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The Answer Man starring Jeff Daniels and Lauren Graham

Posted on September 5, 2009 Written by ripitup

Wow, Jeff Daniels has grown up!!! I don’t mean it in a bad way. Sure he has gotten a little old, hell- he is 54 now. But do you remember the 1994 hit Dumb and Dumber with Jim Carrey? Yep, Jeff was the other lead. So it is funny to remember that role. He has matured and this is a lovely romantic comedy. Although it is a little different than your typical rom-com. It has characters whose paths cross in funny ways yet it has dramatic elements. Jeff Daniels’ grumpy and edgy character Arlen Faber is good for laughs.

So Arlen Faber- as the opening credits tells us- has written a book called “Me & God” 20 years ago. The book has become a hit of hits, a life-changing book for many and Arlen has millions of fans all over the world. Yet the man is a mystery. He has never given any interviews and his picture was never shown anywhere so no one even knows what he looks like. We, the viewer, however know who it is. The book has given all the answers you might wanna know about life in general. So after the credits, one might expect a serene, confident and well, nice guy. Instead, we have an unpleasant, grumpy, and weird guy living alone in a huge house with signs attached on the rooms, describing what they are. He meditates all the time and reads self-help books but it doesn’t cheer him up.

Then there is Elizabeth (Lauren Graham)- a single, over-protective mother who runs a chiropractor’s practice. And Kris (Lou Taylor Pucci), who is a recently recovered alcoholic and the owner of the bookstore that will also be another character in the movie.

One day Arlen has to go to a healing center after an awfully funny back incident and there he meets Elizabeth. After that, we find a whole different Arlen. With Elizabeth and near her son, he is nice, fun and wise. With others, of course he is usually an ass but starts to develop a strange friendship with Kris as well.

You have quirky characters with problems. And Arlen seems to have a good reason for being the “ass” that he is. …

It is a good movie. It is fun and interesting and eccentric. It could have been a little longer and I wish Arlen had a different secret behind the book. But I certainly do not agree with the viewers that think the movie is a rip off As Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson. What? We can’t have a weird guy and single mother in a story anymore? C’ mon…

Watch it. Sure, there will be things you wish had been done differently. The writer/director John Hindman has pulled off a decent movie that I find honest and real. 6.6 on IMDB. A heartfelt 7 from me!

Griffin & Phoenix starring Amanda Peet & Dermot Mulroney

Posted on September 5, 2009 Written by ripitup

I hate tearjerkers if I think that the storyline has been constructed to try and make the audience cry. You know the type. It feels artificial from the beginning to the end. Of course everyone has a different sense of what feels natural. Some find the love story in Titanic tragically beautiful and I, on the other hand, find it tragically boring. But with Griffin and Phoenix, I found a great emotionally intense drama whose strength came from the powerful acting performances of Dermot Mulroney and Amanda Peet.

Griffin is a guy in his late 30s/early 40s (whatever- he is just too young to die), and he has a terminal illness. He refuses hospitalization and tries to make the best of his remaining days. He makes amends with his two young sons who stay with their mom and stepdad, enjoys fixing his lovely car and being idle in general. One day he attends a conference and meets a young woman named Phoenix. They hit it off, although Phoenix seem indecisive about starting something. However once they start dating, they are inseparable. Phoenix doesn’t know about his condition. One day, she finds out a lot of books on dying and she storms off, outraged. He doesn’t understand what it is all about so refuses to let her go until she says what the problem is. It turns out that Phoenix has cancer, also incurable and she- unaware that he is dying too- thought he was playing some sort of joke on her. They are both crushed to find out the other is also dying. They have already fallen in love and this brings them even closer. So they are determined to make the best of whatever is left of their lives, together…

I love this movie. Yes, I love passionate love stories about couples who just get each other and have fun together and are just there for each other when push comes to shove. This is such a story. If course it is not an original concept. The movie itself is the remake of a 70s movie. But this doesn’t change the fact that it is heart-warming, touching and beautiful: It rises your spirits, restores your faith in love and life yet it upsets you- you have to just wonder why the concept of death exists at all. I am not giving away anything about the ending. But it is just very depressing when death comes so early and at a time when things are just right. The movie is fun, despite the illnesses of the two lead characters. But if a guy comes up and says it is a chick flick, I suggest he goes and has a heart transplant.Oh, and a brain too, while he is at it.

The Crow: Buildings burn, people die. But an amazing movie is forever.

Posted on August 19, 2009 Written by ripitup

-” Buildings burn, people die but real love is forever…”

Above is the real quote that inspired the title from. It is from the 1994 movie The Crow. If you haven’t seen it, please do yourselves a favor and do. Not the lame sequels but the real thing. The one with Brandon Lee.

crow_ver2 — Brandon Lee as Eric Draven in The Crow. So do you? Believe in angels?

It has supernatural elements, of course. The myth is that sometimes a soul can not rest and a crow will guide him back to this world, till he can do whatever he needs to do to find peace. So a year after rocker Eric Draven was killed and his fiancé was raped and tortured to death, Eric rises from his grave. Confused and clueless, he follows the crow. As he finds his way back into his old apartment, he remembers everything. This is where the movie really starts.

Revenge:

Of course we have seen lots of movies about avengers- people avenging their loved ones, people taking justice into their own hands. We like to see the good guy win. So we pretend it is plausible that a guy can finish off tens of men by himself and gets away with it. But the best part of Eric is, he is already dead. So it is much more satisfactory watching the bad guys try to kill him ; in vain, and go nuts in the process. The poetic justice is that he kills everyone in their own “specialty/interest”- so if a guy is good with knives…..or if the guy is a junkie…….You get the point. And he always leaves a crow shaped- signature…His revenge, our satisfaction.

Love:

There are actually two love stories here: One is the romantic one, the heart of the story. Then there is the love Sarah-our storyteller- has for her two great friends. Sarah is about 12 or so and has a drug addict mom dating one of the gang members. So when Eric and Shelly are gone, Sarah is left all alone. Sarah is delighted to have Eric back, but Eric has one thing in mind- to avenge Shelly as soon as possible, so he can be dead with her…

Eric and Shelly’s relationship are shown through flashbacks and you just see how strong and lovely it is. It is pure and intense. It is fun and passionate. They are best friends and lovers. A combination we all want to have and well, seems impossible to find…

Action:

Where there is revenge,….I mentioned Eric doesn’t die. So bullets fly around, swords are swung and Eric just has a laugh. You can send 40 people after him and it just makes his day. Of course things will get complicated. Even Eric has a weak point. But hey, every scene with Eric fighting is worth watching.

It is definitely in my top 3 of best movies ever. There is something magical about this movie. It is dark, gloomy, romantic,has kick-ass action, the best avenging scenes and brilliant dialogue. I have seen it for about 10 times and I can recite the lines before the characters do. If you haven’t seen it, trust me you are missing a lot!

The rock and the goth:

No, I am not talking about Marilyn Manson or EMOs. No. I am talking about this dark, rainy,gloomy background in the film. Eric’s tight black costume that he wore on his quest- a costume he probably wore on stage. The hard-rock sountrack. The way Eric takes a guitar and plays a wonderful electric solo on the roof of a house…

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The popularity:

The movie is a cult. Alex Proyas, the director, is considered to be a director with a distinct style and I am not sure many knew his name before this movie.

Brandon Lee is the Crow. The Crow is Brandon Lee. I don’t even know how people can stand the sequels. This is not Lethal Weapon or Die Hard. I know the movie is a comic book adaptation but when something gets so big- and comes with a tragedy-, the following stuff will just be crushed under it.

I think it is a sick joke of life to die while portraying a dead guy but there is nothing we can do about it. About 8 days or so were left for the movie to be completed and Lee died on the set. An accident,as some call it. Some have interesting theories that involve his father Bruce Lee. But Brandon Lee had only played in not so good action movies before and The Crow just showed what a great and talented actor he was. Brandon was 29 when he died. Whether it was truly a set accident with the guns or someone wanted Lee dead, The Crow owes a part of its mysterious aura to his death.

I think I saw this movie 10 times. I can recite lines. I own the soundtrack. Because long after the credits role, the movie stays with you…

While You Were Sleeping starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman

Posted on August 17, 2009 Written by ripitup

Qutoe from the movie

-Lucy (Sandra Bullock): Peter (Peter Callagher) once asked me when it was that I fell in love with Jack . And I told him: It was while you were sleeping.

While You Were Sleeping

Lucy (Sandra Bullock) has a big platonic crush on a nice-looking guy that she sees everyday- she is a ticket collector at a train station and doesn’t know anything about the guy. One day, she gets to save his life. This guy – Peter (Peter Callagher)- is unconscious and through a series of misunderstandings, his family thinks Lucy is his fiancé. They are so happy that Peter is finally dating a nice, down-to-earth girl. Something always gets in the way of her confessing the truth. So Lucy is happy that she has found a family-even for a temporary basis.

The crazy granny, funny and lovely parents, family friend Saul, the sister all love Lucy.

But then Jack (Bill Pullman), Peter’s brother, shows up and he is not ready to embrace Lucy so easily. Lucy is nothing like the spoiled, rich and blonde women Peter dates. He questions everything about Lucy and they are seemed to be thrown together on family matters and Jack’s quest to prove Lucy is not Peter’s type.

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But the more time he spends with her, it seems like he is starting to wish he is the one who could be with Lucy. And Peter will eventually wake up from a coma…since this being a romantic comedy and all…

No, I did not give any spoilers. I mean look at the poster. It is Bill Pullman and Sandra Bullock. Well, even if you don’t know who Jack is, you will know she is going to fall for him in the first 10 minutes or so. For one thing, Peter is in a coma. Then Jack comes in, spends all that time with Lucy. And you just know. Romantic comedies don’t try to keep you guessing about who is going to end up with who. They just show how.

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It is emotional and very funny. For one thing, The family is hilarious. For another, Lucy’s nutjob of a neighbor is just a hoot.

This movie is from 1995. I don’t remember when I first saw it, but it was in a time when I was much less cynical about romantic love and much more hopeful about finding it. You see, this movie just feels so warm and sweet. I hadn’t seen it in a long time. Then I saw this other movie with Bill Pullman in it. And I was thinking how I enjoyed Pullman’s presence, whether be it a supporting role or a leading one. Then I remembered how it all started. I just love Jack’s character. And I guess even my teasing male friends can’t say it is because he is so gorgeous. Oh, I think he is adorably cute and really good-looking in this film. But Pullman is charming in a way so much more different than Hugh Jackman or Keanu Reeves or an actor who frequents the sexy actor lists. His Jack is so unpretentious. He is fun to talk to. And he seems so accessible. The thing with Jack- you know you wouldn’t have to play games with a guy like that. He wouldn’t play and he wouldn’t want you to. I guess you might be calling me delusional, but that’s how I have always wanted a romance to be- an excitement based on the purity and the intensity of the feelings; not some lame idea that chasing makes it worthwhile. And something that grows as you get to know one and other.

Am I dreaming, maybe? But if you know me a little, you will know that I love imagination. And if anyone asks me when I started to have a crush on Pullman, it was while I was watching “While you were sleeping” …

Written by Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric LeBow. Directed by Jon Turteltaub. 6.5 on IMDB.

Buy the While You Were Sleeping DVD on Amazon.com

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