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Case 39 starring Renee Zellweger, Bradley Cooper, Ian McShane and Jodelle Ferland

Posted on November 3, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Case 39 starring Renee Zellweger, Bradley Cooper, Ian McShane and Jodelle Ferland
Case 39 starring Renee Zellweger, Bradley Cooper, Ian McShane and Jodelle Ferland

Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger) is a Social Services worker, dealing with abused kids. She is too involved in her work to date, even though she is not exactly oblivious to her friend/child psychologist Doug (Bradley Cooper)’s attempts.

Her crazy workload however gets even crazier when she is assigned her 39th case. Lilith Sullivan (Jodelle  Ferland) has the typical symptoms of an abused child: dropping grades, social withdrawal, falling asleep in class…So Emily goes to talk her parents, Edward (Callum Keith Rennie) and Margaret (Kerry O’Malley) who do not seem normal or loving at all. She confides in with her boss (Adrian Lester) and her cop friend (Ian McShane) Mike but they are both unwilling to dig deeper into the case without certain proof.

However she is able to prove the abuse when she gets a terrified call from the girl. She calls Mike and rushes into the house where the parents are trying to kill her. With Mike’s arrival, they manage to arrest the parents and save the girl.

Both of course when your “villains” are sent to an institute in straight jackets pretty much in the beginning of the film, and the abused girl is just all so nice, clever and perceptive, you do know your real villain is out and about. But of course every horror/thriller has at least one stupid or extra- naïve person and in this movie it is Emily. She feels so sorry for the girl that when she insists on living with Emily, our lovely social worker petitions to make it happen. She does get to be her foster parent until new arrangements can be made and their heavenly relationship is about to get very disrupted when Lilith  starts to show her true colors and endangers everyone around her.

I did call Emily naïve and stupid, because you don’t just welcome abused children into your home. I am not saying she could have seen she was a psycho but at least she should have been smart enough not to start living with a girl whose parents tried to burn her in a oven, for crying out loud! She was meant to be mentally disturbed and well, of course without Emily’s stupidity, we may not have had a story.

But then again, it would be perfectly OK not to have shot this movie. It is not bad but it is just so not necessary. And no matter how many fine actors you put in a film, supernatural horror movies usually end up being a disappointment and this one is no exception.

Oh, and if you got suspicious that Bradley Cooper’s name was credited after the little girl and Ian McShane, you were right. That was not a good sign on how much screen time Bradley would end up having in total. Written by Ray Wright, directed by Christian Alvart.2009.

6.1 on IMDB. I just might rate it slightly higher than Kevin Costner’s The New Daughter and Simon Baker’s Not Forgotten as Case 39 wasn’t that ridiculous but still, 6.1 is just too much. 5.5 from me.

The moment there was a mention of possession and demons, Case 39 just lost (bored) me.

Other Posts on Renee Zellweger

11 Actors, 11 Drastic Weight Changes for Roles: With Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Renee Zellweger

4 Good Movies with Awesome Soundtracks: Shoot ‘em up, Jerry Maguire, Reality Bites and Vanilla Sky

The Bachelor starring Chris O’Donnell and Renée Zellweger

Embracing Your Inner Bridget Jones

Renee Zellweger Trivia: Facts About the Oscar Winner Bridget Jones

 

Other Posts on Bradley Cooper

The Hangover Part II: The-Not-So-Hilarious Sequel to the Hilarious Hangover

Bradley Cooper Trivia

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

He’s Just Not That Into You feat. Cooper, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Connelly

Valentine’s Day feat. Cooper, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Patrick Dempsey, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel…

Wedding Crashers feat. Cooper, Vince Vaugh, Owen Wilson & Rachel McAdams

Alias TV Series starring Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan and Bradley Cooper

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: adrian lester, Bradley Cooper, bradley cooper movies, Callum Keith Rennie, case 39, case 39 movie, Christian Alvart, horror, ian mcshane, jodelle ferland, Kerry O'Malley, movies, ray wright, Renee Zellweger, renee zellweger movies, thriller

The Bachelor starring Chris O’Donnell and Renée Zellweger

Posted on May 8, 2010 Written by ripitup

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The Bachelor starring Chris O' Donnell Renée Zellweger
The Bachelor starring Chris O' Donnell Renée Zellweger. Made in 1999. Brace yourselves for something very romantic and very funny. Image from filmamerica.com

The opening credits start in wide open land with lots of horses running wild. Our narrator/lead character

Jimmy Shannon (Chris O’Donnell) starts his story by telling us that every man (in America) is Mustang (the horse, not the car) at heart. He is too. He is also a happy bachelor who loves dating a variety of women without having to think about getting married. One day he meets Anne (Renée Zellweger) and even though he is still not even dreaming about marriage, he is happy just being with that one women.  After a year of bliss, his luck starts to change. All his friends have been getting married inevitably Anne uses the ever-dreaded word “future”. He is the only single guy left in his circle. He decides to do the inevitable and screws up big time. But then something even more dreadful  happens- his grandfather dies and leaves him a $100 million. What’s dreadful about it? Jimmy needs to be married in a certain time frame, be married for at least 10 years and have 10 children. What the ****? “Poor” Jimmy proposes to Anne again, screwing up more time. Anne leaves town to visit her folks and Jimmy has no choice but visiting all his exes one by one, a highly diverse list of women who include a feminist, an over-bearing one, a cop, one who is all business, a stockbroker,  an opera singer…

So Jimmy spends a lot of time proposing to one wrong woman after another and failing to be engaged, until his friend comes with a “brilliant” idea that’s very entertaining for us the audience and a total nightmare for Jimmy….

The Bachelor is a typical romantic comedy but I am saying it with love and affection. I really do like this movie. I love the idea, the actors, the scenes and the dialogue. Sure, as a modern woman I resent the idea of all men being portrayed as commitment-phobic and women crazy about marriage.  I resent the idea that all women see marriage as bliss but men as a nightmare. It might be true for a lot of cases but hey times are changing a little. But who cares? The casting is perfect. If any other guy was giving you all the talk about Mustangs, a girl might be pissed. But hey, it is Chris O’ Donnell. One of the cutest and prettiest actors to date, he lights up the screen and even in his desperate moments, he doesn’t annoy you. He makes you laugh. Put an average guy in there and you would say “Oh, screw you, who would want to marry you, anyway?”. This is a romantic comedy meaning it is (unfortunately) targeted mostly at women and I am being honest.

Brooke Shields and Mariah Carey make very fun appearances. Even though I don’t like Mariah Carey at all, she was the perfect choice as the over-the-top opera singer.

It is a fun romcom with all the regular amount of cheesiness. But the funny bits are really funny and the romantic part is romantic. So if you like the genre, suspend your cynicism for the duration of the film and have fun.

Other Chris O’Donnell Posts

The Three Musketeers starring Chris O’Donnell, Kiefer Sutherland Charlie Sheen

NCIS Los Angeles starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J.

Mad Love starring Drew Barrymore and Chris O’Donnell

All Posts on Renée Zellweger

11 Actors, 11 Drastic Weight Changes for Roles: With Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Renee Zellweger

4 Good Movies with Awesome Soundtracks: Shoot ‘em up, Jerry Maguire, Reality Bites and Vanilla Sky

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Brooke Shields, Chris O' Donnell, comedy, Mariah Carey, movies, Renee Zellweger, romance, romantic comedy, romcom, The Bachelor, the bachelor movie

4 Good Movies with Awesome Soundtracks: Shoot ’em up, Jerry Maguire, Reality Bites and Vanilla Sky

Posted on April 16, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Both movies and music have been my addictions. It is always great fun to watch a good movie or a solid album. But sometimes, these two come together to double the pleasure. Below are some of the best soundtracked-movies.

Shoot ‘Em Up (2007)

Shoot 'Em Up starring Clive Owen, Monica Belluci and Paul Giamatti
Shoot ‘Em Up starring Clive Owen, Monica Belluci and Paul Giamatti. Sex, guns and rockn’roll! Image from: http://www.firstshowing.net

Not one of the most serious movies you will watch. It is non-stop action but it is so cool in its irrational and impossible scenes. But it works. Clive Owen at his best form as the mysterious Smith. Co-starring Monica Belluci. Wondering what the movie is about? Here’s the review. Wondering more about the soundtrack?

Featuring:

Kickstart my heart by Motley Crue

Ace of Spades, Motorhead

Breed, Nirvana

If you want blood, you got it- AC/DC

Oh of course, this isn’t it. They are just the songs I have loved long before the movie. Yes, the soundtrack is all about rock: grunge, rock, hard rock, alternative and classic rock. More on the movie and trailer: https://pinartarhan.com/blog/shoot-em-up/

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise, Renée Zellweger and Cuba Gooding Jr.
Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise, Renée Zellweger and Cuba Gooding Jr. Co-starring Kelly Preston and Jay  Mohr. Watch out for the most adorable kid on screen: Jonathan Lipnicki. Image from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

Tom Cruise has been one of my favorite actors. Because more often than not, I know I can trust him to make good movies.  And Jerry Maguire is my absolutely favorite Tom Cruise. It is also one of my favorites in general. It is funny, poignant, emotional, original and just lovely!!! Which reminds me I haven’t done an individual post on J.M. Shame on me.

Soundtrack featuring:

Pocketful of Rainbows, Elvis Presley

Oh Well, Fleetwood Mac

World on a String, Neil Young

Magic Bus, The Who

Freefallin’, Tom Petty

Burning Sky, Bad Company

And my absolute favorite: Bruce Springsteen’s Secret Garden. The video is below. Includes scenes from the movie.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx_x6jMCxAY[/pro-player]

Movie Trailer:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFs-E-FSkJU&feature=related[/pro-player]

Reality Bites (1994)

Reality Bites starring Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn

 

Delightful romcom, smelling 1990s. I love the 90s, the movie and well, obviously the ost. Now this movie id delightful in its own little way with characters trying (or refusing) to fit in.  Ethaw Hawke’s character is singing  in a band so there are also songs sung by him. More on the movie and photos: https://pinartarhan.com/blog/reality-bites-always/

Featuring:

Rock’n’ Roll Part II, Gary Glitter

Locked Out, Crowded House

Story Of My Life, Social Distortion

Something So Strong, Crowded House

School’s Out, Alice Cooper

All I Want is You, U2

Absolute favorite: My Sharona by The Knack. The video is below:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1T71PGd-J0[/pro-player]

Vanilla Sky (2001)

Vanilla Sky starring Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Kurt Russell

 

Another Tom Cruise movie and just like it written and directed by Cameron Crowe.

Too complicated to tell the story (again one of my fav. Cruise-its post will come) but in a nutshell:

David Aames (Cruise) is handsome, rich and in demand and despite to the inconvenience to the board members, he is the head of the business he inherited from his parents. And he has a friend with benefits- hot Julie (Cameron Diaz).  But  something remarkable happens to David when he meets Sofia (Penelope Cruz) at a party and falls head over heels. Of course this doesn’t go down with Julie -who has wanted David to be more than her bed buddy. An accident ruins David’s face and psychology. From that moment on, the audience has a lot to digest and interpret. Based on the Spanish movie also starring Penelope Cruz. But I dare say, this one is better. Great movie, great soundtrack.

Featuring:

Everything In Its Right Place, Radiohead

Vanilla Sky, Paul McCartney

All the Right Friends,REM

Last Goodbye, Jeff Buckley

Sweetness Follows, REM

Fourth Time Around, Bob Dylan

I Might Be Wrong, Radiohead

Wild Honey, U2

Absolute favorites: Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys and Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel

Movie trailer:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHtF8PADoN0[/pro-player]

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors, Rock n' Roll (and Music in general) Tagged With: best movie soundtracks, Cameron Diaz, Clive Owen, listing of movie soundtracks, monica belluci, movie soundtracks, Penelope Cruz, Renee Zellweger, soundtracks, Tom Cruise, Winona Ryder

In the mood for a fun romcom novel?

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