shy of speaking his opinion or making fun of his friends.

The plot gives enough potential for a good time: The groom-to-be Doug (Justin Bartha), Doug’s future wife’s wacky brother Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug’s two oldest best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms). Phil is married with a kid and there’s no way he is going to miss a bachelor party in Las Vegas. Stu has been with his dominating, bitchy and controlling girlfriend for 3 years and though he is planning to marry her, he is also more than glad to be in Vegas whereas she thinks he is in Napa Valley. Alan is….Alan is a hilarious sight to look at. He is not normal and not very predictable, to say the very least. Doug seems like the most normal man among them. He is ready to commit and is happy to be getting married, despise Phil’s ranting about how awful marriage is. So they get on the car Doug’s father-in-law gives him they head out.

It all starts harmlessly but funnily enough. They get dressed, have drinks and go out. The movie cuts to the morning after. The room has been thrashed, there is a hem walking around, there are women leaving and when Alan goes to the bathroom there is real,life-size tiger waiting for him! In a panic he wakes Phil up. They are all suffering from the worst hangover, and worst of all Doug is nowhere to be seen. There is a baby in a closet and no one can recall anything!

So they put they heads together and try to trace their steps back. Three best-men and no groom!

When the movie finished, my stomach was hurting from laughing too hard. While the concept of a Vegas bachelor party gone awry is not original, what happens to the guys are. Another interesting thing about their story is that we don’t know what happened and they don’t know what happened. Every piece of the puzzle is more entertaining than the one before. Of course it is below the belt, crude and sometimes well…the movie takes it too far but it doesn’t matter in he end ’cause you just had a blast watching it! One of the funniest movies I have ever seen.

END NOTE: The movie was written and directed by Todd Phillips who also co-wrote and directed Old School and Road Trip. Road Trip was OK, and Old School was really funny. However I think I prefer Hangover. See it.

The Hangover by Todd Phillips with Bradley Cooper — The Hangover: The baby belongs to a woman who....Nah, I am not gonna say it. Just know that his mother is played by the gorgeous actress Heather Graham.

All Posts feat. Bradley Cooper

Alias

He’s Just Not That Into You

Wedding Crashers

Funny People with Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Eric Bana

I was really looking forward to this movie. I had seen the trailer and I thought : “Cool! We are going to watch a half-funny, half- dramatic film!” Well the movie was a little dramatic and a little funny but that’s all. And that can’t really get you through 153 minutes (146, if it is not unrated). I am not saying it was all bad, but there were so many unnecessary scenes and so many useless lines- it just doesn’t work.

So George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a successful, highly popular and very rich comedic actor. He has come a long way from stand-up comics. He doesn’t have a problem picking women and all looks fine for him-until he goes to the doctor’s and finds out he is terminally ill. He examines his life. He realizes he has screwed up when he ruined things with the love of his life, Laura (Leslie Mann). Laura left George when he cheated on her and went on to marry an Australian called Clarke (Eric Bana) who apparently cheats on her too. But she has two kids with him…

George doesn’t have any real friends either. When he goes back to the stage for live comedy (probably for nostalgic reasons), he meets a clumsy,not-so-funny Ira and for some reason decides to have him work for him. Ira is ecstatic- he is writing jokes and assisting his favorite funny man.

Ira has two close friends: Leo (Jonah Hill) a comic a little funnier (supposedly) than him and Mark (Jason Schwartzman) who plays in a sitcom that Ira can’t really stand to watch.

So the movie concentrates on relationships and trusts the dialogs: Between George and Ira, Ira and his buddies, Ira and Laura and later on my favorite : when Clarke comes from a business trip to find George and Ira at home with his wife and kids.

There are things I like about the movie, I can’t say I despised it. Let me write down the likes first:

Likes:

+ Eric Bana: Don’t tell me it is because he looks good because he doesn’t , not here. But he is a good actor and his role & over-the-top Australian accent is funny. He is a real Aussie but that’s not how he actually speaks…And there were some good jokes that came from Ira about why they shouldn’t mess with him.

+ Seth Rogen: I normally don’t like him. I despised his character in Knocked-Up, he just wasn’t funny. But in this movie, he is the only character that is well…humane and at least slightly likable. With all his failures and good intentions, he was fun to watch. He has also some funny takes on who makes it successful in life. And Ira’s stand-up scenes at least one or two funny moments.

Dislikes:

– Leslie Mann’s Laura: She was fine and likable at first but later she just got…OK, so she can forgive a cheater ex (Adam Sandler) because he is dying. Fair enough. But then he gets better and she suddenly acts like he is the one that got away and her husband is an asshole..and..yeah the problem is Clarke isn’t actually that big an asshole, he is certainly not worse than George. So you sympathize with…no one, really! Ira is OK but then he really acts like a crybaby most of the time and you just want him to tell George to stick it.

-The Brat Pack: I don’t have anything against Brat Packs or crude comedy- as long as the combination works. I like the group of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson and well, I adore Old School. But if you are going to throw in lots of swearing and abrasive language, please make sure it is funny!

-The stand-up acts: The movie involves so many scenes with them. It just slows the movie down. Really slows it down, because they are just not funny 99% of the time.

– Duration : You really shouldn’t have a story pretending to be profound for 153 minutes, when you could have a much more effective and much funnier story told in 90 minutes! I thought it was ironic. In one scene Laura tells George to cut the swearing and he jokes that then he wouldn’t have a third act. I wish Leslie Mann had told the same thing to real life husband Judd Apatow. Yes, brat pack and family members….Ouch!

In wish I had known the movie was Judd Apatow’s and his brat pack’s.His movie making is just my style. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy 40-year-old virgin, the movie had a lot of funny moments. But I was really bored during Knocked Up. It wasn’t funny, I didn’t like any of the characters and if a comedy doesn’t make you laugh, you feel bad. I have nothing against Sandler- I actually really like some of his movies, like The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, The Longest Yard and Anger Management. But the elements in the movies just don’t work. Indiviudally, Bana,Sandler and Rogen are good. The idea of the story is fine. Cameos are fun. But..that’s pretty much it. And it certainly didn’t help that I watched this movie on the same day I watched Hangover. The Hangover is my next post- it is directed by the Old School director Todd Philips. And it is a perfect example of how you can be crass and funny without being boring and irrelevant.

Other Movies feat. Jonah Hill

The Invention of Lying

Forgetting Sarah Marshall